I’m In Trouble Because The Darkened Heroes Are Obsessed With Me

“How do you know that?”“Euten.”The moment Elsez heard the name “Euten,” she realized the headmistress was lying.Euten was a small island nation accessible by ship from the Kingdom of Ros, located south of the empire. It was a hub of maritime trade, bustling with exchanges.“In the past six months, there’s been a battle for the throne in Euten, and the king has changed twice. With the political turmoil, pirates have overrun the Carinth Sea.”Given the urgency of dealing with the demonized situation, Elsez should have had no reason to be aware of such developments.But this time, she knew all too well.Because her father, Viscount Rohen, had died because of it.A month ago.While transporting goods from the southern continent beyond Euten, Viscount Rohen’s ship had chosen to take a detour through the strait to avoid the pirate-infested Carinth Sea.In the end, while crossing the strait, they were caught in a storm and met with disaster.“At this point, no merchant would willingly go to Euten. That would be the same as marching to their death.”Unaware of these external affairs, the headmistress had simply blurted out the name of a distant country to feign ignorance of the boys’ whereabouts.A place far enough away that no one could easily verify the truth—an excuse to cover up whatever she was hiding about the dead children.Little did she know, her hastily crafted lie would come back to haunt her.Tezette, who had been silently listening, spoke in a tone of mild surprise.“You know a lot about political affairs.”“Thanks to having a merchant for a father.”“Then we should investigate who that woman has been in contact with.”“No, before that, we need to find the missing child.”“The missing child?”Tezette looked at Elsez quizzically.“But those kids are already dead.”He assumed she was referring to the boys whose bodies had been found.But Elsez shook her head.“There’s one more. A child who hasn’t been found yet.”Her gaze shifted to the neatly arranged flower pots by the window.“The children said each pot is personally taken care of by its owner.”Elsez recalled the moment she had examined them. There was something unusual.“All the other pots had damp soil, but one in the corner did not.”It wasn’t hard to distinguish between damp and dry soil—the difference was clear in the color.“That means its owner didn’t water it today.”Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have been suspicious over something as trivial as an unwatered plant.But given that the headmistress was already hiding the truth about the missing children, this was enough to raise a red flag.“The fact that the flower pot hasn’t been removed yet means the child hasn’t been gone for long. Which means…”“The child might still be alive?”“Yes. That’s why we need to find them first.”If they were still alive, they had to be rescued before anything worse happened.“But what if you’re wrong? If that group has any sense, they’ll be laying low right now since this incident just became public.”He wasn’t wrong.The headmistress was definitely hiding something, but Elsez could still be making an assumption about the missing child.And logically speaking, with both the temple and the imperial family on high alert, they wouldn’t take the risk of abducting another child so soon.But still… something doesn’t feel right.A vague sense of unease gnawed at Elsez as she glanced around the now-darkened streets.Colorful ribbons symbolizing the festival fluttered in the air, and the shops were bustling with preparations.As she absentmindedly took in the peaceful scene, a conversation she had overheard earlier suddenly resurfaced in her mind.“Because the festival starts today. And it’s a rare occasion—His Highness himself will be officiating the ceremony…”The moment she recalled that conversation, it was as if the last missing puzzle piece clicked into place.“No. They will definitely act today.”Tezette looked down at Elsez, who had spoken with certainty.“What makes you think that?”“Because the festival starts today.”Tezette thought for a moment, then quickly grasped her meaning.“It wouldn’t be strange for a child to go missing in the festival crowd.”Elsez nodded.During festivals, many children went missing.Most of them were simply lost in the crowd and safely reunited with their families.But some returned as corpses—or were never found at all.“First, we should—”Just as Elsez was about to discuss their next plan, a small voice interrupted from a nearby window.“Big sister.”It was Mia, the girl who had opened the orphanage door for them earlier.Damn… We should’ve waited until we were back in the carriage to talk.Hoping the child hadn’t overheard too much, Elsez turned around.“Sorry for talking so loudly. Did you hear everything we said?”Mia shook her head.Then, she hesitated before asking,“Are you… a good person?”Elsez tilted her head at the child’s sudden question, then smiled as she answered.“Well, I work with His Holiness the Cardinal, so I must be a good person, right? Why do you ask?”The child glanced behind her nervously before whispering in a small voice.“Then… can you find Sera?”“Sera?”“She’s my sister. Last night, before bed, she told me… if I met kind adults, I should ask them to find her. She said she didn’t go out to play—bad people took her…”Elsez’s eyes widened in shock before twisting in pain.Her suspicion that a child had gone missing was, tragically, correct.“I’ll find her. I promise.”The child blinked her big eyes, staring up at Elsez and Tezette. But before she could say anything more, a voice called her from inside, and she hurried away.Elsez turned to Tezette with a grim expression. His gaze, as always, remained calm.“The missing child… She knew. She knew she would be taken. But why…”Why didn’t she run?“If she ran, they would’ve taken another child instead.”Tezette’s voice was indifferent, but Elsez knew instantly.“This is about you, isn’t it? The part about the headmistress beating the kids… and what you just said.”It was a story drawn from his own experience.Tezette looked at Elsez, who was clearly upset on his behalf, and replied quietly.“I was weak back then. So it was inevitable.”“It wasn’t.”“……”“No one should ever be sacrificed just because they’re weak.”Tezette stared blankly at her, her resolute words echoing in his mind.He had heard this before.From another woman—one who had worn the same pained expression as Elsez, grieving over someone else’s suffering as if it were her own.She had said those words when she was weak, and again when she was strong.She had watched over him, never giving up, hoping that one day he would change his way of thinking.In a world where it was only natural for the strong to trample the weak, she had been the only one to stand on the side of the powerless.But Ruel…Why did this woman, who could never be her, suddenly remind him of her?“Send word to His Holiness. We need more people to help find the child.”“It’s better if we handle this ourselves. If too many people get involved, the culprits will notice and hide.”“No, that’s exactly what we want.”“…You want them to run?”“With their escape routes cut off, not many would dare to carry out their plans anyway. If they realize someone is tracking them, they won’t be so quick to kill the child.”It was a strategy inspired by how modern police sirens work.Even if a criminal fled upon hearing the sirens, the priority was ensuring the safety of any hostages.“And if they abandon the child and flee, that’s even better.”“So you’re willing to let those bastards escape just to save one child who may already be dead?”“If we assume she’s alive, her safety is the top priority.”“They can always find another sacrifice. If they run now, another child will be taken next time.”“There won’t be a next time.”Tezette couldn’t understand her reasoning.But Elsez was unwavering.“I won’t put a child who’s alive now in danger to prevent something that might happen in the future.”For the first time in a long while, Tezette recalled his days at the orphanage.Back then, the headmistress would beat the children whenever she felt like it.The older kids, having grown up under her influence, became violent themselves, and the younger ones suffered under them.Tezette had been no exception.When younger children complained about being bullied, the headmistress had told them:“Your older brothers are stronger than you, so you should obey them. Unless you want to be beaten more.”To young Tezette, that was the truth of the world.Years later, when he was caught by the human traffickers working with the orphanage, he remembered those words.I’m weak. That’s why this is happening to me.At that moment, fear of death was the only emotion he could process.Desperately, he had run. He had survived, escaping into the back alleys. And there, he had once again learned the law of strength.If you were weak, you were crushed. If you were weak, you died.Then one day, Ruel had appeared, trying to shatter the beliefs he had built his life upon.And now, in her place, stood Elsez.What if… someone had saved me back then?“If you don’t want to be part of this, go your own way. I’ll go to His Holiness and—”Just as Elsez turned to leave, Tezette’s large hand caught her arm.“I’m coming with you.”To save the child who was waiting, desperately, for someone to come.And to save the Tezette of the past, who had once waited in vain.