Earlier, while Carolyn was surrounded in the alley.

Someone was watching the exchange between them.

Even though what the girl was saying was silly and reckless, he couldn’t help but admire how kind she was.

But he soon noticed new people entering the alley.

As the conversation between the girl and the gang of boys escalated, the boy subconsciously moved to step in.

But before he could make a move, he paused.

The girl that had entered earlier and the two behind her hadn’t left the alley. They were still hiding. The other boy and girl seemed to listen to the girl.

Would they just watch?

He decided to wait and see what would unfold.

Even as none of them made any move, and even as the boys made a grab for the other girl’s dress, he stayed where he was.

Instead, his eyes were fixed on the expressions of the brown haired girl watching with her companions. From his position, he could clearly see her expressions.

The mixture of expressions on her face was a bit amusing, and unknowingly, it seemed more interesting to watch compared to the actual scene.

From her reaction, he guessed that she knew the girl, so now he had absolutely no intention to step in. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He felt a gaze on him all of a sudden and almost thought he had been discovered.

He traced the gaze and landed on the boy that came with the girl.

On closer inspection, he realized that the gaze was not on him, but in his direction. The area he was on was dark so the chances of being discovered was low.

Still, when the gaze shifted, he concealed himself further before turning back to the scene.

His lips inevitably curled up when the girl stepped out to help.

He watched her bravely talk to those boys and strike a deal in the end.

But when it was time to hand over the bag, he was surprised too. Even he himself thought that there was money in the bag, only to see that it was actually milk candy.

He almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

Without him even knowing, his attention had totally shifted from the kind girl to the new brave girl.

When all of them had left the alley, he left the alley and the slums.

***

Meanwhile, Aristia and the others were running.

Only then did Carolyn notice that there were two other people with them. A girl and a boy.

But she couldn’t see their faces, only their backs.

She was falling behind as she ran and was already feeling quite tired, when suddenly, she was grabbed by the girl who had saved her and pulled to an inconspicuous corner.

Only then did she realize that the other two in front had stopped running. A hand was held over her mouth as the group of boys rushed past their group.

"Phew." Carolyn heaved a sigh of relief before turning to her savior.

Aristia glanced at her disdainfully. This heroine was an airhead. She really hadn’t hesitated to enter the slums in her noble dress.

She was fortunate she didn’t fall into the hands of truly malicious people. Even Owen and Vivian had the same thought as her.

This corner was dark, so Carolyn couldn’t see their faces clearly. But she could feel their gazes.

But she misunderstood.

She shook her head, her round eyes wide. "I really don’t have any money."

She mistook their gazes as them wanting money as compensation for saving her.

Aristia almost facepalmed.

But Carolyn’s eyes lit up. She bowed and curtsied at the same time, even though she now had a higher rank. She was doing this out of gratitude since her savior was a ’commoner’.

"Thank you for saving me." She said to Aristia. "I am now indebted to you. I owe you, and I will find a way to repay you!" She said.

Aristia’s brows twitched. [This female lead loves making promises.]

How would Carolyn be able to repay her? But because she wanted to get the hell out, she nodded and replied in a low voice.

"Then I will hold you to your word."

Carolyn quickly straightened up. "Thank you!"

Aristia didn’t respond, instead, she looked out at the entrance. Not hearing any sound of movement, she guessed the coast was clear.

She signalled to Vivian and Owen and the two prepared to leave.

She turned to Vivian. "Next time, be careful, especially when coming to a place like this."

Carolyn was stunned.

By the time she came to, the corner was empty. She was even more stunned. She quickly scrambled to leave.

Meanwhile, the boys chased until they discovered that they had lost the children.

"Oi! Those kids are too smart!" One of them complained.

"I can’t believe we were tricked." Another said.

"At least the milk candy is the boss sister’s favorite." One of them said with a shrug. "Let’s go back."

They turned back and returned to their boss’s house.

"We didn’t find them." One of them said. "But there were two other people with them."

"Should we keep looking for them?" Another person asked.

But Damon shook his head, indicating that there was no problem, his gaze shifting to Moira in his arms clutching a milk candy.

***

Aristia, Vivian and Owen had left the slums.

Aristia patted her side where her bag was supposed to be.

She had to sacrifice her bag just to save Carolyn. Now all the candy was gone. She had planned to share the candy among the children in Willows Haven.

She turned to Owen and Vivian. "We’ll have to buy some milk candy." She said.

The two nodded in agreement.

They headed towards a stall.

Owen moved closer to her and lowered his head a bit then said in a low voice. "I felt like we were being watched earlier."

"Hm?" Aristia and Vivian stopped and turned to look at him.

Owen continued, "When we were still in that alley. It felt like someone was watching us."