The Camellia Tattoo - Chapter 67
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
this book is completely translated on luna kofi (advanced chapters for the website will follow)
Jean had confirmed that there were 14 children born in this village. However, the village chief reported only 13.
It couldn’t be a case of death since this was a village where no one had died.
‘I need to look into this.’
Without mentioning anything to the villagers, Amber set off after putting off the materials.
Raphael followed her as her escort, and it wasn’t until they reached the quiet entrance of the village that Amber whispered,
“Tell the soldiers to search through the village’s bushes and storages to find a missing child. We’re one short.”
“Understood.”
If it were a casualty of war, it might be understandable, but if not, where could this child have disappeared to?
‘The village chief didn’t seem like a bad person. But you never know.’
Amber hadn’t always been so concerned about children.
But now, she feels differently.
Seeing children made her smile. She wanted to help, cherish, and love them.
“Do you want the houses searched as well?”
“If the soldiers can’t find them, yes. They might be suffering from abuse.”
The mere thought caused a sharp pain in her heart.
Why did the village chief report one less?
What is happening to that child living here?
It couldn’t have been a mistake. Village chiefs don’t get the number of villagers wrong.
Amber glanced at the village chief from a distance anew.
He seemed nice enough on the surface… It was disappointing.
“Amber? Why are you out here?”
That’s when the scouting party, which had gone to check for any remaining monsters nearby, returned.
Igmeyer, who had led the scouting party, strode over as soon as he saw her. Amber hugged him and whispered,
“The children’s count is off. We’re missing one. Did you find any traces outside?”
“Hmm. Nothing found…”
“Then, they must still be in the village.”
The village wasn’t very large, with only about thirty houses, a few of which were completely empty.
After some thought, Amber decided they needed to check those empty houses.
“I want the knights split into two groups to check the empty houses without the villagers or the village chief noticing… I want to talk to the child first once we find them.”
“Sure.”
“Raphael is already having the soldiers check around the village’s bushes and storages. You can head straight to the empty houses.”
While Igmeyer gave orders to the knights, Amber took another careful look around the village.
Her attention was caught by a group of girls playing with the teddy bear.
‘Ah, right. What if I asked these girls?’
These weren’t the rough-and-tumble kids from back alleys, girls from such a village are unlikely to lie.
It was an experience from Shadroch, but would it be different here?
Amber slowly approached the girls and graciously bent down to their level.
“Hello, kids. You seem to be having fun?”
“Ah…! Grand, Grand Duchess.”
“May I join you?”
“Yes! Yes! Grand, Grand Duchess can be…the mom.”
At this age, kids often argue over who gets to play the ‘mom’, so how they readily gave in was touching.
Amber smiled and blended in with the children without any barriers.
The villagers smiled warmly at this scene.
“Hey, what about me? Can I join?”
“Nick. Have you finished with the patients?”
“Yes. I’ve prescribed what I can for now. Those needing surgery… it’s up to them to decide.”
As the charming Nicholas approached, the girls let out a small cheer.
“You smell nice, Doctor.”
“Yes! Yes!”
“I’ll be the baby if the Doctor is the dad.”
Suddenly becoming ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ Amber and Nicholas shared a joyful laugh.
“Shall we, then?”
“It reminds me of when we were young, right?”
“That’s right. Back then, you insisted on being neither mom nor dad but a wild horse.”
“How do you remember such things?”
Amber chuckled and pretended to feed the children rice made from crushed grass. The kids playfully acted like hungry birds.
After about five minutes, Amber gently opened her mouth.
“But I noticed one of you is missing. Do you know where they might be?”
“One of us?”
“Yes. Everyone gets a teddy bear, I’m worried one of you didn’t receive it.”
The children, who had been playing with stones as plates, suddenly looked at each other nervously. Then, glancing around, they whispered among themselves, forgetting that important things can be overheard.
“They’re talking about that one, you know, that kid.”
“Yes, but the village chief told us never to speak of it…”
“Idiot. The Grand Duchess is higher ranking than the village chief.”
“Ah, I see! So, we can talk?”
Something was definitely going on.
Amber waited with a smile on her face.
Meanwhile, Raphael’s team was searching through the village’s bushes and storages. Igmeyer’s team had entered the empty houses.
