The Extra Guardian Missed the Right Time to Leave

‘Does he have a fever?’

Even if something went wrong with her health, it was not unreasonable. The road to get here was such a forced march that even she, an adult, got tired.

Eugenia stretched out her hand toward Joshua’s forehead, intending to take his temperature. Joshua, who saw that, paused for a moment and then turned his face.

‘Anyway, he has a bad temper.’

Eugenia glanced at the boy for a moment without being disgusted, then lowered her hand. After that she squatted down to Joshua’s height.

“Joshua.”

She touched the boy’s shoulder. Luckily he didn’t dodge this time.

Eugenia patted his shoulder lightly and continued her words.

“I don’t know because you’re still young, but in the world… Sometimes you have to be reckless. Only then can you move forward or change direction boldly. I thought it was this time.”

Joshua kept his lips tightly shut. From his rather stubborn-looking face, I could see that the child had not yet fully understood the situation.

‘How do I convince this stubborn person…?’

Eugenia swallowed her sigh lightly. Her chest heaved.

“Well, then Joshua. Do I believe it?”

What would the answer be? Eugenia watched Joshua’s lips with her anxious heart. However, despite her worries, Joshua nodded his head and gave her an answer right away without any hesitation.

“Huh.”

“I’m glad.”

The boy answered in a hushed voice, and as he nodded, Eugenia’s lips formed an arc.

“Then how about this? Trust me. I am the one you chose, not anyone else.”

“…”

“So in order not to disappoint you, I have no choice but to make the right choice. Joshua, you know what I mean, right?”

Eugenia looked directly at Joshua, hoping that her sincerity would be conveyed. The boy, who had been silently staring at her straight gaze, somehow averted his eyes with a red face and lowered his head.

“…okay.”

The child’s voice as he answered seemed slightly subdued and cracked. Eugenia got up and started rummaging through her bag.

“Where did you put it?”

She soon found some dried mint leaves. She took some of it out, put it in a cup, and walked over to the fireplace. Then she poured warm water into a cup from the kettle she had placed in front of her.

“Drink some of this. Your throat will feel better.”

“Huh.”

She put her cup in Joshua’s hand and made a cheerful voice.

“Okay then, would you both like to sit side by side on the bed? I have something to say about this.”

“What is it that holds this weight again?”

Joshua faithfully followed Eugenia’s words despite his grumbling. As the boy sat down next to his sister, Eugenia stood in front of them.

“This is a story about what I saved today. You also need to know.”

She sat on her butt on the floor to be at eye level with her children.

“Hmm, I don’t know what to say.”

Eugenia smiled at her perplexed face, then pursed her lips. After pausing for a moment more, she started talking again with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

“I know it’s really unexpected, but… I think I’m going to have a husband.”

Clink.

Joshua lost the cup he was holding.

“Oh my, what should I do!”

Eugenia stood up from her seat with a puzzled look on her face.

“Are you okay? Aren’t you hurt?”

She was afraid that Joshua might have been hurt, so she first held the boy’s hand and looked around. But Joshua didn’t seem to care about that at all.

“Answer Eugenia. Well, what are you doing? What do you think will happen?” he repeated, looking up at Eugenia with her rather shocked face.

The boy’s voice was trembling like that of a newborn baby goat. Why does he look so shocked? Eugenia, who could not understand her boy’s feelings, tilted her head and, out of her good intentions, obediently spoke once more.

“I think I’ll have a husband.”

At that moment, it was unnecessary to say that Joshua’s expression became crumpled like a piece of bad paper. The boy licked his lips and barely managed to get his voice out.

“Why…?”

However, Joshua’s question was drowned out by Selmia’s bright and loud voice.

“Wow! Congratulations, sister!”

The girl clapped so fast that her hands were invisible and offered her congratulations to Eugenia with her twinkling eyes.

“When is the wedding going to be held? No, before that, where did you meet this guy? Is he handsome? How tall is he? Does he have a lot of money?”

“Uh, maybe? I think it satisfies all requirements…”

“Kyaaaah!”

She even put her hands together and clasped them. The sparkle in Selmia’s eyes became stronger. It was as if the midday sun had been planted in Selmia’s eyes. Only then did Eugenia realize her own mistake.

‘Ah…! He was so anxious that he left out her object, wasn’t he?’

This was why it’s natural for kids to misunderstand. It was the moment when I was about to open my mouth again to make up for the lack of explanation.

Joshua asked in a tearful voice.

“Well, well, well, what do you mean? You mean marriage?”

“Joshua? Why are you stuttering like this?”

“Is stuttering a problem? Please answer quickly. Why are you suddenly getting married? Who did you make eye contact with? What? Uh? Did you fool me from the beginning?”

Was it okay for him to listen quietly?

Eugenia narrowed her eyes and she reprimanded lightly.

“What do you mean? I was always sincere.”

Joshua raised his voice as she looked annoyed.

“Then?! You went out to look for a job, but when you came back, you said you were going to get married! Am I not surprised? Explain the situation!”

Fortunately he was no longer stuttering his words, but he seemed quite upset. But Eugenia was not scared at all.

‘It only lasts a day or two for him to get angry.’

Her sense of hitting was zero. She sighed lightly before lifting her hands up to her face.

“Now, look.”

“What!”

Eugenia raised her index finger, clasped her hands apart and hooked her fingers.

“Do you want to connect that with that?”

“…what?”

“Try to connect the fact that I was looking for a job with the fact that I said I would find a husband.”

Eugenia pointed her finger again and said each word with force. Joshua muttered quietly, a confused look on her face.

“I found a job, a husband…”

“Okay.”

“Damn it, who cares?”

Joshua scratched the back of her head, and with a look on her face that showed that her irritation was not going away at all, he followed Eugenia, raised the index fingers of both hands, dropped them, and repeated entangling her.

“You found a job and found a husband? She found a job and a husband. Here, ‘found’ and ‘found’ can be seen as having similar meanings, so if you delete the middle part, the job is… husband…?”

Joshua’s eyes widened. The boy looked blankly at her fingers and then turned his gaze towards Eugenia.

“Uh…? Ah…? If…! Is that it?”

You finally noticed.

“Okay. That’s it.”

Eugenia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, grinning.

“Now you understand.”

“Hey, what is it? I thought I could see her sister in her dress!”

Selmia, who noticed the same thing as Joshua, puffed out her cheeks with her tired face and made an expression of interest. But Joshua’s expression was the complete opposite.

The boy’s face went from straight to wide open, as if he had been frowning for some time. Joshua asked repeatedly in a strangely excited voice.

“So, really, it’s not real?”

Why was he being so needlessly serious?

‘Anyway, even though he usually acts like a child and an adult, there are strange moments where he acts like a child.’

Eugenia nodded her head right at Joshua. Now that Joshua has calmed her down, he needs to explain further. She added an explanation that I missed the first time.

“Huh. It’s fake. Acting as a married couple for just a few days. That is the whole contract between that man and me.”

When she told them that the border would soon be completely sealed and that they would have to disguise themselves as members of her family to be able to get out of the principality, she nodded as if she understood.

“I don’t know how long it will last, but once that situation passes, I will completely return to Namnam.”

To instill her faith in her children, Eugenia strengthened her voice. She spoke in a lower voice.

“No one will know who you are. I will be careful, but you must also be careful, got it?”

Following Eugenia, Selmia and Joshua’s expressions also became serious. Watching the two children nod their heads carefully, Eugenia hugged Selmia and Joshua at once.

“Let’s try a little harder.”

Maybe it’s something you say to yourself.

Eugenia took a deep breath and let go of her children. Then she courageously raised her voice.

“Okay then, let’s pack first!”

* * *

The luggage that went into the two bags was quite simple.

“First impressions are important, so dress as neatly as possible.”

After Eugenia had taken care of the children’s clothes with her own hands, she took care of herself for the last time. She walked to the window and opened it. In the meantime, the rain seemed to have stopped, but no drops were visible, and only the occasional water droplets could be seen falling from the roof. Before she knew it, the sky was filled with red, and a rainbow was vaguely hanging over it.

‘The sun is setting.’

Eugenia closed the window again.

Enrique told her he would come pick her up in the evening, but he didn’t say what time.

‘When are we going out?’

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: