Tania was silent as Baron Jason carried her injured body.  Climbed the steps of the stone stairs, through several passages and several servants, going through door after door, until he came to a stop at the last stop.

A spacious room greeted her, with glass windows without curtains, letting in the moonlight and spreading throughout the room.  The dim looked familiar to her, but if it\'s together with him...

"My Lord," she whispered, swaying in his warm embrace, welcoming the new wind and temperature.  His room was the warmest one she had ever felt, which gave off a chilling sensation of sweetness.  "Why do you…" Her words were unfinished as he walked across the soft carpet to the jumbo size bed, which seemed too much for a man like him who wasn\'t very muscular and didn\'t have many girlfriends.

"Wouldn\'t your parents be able to figure this out?"  As her body lay gently on the bed, something she had never felt except Gerald and Lyra, two people she considered family.  "Shouldn\'t it be better… better…."  She fought with her own will, which wanted to pull him in a hug without gaps, through the night serene and full of intimacy.

"This is inherited from my father," he said, looking at her eyes for a long time.  "Don\'t you know?"

Then he chuckled when he saw her confused expression as if she wanted to rejoice or perhaps condolences.

"People say I like to sell my poor life story, so I can get sympathy.  With that I will get the opportunity to enter into a cool circle, which makes me look similar," he explained at length.  "Haven\'t you heard the news about that?"

Tania glanced at the corner of the room, looking unsure of her memory.

Once again Baron Jason chuckled as if the simplest movement of her was something very funny and amusing.  "You\'re an innocent girl, aren\'t you?  Everyone in Eastlandor should know about it, about me bragging and talking a lot."

She was silent because she had heard the news.  However, she does not necessarily come to judge him.  All humans have their bad qualities.  As long as it doesn\'t bother her, then she doesn\'t care at all.

"Should I do the same to you?"  He said again, making her frown.  "I\'ll tell you about my sad past so you can sympathize with me, then we\'ll see what happens."

"What did you do it for?"  The frown on her forehead still hadn\'t disappeared.  "Shouldn\'t you conserve your energy and rest?"

Shrugging, hiding a gloomy expression.  "I don\'t know, I guess I just wanted to talk about it tonight."  Staring at the back of the bed.  "The servants must be busy.  I don\'t want to talk to busy people, because they won\'t give me 100% attention."

"What do you want to talk about?"  Her body was stiff because she was comfortable in the bed, the softest bed in her life, with a warm, soft, and fragrant blanket.  "I\'ll listen to it," she continued, wanting to say sweet words but quickly backing off.  She did this just to make matters easier for her.  She will obey and she will be released soon.

The trick usually worked quite well, and she had experience with it many times.

His fingers ran through her hair as if wanting to unravel every strand and find something of value.  "Who knows."  He snorted, suddenly feeling stupid for saying things he shouldn\'t have.  Shouldn\'t he keep quiet?  Shouldn\'t he reveal his past to just anyone?  Moreover, that person is a close friend of his enemy.

"I am an orphan."  Suddenly Tania spoke.  Her sensitivity to people\'s expressions changes helps her a lot to interact socially.  "Since childhood, I was raised in a children\'s shelter for beggars."  Her eyes looked far away as if she was stringing events after events in her dark past.

"My life was filled with work.  I had to get up early in the morning to beg in the market, or help the merchants to lift things to earn money."  Her smile widened, which was due to some ambiguity.  "Sometimes our leader asked us to steal at the market, just when the nobles were busy shopping."

Baron Jason was lost in thought, suddenly remembering when he went to the market a while ago because he wanted to buy something.  He could have asked the servants for it, but sometimes he wanted to go explore some places to get some fresh air.

At that time his money had been stolen by a small child.  Because she was not very proficient, he could catch her easily, shout at her and make her pounded by many people.  What he remembers is that she got a lot of injuries due to the persecution, then she burst into tears because she was dragged to jail.

His heart was burning with anger at that time.  The money she took wasn\'t much, but it still irritated him.

Now he imagines if she is Tania in childhood.  Tania\'s life must have been very pathetic, living in shambles, dirty, thin, malnourished, and full of fear.

"My Lord?"  Tania reproached, looking confused when she saw Baron Jason stunned.  She confirmed him once again, then sighed after he looked fine.  "Are you tired?  You better rest now!"

"I want to hear your story," he said haughtily.  "I have an opera owner\'s friend.  He needs some story topics for the show.  I can share your story with him and get some money in return.  So tell me!"  It\'s all a complete lie.  He does have an opera owner friend, but he is not close with him.

"Alright," she nodded as if this was the most profitable exchange.  Her eyes looked back into the distance, catching the weakest light to embrace.  "My life wasn\'t very special when I was little.  I just had to work, then eat, exhausted from being chased by the locals, in pain because I had to be beaten and scolded.  Everything was normal for me and my friends as if it were all natural, and everyone must feel it."

Sighing, her chest suddenly felt sore, because of the sadness that came over her.  "Then until I was adult enough to understand real life.  I began to see other children who were cared for and loved by their families.  I also saw how happy they were without having to work, without having to struggle.  They just have to smile, make cute faces, or cry to get what they want."

Baron Jason smiled bitterly.  He had been in those days when he had become a normal boy who was loved by his family.  He just needed to whine to get something, just needed to sulk a little to get his request fulfilled.  But life is not always like that, because suddenly his father had to die.

***