The Marquis of Hildegarde had granted Laila’s request.
The boy did not resemble Marie much.
“I take after Mom, and this child takes after Dad…”
Marie explained without being asked, then shyly smiled.
“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
Laila noticed a twinkle in Marie’s eyes. But even without it, Marie’s brother was undeniably handsome.
He must be around eight years old now. He was more cute or pretty than handsome, but…
“He’ll be eleven soon after his birthday.”
“Huh?”
That really surprised her. Marie hastened to add.
“It’s a trait of the men in our family. They grow up late…”
“…….”
“I swear, my mom and dad were childhood friends, and my mom thought my dad was younger than her for a long time until he hit puberty…….”
“I’ll believe you. I didn’t say I didn’t.”
“Yeah.”
Laila realized belatedly why Marie had poured out the explanation while glancing at her.
It must be because she was worried Laila would think her brother hadn’t grown due to lack of food. Well, in that regard, Marie’s brother had relatively smooth, glowing skin.
His clothes were exceptionally clean, too.
So far, Laila could easily see where all the money Marie had earned through hardships at the manor had gone.
“Hey.”
The boy clinging to Marie’s skirt responded to Laila’s call, opening his eyes wide.
When Marie tapped his shoulder, the boy quickly let go of Marie’s skirt and clasped his hands together, nodding respectfully to Laila.
“Greetings, milady. Thank you for allowing me to stay in this mansion.”
Hearing him speak so smoothly, Laila could indeed believe he was about to turn eleven years old.
Laila stared at the crown of the boy’s head as he bowed, then opened her mouth.
“You’re grateful?”
“Yes, truly grateful.”
“Then I want you to promise me something. Lift your head and look at me.”
The boy obediently raised his head. He had a delicate, round face, and his brown eyes held an innocent light.
He kind of resembled Taylor, didn’t he? Laila thought casually as she spoke.
“When you grow taller and stronger than your sister, promise to protect her then.”
“…….”
“Will you?”
“Yes!”
At the resolute answer, tears welled up in Marie’s eyes. Watching the siblings with a considerable age gap, Laila smiled softly.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Laila became curious about Sion’s family.
Even though they were not blood-related, those people lived together with Sion as a family.
‘What kind of people were they?’
What did they look like, how old were they, and what were their names?
How many were there?
Perhaps seeing Marie’s brother sparked her curiosity. Despite being blood relatives, the siblings didn’t resemble each other much.
But there was a natural sense of family when they stood next to each other.
Did Sion and his family also have that?
They didn’t share blood, so they must have looked different from each other…
But when they were together, could anyone recognize them as a family?
Laila was curious. Once she became curious, her mind quickly filled with that thought.
Today, Laila went out to see the flowers. She wanted to see as many as she could before it got cold enough to snow because the flowers would be hard to see by then.
The autumn flowers in the field had yellow stamens with white petals.
Yellow stamens… just like Sion’s hair color.
Were there others in Sion’s family who also had blonde hair?
Thinking like that, Laila mechanically picked flowers until her arms were filled with them.
Laila was belatedly surprised by her action. No, the flowers were living things, after all!
After briefly contemplating what to do with the flowers she had picked, Laila decided to sit down where she was.
And after a while, she made something.
Finally, holding the finished ‘something’ in her hand, Laila approached Sion, who was a little further away.
“Sion!”
Laila deliberately walked up behind him, and before he could turn around, she placed the ‘something’ on his head.
It was a flower crown.
“……What is it?”
“A gift.”
“…….”
“Since I gave you a gift, can you do me a favor?”
Asking for something in return, this wasn’t a gift but more like a sale. And a forced one at that.
Laila accurately assessed her actions but pretended not to notice.
Sion, who was coerced, readily agreed to pay the price.
“Sure.”
I knew it! Laila gestured for Sion to sit beside her by tapping her side.
Sion hesitated momentarily, then sat down a little further away from where Laila had tapped.
“You know what, Sion?”
“…….”
“I have something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
Laila hesitated. Then, after taking a deep breath, she found the courage to speak. Her courage was once again fueled by the fact that Sion had wiped away her tears.
Using that favor multiple times until it runs dry. Laila thought and spat out the words.
“Your family…….”
“…….”
“Can you tell me what they were like, how many there were?”
“…….”
“Did you get along with them…… I mean, you probably were.”
Laila spilled out her words and then bit her lip a moment too late.
Was she being imprudent?
Was it too early to bring up family matters now?
‘But it’s time to start the final stage of therapy for complicated grief, and…….’
While Laila was curious about Sion’s family, she was still concerned about Sion’s grief.
The final stage required to fully overcome grief.
Facing the cause of the grief.
Facing it and overcoming the pain it brings.
Sion had developed grief from losing his family. So, the process needed to cure his grief would involve… remembering his family and talking about them.
Silence passed. Laila heard her own heartbeat.
As the heartbeat grew louder, regrets started to creep in.
‘Ah, was I too hasty? Seems like it. Losing a family isn’t just a little distressing… It’s a big deal. What am I going to do? How am I going to fix this?’
After intense contemplation for a brief moment, Laila chose to deflect the conversation with a flimsy excuse.
“Oh, Sion! Look over there! There’s a butterfly…….”
“I had parents.”
“…….”
“I had six siblings, excluding me.”
Laila was silent. Her gaze, previously busy scanning the surroundings for an excuse to change the subject, returned to Sion.
Sion remained stoic. Or at least it seemed that way.
“My oldest brother’s name is …… Cassion.”
Laila suddenly realized: Cassion. It was a familiar name—the name of the hero who saved the world by sealing away an evil god.
Oh, right. That’s why. Laila recalled an incident from the past. The way Sion had looked at her like he was going to kill her when she said the name Cassion.
Her heart sank. What must Sion have thought, seeing the daughter of the enemy who killed his family utter the name of his deceased elder brother?
And furthermore, how must Sion have felt in the future, when he made his elder brother into a hero?
Her heart throbbed. She couldn’t understand why she felt this way.
But one thing was certain: she felt newly despondent about her being from Hildegarde.
“My second sister’s name is Adele, my third sister’s name is Asili, my fourth brother’s name is Mike, my fifth sister’s name is Ray, and my sixth sister’s name is Cecile……..”
Sion, who was recounting the story, chuckled softly.
“Cecile is two years older than me, but I never called her big sister.”
“…….”
“I never felt like she was an older sister to me, so that’s probably why. She was more like a friend. Or maybe a younger sister.”
“…….”
“My big brother, Cassion, was nine years older than me, and he was good at cooking. He was especially skilled at making vegetable soup and would always jokingly say he’d open a shop that only sells that. Then, my second sister, Adele… she always laughed at him. She swears on her name that it’s going to fail.”
“…….”
“If Adele teased him like that, Asilli would support her, and Cassion would get gloomy, then Ray would always come and comfort him. Encouraging him, saying he’d always support his dream of becoming the owner of a vegetable soup specialty restaurant.”
“…….”
“But she’d always add that he should leave out the carrots in her soup. Ray hated carrots. I don’t know why. She thought they tasted awful.”
“…….”
“So Mike said that every once in a while, when he was upset with Ray, he would imagine feeding her carrots for a whole week, and it would make him feel better. On the other hand, when Ray is pissed off at Mike, she imagines beating him up.”
“…….”
“And then there’s Cecile..”
Sion stopped talking. His eyes widened as he stared at Laila.
