The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 77

‘He finally spoke to me!’

 

I opened my eyes wide and looked up at him.

 

It had been four days since we had our first conversation.

 

Just in time, the sun was rising from the east, and his face was quite clearly visible.

 

I was so moved just by the fact that he had spoken to me that I shook my head vigorously. 

 

“N-no, I don’t dislike you. I don’t dislike you at all!” 

 

“Why? I attacked His Highness, your father, and I refused to form an alliance, using you as the reason.”

 

“….”

 

“I heard that because of that, you left this place. You nearly met with a great disaster. And yet… you say you do not dislike me?” 

 

I blankly looked up at him and quietly asked.

 

“Do you dislike me, Uncle?”

 

“….”

 

At my counter-question, Jeon Bongjin flinched.

 

“How does it seem to you?” 

 

“You don’t hate me, Uncle.”

 

I answered him with certainty.

 

“Why are you so certain?”

 

“Well, if you disliked me… you wouldn’t have given me water like this or spoken to me so kindly!”

 

“Hah.”

 

Jeon Bongjin let out a short sound, as if he had no words to offer in response. 

 

I didn’t back down and shared my thoughts with him. 

 

“You’re just like that because you have people to protect like my Dad does, Uncle.”

 

Jeon Bongjin had said he commanded a large force far away in the Yeongnam region.

 

In other words, bringing his entire force meant he had made that big of a resolution.

 

It was no different from risking all their lives.

 

In such a situation, it was only natural to be reluctant to take on dangerous variables.

 

“There’s no reason to hate someone who doesn’t hate me. And even if someone hates me, I won’t hate that person.”

 

“Why?”

 

Jeon Bongjin asked casually as if he was genuinely curious.

 

I worried for a second that I had shared something too personal, but I clutched my hands tight and cried out.

 

“Life is too precious to spend it on such feelings. I’m busy enough just spending it happily with good people in a beautiful place.”

 

I gave him a sincere answer with a bright smile.

 

“His Highness’s words that you are precocious for your age are truly correct.”

 

Perhaps because it wasn’t something a young child would say, Jeon Bongjin forgot the situation and let out a short sigh of admiration.

 

Before I knew it, I felt his subordinates also staring at me with slightly changed eyes.

 

A brief look of surprise flashed across Jeon Bongjin’s eyes.

 

Looking as if he had a lot on his mind, he pondered, then looked up once at the brightening sky.

 

Soon, he let out a faint sigh.

 

“You are still young. But how did you even think of coming to see me separately to make a request.”

 

“Just… I want my dad’s words to be true.”

 

“His Highness’s words?”

 

I recalled an old memory. It was a story Daddy had told me separately later on.

 

“Dad told me a long time ago about how to live like a human being.”

 

Perhaps because I was nervous, my words came out rambling. Recalling the memory, I clenched my small fists.

 

For some reason, Jeon Bongjin waited patiently for me.

 

“To feel pity if there is someone who is hurt.”

 

“To feel pity for another person’s pain.”

 

“To not deceive or bully others.”

 

“To not deceive or bully others.”

 

“To share what you have if there is someone who is starving.”

 

“He said if there’s someone who is starving, you should share your food.”

 

I unconsciously stroked the basket I had brought with my fingertips.

 

Jeon Bongjin’s gaze also fell upon my hands.

 

“To rightfully look after a young child who has been abandoned and is dying before your eyes.”

 

“And… he said you must look after a young child. He said that’s what living like a human being is. So Dad said that because he met me, because he had me…”

 

“This child saved me. She is saving all of you.”

 

“Dad said it wasn’t him who saved me, but I who saved him.”

 

I bit my lip tightly once and let out a trembling voice.

 

“But, you see. Actually… I still don’t really know.”

 

Jeon Bongjin’s eyes wavered violently. I looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

 

“Dad said that, but… no matter how much I think about it, I feel like I’m only putting Dad in danger and making things hard for him. Just like this incident too.”

 

“….”

 

“So, if I can, I want to make Dad’s words come true. I really want to save Dad and the uncles. I want to help. Me too.”

 

Drop.

 

After the teardrops flowed, Jeon Bongjin’s face came into clear view.

 

He was wearing a slightly confused expression.

 

“I want to protect the people I love. Just like you, Uncle.”

 

“You want to… His Highness?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Unable to find anything more to say, I hung my head low.

 

And right then.

 

“Little Miss!!”

 

Bokhee called me in a shrill voice. Realizing I had been caught, I quickly pushed the basket toward Jeon Bongjin.

 

And nimbly ran towards her.

 

“Aunt Bokhee!!”

 

“I told you not to wander around coming out like this at dawn! Oh my, especially after going through such a big ordeal…!”

 

“Okay! Let’s go back quickly.”

 

“Goodness, I have breakfast ready! Let’s go quickly.”

 

Being showered with scolding, I held Bokhee’s hand and headed towards the barracks.

 

Even while doing so, I glanced back at where Jeon Bongjin was.

 

He was still staring at me blankly with an unreadable expression.

 

‘I’ve said everything I wanted to convey.’

 

I had done my best.

 

Now I had no choice but to leave the judgment to him.

 

* * *

 

Late at night. Jeon Bongjin was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

 

‘What on earth should I do about this?’

 

He had too many people to take responsibility for. Moreover, he knew better than anyone how deep a grudge they held against the current King.

 

And yet.

 

That small child kept weighing on his mind.

 

“I want the people living here, my whole family, to all be happy. So…”

 

“Please don’t leave this place because of me. Please help the Uncles, Aunts, and Dad whom I love.”

 

“I want to protect the people I love. Just like you, Uncle.”

 

The words of a mere six-year-old child kept echoing in his head.

 

Contrary to her mature words, seeing her struggling with that small body every day to bring a basket.

 

How cute and piteous she had looked, watching him earnestly and checking his reaction as she pulled various things out of the basket. 

 

‘I began this work of righteous banditry to achieve a great cause.’

 

Wasn’t he doing something terrible to a mere child? Was this… truly in line with his beliefs.

 

He let out a deep sigh as his internal turmoil deepened. 

 

At the end of his gaze was a basket pushed into the corner so as not to be seen.

 

Jeon Bongjin impulsively reached out and brought the flower sticking out of the basket over to him.

 

He could tell without even seeing it himself.

 

That small child must have peeked around here and there in the mountains, carefully picking and breaking off flowers to bring.

 

And right then.

 

“General Jeon Bongjin, how about having a chat with me.”

 

Flinch. At the low voice whispering secretly, Jeon Bongjin tightly crushed the flower he was touching in his hand.

 

Then he looked back at where the sound came from.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

Clank. The prison door opened.

 

The Chief’s subordinates who entered the prison untied the rope that had been binding Jeon Bongjin.

 

He stroked the spot where the rope had been tied and looked at the Chief with an expression full of wariness.

 

“What brings you here?”

 

“I would like you to listen to my words. I ask this of you.”

 

It was the first time. That the Chief had expressed to him, ‘I ask of you.’

 

Jeon Bongjin hesitated for a moment, staring at the Chief, then lowered his gaze to look inside his hand.

 

The flower he was crushing in his hand.

 

He felt the texture of the soft petals as he stroked their surface with his thumb.

 

The face of that child pleading earnestly with tears in her eyes, asking him to help her dad, flickered before him again.

 

It was because of that.

 

“I shall do so.” 

 

That Jeon Bongjin changed his mind and decided to try having a conversation with the Chief once more.

 

* * *

 

“Do you remember? When we met on the battlefield.”

 

The Chief poured tea for Jeon Bongjin himself and calmly brought up an old story.

 

“Protecting the northern front was truly cold and hungry. If you had not watched my back, I would not be here right now.”

 

“…You flatter me. Your Highness.”

 

“I am sincere. I have many things for which I am truly grateful to you. That is why I so desperately wanted us to be together.”

 

At the Chief’s words conveying his sincerity with emphasis, Jeon Bongjin squeezed his eyes shut.

 

“Both you and I… had to leave for the battlefield leaving a child in the womb behind, so we could not help but be constantly anxious.”

 

At the unexpected words he casually brought up, Jeon Bongjin’s eyes snapped open.

 

Regrettably, he remembered the events of that day as clearly as if it were yesterday.

 

The Chief, Kim Gangdu, who was the Crown Prince at the time, was expecting a child who had not yet been born.

 

That child was in the womb of the Crown Princess.