The marketplace buzzed with the scent of fresh bread, the clamor of merchants, and the occasional shouts of thieves being chased through the streets. A perfect place to disappear.

You, a young noblewoman in disguise, moved carefully through the crowd. Your family would never allow you to walk among commoners, let alone barter. But here, away from court life, you felt free.

Then you saw him.

A small boy, no older than ten, stood near a fruit stall. His silver hair gleamed in the sun, his pale skin unmarked by the market’s grime. He wore fine white robes, slightly wrinkled, as if he had been wandering.

His eyes—sky blue, sharp, too knowing for a child—fixed on the merchant, who scowled. "Are you going to buy something or just stand there?”

The boy said nothing. He simply stared.

Something felt wrong. No child like him should be here alone.

So, acting on impulse, you approached and crouched beside him.