"The slums overseas remain slums because the poor stay poor," Debra said slowly. "The wealthy won''t hire them. Their only iees from begging. Maybe a few with strong physiques can dobor work for a meager wage, but the number of people who change their fate is very few. Even if they beg bitterly, they can''t afford those expensive medical bills. Just earning enough to live is already tough. If they turn to robbery, it''s only because they''ve hit a dead end."


    Liza softened her tone. "But as you like, that''s just an ''if''."


    "Yes, it is," Debra agreed. "Maybe the person who robbed you was indeed a vicious criminal, but that doesn''t mean there aren''t unfortunate souls in the slums. You don''t know Drake''s character or his past, yet you constantly insult him. Is it just because of his bad reputation? Or because he was once a servant in the Bernard family and then rose above his station?"


    "Who cares about his past? I have no interest," Liza mumbled.


    "Drake was once a child from the slums," Debra emphasized. "A child. I believe that his aggressive and ruthless exterior is a defense mechanism, meant to hide his fear and vulnerability. If I put it that way, do you understand why he acts so fiercely?"


    Liza turned her head away, and Debra added, "I''m not saying Drake is a saint. He''s done plenty of wrong. Life''splexities, the shades of right and wrong, are hard to untangle. What matters is how he atones for his past and strives to be a useful member of society. His current status is a result of his hard work. You can dislike, criticize, and scold him, but you must not insult him."


    Liza''s face was flushed, and she blurted, "I can''t win against you. I don''t care about him."


    Then she ran off to her room.


    Debra shook her head, cing dinner in Drake''s room and leaving.


    As the door clicked shut, Drake, who had been lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes. He nced at the closed door, memories of his time in the slums flooding his mind.


    He had lied, stolen, and had been beaten, nearly dying there. He had done all sorts of dirty and evil things along the way.


    When others called him cruel and heartless, disgusting and vile, he didn''t get angry because he knew that without those actions, he wouldn''t have survived.


    When they insulted him as a lowly bastard, he remained calm because he understood that their insults were rooted in their inadequacies. They needed to vent their frustrations on someone better than them.


    When they used him of countless murders and crimes, he didn''t feel enraged because those usations were true.


    But when Liza treated him with condescension, like a servant tomand, it angered him.


    He just didn''t expect Debra to stand


    up for him. It was the first time someone defended his dignity, peeled back his mask, and


    suggested that he still had a chance to be a good person.