April sighed quietly as she gazed at the child.

At first, she tried to talk nicely with his aunt. In fact, if you think about it, the woman’s situation was also pitiful. How hard it must be to take care of her sister’s child, who does not even know who his father was, when she was already busy making a living on her own? Of course, that does not justify her negligence toward Asher. It was just that she could empathize with her a little.

Still, she did not try to get too involved in the relationship between Asher and the woman. It was because April thought that it was not her business.

‘…The concept of neglect here is different from that in Korea. In Korea, what’s considered abuse is often tolerated here.’

In any case, the woman left bread for Asher, so it could not be said that she had left him completely unattended. If she lost her temper about this, only she would be treated as a strange person, so all she could do was to give Asher a healthy meal every day.

Nevertheless, if she kept trying to shift the blame onto her like this, April could no longer overlook this woman’s behavior.

“I’ve wanted to ask Asher’s guardian something if I’ve ever met them, so this is great.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t seem to be eating properly at home, why is that?”

Her eyes grew more fierce.

“He’s not eating properly? Are you saying that I starved this child? I didn’t starve him! I even left bread for him every day!”

April did not bother answering that. After all, the answer to that question would be better known to the woman.

“Look at what he’s wearing, they are all old and too small for his size. When did you even buy these clothes? Do you even care about your child growing up?”

As if she had been stabbed on the spot, the woman’s face turned red.

“What do you even know? Do you know how hard it is to take care of a child?”

“….”

“You’re busy giving me a pasting, how can I get new clothes for him each season? I’ve seen you since you opened a cafe in a place like this. You must be living in a dream?”

As the woman’s voice rose, people who heard the commotion began to flock one by one.

“What’s going on?”

“Sarah? What’s wrong? What is she doing there?”

April bit her lip in embarrassment.

‘…What should I do?’

Since this village was small, the villagers were friendly. Naturally, April, who was a stranger, was out of place for them. So, if she fights with the woman named Sarah, people will take her side whether it is true or not. It was already hard to get close to the villagers and run a cafe, though if she created a conflict…

April could not even imagine the aftermath.

Meanwhile, Sarah shrugged her shoulders proudly as if she thought people who were on her side had appeared.

“Our Asher got a stomach ache after eating the food made in this cafe.”

At that, people started to whisper.

“Oh my God, really?”

“How did she manage her ingredients…”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t come. My daughter made a fuss saying she wanted to come here once, though it would’ve been a disaster if I had let her.”

As expected, people sided with Sarah regardless of whether her words were true or not.

April felt falsely accused—it could be said it was her fault that she gave Asher food without his guardian’s consent. However, she could not stand the accusation that the child had an upset stomach due to poor ingredients management.

“I…”

When April decided it was time for her to explain, Asher, who had been behind Sarah, plucked up his courage and stepped forward.

“Sis, sister April didn’t do anything wrong!”

All eyes were focused on Asher.

The child’s body shrank for a moment as if in embarrassment, but he persevered and firmly opened his mouth for April.

Of course, his voice was slightly lower than before.

“My stomach doesn’t hurt. My aunt is lying. I was hungry, so sister April made food for me.”

“Asher!”

As Sarah shouted, Asher’s voice grew even quieter.

“…And, sister April’s food is really delicious.”

The people looked at Asher and Sarah alternately, seemingly confused. Even to them, the child looked fine with no pain… No, to be honest, his face had gained a little bit of weight over the past week, and he looks rather healthy now.

While they did not know that Sarah did not take proper care of Asher, they could not openly take April’s side here either. So, they took Sarah’s side until the end.

“Sti-still, she shouldn’t give food without Sarah’s permission, his guardian.”

“Besides, how can she give him free food for nothing? She must’ve been trying to give Asher food and tried to extort money from Sarah.”

“Right.”

“Ha, really…”

April roughly swept her bangs.

Now that this has happened, it seems that there will not be any more chances of getting close to the villagers.

Then, she just had to say what she wanted to say.

“If you had eyes, you would’ve seen how Asher’s been doing. I gave him food because he was starving, should I be criticized for doing such a thing?”

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