It took Adrian several hours to follow Maruchsca and eventually find out where exactly she was going to.

He hid behind a tree near the place of his destination. It was this small building with a plain exterior and a fairly spacious lawn. Surrounding it was a cantilever gate, some trees, and a row of hedges that form a kind of barrier that marked the boundary of the area.

​​

Only when Adrian got to see a group of children did he realize that it was an orphanage.

They all went out to meet and greet Maruschca together with their female caretaker. He looked around for more details, but he realized that they were the only people there. Though it's too early to come up with a conclusion, he couldn't help but sigh in relief when he found no male adult around.

"Hey, who are you?"

Then, he froze.

Adrian is caught off guard the moment someone calls his attention, but after realizing that the person sounds like a child, he calms down right away. There is no way that he will be intimidated by a toddler, much less let whoever this is bust him out. Besides, his disguise is perfect, so there is nothing to worry about.

With that, he turns around but only to find that there is no one there. Nonplussed, he then blinks and scans around his surroundings for a moment longer. Even then, he still found no one.

"You don't look like you're from around here."

Just when Adrian thought that he was only hearing things, he finally got to realize that it was coming from above the tree. With a puzzled expression, he tilts his head up to see the child, and sure enough, there is one - a little girl around the age of ten or eleven.

She has long black hair that is dyed in red from the middle up until its wavy ends. While her face that is riddled with band-aids seems to be a little concerning, her eyes have the richest shade of red that he ever saw - so deep and fierce that they somehow penetrate through his soul.

"Who are you? And what's with the hoodie and the hat? You look gloomy in them," she asked while she only continued sitting on the branch of the tree with her legs dangling below her.

"That doesn't look safe, kid. Get down here. How did you even get there?" he replied with a concerned expression, both feeling worried that she might fall and evading the question on purpose.

"You talk like you never climbed a tree before. Then again, you don't look like you're getting enough fun and exercise. Must be a boring childhood."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"I'm just saying my opinion."

"Look, I'm only concerned 'cause that tree is pretty high. Accidents can happen anytime. So, get down."

"No, I won't. You ain't my mommy-"

"I can see your panties too."

"What...?!!!"

Startled, she hastily grabs the hem of her skirt and pulls it down, but with how abrupt the action is, she ends up putting too much force that she accidentally slips from the tree branch. While she screeches in surprise, he reacts flabbergasted and gapes at the sight of her falling down straight to him. He tries to reach out his arms in an attempt to catch her, but it turns out to be much too late.

She already came crashing and kicking him in the face.

"Arghhhh...!!!" Adrian shrieked in the pain as soon as his face came into contact with her feet.

Stepping on him helps her regain her balance and land on the ground without hurting herself. With that, he is the one who gets to be in a world of pain instead. He staggers back from the impact and holds his assaulted nose and jaw, still groaning out loud.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kick you like that...!" she exclaimed in panic while flailing her hands about and fidgeting nervously.

"F-For now, though, let me get you treated-"

"Cassidy, where are you?!"

Right then, she stilled.

She got cut off the moment she heard the caretaker of the orphanage calling for her. That throws her into panic even more. She has to get out of there before her guardian finds her. But at the same time, she can't just leave him on his own. She still hasn't even apologized properly.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" Adrian blurted out in surprise when she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Follow me!"

Without sparing any more second, she then starts pulling him away from that place and making her retreat.

---

The two of them later find themselves in a marketplace where Adrian gets treated with an ice pack and a band-aid for the side of his lip - apparently, it was a little worse than he thought.

"The name's Cassidy, by the way. What's yours?" the culprit behind his swollen body parts and aching jaw questioned with an innocent-sounding tone.

At the moment, he is sitting on a bench at the side of the street while she is standing right in front of him. She is still making sure that his nose is no longer bleeding, and though she does appear to be calm, he can tell that she genuinely feels bad and guilty.

She even looks so serious in treating him that she doesn't mind their closeness. Her nervous expression amuses him above all.

"Where's all that cheekiness now, brat?" Adrian chuckled with a smirk.

"I asked for your name - not an insult," Cassidy deadpanned.

"I don't want to say it."

"That's unfair. I told you mine."

"I didn't ask for it."

"Then, I'm just gonna call you Mister Shady after all!"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you look shady as heck, mister no-name. You look dull and depressing too. It's a fitting nickname, don't you think?"

Adrian takes his turn to shoot Cassidy a flat look. It seems like she is really fond of teasing strangers - even those who are older than her. Now, he is torn between thinking that she is only being friendly and feeling like she is messing around with him. But at least, she didn't insist to know his real name.

"Say, Mister Shady, you were watching that old lady who visited the orphanage, weren't you...?" Cassidy chimed in once more as she flopped down on the seat beside him.

"Are you her stalker or something? Don't go hitting on her, alright? Age may not matter, but that is still kinda-"

"Why do you always jump to conclusions? Can't you hold a proper conversation for once...?" Adrian cut her off and talked through gritted teeth in miff.

"Well, considering that you noticed what I was doing the whole time, I bet you were also watching me. Then, does that mean you're going to hit on me too? Are you my stalker, hmm?"

"I was just joking, geez...! You've really got no humor. Hmph...!"

With a pout, she huffs at him and crosses her arms. He only heaves a sigh in return and props his elbow on his knee before putting his chin on top of his hand. Silence stretches between them for the next seconds to come. Through the corners of his eyes, he just keeps staring at her until she begins talking again.

"That old lady visits the orphanage most of the time. Everyone there had grown fond of her. She is very kind and generous - always donating, looking after the welfare of the orphans, giving presents, and more..." Cassidy started again while looking up at the sky with a distant gaze.

"No one knows who she truly is or where she comes from. No one even knows if she still has a family or she is already living on her own. However, everyone trusts her kindness. After all, she has been doing nothing but giving and giving ever since she appeared there years ago."

'That does sound like Grandma Maruschca, but...' Adrian silently thought to himself.

'Why this orphanage specifically? And even Grandfather doesn't know about it. In fact, nobody does. It still feels like she is hiding something.'

While he was busy pondering over what she just said, he almost failed to notice how she got distracted by a passing figure. He is a little taken aback to see her brightening up all of the sudden. Her eyes grew a little wide while her cheeks flush a faint shade of pink. She appears to be exhilarated about whatever it is she is looking at right now.

Curious, he looks away from her and turns to that direction. That's when he finds someone selling ice cream from a distance. It's not that hard to see that she is fond of ice cream, but even though it's more than obvious that she wants one, she doesn't look like she is going to go there and buy.

"Do you want some ice cream...?" Adrian asked, making Cassidy perk up and nod ecstatically.

"Buy one, then."

And she pouts.

She thought that he asked because he was going to treat her. But then again, he has no reason to do that. She doubts he will even treat the person who kicked him in the face. That being said, all she could do was sigh and slump down in disappointment. She already spent her remaining pocket money for the ice pack and band-aid, so she couldn't treat herself too.

Little did Cassidy know that Adrian was only teasing her. Seeing her dismayed reaction is both satisfying and amusing. Her pout is really cute as well. At least for these, he will treat her to it.

"What flavor do you like? I'll just buy one for you."