Volume 5 Chapter 126
by Need_More_SleepVolume 5 + Chapter 126: The Wish Fulfilled
“Ah… ha…”
The wandering boy staggered forward, continuing toward Spring Breeze Orphanage.
He didn’t know whether his wish would reach the gods.
But since he hadn’t told anyone about it…
Maybe… would it come true?
“If it does… that would be nice.”
The boy gave a faint, bitter smile.
His condition was worsening. The cold had likely made him ill, and his steps slowed.
“…So tired.”
He desperately wanted to find a warm place to rest for a while.
He stopped in front of a shop.
Through the display window, he saw beautiful clothes, while the shopkeeper sat comfortably by a heater, waiting for customers.
He glanced at the entrance, wanting to go inside and beg the owner to let him stay for a moment.
But as he stepped forward and saw his reflection in the glass, he hesitated.
Messy hair, dirt-covered face, ragged clothes, and a foul smell clinging to his body.
Forget going inside, even standing at the door might anger the owner, who might drive him away with a stick.
He had experienced that far too many times.
“…Forget it. I should just… go to the Spring Breeze Orphanage sooner.”
The boy murmured softly.
He resumed his journey.
This was his last remaining hope. If the orphanage didn’t take him in, his sickened body might not survive the winter, he would collapse in the snow and never rise again.
“2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13…”
As he walked, he recited prime numbers.
The cold numbed his mind, making him unbearably sleepy, as if the moment he stopped thinking, he would collapse.
He had seen it before, street children falling asleep in the snow during winter, never waking again.
So he used this method to stay conscious.
In truth, no one cared if street children died. Some might even think it was a good thing, they disrupted the city and caused trouble.
No one wished for them to live.
If anything, people might think fewer of them in winter was better.
Thud.
Suddenly, his consciousness wavered. He was too tired, his eyelids heavy as lead, and he collapsed.
But just as he was about to fall asleep, he remembered his wish.
“No… I can’t… give up here…”
The boy bit his tongue, using pain to force himself awake, and struggled back to his feet.
He kept moving forward.
The winter streets were desolate. People had returned home, and snow piled thickly on the ground.
His footprints stretched behind him in the snow.
A piece of paper fluttered down before him, bearing the portrait of a boy.
He bent down and picked it up, it was a missing person notice.
A pair of parents were searching for their child, who had been abducted by bandits.
“If only… my parents were looking for me too.”
The boy stared at the portrait. It looked strangely familiar…
But he didn’t think much of it, tossing the paper aside.
Ahead, a couple was posting more notices.
“Honey… Do you think we’ll really find our son?”
“Believe me. Our son must be waiting for us too. Don’t give up!”
The husband encouraged his wife.
Both looked exhausted.
“It’s all my fault… If we hadn’t gone traveling… it’s all because of me…”
“It’s not your fault. It’s the bandits’ fault.”
The husband held his wife, forcing a reassuring smile.
They were merchants of decent means. During a slow season, the wife suggested a trip, and the husband agreed, they traveled together with their child.
On the road, they encountered bandits who abducted their child and demanded a ransom.
They paid, but the bandits broke their promise and demanded even more.
Left with no choice, the husband sought help from a powerful family to eliminate the bandits, but in the chaos of battle, their child went missing.
Even now, there was no trace.
“Gods, please… please protect our son… he must be safe…!” the wife wept as she prayed.
“…”
As the boy passed them, he stumbled and accidentally bumped into them.
“I’m sorry… sir, I’m really sorry, I dirtied your clothes. I didn’t mean to!”
Afraid of being beaten, the boy quickly lowered his head in apology and tried to leave.
But the husband’s expression suddenly changed.
“Y-you are…!!”
The wife looked closely at the boy’s face, her body trembling.
As a mother, she could never mistake him.
“My child… we’ve finally found you!!”
Ignoring his filth and smell, they embraced him tightly.
The boy froze. His sluggish thoughts began to turn.
The portrait… did look like him.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Child, we are your parents! Ever since you went missing, we’ve given up everything to search for you!” the husband said excitedly.
“Thank the heavens… the gods have finally heard our wish! My child, you’ve suffered so much… so much…” The mother stroked his face as tears streamed down. “It’s alright now. It’s alright.”
“…”
The boy blinked, stunned.
Before even reaching the orphanage… he had found his parents?
…
…
The couple brought the boy home.
They thoroughly cleaned him, hired the best doctors, and even brought in a nutritionist to restore his health.
Under their careful care, the boy quickly recovered.
Even the doctor said his survival was a miracle, any ordinary child would have died in the winter.
He was told his name was Lyle.
Looking in the mirror, Lyle saw a completely transformed version of himself, his messy hair neatly trimmed, his skin restored to a healthy tone, dressed in fine noble garments even more exquisite than those in the shop window.
Fragments of memory returned, he had been imprisoned and tortured by vicious bandits.
One day, when the bandit camp was attacked, he escaped during the chaos.
While fleeing down the mountain, he fell, struck his head, and tumbled into a river, where he was carried away.
When he awoke, his memories were fragmented, he wandered alone… until miraculously reuniting with his parents.
“My wish… came true?”
Lyle smiled for the first time in a long while. Turning around, he saw his parents watching him with loving smiles.
He ran forward and embraced them.
His wish had finally come true.
At last… he had a warm family.
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