The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 8

Startled.

 

Gaon’s eyebrows twitched.

 

Then, quickly masking any sign of agitation, he answered with feigned calmness.

 

“This afternoon, Yongpil took the younger ones out hunting, and I heard they disturbed a snake’s den. It seems the snake had just awakened from hibernation. I discovered and dealt with it promptly, so please don’t worry.”

 

What? I was the one who caught it, though? 

 

This guy’s lying without even batting an eye!

 

“Ahbu! Ahbubu! (Chief, that guy’s lying!)”

 

I was furious, but in my current state, I didn’t have the strength to reveal the truth.

 

“Take this child.”

 

While I was feeling relieved, the chief’s order came down, and I was instantly alert.

 

‘No! How did you meet them!’

 

One of the bandits behind the chief stepped forward to lift me into his arms, but—

 

With a sudden hug—!

 

I immediately stretched out my arms and wrapped them tightly around the chief’s arm!

 

Like a cicada clinging to an old tree.

 

“…?”

 

I saw question marks appear not only on the bandits’ faces but also on the chief’s, who had remained expressionless all along. Still, I didn’t let go of his arm.

 

Instead, I looked up at the chief, sending him a very earnest gaze.

 

“….”

 

When I looked at him with my tear-filled, wet eyes and pouted my lips, the chief’s mouth twitched slightly for a moment.

 

I rubbed my face against him, expressing my refusal to leave even more intensely.

 

Sniffling, I unknowingly kept blurted out incoherent words without pause.

 

“No, why the baby….” 

 

One of the bandits, flustered by my behavior, stepped forward, but—

 

“Uuuu… Hhuuuu!”

 

I gritted my teeth and clung desperately to the chief, throwing a tantrum.

 

‘No. You can’t go! You won’t go!’

 

There are way too many weirdos here—bandits who are terrible at childcare, and even a lying, attempted-murder bandit…!

 

So, Chief, just take me to your place like this, okay?

 

“Chief, please wait a moment…”

 

“Forget it.” 

 

“Yes?!” 

 

“The child seems frightened, so I’ll take care of her today.”

 

And after much painstaking effort, the words I had been longing to hear finally came from the chief…!

 

‘It’s done!’

 

I quietly cheered to myself.

 

‘Today, I must win the chief’s favor so that he instructs everyone to take extra care of me… and once I’m old enough to speak for myself, I’ll ask to be officially adopted!’

 

Now that I’ve met the chief, it’s time to fully win his heart!

 

* * *

 

“It’s a cold.” 

 

… It’s a total waste of time to win someone’s heart.

 

“Sniff.”

 

I swallowed, sniffling my nose incessantly.

 

After washing thoroughly, changing into fresh clothes, and entering the chief’s barracks… I suddenly felt a rapid rise in my body temperature.

 

My whole body was shivering, my throat ached, and my nose was running—a textbook case of a cold.

 

In a way, it was natural.

 

I was a newborn, less than a year old.

 

With this body, I had been left for quite some time in the biting winter mountains since the moment I first opened my eyes.

 

After that, the basics were provided, but the environment was far from ideal.

 

‘Ahh…’

 

I had even overexerted myself, crawling around before it was time to meet the chief… and I narrowly escaped being attacked by a snake after suddenly being exposed to the cold outdoors.

 

Looking back, it was remarkable that any ordinary child wouldn’t have fallen ill under those circumstances.

 

The chief checked my symptoms and immediately brought a monk skilled in medicine.

 

He would often stop by, grind the medicine, and give me the diluted liquid to drink.

 

Strangely, whenever I took the medicine, my fever would subside, only to rise again at night, repeating the cycle.

 

I was literally struck by a fever. Even a minor illness could be fatal for a child, and under the chief’s orders, those who stayed by my side gradually began to tense up.

 

‘Am I… going to die like this?’

 

How long has it been since I died, and now… again? 

 

Every time my fever rose, my whole body ached and I cried, unable to think.

 

I cried myself to sleep, exhausted, barely able to swallow medicine and milk, then vomited and fell back asleep…

 

I had a familiar dream, one I’d had countless times.

 

“Ah, this… shit is pretty stubborn, huh?” 

 

A tinkling, giggling laugh.

 

A single-room space with four large refrigerators. A man who doesn’t come out of the bathroom.

 

A small, scrawny girl trembling beside the corner closet…

 

It was me.

 

Moments from my earliest memories.

 

I always held my breath and hid whenever my father did “that work.”

 

“Yesterday? I was at home with Dad. We played in the water together!”

 

After being left alone, I had no choice but to lie to the neighbors, just as my father had instructed.

 

Those were the days when I would close my eyes and desperately pray not to wake up again.

 

Fortunately, by morning, my father was gone.

 

I was severely malnourished due to being completely neglected, and at the time, I couldn’t even stand up.

 

It was only after my father was captured that I received a proper diagnosis at the hospital. The doctor said it was a miracle that I was still alive.

 

So… I always had to endure, trembling in fear.

 

Since I was a child, alone.

 

And finally.

 

Flash—!

 

I opened my eyes. In a place that felt quite familiar.

 

‘Here…?’

 

The memories of my past life were so vivid that I was briefly confused… but I quickly assessed the situation.

 

This was the chief’s barracks.

 

And then, in my hazy vision, a face appeared.

 

A man whose face was tinged scarlet in the dim lamplight.

 

Even with his characteristic expressionless face, this person was looking at me with eyes that somehow seemed worried.

 

‘…It’s the chief.’

 

“Hehe.”

 

For some reason, I laughed.

 

Having cried my eyes out in my dream, tears streamed endlessly from my wet eyes, yet—

 

I couldn’t stop the smile from repeatedly creeping across my lips.

 

Simply because I wasn’t alone in that terrifying place. Because there was someone by my side.

 

“Are you laughing… or crying?”

 

“Heugh, ugh.” 

 

As I foolishly continued to cry and laugh, he let out a deep sigh, as if exasperated, and then reached out his hand.

 

The chief’s fingers touched my forehead. I could feel the warmth of his body.

 

“The fever’s almost gone.”

 

I kept my gaze fixed on him.

 

Maybe because of how much pain I’d been through, even the things I experienced here felt like a dream.

 

“It seems like you’re not in pain anymore… so why are you crying?”

 

With hands roughened by calluses, he ran his fingers through my sweat-dampened hair.

 

Then, with clumsy hands, he lifted a clean cloth and wiped away the tears.

 

Feeling those rough yet gentle hands, I felt even more drowsy and squeezed my eyes shut.

 

“You’re such a strange child.”

 

His voice echoed like a sigh.

 

The chief’s hand seemed to glide upward, then he gently patted my head.

 

Blinking slowly, I reached out my hand and wrapped my fingers around the hand that was touching my head.

 

His fingers were so large and long that they were too big to be held with both hands.

 

“She… resembles the chief.”

 

I heard the voice of Kim Dupil, who had been standing guard by my side.

 

The chief paused for a moment, then hesitantly moved his hand again.

 

His touch was clumsy, as if he wasn’t used to handling a child… but I didn’t dislike it.

 

“Of course there’s a resemblance. We share the same blood.”

 

Mhm? 

 

And I couldn’t believe my ears at the next words.

 

Sensing that something was off, I rolled my eyes around.

 

‘The bandit chief has royal blood?’

 

What the heck? What nonsense is this?