I changed my position to carry her with one hand. Now she leaned her head against my arm and held my other hand with both of hers.
Then I heard the sound of something falling. I looked down and was met with the sight of candies falling out of her pocket one after another.
It looked like she was a greedy kid. So many candies were stuffed in her pocket.
“Pick them up.” I glanced at the soldier and motioned for him to pick up all the candies on the ground.
“Yes.”
He obediently gathered the candies and held them out toward me. “What should I do with them?”
“Put them back in her pocket.” I shot him another cold glance.
“Okay.”
The soldier stuffed all the candies back into the child’s pocket, making it bulge again.
“What… What should we do with the little girl?” the soldier asked fearfully.
I remained quiet as I stared down at the kid. Strangely, I felt a sense of familiarity as I studied the child’s face. Her tiny nose, small mouth, and long eyelashes were all exquisite.
“Let me take care of her,” the soldier suggested. He attempted to pull the child’s hand away.
However, the girl held on tightly. The soldier put a little more force into prying her fingers apart. The girl’s eyebrows furrowed and a sob escaped her lips, as if she was in pain.
“Let go of her and get back!” I shouted.
The soldier was startled and quickly pulled his hand away. His face was a mask of confused innocence, as if he didn’t know what he had done wrong.
My reaction shocked me as well. This was just a child I’d never met before. I shouldn’t have behaved so emotionally.
“Forget it. Let’s go back,” I said frostily.
“Okay.” The soldier nodded submissively and then retreated, not daring to touch the child again.
I walked out of the woods with the little girl in my arms. Her head now rested on my shoulder, and her arms were firmly wrapped around my neck. The pigtails on her head were crooked.
I automatically reached out to adjust the rubber band in her hair.
She moaned quietly. I hastily withdrew my hand, feeling a little nervous.
Rufus’ POV
I walked out of the woods with an icy expression. The two unconscious robbers were dragged out by the soldiers as well.
It was getting late. I didn’t stay there any longer. I turned my head and ordered the soldiers to organize a team to continue searching the area. I wanted to check if there were any other survivors. I also hoped to locate this child’s family.
As I studied the sleeping child on my shoulder, I felt that luck had been on her side today.
The military parade was going to be held in a few days. I just happened to have some free time today to lead my soldiers here to inspect the surroundings of the imperial capital and make preparations for the parade.
If I hadn’t bumped into the child today, she would have died.
The laws of the empire were strict. The loopholes had been revised a few years ago, leaving many criminals who wanted to take advantage of it with nowhere to go. As a result, the crime rate had significantly dropped in the past few years.
I had thought that no such blatant robbery and murders took place now, but instead, I encountered such a vicious incident when I happened to go out of the city for inspections.
Initially, I found a coach bus on the road. There weren’t many survivors at that time. The robbers had shot dead most of the passengers, and only a few children and she-wolves were alive.
I didn’t know where the robbers had escaped. After the survivors pointed us in the right direction, I let my soldiers into the forest to search for them.
As a result, as soon as we entered the forest, we spotted two robbers grabbing a little girl’s head and slamming it into a rock.
Fortunately, we had arrived in time, or the girl would have been dead.
But to my surprise, there was a large burn mark on one of the criminals’ faces. The wound looked new, but there was no sign of fire around.
I wanted to figure out what had actually gone down, but we had knocked the robbers out hard and they were still unconscious.
This was not the right time to interrogate them, not to mention that the girl in my arms was still in danger and she required immediate treatment.
I was left with no choice but to instruct the soldiers to take the robbers back and imprison them for now.
The cars for me and my men were parked by the side of the road. I got into the first one, cradling the child in my arms.
Once we were inside, the little girl seemed to have sensed that the danger was over and her grip around my neck loosened. But she cried intermittently. Sometimes it was a cry of pain; sometimes she called out for her mommy and someone named Arron.
Her cries were very soft. Her thin lips quivered slightly, and her bloody forehead made her look very pitiful.
Unfortunately, I was neither her mother nor Arron. I couldn’t comfort her.
My face was expressionless as she curled up in my arms. I was unwilling to soothe her.
The best I could do was hold her in my arms. I had never been a gentle person to begin with.
I didn’t know why, but my irritation was increasing by the minute. The child was still crying, but now she wasn’t calling out for her mother or Arron anymore. Only whimpers of pain escaped her lips.
I pursed my lips and looked down, inexplicable emotions churning deep within my heart.
“Hurry up,” I ordered the driver.
“Yes, sir,” he answered cautiously, pressing down on the accelerator.
The scenery outside the window was a blur and we were steadily getting closer to the imperial palace.
The little girl in my arms finally fell silent and drifted off.
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