“Do you want to write a letter?”
“No!”
They were five now. Children at that young age just searched. When they received a letter from their parents, they wrote a reply. But they have never sent a letter first. It was like that from the beginning. I wondered if it was because they didn’t know where their parents were, but I’ve never seen them go to such lengths to ask for information.
I once asked the children why they didn’t send letters first. The children at that time.
“Mom and Dad will want to see us as much as Riev wants to see them.”
“That’s why I and Riev are holding back.”
I just hugged the children and stroked their heads.
“Shall I show it to Ainz?”
I woke up to the sound of a child’s voice. Sometimes, when I am with the children, I think I’m dreaming.
When I was young, I thought about it dozens of times. I wonder if I’m dreaming of what it would have been like if I had grown up so I could protect my younger siblings. But this is not a dream.
I whispered as I held the children in my arms.
“Ainz is busy so it will be hard to see him.”
The only time Ainz Rainswain appeared was during meal times, and he was rarely seen other than that. Sometimes, when the children came back from visiting him, their faces were always filled with disappointment. I wanted to stop them and tell them not to go to him, but the kids followed Ainz well, probably because they spent about a year together.
“Still, I want to go…”
Riev mumbles as he hugs the doll tightly. Josef was also next to me, his eyes full of anticipation as he secretly wanted to go. If this happens, it will be difficult. I know the children will eventually return without seeing Ainz, but I ring the bell to call her maid to let them go again. But this time was different. I asked, squeezing the children’s small hands.
“Then shall we go together?”
“Huh!”
“Yes!”
Something I reflect on again and again. I am not Marchen Rainswain. However, in front of Ainz Rainswain, I began to move as if I had been consumed by the memories of Marchen. I don’t feel uncomfortable facing him. He is like many people who pass by me on the street. So, Ainz is just a ‘passerby’. A careless, dishonest, person who doesn’t need to show interest. I took a step forward, feeling the warmth in my hand. It was the children who lifted up those feelings that had fallen.
* * *
I stopped in front of Ainz’s office, holding Riev’s hand in my right hand and Josef’s hand in my left.
“Master?”
“Is Ainz inside?”
The Russian knight guarding Ainz nodded with a puzzled expression. I also had a knight of Lysia protecting me. The reason it is in past tense is because I rejected it and kicked it out. So, since then Marchen Rainswain hasn’t received any knight from Lysia. I think I should say that, at least for the sake of the children. But I thought maybe I was being too sensitive. There is no one targeting Rainswain, neither in the north where this mansion is located nor within the empire, so they will even ask you to give them a knight. There is also something mentioned in 〈One Greater Happiness〉. It is said that most of the people belonging to the ‘Rainswain clan lock themselves up and do not come out, and the reason why Ainz showed himself differently from the other ‘Rainswains’ was because Sirena Liev appeared.
Sirena, at that name, I put a little more pressure on the hand holding the children.
Josef feels my power and tilts his head.
Oops, I thought to myself and immediately relaxed my strength. Then Josef squeezed my hand and smiled brightly.
“Is it difficult for me and the kids to get in?”
I asked the Lycia knight again with a slightly trembling voice due to Josef’s power. The young-faced knight hesitated and then shook his head.
“No.”
Before I had time to stop the knight, Riev knocked on the door. It is okay to come in as soon as the small tapping is over. A voice was heard. Riev looks at me and smiles as if asking for a compliment. She couldn’t help but look at her child and smile.
Nobody opened the door during several minutes. It wasn’t even opened by children. Children were too small to hold the handle and open it.
“Ma’am?”
“Ainz!”
Apparently, since no one came in even after giving permission to ‘come in’, Ainz came out himself. When Ainz appeared, Riev smiled brightly and called out to Ainz. Josef didn’t call him, but he seemed glad to see his face. I opened my mouth as I looked at the children who seemed to be in a good mood.
“Because the kids want to see you.”
“Ainz, Ainz! Look at Riev, isn’t he pretty? Josef did it too?”
There was no answer back. I looked at Ainz with a slight frown on her face. I opened my lips slightly as I looked at the red eyes that were staring at me. They weren’t looking at the kids, they were looking at me. I was about to say something to that gaze, but Ainz’s gaze turned downward.
“It suits you well.”
I pursed my lips and looked away. I had the feeling that it was something said as a courtesy. Only then did I realize why the children had such disappointed faces when they returned from seeing Ainz. I thought it was because we couldn’t meet, but that wasn’t the case. Children quickly figure out that I didn’t mean it. I held the children in my arms.
“Kids… aren’t they cute?”
At my words, Ainz looked at the children in turn, then nodded her head.
“That’s cute.”
I wish there was soul in those words. But in Marchen’s memories, I had never once seen him speak with a sincere voice. Ah, there is. When I saw Sirena in Marchen and when I was informed of the deaths of the main characters, I bit my lip. Also, I’m trying to recite it as if the memories of Marchen are coming over me. I sighed softly, feeling the warmth of the children in my arms. The contradictory emotions, such as love and hate felt in Marchen’s memories, subside.
‘Yeah, these kids are my little brothers, I’m not you.’
With my mind calming down, I slowly moved my lips.
“Ainz.”
Even though I had made up my mind, my voice calling out to Ainz had no tone.
“Anyway, I have something to tell you.”
And the voice that answers this is also the same. Red eyes turned to me as before.
“A letter has arrived from the Count of Tiye.”
Once again, I smiled crookedly as the voice told me that it was reality and not a dream.
* * *
“I’m proud of you.”
He tried to chase her out, saying that she had brought him a seed whose father he did not know, and Marchen didn’t want her only brother to know who the child’s father was. That’s why she wanted to be kicked out like this.
Someone will ask. Wasn’t she Tiye’s daughter? Marchen Tiye, the only woman in the count’s family. Well, of course, wasn’t she a woman loved by everyone? My answer to that question is as follows.
If ‘Marchen’ was truly the count’s beloved daughter, if her family truly loved her, then Count Tiye was to her sister who had lost her child.
“It’s okay. Isn’t she going to have another child anyway?”
He wouldn’t have done anything to break her worn-out heart again. The day she lost her child, Marchen read the regret in her family’s eyes.
* * *
I hear a loud beating sound as the memories come flooding back. My hands were shaking and my exhaled breath was also shaking.
“Marchen?”
I took the letter from Ainz, trying hard to hide the trembling of my hands as he called me. When I get back, I’ll call the maid and ask her to use it as firewood.
I took the letter and looked at the children again.
“Ainz told you you were cute?”
When I spoke with a smile, Riev’s expression brightened. Josef’s cheeks turn red and he plays with the hair I tied up. I looked at the children happily, then wiped my face and looked at Ainz.
“I think I was disturbing you.”
“It’s okay.”
No, what I said was an apology. And Ainz answered, ‘It’s okay.’ Neither I nor he had any sincerity in those words. It’s the same as praising him for being good with children or for being cute. We only had a formal conversation.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yeah! Ainz, see you later!”
I held the children’s hands in both hands and walked away again. The children wave their hands at Ainz.
‘Well, I’m not sure if Ainz said bye to her children.’
I just wish he would do it. The letter I had in my arms was annoying. It feels like a sharp end is stabbing me. I held the children’s small hands even more carefully.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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