"Ahh, that was amazing" .

She said with a satisfied sigh as she handed the cup back to me and I took it away from her.

It took me a while to figure out what had happened.

Did she really swallow down my drink in one gulp?

Really?

"Big brother, help me," she spoke again, her eyes twinkling with a sly grin as she wrapped her arms around me.

"No".

I replied simply, softly but firmly removing her grasping hands as I made my way to a nearby trash can to dispose of the empty cup.

"It's important, big brother," she repeated, sprinting after me like a puppy, her determination visible as she tried to wrap herself around me again.

"What is?"

Despite my desire not to waste my time with her, I inquired.

"My mom got lost" .

She responded dramatically, which I felt pretty amusing.

"You mean you got lost?"

I refuted her statements and turned my sight around the fountain's perimeter as I climbed the fountain border for a better view.

I scoured the busy area for evidence of her parents or someone desperately looking for a missing kid.

Despite this, I discovered no one searching for a lost child among the sea of people engrossed in their activity.

"No, she got lost," she replied. As she made an eager attempt to climb the fountain's perimeter, she didn't look like the child who had been sobbing at the corner just moments before.

"What's your name?"

I asked her as I climbed down the border, giving her a closer look. Her background should be quite different from the commoners in the city, based on the way she was dressed—she most likely comes from a noble family.

"Zaira".

She responded by moving closer to me and attempting to hug me again, which I successfully avoided.

"Zaira, huh?" I grumbled to myself, searching my mind to remember if I'd recognized somebody with her name before in the game.

Her appearance did touch a familiar chord, but I couldn't be sure if she was the same person.

"Anyway, Zaira, how does your mom look?" I questioned, hoping to learn something useful.

"Hehe, my mom looks beautiful," she said, leaving me perplexed as to what she found hilarious.

I kept on, looking for more particular information. "And?"

"And?" she asked, repeating my words with an endearing head tilt.

'OK, I'm stuck with a dumb kid,'

I sighed quietly to myself. I stretched my hand toward her and motioned for her to take it.

which she gladly did, and I began to walk towards the cake shop I noticed when looking around from the fountain boundary.

She's really a dumb kid; if I were a kidnapper, she'd be in a deep shithole right now.

When I arrived at the cake shop's counter, I knelt down and asked the small girl,

"What do you want to eat?" She was already looking over the menu displayed outside the shop.

She excitedly pointed her tiny finger to the three different cakes. "This, this, and this," she declared, indicating her choices.

I turned toward the owner and made our requests, repeating the names of the cakes the little girl had chosen.

"One fairy frost cake, one velvet cake, and one Krunch cake, small size, please." 𝗳re𝗲𝚠e𝐛n𝗼v𝗲l.c𝐨𝐦

"I want to eat more."

But, just when I thought we were done, she chimed in, and the little girl's enthusiasm resurfaced.

I sighed and returned my gaze to the owner, revising our order, "Make it large size."

"Right away," the owner said, nodding and quickly started to bag our order. I reached into my pocket and withdrew a gleaming silver coin, which I quietly retrieved from the inventory. Given that these cakes were intended for commoners, the price was fairly high.

We made our way over to the benches neatly arranged by the side of the big fountain, our three generous servings of cake securely wrapped.

As we settled in, the locals appeared to be enjoying the view surrounding us.

Zaira, full of anticipation positioned herself directly in front of me as I took my seat and began unpacking the cakes.

She looked up at me with her mouth wide open, both her small hands resting on one of my knees.

I picked up a spoonful of cake and gently fed it to her, her pleased munching filling the air with a sense of pure joy.

"So, did your mother ever tell you what to do if you ever got lost?" I questioned about her family's safety precautions. If I were the parent, I would have done it so that I could easily locate her.

"Hmm, hmm," she said between bites of cake. "She told me never to wander out of her sight."

I couldn't help but gently tease her. "And you did, didn't you?"

"No, my mom should be able to see me," she replied between eager mouthfuls of cake. I didn't go quite that far." I arched an inquisitive brow, wondering why her mother hadn't raced over to get her if she was still around.

She said, with a knowing smile, "She should be busy with her work." Her response was both surprising and enlightening.

Zaira's interest in my intriguing mask grew as she softly caressed it.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" she inquired, her innocent curiosity evident in her tone.

"Because I don't want people to see my face," I replied, allowing her to explore my mask further.

As I wiped the leftover cake from her mouth with a tissue, I suggested "Let's wait until your mother comes to fetch you."

Her eyes twinkled with delight, and she leapt to her feet, screaming, "Let's play!"

I, on the other hand, chose to be the voice of reason. "No, we wait," I said firmly, determined to stay while safeguarding her until her mother returned.

It's for the safety of both of us. I can't fully trust her safety with the city guards.

Human nature being what it is, they might seize this as an opportunity. In the worst-case scenario, they might label me a kidnapper to gain favor and rewards, especially if she happens to be the child of a powerful noble.

The nobles are a proud bunch. Even if they learn of my innocence, they might still find a way to punish me for their amusement.

As they say among common folks, "If you have to trust your life with either a snake or a noble, choose the snake."

''It has nothing to do with her being cute and me having a soft spot for kids.'

I thought, looking at her pouting face, no matter how many times I gazed at her eyes, they were just like mine shades of blue.

"I want to play" .

She said this while grabbing my hand with her tiny hands.

"Hummm" She couldn't move me even after pulling me with all her might. People around us started to notice her actions, and their laughter filled the air.

"Heh".

Everything was well until I noticed a smirk on her face.

'Why is she smirking?'

"Papa, let's play!"

She exclaimed,People who had previously shared our amusement were suddenly giving us unusual, strange stares, which made me uneasy.

'This little shi―'

I take my words back; she isn't cute.