I Ended up Raising the Children of the Protagonists

The children toss and turn in the moonlight that fills the room. I carefully got up and went to the window. Liev’s dreamy voice was heard and the curtains were drawn to block out the moonlight. The room was completely dark, with only candles burning faintly. After seeing the faces of the children sleeping, I took out the letter I had put in the drawer. It has a seal with sale of falcon, Hawes.

 

Behind the blue seal, children can be seen. Smiles spread across the children’s faces, as if they were dreaming. Unlike him, my smile became distorted. Ainz didn’t say anything wrong. Yes, you can’t hide it. So you have to tell me when. But… their death or whatever. I can’t speak now. The deaths of Sirena and John must be hidden from the children who are looking for their parents.

 

The hand holding the letter gained strength. What was just a piece of paper crumpled as soon as you applied force to it. The crushed paper looked like my face. Haha, I burst out laughing. I bit my lip and suppressed laughter, afraid that the children would wake up. It was a laugh that was like crying.

 

I muttered such a hypocritical excuse and placed the letter on the dresser. Another situation I faced struck me like a blade.

 

“Mom and dad…”

 

Her smiling face was so pretty that it seemed like she was meeting her parents in a dream. He straightened Liev’s hair and repainted his crooked smile.

 

Yeah, for the kids.

 

* * *

 

“Wow! A letter! A letter has arrived!”

 

“Marchen! A letter has arrived!”

 

My eyes widened as the cup woke me up.

 

“Liev, Josef?”

 

Before I knew it, the curtains had been pulled, and bright sunlight was shining into the room. The first thing I saw was a calm face smiling without even blinking. The children are holding the letters tightly in their small hands as if they are precious. I slowly spit out the words and took off the blanket.

 

“…I guess Ainz left it behind.”

 

“Huh!”

 

Liev climbs onto the bed and snuggles into my arms. When I stretched out my arms to Josef, who was standing blankly, the child hesitated and climbed onto the bed. Just a moment ago, I was laughing along with Liev. It looks like he is embarrassed because he appears innocent. As I hug the children tightly, I feel the utmost warmth. Liev squirmed in his arms and raised his head.

 

“Can I open the letter?”

 

“Of course, you can open it.”

 

I smiled and nodded my head. I don’t want the kids to pay any attention to me. At my permission, Liev smiled brightly and opened the envelope.

 

“I! I want to read it!”

 

“No! I’ll read it!”

 

“Liev can’t read!”

 

“No! I know how to read!”

 

As soon as Liev opened the envelope, Josef stretched out his hand. Liev rejects the hand. Josef puffed out his cheeks. At the moment I was wondering if I should stop the kids who looked like they were going to fight at any moment. The children’s different but similar eyes turned to me.

 

“Marchen read it to me!”

 

“Read!”

 

“Huh…?”

 

Liev holds out the letter to me.

 

“Liev doesn’t read well. But Josef reads it wrong too.”

 

“I’m good at reading!”

 

“No it’s not!”

 

The children’s voices brought me out of my daze as if I had been hit with cold water. I smiled, hiding my quivering lips.

 

“Stop, don’t fight, okay. I’ll read it to you.”

 

The children huff at the sound of the tire and glare at each other. I smiled and took the letter from Liev and opened it. The letter was two pages long. I held the letter at the children’s eye level. Liev and Josef open their eyes wide.

 

“It’s Dad’s handwriting!”

 

“Mom, didn’t you use it?”

 

The children looked at the letter paper and tilted their heads. It’s not like there’s anything on the letter. I smiled and showed the back page.

 

“Mom’s handwriting!”

 

“Mom wrote it too!”

 

A sense of guilt weighs heavily on me at the sound of his clear voice. Ignoring the feeling that was weighing heavily on my heart, I let out a sigh.

 

“I’ll read it to you.”

 

“Huh!”

 

“Yes!”

 

My lips trembled at the bright laughter in my voice. I comforted my trembling lips and strengthened the hand holding the letter. I heard the letter paper being crushed in my hand with a rustling sound, so I hurriedly withdrew my strength.

 

“…our beloved babies.”

 

I cleared my voice again. As if I were a child learning to read for the first time, I continued speaking slowly, one character at a time. I let out a quiet voice like that. Liev and Josef burst into laughter and chimed in while I was reading the letter, saying that they were listening well. Every time the kids did that, I quietly took a breath.

 

“…We will always be by your side, we love you.”

 

The letter ended with that makeup.

 

“That’s the end?”

 

“Yes. That’s the end.”

 

There is a clear look of disappointment in the purple eyes looking up at me. I comforted the child by stroking his head. Still, Liev pouts her lips.

 

“Let’s write a reply!”

 

It was none other than Josef’s words that boosted Liev’s spirits. Josef, who got up from the bed and made the loudest noise since coming from this mansion, clenched his hands and laughed.

 

“Let’s write a reply to Mom and Dad together. Sister!”

 

Come to think of it, Liev was born five minutes early. Did you do it? I’ve never heard Josef call Liev ‘sister’, but at times like this, he calls her ‘sister’ and laughs mischievously. Even this appearance is the same. I bit the inside of my lip as I saw Yebin and Yeban overlap once again. Liev smiled brightly at Josef’s words and jumped up from his seat.

 

“Yes! Let’s write a reply!!”

 

At this moment, I was the only one who couldn’t laugh. Because I know that the children’s answers will not be relayed to their parents. So I forced myself to laugh.

 

“Marchen, with stationery…”

 

“Of course, you can bring it to me. I’ll send the letter too.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, I will let Liev and Josef do whatever they want.”

 

The children smile brightly at my words. I raised her bell and called her maid. After telling them to quickly bring their stationery, I gave the children pens. Soon the maid came in with an assortment of stationery on her silver tray.

 

“I have this!”

 

“I want to do this!”

 

The children, who each chose a different stationery, sat around the table and started writing. I sat down among the children and watched Liev and Josef write their makeup one by one. The children’s letters won’t be passed on to anyone. I am so scared that I don’t even want to imagine what will happen to the children who find out all of this in the future. It was a feeling I had to deal with alone. I am…

 

“Marchen!”

 

How should I face these faces? I took a deep breath as the voice called me. It felt like a freshly blooming violet was looking at me.

 

“…?”

 

I looked at Liev calmly, hoping that my voice would not tremble. Liev swings his legs and opens his mouth.

 

“I want to draw a picture…”

 

“Wait for a sec.”

 

I got up and left the bedroom. Cham exhaled and placed her hand on his chest. The pounding heartbeat is transmitted through the palm of my hand. He lifted his hands and covered his face. I just wanted to sit down. No, I wanted to scream out evil. But it can’t be done. I can’t show that to anyone.

 

“Lady?”

 

I was young. At the sound of her voice, I slowly raised her hand covering her face and saw a young maid with freckles on both cheeks. She must have been cleaning, so she puts down her broom and comes towards me with a surprised look on her face.

 

“Is there anything bad about you?”

 

It was a voice full of worry. I shook my head in response to her maid’s question, whose name I did not know. I didn’t know the names of Marchen, me who entered his body, or the employees who worked at the mansion. After losing her child, Marchen lost interest in anything related to Raines Wayne, and I followed her life. However, if it were different, I believed that I would be able to meet my younger siblings and gave meaning to my life. When the memories of Marchen invaded me, I thought of the memories I had with her younger siblings. I threw it away like that. Despite my nod, the maid did not leave me with worried eyes and asked again.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

I smiled and kissed her lips, as if I was okay with that kind question.

 

“…crayon.”

 

“Yes?”

 

I hastily corrected her words.

 

“No. Is there anything the kids can enjoy while coloring?”

 

Because I thought, is there such a thing as crayons in this world?

 

“Yes, yes! I’ll get it right now!”

 

The maid answered my question vigorously and then bowed her head and walked away. No matter how quickly she walked, her foot caught on the broom she had left on the floor and she stumbled. Not long after, a maid came running with her wife in her hand, saying, “Ma’am.”

 

“Slowly…”

 

She was worried that she might trip on the broom like before. To put my worries to shame, the maid put her broom away with her foot and came towards me with a smile. Crayons existed in this world too. They may be called something other than crayons, but it’s good that there is a tool that children can use to play with coloring.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The freckled maid looks surprised at my thanks. She must have thought it was rude, so she quickly lowered her head and blushed.

 

“Oh, no! I’m glad I was of help to my master!”

 

When I looked closely at her stuttering face, I saw that she was young. The shy-looking face strangely resembled the face of ‘Marchen Tiye’. That’s why I asked. 

 

“What is your name?”

 

“Huh? Oh, it’s Hannah.”

 

Hannah’s eyes widened as if she didn’t know I was going to ask her name.

 

I smiled.

 

“Okay, Hannah, I’m sorry I interrupted you. Thank you for telling me.”

 

I opened the door to the bedroom, leaving Hannah pouting like a goldfish. The children were still concentrating on writing their letters. The reason I asked Hannah’s name was because her face resembled that of Marchen Tiye. As I listened to Sirena’s story, that happy, shy face came to mind.

 

“Marchen!”

 

“Yes, Liev.”

 

Liev, who found me, stopped writing a letter and ran to me. I smiled bitterly and handed Liev the crayons I was holding. Liev smiled brightly, took the crayon, and returned to his seat. Josef opens the box, takes out crayons, and begins to draw on stationery. I smiled as I quietly watched the children’s concentration. If it weren’t for the blunt sound of paper rolling, time passed so slowly, so slowly, that you would have the illusion that time had stopped, and that if you slowly closed your eyes and opened them, you would have the illusion that it was a dream. What kind of being was ‘Sirena’ to Marchen? Ironically, Sirena was a happy memory for Marchen, but Sirena’s children were the most painful memory for Marchen. I closed my eyes as the image of Marchen letting out a scream-like cry towards children who could not even walk came to mind.

 

“Marchen!”

 

“I’m done!”

 

I raised my eyelids at the bright voice calling me. Liev and Josef got up from their seats at the same time and brought me a letter. I patted the children’s heads and accepted the letters they handed me.

 

“Will Mom and Dad like it?”

 

“Of course.”

 

I smiled, tearing Liev’s eyes off. Liev shows a bright smile. He let me wash. In the meantime, I called the maid and opened the neatly folded letters that the children had written. Their letters were different. However, the final conclusion was the same: “I miss you.”

 

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Translator Note: