Bailonz Street 13

Chapter 164. Secrets (1)

Lawrence adapted quickly to his first day in the unfamiliar house.

Rising from bed and folding his blanket, he felt relieved by the still-warm air. He hadn’t shivered from cold once during the night.

Back at the orphanage, he could hardly sleep during winters like this. The children there had always treated Lawrence like a dreadful monster, and their fear had spread to the adults, isolating him. As his lodgings moved from the warehouse to the attic, Lawrence thought he would freeze to death in this orphanage without anyone looking for him.

But what was all this? An uncle whose fate he hadn’t known appeared, and so did someone called a godfather. Now Lawrence lives with his godfather.

His daily life had changed completely in just one day. Lawrence rolled his eyes, examining the unfamiliar room. It was a grown man’s room. He remembered his godfather giving up his room last night when Lawrence was sleepy.

That person was quite strange. The sight of him pulling the bridge out of the Thames with just a gesture was something Lawrence had never seen before in his life.

‘Could I do that too?’

Knock knock. A small sound came from the door.

Lawrence responded to the careful voice from outside.

“Yes, I just woke up.”

The door opened gently, and a brown-haired woman showed a soft smile. For Lawrence, it was almost the first time experiencing such kindness.

“Come out. I’ve made breakfast.”

* * *

It was while having breakfast with Lawrence. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound from my room several times, and then Liam burst out through the door, pale as a ghost. He hadn’t even put on a robe, having rushed out immediately upon waking.

I was so startled I dropped my spoon. It was even more surprising because he wasn’t the type to act this way.

“What is it? Liam?”

Liam’s expression crumbled. His face was a mess of relief.

With his face pale, he strode over and suddenly embraced me. His heart was pounding madly, felt through his pajamas. His hands were very cold, and his body kept trembling, making him look like someone who had just woken from a nightmare.

“Liam? What’s wrong? Did you have a dream?”

I gently stroked his back. He was holding my waist so tightly I could barely breathe. Now he’s showing such unseemly behavior in front of a child….

“It’s alright. You should talk.”

Lawrence seemed to notice my awkwardness. He calmly spoke while efficiently gathering his food and stood up.

“Lawrence?”

“I’ll go downstairs and eat with Sister Mary.”

“Oh? Alright… okay.”

Had they already become close? They must have talked while I was asleep.

While waving to Lawrence, I simultaneously began carefully comforting this man who was practically clinging to me. Whatever dream he had, for the usually composed Liam to be this shaken….

“Liam, tell me what happened. You’re worrying me with your silence.”

“…When I opened my eyes.”

He finally spoke in a hoarse voice. I felt an ominous feeling here. This won’t do. Let’s calm him down first. He looks like he might go mad at this rate.

I carefully led him to the fireplace in the living room. Though “led” was a bit funny to say. More accurately… I was carrying Liam. Me. Carrying an adult man who must weigh about 80 kilograms.

As I was struggling to move while being crushed in Liam’s embrace, he, who had been staring blankly at me, slowly began to move his feet.

I tried to sit him on the sofa and sit beside him, but he was holding me so tightly I couldn’t pull away. Inevitably, Liam’s lap became my seat.

Perhaps thanks to the warm heat, Liam’s trembling gradually subsided.

“When I opened my eyes, you weren’t there.”

“…Ah.”

“I thought I was going mad. You were gone, and I wondered if I was hallucinating, remembering wrong. I couldn’t remember when you had first appeared, and I started to doubt whether you were even a real person….”

Liam rambled on before hunching over. I could see his tightly curled-up body from above. I gently stroked his head, waiting for him to calm down. Patience is always good. Liam Moore heaved a long sigh and raised his head. As I rubbed his reddened eyes, he squeezed them shut then opened them again.

For a while, no, from now on, Liam Moore would wake up startled every morning. Anxious that I might disappear after this moment. Yet what was that about being able to live well?

“How do you expect to live without me if you’re like this?”

“What’s the point of living in a world without you?”

“Oh my…”

I’m worried he might waste away after I return to the 21st century. I should start training him to be an independent adult who can manage without me.

Unaware of my thoughts, Liam just blinked.

“I went to wash up. I didn’t disappear anywhere. After falling in the Thames, it felt rather unpleasant no matter how I thought about it.”

“Mmm.”

“And I had to feed a growing child while I was at it.”

“Mm…”

Repeated and emphasized disappearances made Liam Moore anxious… oh dear. I sighed deeply as I stood up from his lap. His large hand followed regretfully before withdrawing.

“You should eat breakfast too, we’re going out together later.”

Liam blinked with an expression that suggested this was news to him.

Had he forgotten in the meantime? Come to think of it, wasn’t he already dozing off when Inspector Jefferson came yesterday evening? A reasonable suspicion.

“We have to raid the opium den!”

“Ah.”

Liam, who had been expecting a different kind of outing, turned away with a sulky look.

“You just thought I was an unromantic wife, didn’t you?”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“…No.”

Why avoid eye contact while denying it? What an amusing man. I started poking his sides repeatedly. Finally, unable to stand the tickling, Liam Moore collapsed onto the sofa and called for mercy.

“Please spare me once, madam.”

I paused at the word ‘madam.’

I could see Liam catching his breath as he lay on the sofa. A trace of laughter still lingered at his mouth, and his pajama hem had rolled up slightly, revealing his toned side. The overall appearance was rather dangerous.

“How underhanded of you to use your charms…!”

Liam Moore asked back with an innocent face.

“Madam?”

…I’ll let it slide just this once.

* * *

Despite yesterday’s chaos, London was peaceful.

One advantage of revealing his magical nature was that minor matters could be resolved with spells. Particularly convenient was not having to disguise ourselves when going to places crawling with criminals. With one spell, we appeared to people as two naive youths.

Even walking through the East End, no one whispered about us. There were no murmurs of ‘It’s Liam Moore!’ Good thing.

“Really, no one recognizes us.”

Raiding an opium den in broad daylight. I never imagined I’d be doing something like this in my life.

Acrid smoke wafted up, and we could see people sprawled on beds. Looking around at the people collapsed with pipes in their mouths, Liam whispered.

“These are all small fry. We need to find the supplier.”

“Even if the large-scale hallucinations and delusions were due to the fog, I hadn’t expected opium to reach officials and nobles.”

“Seems blue blood is dirtier than expected.”

I chuckled at his blunt statement.

We found a small room deep in the opium den. It stood out as particularly suspicious compared to the other rooms.

The door was locked, and the gaps were firmly stuffed with rags from the outside. Signs of crime. Without hesitation, Liam and I immediately broke down that door and entered.

The room was filled with acrid smoke. It came from a small brazier burning in the center. And on the bed inside lay an unconscious child.

“Damn it.”

Muttering a curse, Liam immediately ran to open the window. After driving out the stale air, he poured water on the still-burning brazier. With a hiss, the smoke-spewing brazier went quiet. I examined the child.

The child looked about fourteen, but was very thin and had such poor coloring that it seemed something might go wrong at any moment. Proper medical treatment seemed necessary. I decided to wait calmly until the child woke up. Meanwhile, Liam scanned the small room with his eyes.

“Strange.”

“What is?”

“This is a living space. Not like those people outside who come and go for moments of deep happiness.”

That is strange. I glared intently around the room while rubbing my chin.