No. 1 King Of Valor

"Little boy, what's wrong? Why are you two sitting by the roadside? Where are your parents?" Jane, a young woman in her early twenties, crouched down.

Two skinny, pale-faced children sat huddled on the pavement, their tattered clothes hanging loosely from their small frames, dirt smudged across their cheeks.

Their faces were young and innocent. They looked no older than eight or nine. They were holding each other tightly and they looked incredibly identical.

'They must be siblings,' Jane thought as she crouched down to get a closer look at them.

But unexpectedly, the children shrank away. They appeared to be scared of her.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you," Jane smiled reassuringly. "Where do you live? Where are your parents? I'll take you home."

But the children didn't respond or look up. If anything, they only seemed more scared of her.

'This won't do,' Jane frowned slightly and stepped back. Then she reached into the small handbag strapped to her arm and brought out the steamed buns she had bought this morning.

"Are you hungry? You can have this," she stretched the hot, steamed buns towards them.

The sweet aroma wafted to the children's noses and they lifted their heads. Their eyes shone at the sight of the delicious buns.

Jane smiled in relief. She knew it. This would definitely do the trick. It must have been a long time since these poor kids ate. How long have they been wandering around?

"We don't want your buns."

Just then, Jane's thoughts were disrupted by a childish but chilly tone. She looked down and was surprised to see the little boy staring up at her coldly.

He was so young but his eyes were empty and his demeanor was also terrifying.

"Finn," a softer, faint voice called out this time. The little girl pulled her brother's arms with a pitiful look. "I'm hungry."

"Isla," the little boy, Finn, looked helpless. "You can't just accept food from strangers."

"But I'm hungry," Isla teared up, clutching her stomach painfully. "We haven't eaten for a long time. My head aches and my tummy hurts badly."

Finn looked at her helplessly. Then he gave in reluctantly, "Fine. You can eat the buns but I won't have any of them."

Isla didn't need to be told twice. She immediately snatched the buns out of Jane's hands and gobbled them up.

"Careful. Eat slowly or you will choke," Jane patted her back and gave her a bottle of water to drink.

Finn watched them with a reluctant look but he didn't say a word. When Isla had finished the buns, she smiled at Jane, "Thank you, aunty."

"Good girl," Jane smiled back and patted her head gently. "Now tell me where your parents are so I can take you home."

Isla's expression dampened slightly and she opened her mouth to speak, "My mother is—"

"We have no family," Finn didn't let her complete her sentence.

Jane gasped, clearly taken aback by his words. They were orphans? "So you two have just been wandering around. Poor children."

Before the children could speak, she shook her head, "This is not good. There are a lot of bad people that will try to harm you two. Come with me. I will take you to an orphanage. You will be safe there."

"Really aunty?!" Isla's eyes lit up. She seemed more gullible among the two.

"Hmm mhm!" Jane nodded and attempted to help Isla up when—

"Don't touch my sister! How do we know you are not one of those bad people?" Finn pulled his sister away from her grip. His facial expression was too cold and arrogant for a small child.

"You silly boy," Jane chuckled. "Using my words against me, huh? You are quite smart. Fine, look at this. I work at the orphanage."

Jane brought out an identification card and gave it to Finn. There were some difficult words the little boy couldn't pronounce but he could read her name and the name of the orphanage written boldly on the card.

Jane Anderson.

Cleaning staff.

Sunshine Orphanage.

"Are you satisfied now, smartypants?" Jane asked as she collected her identification card.

"Hmm," Finn gave a little snort.

Jane was speechless. With this snobbish attitude, someone could easily mistake this arrogant boy for a young master of some wealthy family.

But these two just told her that they were orphans so she must have thought wrongly.

Putting her thoughts aside, she held Isla's hand and helped her up.

"Let's go then. I'm already late for work as it is."

---

Inside Sunshine Orphanage, Jane brought the two children to a huge door but didn't follow them in.

"Aunty, won't you come with us?" Isla was visibly confused.

Didn't this kind aunty bring them to the orphanage to keep them safe? Why was she leaving them now?

"Ah no, I can't follow you in," Jane laughed nervously. "Just go inside and tell them that you want to register for orphan certificates. They won't refuse you."

Jane didn't want to tell them that she couldn't follow them in because unimportant staff like the cleaning staff weren't allowed into this department without an invitation.

Besides that, she was already late to work. If any of her bosses caught her now, she would be severely punished.

She has done all she can by feeding these two children and bringing them to the orphanage herself.

"Aunty, didn't you—" Isla felt sad and still wanted to ask questions.

But Finn was more sensible. After all, Jane has helped them a lot. He pulled his sister back and bowed slightly.

"Thank you, aunty. I will repay you in future."

"Aiyo," Jane laughed, obviously not taking the little boy's words seriously. "It's good enough that you will be safe. I'll wait for you to repay me then."

Then she waved at them and walked away. Isla pouted sadly, "Why didn't you let the kind aunty come with us, Finn?"

"She has work to do. She will get into trouble if we delay her. Come with me," Finn pulled her with him as he pushed the huge door open.