What Did I Do Wrong

Following the group back to the orphanage, Mrs. Cole indeed searched each of them one by one, checking if any bold brat had dared to pocket donations. When it was Tom's turn, Mrs. Cole curled her lip in disgust—this annoying thing, with a face so good-looking yet unwilling to cooperate, had cost her plenty of adoption opportunities.

"Why are you wearing so much! Take it off!"

Tom pressed his lips together and began to undress. The cold wind hit his body, making him shiver. That strange warm current had vanished at some point; if he stripped further, he'd surely catch a chill. "Is this enough, Mrs. Cole? I'm really cold. If I get sick, it'll be a lot of trouble."

Carefully feeling every corner of the clothes, Mrs. Cole paused at Tom's words, then tossed the garment back onto the brat. "Shut your crow's mouth! If you get sick, I've got no money to treat you either!" She barked, then spun around and snapped at the others standing nearby. "What are you gawking at! All waiting to go hungry?!"

Having finally gotten a few pieces of meat, Tom carefully cradled his bowl, taking small sips of the unusually savory broth. He picked up the last piece of bread, dipped it in the remaining soup, and rubbed his slightly full little belly.

Hoo~ Tonight's dinner was the best meal he'd had all year. He needed to head to bed early; starting tomorrow, he'd be busy—studying and continuing his experiments. He really looked forward to the days ahead.

"Goodnight... Matron."

Early the next morning, Tom dressed quickly and followed the other children. They were to begin basic spelling lessons. Unlike the others, Tom understood the importance of this well and carefully memorized every word the lady said.

Shaking his sore wrist, Tom finished the morning's lessons. Clutching the loose-paged picture book tightly, he reviewed the words he'd learned while walking toward the yard, not noticing the little girl glaring at him ahead.

"You demon!" Noma, red-eyed and furious, reached out and shoved Tom to the ground. If not for this demon, how would she have been punished by Mrs. Cole? The ruler's sting on her palm—all thanks to this fiend!

Tom lowered his eyes, staring at the scattered pages without a word. See, he could never truly own anything. He really wanted to treasure this book, but why couldn't he even manage that?

He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Not once had he been the one to provoke others. Was it because of his face? Was being good-looking his fault too?

"What did I do wrong?"

Hearing Tom's question, Noma laughed in anger. This demon dared to ask her what he'd done wrong, in such a calm voice?! Had he forgotten how he'd slammed her into the wall?! Had he forgotten that she was stuck in this godforsaken place because of him?!

"Hah! You demon can't even remember what you've done! Is hurting others just some trivial thing you can easily forget?!"

Slowly picking up the scattered papers from the ground, Tom stood up, tilted his head back, and stared expressionlessly at the furious girl before him. "You came looking for trouble with me first, didn't you? Maybe I really should be a demon..."

Walking away without a sideways glance, Tom reached his room, set the picture book on the table, and sat on the bed, staring blankly out the window at the sky.