Episode 21
The next day.
Resen, Lia, and Poi stood in front of Erina, wearing white silk shirts and brown pants.
“Erina, are you really going to let us go?”
“Are we not going to meet anymore?”
“Erina, Mama!!”
The three of them hung on Erina’s legs and whined.
Erina was also very sad to be separated from them, but she tried to keep a calm expression on her face and talked to the children while facing them.
“Resen, Lia, Poi. You know how much I love you, right? That’s why I want you to only see better places, tastier things, and prettier things.”
At Erina’s words, the three shook their heads and said in exclamation,
“The food Erina gives is the most delicious!”
“Erina is the prettiest!”
“Erina, Mama! Good!”
Erina laughed out loud at the cute guys who thought she was the best.
It was just that their standard wasn’t clear yet because she was the person they saw first right after they were born.
Erina decided to think that way and started to calm the children down.
“Alright, alright. And I also think that you guys are the prettiest and the best. Really.”
“Can’t we live with you then?”
“Hmm. Resen, we made a promise yesterday, right? To live with your uncle from now on.”
Resen pursed his lips.
Dylan, who was watching the scene from behind, raised one corner of his lips.
It was fun to see that little guy ask the same question again while remembering everything they had said yesterday, because he could see what he was thinking.
He wanted to seduce Erina somehow with this attitude.
It might seem pitiful that he was trying so hard, but Dylan remained a bystander and just stood there.
Dylan was confident that even if he didn’t intervene in the conversation, Erina wouldn’t go back on what she said to him yesterday.
Although he only knew for a short while.
For a weak human being, she was strong enough not to be overwhelmed by his own momentum, and she had a personality that did not back down from what she thought was right.
It was more interesting because it was different from the way he had seen humans before.
After Dylan made his own assessment of Erina, he gestured towards his niblings who were still standing huddled together in front of Erina.
“Okay, enough greetings, let’s go. Come here quickly.”
The children glared at their uncle who was urging them on even before they had properly said their goodbyes.
Despite those fierce eyes, Dylan just waved his hands with an indifferent expression.
“Okay, guys. You have to go to your uncle.”
The siblings, including Resen, desperately wanted to lie down and not go back with him.
But after they started talking to each other, Erina became the perfect negotiator for Resen, Lia, and Poi.
In the end, the children had no choice but to follow Erina’s words and walked hesitantly towards Dylan.
Dylan warned his nephews and niece, who were coming towards him with wide eyes, as he held out his hand.
“Don’t ever let go of my hand. If you let go, I won’t even know what will happen to you.”
Erina was the only one who was startled by those words.
She held the hands of the children, who were holding their uncle’s hand, so tight so that they would not let go.
If they let go of his hand, they might get lost somewhere.
It was scary just to imagine.
“Wait a moment!”
Erina, who shouted urgently, brought ribbons from home.
She tied the ribbons on the wrists of the children who were holding each other’s hands. Not too tightly, just enough so that their hands wouldn’t slip off.
The children waved at each other and laughed heartily, seeming to like the ribbons Erina had given them.
Erina was not satisfied with that and asked again.
“Don’t ever let go of your uncle’s hand. Lia and Resen have to hold Poi’s hands too, okay?”
“Yes!”
“Lia, be strong! Don’t let go of Poi’s hand!”
“I won’t let go of his hand.”
The conversation came to a close with the children’s energetic answers.
“Okay, I’ll go now. Thank you for everything. I’ll definitely repay you, so please wait a little longer.”
“Oh, no! Please don’t worry about me and just take care of the kids.”
Erina waved her hand, startled by the word ‘repayment’.
Dylan just smiled faintly as he looked at the flustered Erina.
He had no intention of backing down, since this would give him an excuse to come see Erina later.
It had been a long time since he had found a sparkle that he liked, so Dylan was also sad to end it here.
“I am just doing what I have to do as the children’s uncle. If I don’t do anything in return because Miss Erina refuses, I won’t have the face to meet my brother later.”
When Dylan mentioned his brother, Erina reluctantly nodded.
“Well, if that’s the case, then later on come with the kids to play. That’s all! Really!”
Erina emphasized this several times just in case.
She had a pretty big deal with the kids last fall, so she had received more than enough material rewards.
Dylan responded with a vague smile and a nod.
“Goodbye, Erina! See you again!”
“See you again!”
“Goodbye, Mama Erina.”
The children who were playing with the ribbons wrapped around each other’s wrists waved at Erina.
As one hand went up, the other hands followed suit and they laughed out loud again, perhaps because it was funny.
“Okay, kids, listen to what your uncle says, eat plenty, stay healthy, and come play. I’ll be waiting.”
Erina’s heavy heart eased a little as she watched the children quickly brighten up.
Dylan also smiled as if he couldn’t help but be touched by the cheerful mood of his nephews and niece.
These were the kids who would usually jump out of bed to stay by Erina’s side all day long.
The two people at the time had no idea that there would come a day when they would regret having to wonder whether such children could say goodbye so easily.
Dylan, who was watching his nephews and niece exchange glances and make a fuss, decided that he couldn’t delay any longer and said his farewell to Erina.
“Okay. Stay healthy until we meet again.”
“Yes, take care.”
When Erina raised her head again after finishing her greetings, he and the children had already disappeared from her sight.
Only then did Erina release the strength from her eyes and slump down in her seat.
Her heart pounded with fear at the thought of being completely and truly alone now.
If the children had been just a little bit, just a little bit, ordinary, she would not have let them go.
That was how deep the affection she had for the dragon siblings was.
“Hic.”
The teardrops that were forcefully held down began to fall off Erina’s eyeballs and hit the floor.
She tried to wipe away her tears a few times, but eventually she gave up and just cried.
Last year, Erina went to bed sobbing, feeling a similar sense of loss as when her grandmother passed away.
“Resen, Lia, Poi. I miss you. Hic.”
In front of the kids, she pretended to be okay, to be strong, to act as if nothing was wrong, but in reality, she was the loneliest and most depressed person in the world.
The bed, where the children’s warmth, their small, squeaky breathing, and the ticklish feeling of their bodies digging into her body had all disappeared at once, felt very cold and bare.
No matter how much she covered her face with the blanket, the coldness persisted.
It was a coldness that would not go away without the children.
***
Meanwhile, the residents of the Harrison mansion, who had to suddenly welcome the children, were busy since the morning.
It was usually a quiet mansion, deadly so due to the tragic events that had occurred over the past few months.
However, with the news that the previous head of the family’s children, a triplets, were coming, everyone was filled with anticipation that the Harrison household would become lively for the first time in a long time.
Even though they were busy moving around, the faces of the workers were bright and cheerful.
“Well, how about this? They said they are one young lady and two young masters, right?”
“They said so, right? But isn’t this too flashy?”
The servants chatted heatedly while putting in decorations that suited each of the young masters’ rooms.
All they heard from Dylan, who currently led the Harrison family, was that there were two boys and one girl.
It was a situation where everyone had to put their heads together and guess what the children liked.
That’s understandable, because up until now Dylan had rarely encountered any servants.
Most of the time, except for a few weeks a year, he would be either at war or did not come out of his lair.
It was only now that there were no other dragons using the Harrison surname, that he had to stick to the mansion.
But since he was so capricious, there was no telling when he would act up and run away again.
If Dylan did that again, it would be impossible for the servants to ask him questions directly or even get permission.
The only ones who could talk to him face to face were Mitzu and Hael, who were also dragons, but they were also extremely capricious and selfish beings.
The servants thought of those two people, or rather the dragons, as if they did not exist at all, for their mental health.
But they were completely unaware at that time…
That they would soon meet children who were impossibly fussy, who could not be ignored, and who would exhaust their minds with endless energy.
But right now, they were smiling with expectant faces, not knowing anything.
