8 years later…

"Found you Shiro!", a boy said as he patted Shiro's shoulder.

"Oh, you got me!"

"You've got to hide in better places, Shiro.", the boy said as he walked away to find more of his friends.

"But I'm so tired.", Shiro mumbled. He had been playing hide and seek with his friends for more than two hours now.

Shiro decided to wait for all of his friends to be found while laying on the sand on the seashore.

"The sea looks beautiful today as well!", Shiro said as he clenched his fist as he looked at the vast sea.

The boy had to find about 7 to 8 more of their friends, so Shiro had the time to relax for a while.

Just as he was about to sleep, the boy came back and yelled at him, "Shiro! Let's play another round!"

Shiro groaned. "But I'm tired.", he whined to his friends.

"But it's your turn to find us, Shiro.", the boy stated as a matter of factly.

Shiro looked at them and eventually gave in, "Fine. I'll count to 100 and find all of you."

"Okay!"

Shiro closed his eyes and began counting. All of his friends ran to find a good hiding spot.

"99, 100! Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Shiro heard some giggles behind some of the trees, which was a big giveaway of his friends' position.

However, Shiro pretended not to hear them and walked the other way.

He walked back to the village by himself, leaving all of his friends in their hiding spots.

'If I'm the seeker, no one would blame me for not finding them!', Shiro thought to himself as he skipped to the village.

Of course, his friends would realize he was no longer there and head home. They would think Shiro had gone to another place to look for them.

When Shiro arrived home, he saw a few men waiting in front of his house door. Some of them were half-naked and had their clothes in their hands.

Slowly, Shiro crept towards his house and hid behind one of the bushes.

"Hey, Shiro! What are you doing?", a familiar feminine voice asked him.

Shiro turned around and placed his index finger on his lips while saying, "Shh."

The girl looked at him confused. "Why?", she whispered as she approached him.

Shiro pointed towards the half-naked men, "Those people are here, sister."

Yes, it was his sister, Sera, who came walking toward him.

Sera looked at the half-naked men and gasped. She immediately covered Shiro's eyes using her hand.

"How much have you seen?", she asked.

"Uh- Their muscular body?", he replied.

Sera sighed as she removed her hand.

"Shiro, I have already told you many times, when you see something like these men gathering here, immediately run or at least cover your eyes, okay?"

Shiro nodded. "But who are they, sister?"

"I-I don't know, Shiro.", Sera whispered as she watched the men walk away from their home.

"Let's ask mom.", Shiro said as he pulled Sera's hand and walked towards their home.

"Mom, we're home-", Shiro said, only to be shocked by the scene in front of them.

Loyola was naked, only covering herself with a piece of white cloth. Her hair was messy and her body was bruised. She looked tired and weary as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.

Shiro stood there for a second, not knowing where to look at.

"Mom, the sun has been up for so long, yet you have not woken up?"

"And why are you naked? Haha…", he tried to laugh it off but something felt weird.

He wasn't able to understand if his words were right or wrong.

Sera, on the other hand, merely stood by the front entrance. She closed the front door and slowly walked up to her mother.

Upon closer look, those bruises looked quite bad. It seemed like there was a lot of pressure placed on her body.

Loyola realized her both children were looking at her disheveled state and pulled the sheet closer to her body. She looked down in shame.

However, her action had revealed the most important clue about what had happened. A hickey on her neck.

Being 16, Sera knew what a hickey was. Moreover, the scene was more than enough to make her understand Loyola's situation. In fact, she had been aware of this for a long time. She gasped as she rushed to her mother's side.

"Mom- did you sell your body to the men who left our home?", Sera asked, gently holding onto Loyola's arms.

Loyola didn't dare to face her daughter. She had indeed done a shameful thing, and she did not want her children to view her as someone bad. So, she kept her mouth shut.

She picked up the Gold coins beside her.

"Here, take this…", she mumbled.

"Leave this, Mom, are you listening? Why did you do it?", Sera pestered again. She could feel her eyes brimming with tears.

Loyola looked up and saw her daughter's red eyes. She cupped her daughter's face softly and whispered, "I'm sorry, my child."

Tears poured down Sera's cheeks like a waterfall.

"Why mom? This wasn't the first time I stumbled into you looking like this."

Loyola leaned forward and placed her forehead on Sera's. She used her thumb to wipe all of Sera's tears.

"It's okay, Sera. Everything is okay now.", Loyola mumbled softly.

"No, it's not mom! Why did you have to do it? Where is your dignity?", Sera whispered as tears continued falling down her cheek.

This time, Loyola couldn't take it and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"It was the Anti-Pirate Federation. They were here to collect tax, and I didn't have anything to give them."

"So by selling my body, not only can I avoid paying tax, but they would give some coins for our living…", Loyola explained, trying not to lose herself completely.

"So, you just gave them-"

"Yes, Sera. It was for the best."