I, Who Was Betrayed By The People I Loved Most - Chapter 21

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I just wanted someone to say I was a good boy.

If I cried or made a fuss, Mother would get sick again, so I always stayed quiet.

The mansion was big, but it wasn’t beautiful at all.

The garden flowers were dead, and weeds grew wild. Dust piled up in the hallways, and the wallpaper was peeling in places and left that way.

“We don’t have enough maids.”

Marie would always sigh and say that.

I don’t think Marie liked me.
Even when our eyes met, she’d quickly look away. She took care of me, but never once spoke to me gently.

As for Father… I don’t think he ever even saw me.

I don’t remember him calling my name, or eating a meal with him—not even once.

Maybe to Father, whether I existed or not didn’t really matter.

After Mother died, some time passed, and then we left the mansion.

We had nowhere to go. At night, we slept under bridges or in the shadows of buildings.

When it rained, it was so cold. Marie would wrap her coat tightly around herself and not even glance at me.
Father just stood silently with his back turned.

There was hardly any food. Even when my stomach growled, no one said anything. It was like I hadn’t existed from the very beginning.

Then one day, Father suddenly handed me a letter.

“When you meet President Leticia, give her this,” he said, then took my hand and started walking.

We stopped in front of a big building.

It looked grand and important—and a little scary.
I felt like it was the kind of place someone like me wasn’t supposed to go into.

My chest tightened, and I felt even smaller than I already was.

When I turned around, Father and Marie were already gone.

The door in front of me was huge. It opened automatically with a magical mechanism.

Later, I learned it only opened for those it recognized.

All I could do was stand there, frozen in place.

What should I do? Would they really let me meet the President?

I couldn’t move, too anxious to take a step.

Then, I heard a gentle voice behind me.

“Oh my, little one. What are you doing here? This place is for grown-ups who are working. Where are your mother and father?”

Startled, I turned around.

There stood a beautiful lady, her hair shimmering like silver light.

Her eyes were a soft violet, and I couldn’t look away. She placed a tiny candy in my hand—it smelled sweet.

“I… I want to see… Miss Leticia… the President…”

“Oh my! I’m President Leticia.”

That beautiful lady smiled at me—warmly, kindly, like sunshine on a cold morning.