Benjamin gently turned his glass and called Joshua.
“Josh.”
“…Uh, Benji.”
“Sophia is now… She is 12 years old.”
“Yes.”
A 12-year-old said she wanted to die.
“…It wasn’t something a child of that age would normally say, right?”
“No, it isn’t.”
Sophia lost all her support at the young age of 5 years old. Benny, who was her only blood relative, Bled, who followed her like a father, and Chase, who cared for her a lot. The reason the child, who was trying to remain calm even in such a situation, ended up thinking like that was probably because they suddenly stopped her approaches. On that day when she was 5 years old, she was able to act resolute because Joshua and Benjamin were still there.
A person’s mind was shaped by the surrounding environment and situations. That child was in an environment that caused her to have such thoughts. What’s the point if she’s treated well? What’s the point if the servants are kind? The people who treated her like family have been treating Sophia as if she didn’t exist for years.
Benjamin, who was faced with the consequences of his mistake, let out a short sigh and held his glass tightly.
“I wonder if she was very lonely.”
“I don’t know. Because I’m not Sophia.”
“…”
“You can’t sympathize with her pain, and you don’t even try to sympathize with her.”
He couldn’t do it. He started having strange dreams, and a restraining order was issued. There was no way Sophia could have entered his mind while she was struggling to support herself. But he knew those were all excuses. Even if it was an order, they were not noble enough to listen carefully to Bled’s words, and were able to exchange greetings with Sophia through servants or letters. Nevertheless, the reason they didn’t do it was all because of fear.
“…Honestly, I think it’s good that Sophia sent the gift back. At least she doesn’t want to see us.”
Joshua plainly confessed his feelings.
“We don’t have to meet. Because Sophia doesn’t like it.”
“…”
“Even if Sophia wanted to see me or you, we wouldn’t go see her.”
Benjamin smiled bitterly at the voice that hit the nail on the head.
‘I can’t go. Because I’m afraid.’
“I don’t know when I’ll have that dream again.”
The dream, which seemed to be forced by someone, gave people goosebumps when they woke up, and at the same time, it touched people’s instincts. It was a dream that drove people crazy by touching their instincts so strongly that they could not be controlled by reason.
When he woke up after a dream, only one thing invaded his head.
Hatred of Sophia.
He couldn’t figure out why. Why did he feel or think that way? She was in the same situation as his mother, who was pointed out as crazy. Around the time he started having those dreams, a restraining order was issued, and they, who had originally been living at Rosen Castle with Sophia, were forced to move to Forn Castle. From Bled’s point of view, it would have been uncomfortable to have the children of the person who tried to kill Sophia by her side, so he accepted it to some extent. And after a while, he came to think that the command was right.
“I’m scared of Sophia getting hurt.”
Benjamin muttered.
That instinct was never something that could be suppressed. He didn’t take a single step closer, fearing that the weak child would be hurt by the unknown hatred and madness. It will continue to be so. But he didn’t want to stay like this anymore. Not approaching her made Sophia even more lonely and painful. He sent a gift first because he was wondering what to do, but even that wasn’t the right way. Even if he apologized, he wouldn’t think about meeting Sophia again anyway, so it was okay. Rather, it was just an action to lessen his guilt.
“From now on, don’t worry about what might be good for Sophia.”
As if he could see right into Benjamin’s mind, Joshua threw out his words.
“Just live like usual. I’m sure Loray will take good care of Sophia.”
“…”
“Don’t pretend to be nice and approach her, but be a bad person from beginning to end so that Sophia can hate us as much as she wants.”
That’s convenient. Joshua said this with a calm voice. Since he didn’t make eye contact with her, it didn’t mean he was being completely sincere. Actually, it’s what he wanted to see. He wanted to meet her right away, but he was probably more upset than anyone else about not being able to. But he thought there was no better answer than that. Because he shouldn’t have harmed Sophia by trying to get closer.
Benjamin stopped walking towards Sophia and said, recalling what he heard as soon as he woke up this morning.
“Now that I think about it, I heard that someone from Powip is coming today.”
Powip was the name of the country to the west of the central city. The castle’s master of Powip was a flower wizard, so it was also a famous place for wizards to live in. There was only one case where someone came from Powip. To spread the seeds of flowers that never fade. As it was a unique seed, it required special care, so sending the seed could not be done carelessly. That’s why every year, someone from Powip personally came and delivered seeds. This relationship was initiated by Chase. She had dreamed of a garden that would never wither, and from the time she decided to create her own garden for Benny, she made her deal with Powip.
Bled did not cut the deal. She didn’t know why. Because he was always silent.
“Young master.”
With a small knock, a servant called Benjamin from outside. The servant who entered the room with Benjamin’s permission was not Benjamin’s servant. Dane, the servant of his father, Bled, bowed his head in a dignified manner and then opened his mouth.
“You two were together.”
“What’s going on?”
The only time he came was when Bled himself gave them orders. Sure enough, Dane spoke strongly in a polite tone.
“I will guide you to Rocent Castle.”
To Castle Rosent, where Sophia was? Bled himself allowed access to the castle?
“…wait. I’ll go after I’ve sorted out all these gifts.”
This was truly an unexpected development.
* * *
“You want to go to the garden? And that too alone?”
“Huh.”
“Why?”
“I want to see the flowers.”
Lorey, who listened to Sophia’s story while combing her light purple hair, smiled kindly. Sophia caught her smile in the mirror. The reason she laughed was because she found out the real reason why Sophia was going there.
The child was there.
“Instead of sending it to you alone, when you get back from the garden, should you open the gift box with this Loray? You knew, right?”
“I will.”
Joshua and Benjamin’s were sent back, but the gifts said to have been prepared by the castle master and the gifts separately prepared by the servants remained. Since she already knew what was inside, she could no longer open the box with excitement, but she could pretend to be excited.
That would be polite.
“Would you like me to tie your hair?”
“No. Please don’t use any decorations.”
As soon as Sophia, dressed in her dark purple dress, was ready to go out, she got down from her chair and grabbed her doorknob. After saying goodbye to Loray with a glance, she walked towards the garden with light steps. The garden she arrived at, greeting the servants who greeted us good morning, was as fresh as if all the sunlight had been stolen.
A gardener who was fumbling with a hose at the beginning of the garden, anxiously spraying water, was caught in Sophia’s purple eyes.
“Deplin.”
“Miss?”
The pink eyes of the gardener who was spraying water on the plants that filled the garden turned to Sophia. When she saw Sophia, she quickly turned off the hose and ran out.
“Miss!”
Flynn lifted Sophia up, smiling as brightly as the sun. She loved how instantly her feet left the ground and she felt like a bird, but there was something about her that broke that feeling. The hose, which must have been closed, had started spouting water. With the hose flying around, Flynn hurriedly put Sophia down with a confused look on her face and ran to catch her hose. She had forgotten that water was coming out of the hose again. No matter how many times she returned, it wasn’t a powerful event that I could remember in detail.
Sophia moved her body to a safe spot and looked at Flynn.
“Haha, this damn hose is in trouble again. Aren’t you wet?”
“I’m okay.”
Flynn was already soaking wet from shutting off her hose, but she didn’t lose her smile.
“Get changed and come. I will take care of you here.”
“It’s okay. The sun is nice today, so it dries quickly…”
“You can’t catch a cold.”
It seemed like Deplin had caught a cold so she had to change her clothes quickly. Flynn seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she squeezed some of the moisture out of her brown hair.
“Then I will go. I’ll be right back!”
“Go slowly.”
Sophia, having succeeded in sending her delinquent, went deeper into the water-sprayed garden. As she walked deeper, past the red roses that her mother said she loved, she saw a child sitting in the middle of a flower field with yellow freesias in full bloom. She has dark red ponytail hair. How long has it been since she saw her back? Sophia walked into the flower garden with long strides and took a seat next to her boy.
“What are you doing here, Rune?”
When she asked that question, the child called Rune stopped moving his busy hands and looked at Sophia. He has pale pink eyes that resemble Flynn’s, and his eyes, nose, and mouth were very pretty. He smiled softly, creating the illusion of the freshness of spring and the smell of sunlight.
“I was waiting for you, lady. Good morning, lady.”
While he was talking to her, his cheeks were really red. This kid has always been like this.
This little one’s laughter has always been in her memory. Even more so because she disappeared before she could make her big appearance.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on May, 25.
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