After sending Aila away, Byron stared blankly at the spot where Aila had been kneeling.
He held onto Cloud, who was trying to bring the child to him, without saying a word.
“Master, do you have something to say to me...?”
Cloud, unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, quietly opened his mouth.
“...It’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
"You saw it too. When I told her to kill Roderick's son, she hesitated. When have you ever seen her disobey my orders? Suspicious... You didn't catch on, did you?"
Byron rested his chin on his left hand and tapped the bridge of his nose with his index finger, lost in thought.
No matter how much he thought about it, something bothered him. The expression on her face as she looked at him... was so similar to the expression on her face when her mother, Ophelia, looked at him.
A feeling of deep disgust, as if one were seeing something terrible.
Of course, Byron loved even that expression on Ophelia's face. Isn't her haughty, sullen demeanor quite adorable?
But Aila was different.
He didn't "raise" the child like that. He made her love him unconditionally and follow him. And yet, the child's expression resembled Ophelia's...
‘...Is it because of my mood?’
It could have been a simple mistake. Aila had grown up so much recently, shedding her childishness. He hadn't been dumbfounded a few times, even when drunk, when he mistook her for Ophelia.
Yeah, so he could have just let it go as a mistake.
'But still, something feels uneasy.'
Byron drank his liquor with a look of impatience.
“...So, what do you think? You’re the one who’s seen that kid up close, right?”
“Well... I guess it was the thought of killing a newborn that bothered her. Girls that age are usually quite delicate.”
She simply hesitated because she was concerned about harming an innocent young life.
It wasn't an unreasonable story. After all, Aila has shown herself many times as a girl who likes cute animals and pretty clothes.
“Yeah, that could be true.”
Byron nodded to Cloud's opinion. But that didn't mean the small doubts that had been lurking deep within him had completely disappeared.
“...Watch carefully. Make sure that the child doesn’t have any frivolous thoughts.”
So he planned to use his most trusted servant to spy on Aila.
Everything was planned perfectly.
“Yes, my lord.”
Except that his loyal subject has already deceived him.
Scott and Debbie lived in a place far removed from the world.
Deep in the mountains, it was a place where no trace of human hands could be found except for the couple's house.
Her husband, Scott, would occasionally hunt small game or catch small fish from the nearby stream, and his wife, Debbie, would cook the meat deliciously with vegetables grown in the garden in front of their house.
It was a simple, peaceful, and happy life.
Scott and Debbie didn't always live in such a remote place.
It was a small rural village, but there was a time when they lived like everyone else, getting along with their neighbors.
Scott, a carpenter, was known for his skill even in the neighboring villages, and his income was not bad, so the family of three, including his only son, Weiss, could live without worrying about going hungry.
But their happiness did not last long.
One winter, Weiss passed away from pneumonia.
The couple's frustration at having to bury their young son in their hearts was beyond words, but they overcame it with their love for each other and tried to start a new life.
Unfortunately, his misfortune didn't end there. The betrayal of a trusted friend left Scott mired in debt overnight.
They could no longer stay in their beloved hometown and had to leave with only the clothes on their backs.
So, they wandered from place to place to avoid their debt collectors, and eventually built a house deep in the mountains and lived there alone.
Disillusioned with human relationships due to the betrayal of a trusted friend, they settled down in this quiet place where they would not have to associate with anyone.
Then, after decades, an unexpected visitor arrived. One night, a woman's voice knocked on the door of their unattended cabin, asking for help.
“Help me, is there anyone inside?”
The couple, who had lived for over 20 years hearing only each other's voices, looked at each other. Their expressions seemed to confirm that they weren't hallucinating.
After confirming that both of them had no hearing problems, the couple carefully opened the sturdy door Scott had built to protect against wild animal attacks.
Of course, he was holding a crossbow in his hand, used to hunt deer or rabbits.
“Who, who are you?”
“Can I stay with you for just one night? I have a young daughter with me.”
When Scott looked out through the crack in the door, a mother and daughter were standing there, dressed in thin, shabby clothes.
The weather had warmed enough for spring flowers to bloom at the foot of the mountain, but here, on the mountainside, the nights were still chilly. Sleeping out in such thin clothing was a sure way to get sick, especially for a young child.
The couple, suddenly reminded of their long-dead son, Weiss, invited the strangers into their home. They wanted to hear why they were wandering so deep in the mountains at this hour of the night.
When Debbie brought out some fragrant herbal tea she had picked herself from the mountains and asked about the situation, the woman hugged her daughter's shoulder and began to tell her story.
"My husband died, and I was on the run from debt collectors, and I ended up deep in the mountains. I couldn't even grab the clothes on my back, and I barely managed to escape with my daughter."
The red-eyed woman said this, burying her face in her handkerchief. It was truly a pitiful situation.
It was as if they were looking at the past of a couple who had to leave their beloved hometown and settle down here.
“Oh my, that must have been hard for you.”
“Isn’t there anyone you can turn to? Relatives or acquaintances, for example.”
When the affectionate couple comforted the woman and asked her this question, the woman bit her lip and opened her mouth.
“My older sister lives in a village beyond this mountain... I wonder how difficult it would be to take a child there... The road is rough, after all. Even if we did go, I don't know if she'd be able to help us.”
The woman spoke lamentingly, stroking her daughter's silver hair.
And the couple, hearing her story, exchanged glances. Their hearts were filled with pity, and they wanted to do something to help.
“We can take care of the child if necessary, so why don’t you go and meet your older sister first?”
“We were also chased away for something similar before, so I feel bad about it.”
The woman looked hesitant at the couple's proposal.
"That..."
"Ah, I guess it's a bit awkward to leave a child with someone you've just met? But we're not weird people."
Scott and Debbie, perhaps thinking her hesitation was due to her being hesitant to leave her child with a stranger, explained how harmless they were.
But the reason the woman hesitated wasn't that; she looked at them with a puzzled face.
"No, that's not it... I just thought it might be too much of a hassle. If you could just take care of it, I'd be so grateful."
"No, that's why? If that's the case, then you can just relax and go. We're going to live off the crops we grow ourselves anyway, so having a mouth to feed doesn't cost much, and the kid seems very kind and well-behaved."
Debbie looked at the little girl, who was sitting quietly, only looking at her mother, with warm eyes, and said.
It wasn't that the girl was not well-mannered and appeared quiet. She seemed calm beyond her years, but at first glance, she looked so stern and unassuming that it seemed like she wouldn't be in trouble.
And above all, she was incredibly beautiful. With her rare silver hair and mystical blue eyes, she looked just like a fairy from the stories your parents told you as a child.
Neither Scott nor Debbie had ever seen such a pretty girl before.
“Then... I’ll ask you a favor. I’ll come pick her up soon, so just for now... She needs to pay for the meal, so please order something for me. The child will learn quickly because her fingers are so dexterous.”
“Hey, what the...! Do you think we’re so rude as to make guests do things for us?”
Scott waved his hand and stubbornly refused, but the child's mother insisted that it was not right.
"That way, the child will feel better. Right, Aila?"
“...Yes, Mom.”
As the woman stroked her daughter's back and asked her affectionately, the girl named Aila nodded and spoke for the first time.
Even her voice was calm and elegant, and she was so beautiful that the couple looked at the child with proud faces, as if Aila were their own niece.
"You must be tired. I'll get you to bed soon. Get some sleep, even if it's just for a little while. That way, you'll have the energy to take on the long journey."
Debbie quickly arranged a bed for the mother and daughter. It was a hastily made bed of dried grass, but thanks to the soft fur mattress spread over it, it was a comfortable place to sleep.
The couple watched the mother and daughter fall asleep, lovingly embracing each other, and clicked their tongues, lamenting how such a sad thing could happen to such a loving mother and daughter.
The couple's eyes were filled with a mixture of pride and pity for the mother and daughter.
Scott and Debbie turned off the lights they had left on and headed to their bedroom.
And that night, the couple didn't know.
How difficult it was for Aila to endure that time, having to call her enemy, not her mother, and fall asleep in her arms.
He held onto Cloud, who was trying to bring the child to him, without saying a word.
“Master, do you have something to say to me...?”
Cloud, unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, quietly opened his mouth.
“...It’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
"You saw it too. When I told her to kill Roderick's son, she hesitated. When have you ever seen her disobey my orders? Suspicious... You didn't catch on, did you?"
Byron rested his chin on his left hand and tapped the bridge of his nose with his index finger, lost in thought.
No matter how much he thought about it, something bothered him. The expression on her face as she looked at him... was so similar to the expression on her face when her mother, Ophelia, looked at him.
A feeling of deep disgust, as if one were seeing something terrible.
Of course, Byron loved even that expression on Ophelia's face. Isn't her haughty, sullen demeanor quite adorable?
But Aila was different.
He didn't "raise" the child like that. He made her love him unconditionally and follow him. And yet, the child's expression resembled Ophelia's...
‘...Is it because of my mood?’
It could have been a simple mistake. Aila had grown up so much recently, shedding her childishness. He hadn't been dumbfounded a few times, even when drunk, when he mistook her for Ophelia.
Yeah, so he could have just let it go as a mistake.
'But still, something feels uneasy.'
Byron drank his liquor with a look of impatience.
“...So, what do you think? You’re the one who’s seen that kid up close, right?”
“Well... I guess it was the thought of killing a newborn that bothered her. Girls that age are usually quite delicate.”
She simply hesitated because she was concerned about harming an innocent young life.
It wasn't an unreasonable story. After all, Aila has shown herself many times as a girl who likes cute animals and pretty clothes.
“Yeah, that could be true.”
Byron nodded to Cloud's opinion. But that didn't mean the small doubts that had been lurking deep within him had completely disappeared.
“...Watch carefully. Make sure that the child doesn’t have any frivolous thoughts.”
So he planned to use his most trusted servant to spy on Aila.
Everything was planned perfectly.
“Yes, my lord.”
Except that his loyal subject has already deceived him.
***
Scott and Debbie lived in a place far removed from the world.
Deep in the mountains, it was a place where no trace of human hands could be found except for the couple's house.
Her husband, Scott, would occasionally hunt small game or catch small fish from the nearby stream, and his wife, Debbie, would cook the meat deliciously with vegetables grown in the garden in front of their house.
It was a simple, peaceful, and happy life.
Scott and Debbie didn't always live in such a remote place.
It was a small rural village, but there was a time when they lived like everyone else, getting along with their neighbors.
Scott, a carpenter, was known for his skill even in the neighboring villages, and his income was not bad, so the family of three, including his only son, Weiss, could live without worrying about going hungry.
But their happiness did not last long.
One winter, Weiss passed away from pneumonia.
The couple's frustration at having to bury their young son in their hearts was beyond words, but they overcame it with their love for each other and tried to start a new life.
Unfortunately, his misfortune didn't end there. The betrayal of a trusted friend left Scott mired in debt overnight.
They could no longer stay in their beloved hometown and had to leave with only the clothes on their backs.
So, they wandered from place to place to avoid their debt collectors, and eventually built a house deep in the mountains and lived there alone.
Disillusioned with human relationships due to the betrayal of a trusted friend, they settled down in this quiet place where they would not have to associate with anyone.
Then, after decades, an unexpected visitor arrived. One night, a woman's voice knocked on the door of their unattended cabin, asking for help.
“Help me, is there anyone inside?”
The couple, who had lived for over 20 years hearing only each other's voices, looked at each other. Their expressions seemed to confirm that they weren't hallucinating.
After confirming that both of them had no hearing problems, the couple carefully opened the sturdy door Scott had built to protect against wild animal attacks.
Of course, he was holding a crossbow in his hand, used to hunt deer or rabbits.
“Who, who are you?”
“Can I stay with you for just one night? I have a young daughter with me.”
When Scott looked out through the crack in the door, a mother and daughter were standing there, dressed in thin, shabby clothes.
The weather had warmed enough for spring flowers to bloom at the foot of the mountain, but here, on the mountainside, the nights were still chilly. Sleeping out in such thin clothing was a sure way to get sick, especially for a young child.
The couple, suddenly reminded of their long-dead son, Weiss, invited the strangers into their home. They wanted to hear why they were wandering so deep in the mountains at this hour of the night.
When Debbie brought out some fragrant herbal tea she had picked herself from the mountains and asked about the situation, the woman hugged her daughter's shoulder and began to tell her story.
"My husband died, and I was on the run from debt collectors, and I ended up deep in the mountains. I couldn't even grab the clothes on my back, and I barely managed to escape with my daughter."
The red-eyed woman said this, burying her face in her handkerchief. It was truly a pitiful situation.
It was as if they were looking at the past of a couple who had to leave their beloved hometown and settle down here.
“Oh my, that must have been hard for you.”
“Isn’t there anyone you can turn to? Relatives or acquaintances, for example.”
When the affectionate couple comforted the woman and asked her this question, the woman bit her lip and opened her mouth.
“My older sister lives in a village beyond this mountain... I wonder how difficult it would be to take a child there... The road is rough, after all. Even if we did go, I don't know if she'd be able to help us.”
The woman spoke lamentingly, stroking her daughter's silver hair.
And the couple, hearing her story, exchanged glances. Their hearts were filled with pity, and they wanted to do something to help.
“We can take care of the child if necessary, so why don’t you go and meet your older sister first?”
“We were also chased away for something similar before, so I feel bad about it.”
The woman looked hesitant at the couple's proposal.
"That..."
"Ah, I guess it's a bit awkward to leave a child with someone you've just met? But we're not weird people."
Scott and Debbie, perhaps thinking her hesitation was due to her being hesitant to leave her child with a stranger, explained how harmless they were.
But the reason the woman hesitated wasn't that; she looked at them with a puzzled face.
"No, that's not it... I just thought it might be too much of a hassle. If you could just take care of it, I'd be so grateful."
"No, that's why? If that's the case, then you can just relax and go. We're going to live off the crops we grow ourselves anyway, so having a mouth to feed doesn't cost much, and the kid seems very kind and well-behaved."
Debbie looked at the little girl, who was sitting quietly, only looking at her mother, with warm eyes, and said.
It wasn't that the girl was not well-mannered and appeared quiet. She seemed calm beyond her years, but at first glance, she looked so stern and unassuming that it seemed like she wouldn't be in trouble.
And above all, she was incredibly beautiful. With her rare silver hair and mystical blue eyes, she looked just like a fairy from the stories your parents told you as a child.
Neither Scott nor Debbie had ever seen such a pretty girl before.
“Then... I’ll ask you a favor. I’ll come pick her up soon, so just for now... She needs to pay for the meal, so please order something for me. The child will learn quickly because her fingers are so dexterous.”
“Hey, what the...! Do you think we’re so rude as to make guests do things for us?”
Scott waved his hand and stubbornly refused, but the child's mother insisted that it was not right.
"That way, the child will feel better. Right, Aila?"
“...Yes, Mom.”
As the woman stroked her daughter's back and asked her affectionately, the girl named Aila nodded and spoke for the first time.
Even her voice was calm and elegant, and she was so beautiful that the couple looked at the child with proud faces, as if Aila were their own niece.
"You must be tired. I'll get you to bed soon. Get some sleep, even if it's just for a little while. That way, you'll have the energy to take on the long journey."
Debbie quickly arranged a bed for the mother and daughter. It was a hastily made bed of dried grass, but thanks to the soft fur mattress spread over it, it was a comfortable place to sleep.
The couple watched the mother and daughter fall asleep, lovingly embracing each other, and clicked their tongues, lamenting how such a sad thing could happen to such a loving mother and daughter.
The couple's eyes were filled with a mixture of pride and pity for the mother and daughter.
Scott and Debbie turned off the lights they had left on and headed to their bedroom.
And that night, the couple didn't know.
How difficult it was for Aila to endure that time, having to call her enemy, not her mother, and fall asleep in her arms.
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