The Birth of The Prince and The Raven

Part 5

...he really did appear to be that generous.

Rue hid her shock as she obediently followed behind Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse with two unfamiliar children clinging to her sides and calling her noona and uni and whatnot.

There were a few butlers and guards around for the shopping spree as well.

Cale and Kim Rok Soo, with a strange sort of truce that didn't seem to indicate that either man liked or appreciated the other, were settling their dispute by buying clothes, toys, food, and other such items for herself and the children.

There were talks of a house being purchased for the three and identification papers written up for Rue to ensure her legal status inside of the Henituse territory. There would be some restrictions on her movements until her identity was determined to be benign but otherwise, she'd be free to settle down here.

The children at her side were already talking as though she'd be moving in with them as well. Kim Rok Soo had been impassive to the idea, neither encouraging nor discouraging it.

It was nuts. She must have gone delirious from hunger.

She tuned out Kim Rok Soo and Cale when they started discussing travel arrangements, apparently Kim Rok Soo had plans to leave the region for whatever reason.

She couldn't conceive of why. The man had managed to convince the young master of the territory to basically fulfill his every whim with that insane negotiation.

"Ah, so you're hiding who you are."

It had been such a strange observation in the jail but it had made Cale freeze up and watch Kim Rok Soo with extra caution. It had been the moment he'd gained the upper hand in the negotiations that were already wildly in his favor due to the young master's desire to make the situation right.

That was the other insane thing!

So far as Rue understood it from what Kim Rok Soo had said and what she'd gleaned from her surroundings, this was the man that Kim Rok Soo had beaten up just the night before.

What sort of madman was he to beat someone up and then pull a golden ticket? For that matter, was Cale some sort of masochist?!

She didn't want to know about whatever strange relationship the two men had.

She was also running out of ways to refuse the generosity. It had been easy to accept her freedom, she'd been planning to run away again as soon as she wasn't caged, but the material possessions were unwelcome and she'd used all of her eloquently worded efforts to turn them down at every turn.

Cale and Kim Rok Soo wouldn't push her. The children were another matter. They were cautious of her when they'd first seen her but after Kim Rok Soo had whispered something to them, they stuck to her side like nothing else.

If they weren't so young, she would suspect that they were there to stop her from running away.

It wasn't just the children.

An elderly butler who'd been attending to the young master sent her a benign smile whenever she thought she found an opportunity to bolt. Years of pain and near death experiences had given her an instinct for avoiding dangerous scenarios. While there was absolutely nothing about the man that she could consider to be threatening, her instincts let her know that she shouldn't make her move while that benign smile was directed towards her.

"Noona! Try this on!" The small boy cried out eagerly, holding up a modest dress that looked quite comfortable. She liked it actually, it was a far cry from the uncomfortable but highly fashionable clothes she'd been forced into during her first life and the horrific corset she'd run away from in her second life.

"I really don't..." She tried, being cut off by the girl who began to tug her towards the dressing room.

"Come on, uni." On looked at her with a knowing glint in her. "I know you like that one."

Had the children spotted her eyeing it when they entered?

She glanced towards the two men who were still in fierce debate over something that went entirely over Rue's head and the butler who was giving her a gentle smile.

There really wasn't any telling them no when the adults wouldn't listen and the children were so insistent. She sighed and succumbed to the request, changing as quickly as she could to fulfill the earnest request.

Rue had never realized this about herself before but she was rather weak to sincere and direct attempts to break down her walls. She was used to calculating people, cruel people, jealous people, or even just greedy people.

Adorable children making sincere requests and treating her with such persistent kindness snuck right past all of her delicately constructed walls and squeezed her heart.

Kim Rok Soo was having the time of his life.

He'd always wanted to do a shopping spree like this, at least once in his life, and it was an extra special twist that he was able to give the experience to On and Hong. The children were more animated than he had ever seen them before and after some brief hesitance, they had grown really attached to the stray he found in the cells.

Of course he had no intention of keeping her around long-term. She just about screamed 'running away from something dangerous' and 'complicated backstory' and there was absolutely no part of Kim Rok Soo that intended to get involved in something so messy.

He'd leave that to other people. He was currently amidst making arrangements with the interestingly contradictory Cale Henituse for him to handle whatever baggage she had.

Kim Rok Soo still couldn't decide what he thought of Cale.

He was only seventeen and it made Kim Rok Soo actually feel a bit bad about his overreaction the other day. Kim Rok Soo didn't make a habit of beating up children and he could tell that Cale wasn't actually a bad person.

Whatever reason Cale was pretending to be trash also entered the category of 'not my problem'. There was no possible way he was going to get involved with Cale or the Henituse territory. It was a danger zone of the ground zero variety.

But, since he had a few months before shit hit the fan, he could deal with a few miscellaneous problems that were floating around. It had been impossible while he was living in the slums, just barely able to survive.

But now that he basically had the Henituse Countdum in his pocket...

Of course, he'd be extra sure to avoid that creepy assassin of a butler that Cale was so fond of. Kim Rok Soo was well aware of that man's identity and he had absolutely no desire to become his target.

Just a few problems. He'd just solve a few problems and then he'd retreat safely with On and Hong.

It was kind of funny how Kim Rok Soo sincerely believed this. One would think that a man so versed in reading other people would have any skill in understanding his own nature.