“Lia.”
-…….
“Lia?”
-…….
“……Lia!”
-Eek! Oh, what? Adi, did you call me?
“Why are you ignoring everything I say? It’s mean!”
I don’t know how the day went by after the sun rose.
Ellie, who was blankly staring into space, suddenly turned her head at a voice coming from the side.
A child with a very annoyed expression was looking up at her.
-Sorry, I was thinking about something and I didn’t hear you properly. What did you say?
Ellie quickly adjusted her posture to match the child’s eye level and asked with an awkward smile. She still wasn’t sure if she was thinking properly.
Since the incident happened at dawn yesterday, she hasn’t been able to come to her senses at all.
Is this what it would feel like if someone stole all your time?
‘No matter what, acting like this in front of the child, I must be crazy.’
Ellie, worried that the quick-witted child might sense something strange, stared straight at him.
The white, soft cheeks were constantly twitching as if to prove that he was displeased, but fortunately the child opened his mouth without any other sign.
“You did the same thing yesterday, see… .”
-……Huh?
Although the words were a grumble mixed with a spoonful of resentment,
Ellie blinked quickly when she heard the child’s mumbling.
‘I guess I did do that yesterday.’
Come to think of it, I think I did.
Ellie’s eyes, which she had quietly averted from the sharp gaze, rolled around somewhere in the corner.
In fact, even if she thought about it, she didn’t remember how she was yesterday.
She was like an idiot, her head was empty.
‘Well, I can guess roughly how I was just by looking at the fact that I was caught spacing out in front of Adi right now.’
Look at that sullen attitude of turning his head away as soon as he makes eye contact with his cheeks puffed up as if he’s going to fly into the sky right now.
It was clear to anyone that he had a lot of pent-up anger.
Ellie had no choice but to humbly apologize to the child. Please, forgive me for this, and calm down.
-Uh, Sorry. Can you tell me again? I’ll focus on Adi now!
“…….”
-I really didn’t mean to. Look at my eyes, do they look like the eyes of a liar?
“…….”
Sigh. Was that a small sigh she heard, or was it her imagination?
It didn’t seem like a mistake.
However, Ellie, pretending to be as calm as possible, opened her eyes wide.
What’s the point of trying to save face in front of a child when you’re already a ghost?
They say that if you sincerely ask, it will come true.
In the end, the child, who lost the battle of momentum, brought up the topic smoothly. He couldn’t help but think it was rather childish and pitiful even to himself.
“……Which one……is……better?”
-Huh?
“Which one is better, this or this?”
The child asked, stretching his small hands out into the air, fiddling with them.
A ribbon with white embroidery on a yellow background and a ribbon with tightly attached purple lace on a white background.
-……Where did you get these?
When she asked him, tilting her head, he replied that Marie gave them to him because he wanted to decorate the flowerpot.
Flowerpot.
That damn flowerpot.
-Even up until your birthday, it ends up like this……
“Huh?”
-……Nothing. I think the yellow one is prettier.
“Gasp. Me too.”
Ellie couldn’t help but laugh helplessly at the child who smiled brightly, saying that they have similar tastes.
If you like it, that’s all that matters, right…….
* * *
-There you go. Now, how about trying to put it through the round loop from there?
“This doesn’t seem right…”
-No! If you let go of the other hand, the loop will come undone. You have to hold it while putting it through.
“……It’s hard…….”
What exactly is happening here? Well, there’s a bit of a backstory to explain.
Ellie spoke to the child who was sulking after failing to tie the ribbon for the fifteenth time, her voice raised with excitement.
-Still, it’s much prettier than the first time! Our Adi has great hands for this!
“……Really?”
-Of course. It’s hard to believe a five-year-old tied this today!
Ellie clapped her hands and showered the child with praise.
For a five-year-old tying a ribbon for the first time, it was true that Adi’s little hands were doing a fine job.
‘This isn’t flattery.’
After all, it made sense. Casting magic also required visualizing the scope and formulas in one’s mind, so Ellie figured the child could handle this.
‘A kid who can self-learn and cast such magic should understand this.’
Seeing the slightly crooked, crumpled ribbon proudly placed in the center of the flowerpot, Ellie felt a wave of relief.
She had feared they would spend the entire night tying the ribbon.
[I can’t tie it…]
[Shall we ask Marie to help then?]
[But this is something I have to do!]
[Can’t we ask her to help just a tiny bit?]
[No.]
[……Alright. Then I’ll explain it even more slowly this time. Let’s try again.]
Despite the child following instructions well, it was still difficult for such young hands to tie a ribbon neatly.
Sometimes it was due to poor control of strength. Other times, it was because they couldn’t pull his hands away in time.
The ribbon would end up lopsided, or the child would tie his fingers into the knot, needing to start over repeatedly.
‘But he insists on doing it himself, no matter what—’
Why was a single ribbon so important? The child kept demanding to try again until sunset, while Marie had repeatedly asked Adi to come to the dining room.
Knock, knock.
“Young master, are you still very busy…?”
Just like now.
After coming up to the attic, the child, engrossed in tying the ribbon, had gotten quite frustrated, making Marie’s question rather timid.
The child didn’t understand why he had to go to the dining room when he always ate in their room.
‘At this rate, the whole birthday will pass, oh dear!’
Ellie felt the same way as Marie did today.
After all, she was just as eager as Marie, who had been secretly preparing for a surprise birthday party.
Ellie spoke to the child.
-Now that the ribbon is tied, shall we go eat, Adi?
“But… it’s still a bit messy…”
-Well, I think it looks pretty enough already. You’ve worked so hard to tie it like this.
“……”
-Since your heart is so sincere, I’m sure the fairy will appreciate it too. But if the fairy finds out you skipped dinner because of the ribbon, wouldn’t she be sad, thinking it’s her fault…?
Ellie guessed that the reason the child hesitated was the fairy he had been longing to see.
Ellie turned her head away and pretended to cry, while also sneaking glances at the child to see if he noticed.
“Oh, oh, oh…”
-And if you skip dinner, Marie, who has been going up and down the attic, will be very upset too…
What should she do? Aelli sighed heavily, dragging out the end of her sentence. There was no action that didn’t have a reason behind it.
“I… I’ll go! I’ll eat!”
-Gasp. Really?
Thus, victory was achieved.
When she asked again with a bright smile, as if he had never said no before, the child looked like they had been caught. But it was already too late.
Marie, who had heard the child’s shout to go eat, spoke from behind the door.
Even without seeing her face, it was obvious she was beaming with joy.
“Then shall we go down together… Oh, no! I’ll go down first and reheat the food, so please come slowly! Promise!”
The food was an excuse; she was probably going to get the party fireworks ready.
Ellie was about to speak when she heard the unusually loud noise of Marie running downstairs.
She wanted to suggest they go slowly to the child.
-Hmm…
She noticed the small, delicate neck covered by a thick mess of black hair.
Soon the weather would get warmer, and that unkempt hair would be quite…
‘Uncomfortable.’
Not only was the heat a concern, but the hairstyle also seemed to obstruct vision, making daily life inconvenient.
Ellie recalled a small pair of scissors Mari had left in the room after their paper-cutting play session.
She decided to speak up.
-…Adi, shall we trim your hair a little before we go?
The scissors had safety covers on all parts except the blades, making them safe for children to use.
While it would be too much to cut it herself, she could supervise and help tidy it up a bit.
However, upon hearing Aeli’s suggestion, the child was horrified and quickly shook his head.
“I just want to leave it as it is.”
-Won’t it be hot in the summer?
“Still… since it’s black hair, I want to grow it out.”
-Well, if that’s the case, then there’s nothing we can do….
It would be a lie to say I’m not disappointed, but that’s just how it is.
Ellie nodded her head again, smacking her lips, not wanting to push him any further when he was so resolutely refusing. It was too firm a reaction to push back.
Come to think of it, even with the safest scissors, it wasn’t something to be recommended for a child to do their own hair.
‘I’m not sure why he mentioned the hair color while refusing.’
Anyway, if they kept delaying here, Marie would likely come back in tears.
Without further ado, Ellie quickly scanned the room and pointed to something.
-……How about using this ribbon instead?
If we can’t trim it, we can’t do anything about the bangs, but at least it won’t be for the back hair.
It was a compromise she had come up with in a hurry.
Since they didn’t need a pretty ribbon for tying hair, she thought it wasn’t a bad alternative.
In the end, the child didn’t tie it himself.
‘Hmm…’
While watching the neatly tied ribbon on the back of the child’s head, Ellie glanced at Marie, who was walking beside her.
Probably, she wouldn’t even know she was here.
Marie, who had come to find the child who hadn’t come down for quite some time to tie his hair, was now standing in front of the dining room door, pausing to speak.
“Shall we go in?”
“Yeah.”
Sure enough, by the child’s side was the flowerpot he had been carrying since he left the attic this time.
The flowerpot adorned with the ribbon they had tied with such effort was a cute addition.
Ellie looked alternately at the child facing away and the firmly closed brown door.
As Marie, with a subtly remembered expression, grabbed the handle she was holding and spoke to the child at the same time.
“Oh, by the way, Young Master.”
“Yeah?”
“Happy birthday, sincerely.”
And then the door opened…
Boom! Bang!
“…!”
A party popper popped.
* * * *
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