Please Save My Child

‘I don’t want to sleep now.’

She felt like if she fell asleep now, she would have a nightmare and wake up the children.

Thinking that it would be better to stay up all night, Reina looked at the hallway outside the room. The glass of the window was as cold as unmelting ice.

Reina was tapping the window with her bare fingers when she suddenly stepped back and walked upstairs to her room.

‘Is the portrait still there?’

Damian told Reina that it was okay, but Reina was really bothered by the torn portrait. As she walked quietly through the deserted mansion, she felt like she had done something bad for no reason.

“Oh?”

When she got to the room, she saw that the door was open.

“…A-Ah.”

An extremely lonely voice was heard from inside. Reina knew the owner of that voice. Through the gap in the door, she could see the back of a man, pitch black as if he were being eaten by the darkness. He looked at the greatly-torn portrait and muttered to himself.

“…But… you… I guess.”

The voice was so small that even the slightest breeze would make it disappear, so she couldn’t hear it properly. Reina felt like she was doing a very bad thing by peeking into someone’s private information. She wasn’t wrong though, since she was actually listening to him talking to himself.

Reina thought for a moment. Should she just pretend not to know, pretend not to see, and just leave?

…

“I regret it.”

Should she say a word to the man who seemed to be suffering from a terrible nightmare? She dared to feel sympathy for the highest noble in this empire. It was self-deprecating self-talk that was very clearly audible.

After saying those words, he remained silent for a long time.

Reina eventually knocked weakly on the door. Only then did he slowly turn around and look at her.

“Reina Borton.”

“Am I interrupting?”

“No. There’s nothing to be interrupted. What brings you here?”

Damian nodded as if to come in. Reina slightly bowed her head and then entered the room. Some of the white cloth covering the furniture had been rolled up. Among them, a bottle of alcohol and two glasses were placed on a small table. One glass contained alcohol, but the other glass was empty.

Reina quietly looked around the room and opened her mouth.

“I was concerned that the portrait was torn, so I came to see if I could look at it for a moment.”

“It wasn’t torn apart because of you in the first place.”

“…Still, it tore while I was looking at it.”

Moonlight streamed in through the large window and illuminated the portrait of the Duchess. Unlike Damian, she was a person who seemed to shine even in the darkness.

‘It’s just a picture, though.’

Reina looked at Titania, who was smiling sweetly in the frame.

“Is it possible to restore this portrait?”

“As if anyone wants to touch this painting.”

“Isn’t it an honor to work on the portrait of a noble?”

Furthermore, it was a possession of the Winternight family.

Damian, who knew what Reina was curious about, spoke in a very dry tone.

“Because Titania was Fineke. There seems to be a rumor going around among the people of the empire that drawing Fineke will make you unhappy.”

“Sorry.”

“What do you have to apologize for? It’s not you that started the rumor about Fineke.”

Reina and Damian remained silent for a long time. In the end, Damian spoke first.

“You managed to find a secret passage here. No one has used it for about 7 or 8 years.”

“Ah… I heard about the style and structure of the mansion in class before. So I tried it and got it right.”

Reina glanced at the white cloth around it.

“The windows were too big for this place to be a warehouse, and the furniture here looked like it had been here for a long time.”

Reina stared at Titania’s portrait. Even though it was a painting, there was kindness in the eyes.

“And I didn’t think the master would keep his wife’s portrait in storage.”

“Well.”

Damian nodded his head slightly and said.

“This was her favorite room. The windows are wide open so it’s good to see the stars.”

“Did she like looking at the stars?”

“Well, considering that, she still couldn’t distinguish any constellations.”

His voice as he spoke while looking out the window was quite emotionless.

“There was no secret passage in this room to begin with. One day, she asked me to make it. In that sense, it could be said that it was a blessing in disguise that you were trapped in this room.”

“Ah, so it’s not connected to the first floor or outside, but to the master’s office.”

“Yes.”

Damian looked out the window and looked at Reina. Reina looked paler than usual in the dim moonlight. But her extremely cloudy impression still remained.

“Can I ask now?”

Reina’s head, which had been looking elsewhere, turned towards Damian.

“Ask?”

“Since you asked me questions, it’s only fair that I also do it.”

Reina rolled her eyes and then nodded her head.

“Then…”

He crossed his arms around himself and pretended to be lost in his thoughts. The reason he acted was because he was curious in the first place. This afternoon, a question arose at Gazebo. It’s just that he couldn’t ask because he didn’t want to talk about it in front of people.

“What did you hear in the prison?”

“…”

“I wonder what you heard that made you look bad all day long.”

Reina was a person with no personality and had such a vague impression that it was easy to forget what she looked like. Still, Damian noticed today that Reina hadn’t had a good expression on her face all day long. Even now, Damian could read the subtle change in the blurry face.

Reina kept fiddling with her hands. He walked over to the table and poured a drink into the empty glass and handed it to her.

“Let’s have a drink.”

Reina accepted the glass handed to her by Damian. The feel of the hard glass was clearly felt in her hands. As Reina tipped the glass back and forth, she finally opened her mouth.

“It just feels like I woke up from a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yes, it was a dream.”

She brought the glass up to her nose and smelled it. Even though she didn’t drink it, she could tell it was a strong drink.

“I got so comfortable here that I forgot about it, but I wasn’t the kind of person who deserved to be treated like this in a place like this. I just found out my place again through Sophia. And…”

“And?”

“And I was afraid that this would be passed down to my daughter.”

Was there anything more painful and unresolvable than causeless malice? Damian also understood what Reina was saying, and he was silent for a moment.

And he said.

“Was that dream terrible for you?”

“No.”

Reina laughed weakly. Her eyes were fixed on the glass.

“I was so happy. So much so that I never wanted to wake up again.”

“Then change your mind. It might be wrong to say that you woke up from a dream.”

“What?”

“So, the moment you felt happy was not a dream but reality. And…”

Reina lifted her head from her bowed position. Damian, who always had an expressionless face, was looking straight at her with the same expression as usual. The sky-blue eyes, so transparent that they were cold, did not lose their shine even in the darkness.

“And, everything that bothers you is the dream.”

Reina’s eyes widened as she heard this for the first time in her life; something she had never thought of before.

“I have no power.”

“The world that tramples on people because they have no power is wrong.”

“I’m a commoner and a woman…”

“If those two things are the cause of people’s misfortune, then this country’s system is completely flawed.”

“I’m a woman with a child.”

“Reina Borton.”

Damian asked Reina.

“Is your daughter, Bonita, the reason for your misfortune?”

“…”

“Are you unhappy because you have a daughter?”

“No.”

As for whether the extramarital child was a good thing for Reina, she could definitely say no. However, while she may have had difficult moments at times, she was never unhappy just because it was hard.

“People want me to be unhappy.”

All of Sophia’s harsh words pierced through her heart. But it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to go back to normal if she exploded in anger at that place. It really felt like she was going from top to bottom. She felt like she would accidentally reveal her feelings to the children.

“Still, some people want you to be happy.”

“How many?”

“Well, Estelle or Bonita. And I don’t want you to be unhappy either. Besides, if you think about it carefully, I’m sure there is that other person.”

“Then I can be happy?”

“That alone can make people happy.”

Reina blinked her eyes, closed them once, and then opened them. Before she knew it, a single tear had fallen.

“That’s what Titania taught me.”

Without realizing it, Damian reached out his hand and wiped away the tears in the bright yellow eyes.

 

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Translator Note:

Special thanks to Divine for her help in this chapter too!!