I Became the Tyrant’s Translator

Of course, there was no response.

Leticia sighed. She had to take this boy down the mountain right now.

She was worried about the fact that she had only found five roots of severan, but her parents always told her this.

‘Leticia, you are a strong girl, so you should always help those who are weak.’

That was why Leticia had to take care of her sick grandmother and her brother, who only knew how to study.

This boy was definitely weak so Leticia had to protect him.

‘I’ll just find fifteen roots tomorrow.’

Leticia grabbed the boy’s hand.

“You have to go down quickly. It’s dangerous here. There could be a bear.”

This was true.

Paddington’s story about bears frequenting the mountains these days came to mind again.

Her body stiffened.

Suddenly, the wind shook the branches and Leticia began to hear soft sounds coming from all directions. The sound of a heavy bear walking through the bushes slowly approached them.

Leticia grabbed the boy and began to quickly descend the mountain.

In Leticia’s mind, there was no room for Severan, her ill grandmother or her disappointed parents.

The only thought she had was to quickly escape the mountain with the boy.

Leticia and the boy were on their way down the rocky slope.

“Ouch!”

At the same time, as screams burst out of Leticia’s mouth, the two children rolled loudly down the slope.

The basket containing the severan also fell out of Leticia’s tender hand and disappeared into the darkness.

Covered in mud, Leticia burst into tears.

It was then when…

A little hand wiped the mud and tears from Leticia’s face with a soft handkerchief.

Leticia stared at the boy.

“…”

The boy’s moonlit blond hair shimmered like jewels and his big eyes darkened with worry.

“Huff, huff.”

Leticia’s laughter broke the silence.

The boy’s touch was clumsy and rough as if he had never cleaned anything in his life.

As expected, he was a rich boy who had been pampered since birth.

The boy’s hand stopped as he looked with a puzzled expression.

“Thank you.”

Leticia grasped the boy’s small hand, thanked him, and looked around.

“This is… Where are we?”

She couldn’t figure out where they were properly since they were completely off the path, but fortunately, the moonlight was shining brightly.

They were in a crevice made of three huge rocks.

Both sides were blocked by boulders, and they seemed to be at the bottom of a cliff.

Leticia gulped and approached a corner of fist-sized stones.

They were blocked on all sides, so they had to climb up to get out.

‘Maybe I can step on this and climb up.’

She began to climb the stones one by one.

“Below!”

The boy’s husky voice stood out.

Leticia hurriedly descended back down, surprised by the boy’s voice. She thought he could not speak.

A small hand pulled the hem of her dress.

“…?”

Curious at the boy’s actions, she moved towards him.

Dozens of rocks tumbled onto where she was just standing.

“…!”

Leticia’s stiff body was able to move after a considerable amount of time.

“Haa…”

She turned towards the boy, trying to calm her palpitating heart.

Now Leticia could easily read the boy’s expression. He looked at Leticia, his face filled with worry and relief.

Leticia hugged the boy’s body tightly.

Obviously, the boy’s expensive clothes were also covered in mud like Leticia’s.

“Thank you for warning me.”

“… Basket.”

“Yes, if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve disappeared like my basket.”

Leticia laughed hard. No, there were plenty of reasons for laughing. Didn’t she just survive a near-death crisis?

She was also happy that the boy could speak. Leticia had often seen children who began speaking late. This boy was just one of them.

“What is your name? I’m Leticia.”

“…”

The boy shut his mouth again.

“It’s okay if you don’t say anything.”

Leticia managed to quickly assess the situation.

In fact, whether she knew the boy’s name or not, the situation was that he was trapped in between some boulders.

It was best to wait rather than take any more risks.

Once it’s dawn, adults would be able to find them or they could find their way out.

Leticia heard the boy’s voice again.

“Danger.”

“Danger? What’s dangerous?”

Leticia’s eyes widened.

However, the boy only repeated the same word, frustrated.

“Danger!”

“Danger?”

Instead of answering, the boy hugged Leticia.

‘Ah.’

Leticia realized what the boy was saying. She hugged the boy a while ago and thanked him for letting her know that it was dangerous.

The boy was saying that because he wanted what Leticia had done to him.

As Leticia faced the boy and hugged him, she noticed one thing.

‘I’m shaking.’

It was naturally cold since they were soaked in rain and covered in mud.

At least he had a warm coat in preparation for night time, but the boy was also wearing clothes that looked expensive and thin.

Leticia took off her coat. The boy’s eyes widened as if surprised, but did not reject her coat.

“If it’s cold, you should say it’s cold.”

Leticia’s words were also trembling from the cold. The boy stared at Leticia, then opened his mouth again.

“Cerberus.”

“Cerberus?”

Leticia blinked. Cerberus was a three-headed monster.

‘Why do you say that all of a sudden?’

The boy took off his coat with an irritated face, perhaps frustrated.

“Don’t take it off. It’s cold…”

Leticia’s voice was cut off.

It was because the boy had poorly covered both of them with the coat.

It was enough for two children to wear because it was a coat from Paddington, who was three years older than her.

Leticia, holding onto her coat tightly, recalled the story of Cerberus; a monster with three heads and one body.

They looked like they had two heads with one body now.

“You’re quite smart, aren’t you?”

Suddenly, the boy looked at Leticia with wide eyes, perhaps surprised by her murmur.

“Morning.”

Leticia could understand that. The morning was the beginning of the day and dawn was about to break.

“Is this the first time you have heard such a word?”

The boy nodded a little.

Leticia began to get excited. The boy’s speech was similar to the speech used by her grandmother and Paddinton when they were grumpy.

“In this case, you have to die… What am I going to do if I live long? I have a granddaughter who is as thirsty as a field in a drought but she only takes care of me.”

‘I’m sorry. Here, drink some water, Grandma.”

“Didn’t you see me drink water a little while ago? No matter how much I drink, my throat still burns. Let’s see, it’s hard to move my arms, but the debt…”

“I’ll send it for you!”

Leticia tried to put up with it, but when both her grandmother and Paddington were angry, it was difficult to bear.

There were many times when she cried and confessed to her parents when they came back late at night after work. Whenever that happened, her parents comforted Leticia.

Her grandmother was sick and there were still years left for Paddington to become an adult and qualify for the Academy.

So Leticia had to quickly learn how to understand the sounds of her grandmother and Paddington when they would talk around and around in circles.

The way the boy spoke was also similar to the two, except it was not because he was grumpy.

There was a huge difference.

Leticia gripped her coat tighter. So did the boy.

It wasn’t that the clothes were thicker since they layered the coats together, but strangely enough, they felt intense warmth.

The two curled up like one body to survive the cold…

Until the morning came…

***

“Mr. Michael!”

Leticia’s eyes opened. She heard voices calling “Michael” from all sides. Looking up at the sky, she glanced at the pink-colored sky. It was finally dawn.

Leticia woke the boy, who was still sleeping.

The boy looked at Leticia with sleepy eyes and jerked in surprise at the sound of “Michael” again.

“Are they looking for you?”

“…”

“That’s right. You ran away from home, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Yes, I see…”

Leticia sighed. A rich, ten year-old boy who ran away from home.

Seeing that so many people were looking for this boy with a formal title, he may be a nobleman with a title.

“Are you a noble?”

“…”

As expected, there was silence, which probably confirmed her speculation.

Leticia jumped to her feet. It wasn’t the time to be like this. If a nobleman was injured on a mountain, the entire village could get angry.

“Here he is! Here you are!”

The footsteps rushed towards them.

“He’s here!”

Those who found Michael cheered and immediately pulled them up.

As one of them looked surprised at the sight of Leticia, they pulled her up and asked for her name. She replied, “Leticia Woods.”

“You were with Mr. Michael. Thank you very much.”

And that was the only bit of gratitude Leticia received.

In just a few seconds, Leticia was pushed aside by the crowd and was separated from Michael.

Men, who appeared to be noble guards, roamed around Michael and began to descend from the mountain.

Leticia diligently followed the crowd.

Under normal circumstances, Michael would be a nobleman who she could not even talk to, but she still wanted to share her final greeting.

Finally, the crowd reached the bottom of the mountain.

A dozen meters away was a parade of colorful carriages waiting to take Michael.

Leticia burst into tears. Pain, cold, and fatigue were something she could endure for another day or two.

However, that feeling of isolation was difficult to endure, especially when none of those people cared about her as she fell.

Leticia sank to the floor.

Even if she tried to say her last greeting, there was no way it would be delivered to Michael, who was completely surrounded by the crowd.

Leticia closed her eyes and buried her head in both hands. She didn’t want to see Michael leave the place.

But at this point, she was just trying to ignore the noise around her since she didn’t want to hear it.

“Leticia!”

The boy’s voice, which had been stuttering all night, stood out in Leticia’s ears.