Henryk hadn't slept all night. Philip and Irin hadn't left the inn until around noon. The chilled boy looked at them with contempt.
"What took you so long?"
"Sorry, kid, but that brat wouldn't change into new clothes," Philip explained, trying to avoid Zielczyk's gaze.
When he looked at Irin and the way she was dressed, he laughed loudly, trying to stifle it, but unfortunately, with little success. She was wearing a white shirt and brown trousers like her uncle, but she also wore brown suspenders, and the icing on the cake was a dark yellow bow tie.
Henryk's laughter made Irin's face even more dissatisfied.
"What are you so happy about?" the girl asked aggressively.
"Nothing, you just look quite good," the boy said with a laugh.
Until now, he'd only seen her in gray clothes, and they were quite worn, so it was a welcome change for him to see her in something clean. When he stopped laughing, it was a signal to Philip, who wanted to say something to Henryk. He told him to go around the city with Irin, as he had some business to attend to. Zielczyk didn't mind; on the contrary, he wanted to explore, and going with Irin was a good opportunity.
Philip left them at the inn. The streets weren't as crowded as the day before, so he could continue on in the carriage and take care of his business.
They were left alone on the sidewalk. Unsure of what to say, Henryk remained silent for a while, until Irin finally began the conversation.
"So where are we going?"
"I don't know. I'll trust you."
"Well, let's start by going to the market," the girl said, grabbing Henryk's hand and pulling him toward the market.
The sun was shining, and the Wojtyn market was quite busy. The stalls were filled with food, books, and all sorts of melee weapons. Henryk was drawn to the former. The food stalls were stocked with large, juicy apples, doughnuts, vegetables, and roasted meat on a spit.
"What a juicy smell. Isn't it, Irin?" Henryk said dreamily, inhaling the scent of the juicy meat.
The girl, still holding his hand, only made an irritated face.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Continuing to tug on the boy's hand like a dog on a leash, Irin led him to other stalls, but they didn't buy anything. Resigned, they had no choice but to continue on their way to the rest of the city.
They finally found themselves in a rather wealthy-looking district. The appearance of the people here was completely different from the people in the market square.
"This must be a noble district or something," Henryk concluded, watching two women dressed in servants' clothes follow a single, wealthy-looking boy. "They'll live like that."
"Damn, what a big house!" Irin interrupted his thoughts with an excited voice, approaching a tall gate behind which lay a vast garden with an opulent-looking house. "I haven't been here in two years, but Mrs. Theresia Morgan's house still looks amazing... But I still don't understand why anyone needs so many rooms? Besides her, only the servants live there."
"It's a symbol of power."
"Hmm?"
"It's about the symbolism of power," Henryk repeated, also looking at the enormous house behind the iron gate. "This large cottage screams, 'I am a nobleman, commoners. The greatest honor for you is to fall at my feet.'"
"Do you think so? The last time I saw her, Mrs. Theresia looked like a decent woman from a distance."
"Perhaps, but nobility and wealth often come from the pile of corpses of people they think they are superior to..."
Although the girl was aware of the power of authority and wealth of the nobility, she never truly perceived it the way the boy had presented it. Given the conditions she currently lives in, it's hard for her to imagine the simple and lazy lives of low-ranking nobles in Wojtyn, such as Teresa Morgan, let alone nobles from larger cities like the royal capital.
A look of dejection crossed her face as she gazed blankly at the gardens belonging to the noblewoman... and that's when she received a powerful slap to the forehead.
"Ouch!"
"For a little child, you look like you're really lost in thought." Zielczyk commented, slowly backing away from the steel gate. "Come on. I'm usually the one who gives gloomy faces. So smile a little. Filip will probably tire us out with work tomorrow, so let's make the most of it." He said, urging her on. Irin had no choice but to follow him, pushing away her gloomy thoughts.
...
It was quiet and peaceful. They found themselves on a crowded sidewalk, with various carriages driving along the gravel street. They both pushed their way through the crowd, trying to move on, but gave up after ten minutes and sat down on a nearby bench. Surprisingly, it wasn't occupied.
Sitting on the bench, they didn't speak to each other for a long moment, until finally...
"What the fuck?"
Irin looked at Henryk, confused, and saw him staring at something. When she looked where he was, a cold shiver ran down her spine.
On the crooked roof of a grocery store stood a girl. She was a tall, blonde woman with long hair and a brown dress. The moment Irin saw her, the blonde twirled around for a moment before making a sudden leap to the side of the store's roof.
"What's up, is she doing ballet?" Henryk asked himself, his gaze fixed on the dancing blonde.
Less than half a minute passed before the dancing girl was noticed by other passersby. Everyone seemed to forget their own business and began watching her dance on the roof. A small commotion erupted below.
"What's she doing up there?!"
"That child is crazy!"
"I wonder if she'd jump so eagerly for a guy, ha ha."
"She's a lunatic! Where are the guards?"
"I'm sure they're just sitting on their asses right now, doing nothing. Besides, it's no wonder. It's Wojtyn, after all."
When the blonde saw everyone below staring at her, she began to laugh happily, not pausing her fluid dance. After a while, she stopped dancing, stood on the edge of the roof, and bowed low like an actress in a theater. After a moment of silence, everyone around her began to cheer and applaud, even Irin hesitantly joining in. As for Henryk, he only clapped lightly, feeling the strange sensation that the performance wasn't over yet. He wasn't wrong. The girl, still bowing, suddenly leaned forward slightly. That was enough. The blonde fell from the roof. It was fast. With her fall, a sound like a rake breaking could be heard. All the cheering died down, and the carriages in the street stopped.
Henryk felt terrified. He wanted to throw up yesterday's food, as if he were in a freezer. When he looked at Irin, he saw tears of fear and shock in her eyes. He grabbed her hand and tried to take her away, but she refused to go anywhere.
"Can you go there?"
Zielczyk was confused. Why should he go there? But in the end, he went without hesitation, heading towards the blonde's fall, leaving Irin alone on the bench. He had to push his way a bit, but he reached the scene without any major problems.
Something terrible met his eyes. The blonde was lying facedown in a pool of her own blood, but what horrified Henryk most was the sight of her wide eyes and a frantic smile on her face.
The boy had had enough. He felt like vomiting. He quickly returned to Irin and carried her away from the scene.
...
When they returned to the inn, the sun was setting. When they opened the door to their rented room, they found Philip sitting on the bed.
"Oh, hey. How was the city?"
He received no answer, only saw that Henryk and Irin were as pale as chalk. Concerned, he asked, "What happened?" but again received no answer.
Suddenly, the boy let go of Irin's hand and went to lie down on the bed where Philip was sitting. Irin joined him a moment later and lay down next to him. A disoriented Philip got out of bed, having no idea what had happened to them. After a moment of thought, he decided to leave them alone and go watch the carriage that night.
When he left, the sun had set, and the room grew dark. Henryk, lying on his side, could hear and feel Irin's hot breath on his back. He felt that she was terrified.
[Well, yes. No wonder she's only twelve, no wonder she's scared now.] the boy thought, sighing with resignation.
Unfortunately, the boy had already forgotten that he was in a world reminiscent of the Middle Ages, and that the death of young people was a daily possibility.
"Henryk, are you sleeping yet?" Irin asked in a whisper.
"No, but What?"
Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored her, but this was the first time the girl had called him by name since she'd introduced herself, and he decided it would be better to respond.
"Why do you think that girl died? Did she have to kill herself so senselessly?"
"I don't know... Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe she just wanted to die so she would be remembered."
After Henryk's words, Irin didn't say a word that night. After a while, she simply fell asleep. Unfortunately, the boy didn't have it so easy; he still saw the blonde's corpse and her Joker-like smile in his mind.
[[Reference Art for Irin in comment.]]