A 10-year-old boy stood angrily at the vast land in front of him. It’s full of greenery, flowers, and trees. Completely brimming with life. Mocking what he was feeling right now. His eyes burned with rage, fear, sadness, and just every negative emotion a kid of his age could feel.
His parents were dead. The private spacecraft they were travelling on exploded while they were travelling. The military said that the spacecraft was attack by space pirates. After robbing the spacecraft, they blew it up to not leave any evidence. The feedback from the cameras set up inside the spacecraft certainly showed that. The pirates appeared, looted the spacecraft, after they left, it blew up. The conclusion could easily be made in that footage.
But Remi didn’t think that it was all that. There was definitely someone controlling everything from behind. And he was willing to bet his life it was his dear uncle.
That bastard had been wanting to get his hands on the family fortune. But he wouldn’t be able to do that with Remi’s father around. Now with him dead, all the wealth of their family now belonged to that bastard. If it wouldn’t look suspicious, the other would probably have him dead as well.
So, the other only threw him in this third-rate planet far away from the capital star. That bastard would probably let him rot here as a waste. So, by the time, he came of age, even if he wanted to take over his family’s consortium, no one in the board of directors would take his side.
Remi scoffed. As if being thrown in this place would stop him. But looking at the vast greenery in front of him and remembering that he was all alone now, tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to wipe it away but it still continued to gather in his eyes.
When he thought that it would finally fall, he heard a sudden thud from behind. He looked back and saw a thin boy slumped on the ground. As if he just tripped or something. When the other raised his head, Remi was startled. The boy had black hair and a pair of big black eyes.
Although the boy was thin, obviously from malnutrition, no one could deny the other’s beauty. The sudden surprised he felt made his tears completely disappear.
”H-hello,” the boy greeted with a toothy grin. “Are- are you the young master?”
Remi frowned. This kid was probably one of the servants or the son of someone working in the lands. After all, their family owned a considerable amount of land in this planet.
He took back his gaze and said coldly, “Go away.”
Because he looked away, he didn’t see the lost in the boy’s eyes. But the boy quickly cheered up and stood up. He walked and sat beside the handsome young master.
”Hello, young master,” he greeted the other. “Do you want to play?”
Remi didn’t answer. He was annoyed that his solitary was interrupted by this stranger. He stood up and just walked away, not even looking back.
He thought that was the last time he would see the boy. But in the coming days, the boy kept on pestering him. Running after him like some kind of puppy.
As the other continued to do that, he found out that the other was actually the son of the village drunk. The kid was working odd jobs in his family’s estates so he could bring back money to his deadbeat dad.
One day, the other suddenly didn’t appear in front of Remi. He didn’t think much about it. But then he heard two servants talking about the boy, they said that the other was probably beaten up by his father again that’s why he didn’t come to the mansion.
Before Remi could think about it, he told those servants to bring him to the boy’s house. As the young master of this mansion, of course, they couldn’t reject him.
They brought him to the nearby village. The place was very… rustic, to say the least. It’s like this place hadn’t left the old age and still hadn’t entered the interstellar era.
”Young master, there seems to be a problem,” the driver said, calling his attention.
Remi took his attention away from the window and looked forward. When he saw the scene at a distance, he immediately understood the ‘problem’ the driver was referring to.
In front of an almost dilapidated house, a man with bloodshot eyes was pulling a thin boy full of bruises on his face and arms.
”D-Dad… I don’t want to… please… please��� Dad,” the boy said, tears streaming down his almost sunken cheeks.
”Shut up! Mr. Gerald is kind enough to buy something useless like you so stop your whimpering!”
At that moment, Remi could see the eyes of the boy dimmed completely. As if the last bit of hope in his eyes was completely dashed off.
Remi felt like something congest in his chest seeing this scene. He walked out of the vehicle and walked forward.
”Whatever this Mr. Gerald is paying for the kid, I’ll double it. So, give him to me,” he said.
The father and son turned to his direction.
”Y-young master…?” the boy muttered in disbelief.
The deadbeat seemed to hear what the boy said. “Triple and you can have him.”
”Deal,” Remi said without even blinking. He turned to the driver who ran after him. “Pay him.” Then, he finally looked at the boy. “Will you come with me or will you stay with this asshole?”
The boy bit his lower lip. When he raised his head, determination flashed in his eyes. As if he had already made a decision. He pulled away from his so-called father and ran towards the young master.
Remi nodded in satisfaction before walking towards the vehicle. The boy trotted behind him.
”What’s your name?” he asked, realizing that he still hadn’t know the other’s name.
”N-Noa. It’s Noa, young master,” the boy answered with a smile amidst the tears still streaking down his face.