HPBUY Side Story 5

Cool morning air seeped through the slightly opened window. When Sienna barely managed to lift her heavy eyelids, the outside world, where dawn had just broken, was rapidly brightening.

Normally, she would have immediately gotten out of bed and headed to her office, but today, she indulged in laziness, curled up in her blanket like a sloth.

It had been so long since she’d slept this deeply.

Sienna blinked her eyes, still misted with drowsiness. Though nothing had changed except for Declan’s presence, she felt refreshed as if the accumulated fatigue had vanished overnight.

When she gently turned her head, she saw that he apparently hadn’t woken up yet.

As Sienna tried to turn her body toward him, she gasped loudly at the pain that shot through her waist.

“Ah…”

At the pain-filled groan, Declan opened his eyes. Discovering Sienna awkwardly frozen in place, he hastily sat up.

“What’s wrong?”

Sienna was equally embarrassed by the situation.

“My waist…”

“What’s wrong with your waist? Should I call for a healer?”

Sienna’s eyes trembled silently at his urgent questions, asked with a clueless expression. Her face, which had been bewildered, gradually turned red before she finally bowed her head deeply.

Declan, who had been about to get out of bed to call for Jane, turned his gaze to her crimson ears.

After standing there with a puzzled expression for a moment, he belatedly understood the situation and softly exhaled a sigh.

The atmosphere was suddenly enveloped in silence.

After the awkward stillness, Declan tentatively asked if it wouldn’t be better to bring a healer, but Sienna buried her face in the pillow and shook her head firmly.

It was likely just simple muscle pain, but she would rather die than have someone else see her in this state. Or more precisely, she didn’t want anyone to discover the obvious cause of her predicament.

Knowing Sienna’s nature—how she hated showing any sign of weakness to others, both then and now—Declan closed his mouth at that point.

Meanwhile, the morning steadily brightened, and Soliet, who had woken up, came to their bedroom while rubbing her eyes.

The child naturally settled between Sienna and Declan, and not knowing what had transpired between the two, whined for a long time. Thanks to this, the awkward atmosphere considerably relaxed.

After having breakfast together as a family for once, while Declan went to get Manuel, Sienna personally helped Soliet change into the clothes she had selected.

Soliet clung to the window and muttered with an impatient face:

“I want to go out quickly.”

Sienna, who was tying the ribbon on the yellow dress, briefly raised her head to look outside the window.

The spotlessly clear sky was intensely blue, and today’s Ricata, with a gentle breeze blowing, was perfect for enjoying a picnic.

Manuel, who had been on the verge of tears just yesterday upon seeing Declan, was unusually docile, leaning his head against his father’s chest while being held.

Even when Declan spoke to him or even showered his cheeks with kisses, he didn’t get upset once.

Soliet, too—since today’s picnic was a day she had been eagerly anticipating for quite some time—was bouncing around more energetically than usual.

As soon as the whole family gathered, the fully dressed child grabbed Sienna’s hand and pulled.

“I want to go out quickly.”

At Soliet’s gentle urging, Sienna also began to prepare, but her movements were noticeably sluggish.

The intense pain in her waist hadn’t disappeared even after finishing her preparations. As she left the entrance with an awkward gait, she groaned as soon as she stepped on the stairs leading to the backyard.

Hearing that sound, Declan turned his head, and a sharp gaze immediately returned.

“That’s why… I told you to take it easy.”

“…Does it hurt a lot? Shall I carry you down?”

As Sienna was nodding her head once, she met Manuel’s gaze, who was staring at her intently from within Declan’s arms.

Manuel glanced up at his father, then reached out to her while imitating a concerned expression.

“Mama—”

Even as she grasped that adorable hand, she found herself looking at Declan again.

With the identical father and son looking at her with identical expressions, a laugh escaped her unintentionally.

Sienna shook her head, feeling an inexplicable sense of emptiness.

“I’ll catch up shortly, so go ahead first.”

Soliet, who had already gone down the stairs, came back up with small, hurried steps.

“Mother, let’s go quickly.”

“Soliet, your mother says she’ll rest a bit and then come. Let’s go ahead with Dad.”

Soliet rebelled, saying no. She writhed her entire body with the determination to stay with her mother, but such struggles from a daughter as small as a bean were easily suppressed by Declan without even trying.

Sienna sighed as she listened to the child’s voice growing more distant.

This was a bit unfair. The one who had been pushing all night long was him, so why was he more energetic than usual while she alone was withering?

Meanwhile, Declan walked across the field with no sign of discomfort, carrying one child in each hand.

Unlike usual, Manuel was docilely nestled in his arms, and Soliet was hanging from his arm, screaming with delight.

Eventually, after putting Soliet down, Declan picked up some foxtail grass and tickled Soliet’s nose, eliciting a clear laugh.

When the child stood on tiptoe and reached out, asking for it, he placed the grass in her tiny hand.

Soliet placed her hand on Declan’s arm, which was holding Manuel, and hung on. Then, as if imitating her father, she tickled Manuel’s nose with the foxtail grass.

As Manuel, who had been frowning, sneezed, both father and daughter burst into laughter simultaneously. A smile also spread across Sienna’s face as she watched them from a distance.

It was just a peaceful afternoon that could be seen in any family. It was also a scene she had thought she would never have in her lifetime.

Every time the wind blew, the scent of lilacs, densely planted in the backyard, wafted heavily.

There wasn’t a shred of doubt about what to call this emotion that filled her heart.

She was so happy that she felt an irrational anxiety—what if even this moment were a dream?

“Mom!”

The child, barely reaching her waist, came running to her from far away, her yellow dress fluttering. When she opened her arms, the child jumped into them as if it were only natural.

The small body exuded a sweet smell of sugar candy.

“Look at this! Dad caught it for me!”

Soliet smiled broadly and held her clasped hands in front of Sienna’s eyes.

There was something familiar about it, and Sienna, who had reflexively turned to Soliet, paused. While she was staring blankly at the child, not knowing the cause of this déjà vu:

“It’s a blue butterfly the same color as Mom’s eyes.”

Between the slowly opening hands, an insect moved its brilliant wings and flew into the air.

Soliet kept exclaiming in wonder as she watched the butterfly flapping its wings and rising.

Watching the child’s eyes shine at a sight that wasn’t particularly extraordinary, Sienna felt her heart tighten achingly.

Was this the scene she had seen in her dream, that day when she had returned to that barren and desolate land?

Although she had thought it could never become reality, the voice in her ears was so clear.

Nevertheless, the anxiety that had settled in one corner of her heart still hadn’t disappeared—what if the reality before her eyes was a dream? So Sienna hugged Soliet tightly.

When she buried her face in the soft body and nuzzled, Soliet fluttered, saying it tickled. Feeling the child’s warmth in her arms, Sienna felt her eyes burning hot.

Just then, Soliet suddenly looked at a spot and waved her hand.

“Dad!”

Sienna shifted her gaze in the direction the child pointed.

In the distance, golden hair fluttered in the wind. Manuel was cradled in his arms, playing with foxtail grass in one hand, and he was approaching Soliet and Sienna, tenderly brushing back the child’s hair that was scattered in the breeze.

Soon, purple eyes the same color as the children’s discovered her and smiled brightly. Just like the gentle smile she had seen sometime before.

“Sienna.”

At the affectionate voice, Sienna slowly smiled in response. With a face devoid of anxiety or fear.

She closed her eyes and opened them again. The world that had blinked out and brightened again was unchanged in any way. So this wasn’t a dream. It was just a reality that would never be broken.

Only then did the anxiety and gloom that had settled in her heart gradually disappear without a trace. Sienna stood up and took Soliet’s hand.

“Let’s go to Dad, Soliet.”

The hand held in hers was small and warm. Sienna grasped that hand firmly, as if vowing never to lose it again. From far away, she could hear Manuel calling for her.

Sienna walked into the brilliantly shining afternoon scenery.

Holding the hand of her beloved, toward where her loved ones stood. Towards the embrace of her happy family, which had now become an ordinary part of her life.

~The End~