“Linea?”
Startled by Linea's sudden appearance, I called out the child's name.
However, strangely enough, Linea remained still with her face buried deep in the pillow.
"Are you okay? What's wrong? Huh?"
I saw the child's shoulder trembling slightly in my field of vision as I asked in such bewilderment.
"Is the baby crying?"
Linea cried like that, as if it were a habit to cry silently so that no one could hear.
Seeing her cry without making a sound, just her shoulders shaking, I felt my heart tighten.
'Did she get severely shocked by my mother-in-law today?'
I had never seen Linea cry before.
So this time, not knowing what to do and flustered, I eventually gently stroked the child's shoulder.
For now, let's let her cry to her heart's content.
"Are you feeling a little better now?"
Just as I was stroking her shoulder, Linea turned her head again.
"Pfft."
It was certainly embarrassing, but the sight of her round eyes welling up with tears and a runny nose was cute.
The child pursed their lips tightly and tried hard to hold back their tears.
On top of that, there were clear traces of a child crying on the pillow where Linea had buried her face.
"Why did you cry? Was my little one sad?"
When I soothed Linea with an even more coaxing tone, the child sniffled and babbled something.
"...Because I did it."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"...I used to have nightmares every night, sob. And my mother got kicked out."
Linea sniffled with a stuffy nose and babbled.
"I'm the only one left in this house again, sob, huh."
"In a dream? You mean Linea was in this house alone with Grandma and Uncle without me?"
"Your mother, hmph, even if I ask where you went, you say you were never here and ask who I'm looking for, ugh."
I felt sorry for Linea, who was on the verge of bursting into tears again.
The child's tearful eyes held clear sadness.
'You were scared that I might disappear.'
I sat up slightly, threw off the blanket, and lifted the child's body, warm from crying.
“Hichup.”
Linea was so upset that she even hiccuped.
Seeing the child's still tearful expression, I held the child's soft body and patted it.
Linea's pale pink cheeks, pressed against my chest, looked even more adorable.
"Oh, right. You must have been surprised."
"I, I'm sorry. I'm not a child, crying over something like this. Crying."
"You're the little kid; who's the baby! Linea is my baby."
I carefully wiped the child's flushed eyes and nose with the sleeve of my pajamas.
She had cried so much that her eyes were swollen, and it was obvious that she would have a bucketful of snow tomorrow.
I spoke calmly to Linea.
"I will never abandon Linea. Understand?"
"I'm worried that I might be a burden to you, Mother. If I really am a burden, you can leave."
Linea was sullen, but at the same time, she was sincere.
That face, showing that it was only natural for adults to find her burdensome, was a resignation learned throughout the child's entire life.
Suddenly, I saw myself reflected in Linea.
'My mom also left several times because she couldn't bear her painful marriage, but she came back because of me.'
At that time, I grabbed the hem of my mother's clothes, telling her not to go.
Watching me like that, my mom struggled, but in the end, she ended up leaving.
I hugged Linea tightly in my arms and patted her back.
"If Linea is a burden, I’d carry you around a hundred times over."
"..."
"And whenever you leave for anywhere, you have to take your luggage. Who goes empty-handed?"
Linea, who had been listening quietly to my words, tightened her grip on the hem of my pajamas.
The moment the child's hand, fragile enough to shake off at any moment yet desperate, held onto me, I felt as if I were embracing my younger self.
"So I will never leave Linea here alone, okay?"
The tear stains remaining on the child's pure white cheeks were pitiful.
Linea's hand, which had been desperately holding me, gradually loosened its grip as she continued to pat my back.
'She's asleep.'
It seemed like she got tired quickly because she had cried.
Having gained confidence, Linea fell asleep purring in my arms.
I lay down on the bed very carefully so as not to wake the child.
I wrapped the child's body preciously in my blanket and arms, like a bird incubating an egg with its wings.
From now on, I won't let anyone take Linea away from me or harm her.
'I need to leave a little earlier than planned.'
It was the night that made me make such a decision.
***
The next day at 10 a.m., Carcel received a call from Asha.
[Carcel, I think I need to leave home sooner than now, so I'm really sorry to bother you, but could you connect me with some connections?]
At Asha's question, Carcel stared intently at the face of the man sitting opposite him.
"We were actually talking about that just now."
[Already?]
"It is Asha's business, so how can I possibly put it off?"
The man sitting opposite crumpled his expression at the sight of him speaking affectionately and even letting out a subtle smile.
Carcel continued speaking while holding the receiver.
"How about Asha coming to the Marquis's mansion today to talk? I’ve heard that he is willing to do so."
“When did I..."
"Shhhh."
Carcel held up his index finger to his lips as if to tell him to shut up.
At that, the other person shut their mouth with a look of disdain.
At the same time, Asha's voice was heard from beyond the receiver.
[Then, shall we take Linea with us today?]
"When can you come? I am a busy person, but I will hold onto you until then."
[I'm out right now, so it will take about an hour if I leave immediately.]
“Shall I send a carriage?”
[No, no! We'll just go. We're always indebted to you, Carcel.]
It was as if he could picture the look on Asha's face as she hurriedly answered right before his eyes.
So he answered with a low laugh.
"If I'm in this situation, I wish you'd keep losing. From now on, too."
[Hey! That would be too shameless of me! Anyway, I'll leave right now?]
At that cheerful voice, Carcel covered his forehead with his hand and nodded.
"Come quickly."
And soon, communication was cut off.
Immediately, the person across from him asked in a dumbfounded voice.
"When did I say I would do it?"
"I clearly remember the noble Tower Master promising to grant me anything on the day you owed me his life."
"I never imagined you would dare use me just to win the favor of a woman you liked."
The man who said that was Isar, the Master of the Magic Tower, whose face even the Emperor rarely saw.
He had been friends with Carcel since childhood.
Two comrades who once dominated the battlefield together in battle against dragons have met again.
Carcel fought alongside his father, and the Tower Master, whose face remained unchanged from then to now, was also there.
The handsome man with long pearl-colored hair and emerald eyes could not be guessed by age.
He rested his chin on his hand as if bored and asked in a listless voice.
"Have you finally opened your eyes to romance? Or did that woman ask you to do this?"
"I think you'd better not speak ill of Asha, Isar."
At those words, life returned to his light green eyes.
"They say people change when they fall in love. You've changed in some way, too."
Isar belatedly scanned Carcel's smooth face.
And upon discovering something that felt familiar, he continued speaking in a lowered voice.
"You're not a teenage boy falling in love for the first time, yet your ears are red."
"Shut up."
“I’m throwing up.”
As they had maintained a long relationship, Isar openly contorted his face.
It was because the expressions of Carcel that he had seen were generally one of the two: either expressionless or a faint frown.
A smiling face? He didn't even remember seeing one.
A disgraceful act that makes your ears turn red? There's no way he saw it.
Soon, Carcel pointed his index finger at Isar and blatantly warned him.
"Don't say useless things in front of Asha."
"What do you mean? That you're acting incredibly coy? Or if not, that you're looking at her with such a greasy expression that I feel like I'm going to suffocate?"
Isar teased him with a sly smile.
"I am curious who the woman is that made you like this."
"You'd better do exactly as I said."
"What..."
Isar subtly avoided Carcel's gaze, wearing a smile of unknown reason on his lips.
"I'll think about that."
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment