Marie, who had been about to turn her back towards the door, hesitated and turned her gaze to the child. It was almost a reflexive action because she saw the child flinch at the sight of her swirling skirt.
“Wa…Waaah!”
The child, who had been staring blankly at the broken flower pot with wide eyes, burst into tears. Naturally, the previously quiet space became noisy.
Ellie and Marie, both rushing to soothe the child, opened their mouths at nearly the same time.
“Adi! Look at me! Look here! Peek-a-boo!”
“Young master! Are you hurt?!”
…Oh? What am I supposed to do when you do that?
Marie, who had screamed sharply, examined the crying child all over, worried that he might be hurt. Her reaction showed clear concern.
Ellie, a novice mother trying to calm the child with a funny face, awkwardly lowered her arms. She couldn’t think of any innovative ways beyond soothing an infant.
“Waaah! Sob…”
“Gasp, don’t touch that! If you handle broken things wrong, you’ll get cut!”
Marie, who was trying to prevent the child from reaching for the pot, hesitated, saying it was dangerous and that she would clean it up herself. Aside from Ellie, the only ones left in the dining room were Marie and the child.
The cook who had been waiting with them had already left, advising Marie to just clear the dishes and go, as he would do the washing up in the morning.
Given the situation, it wasn’t easy to go get tools to clean up the pot.
‘The child will probably grab the pot shards as soon as Marie lets go…’
Although she could try to stop him with words, Ellie, who could pass through objects and people alike, couldn’t physically help.
Realizing quickly that there was no one to assist her, Marie seemed to choose calming the child over cleaning up the pot.
“Why is our young master so upset… If you keep crying, you’ll get dehydrated.”
“But, but my… waaah…”
“Yes, it’s my fault for not being careful when the young master was already tired… I’m really sorry. I’ll go get a new pot right away, could you please forgive me just this once?”
“But you can’t bring it back tonight… sob… what’s the point tomorrow! Waaah!”
“No! I can go right now and come back before midnight! You trust me, right? I’m really fast—”
“Marie, you’ve never… sob! You’ve never kept your promises! How can I trust you now! It’s no use… without the ribbon, even if you bring a new pot, Daddy won’t come back… waaah!”
Saying this, the child clambered down from the high chair and reached into the pile of dirt. Marie, stunned, didn’t react in time to stop him.
“Sob… Daddy…”
The child, having retrieved a yellow ribbon from the pile of dirt spilled from the broken pot, sniffled.
TL/N: THIS CHILD NEVER FAILS TO BREAK MY HEART ☹
Ellie froze at the unexpected word as she saw the tears that had flowed down the child’s delicate skin soak into the ribbon. The child didn’t seem to have the energy to notice such details.
“Th-the Duke?”
Marie asked again in confusion. The child, clutching the dirty ribbon tightly with both hands, opened his mouth to speak.
“This is… Mommy’s favorite flower. Even if Daddy doesn’t like me, He still likes Mommy. So I wanted to give this to him…”
“Young master! What do you mean by that? Why wouldn’t the Duke like you?I saw it! He was so careful not to touch you in case he hurt you, so why do you think that way?”
“Because! Sob…! Because that was a long time ago! He hates me because Mommy left because of me! Do you think I’m stupid? I know Daddy hates me too, sob… I know it!”
The tears became even thicker. Ellie, at a loss for words, took an involuntary step back as she watched the child’s hands rummage through the pile of dirt, gathering the broken flower stems.
Had she ever felt fear more intense than this in her life?
The words coming from the child’s mouth pierced her heart like a dagger. Her fingertips trembled finely.
“The flower, it’s ruined, sob… it’s ruined… Daddy won’t come…”
“……”
“Now, he really won’t come anymore, not like before… Waaah!”
Tears flowed down the child’s cheeks, falling onto the dirt and darkening it in spots. Ellie’s gaze shifted to the child’s dirty hands and knees. The situation was surreal—the child had wiped his tears with those dirty hands, smudging his cheeks and eyes.
Was this really happening?
‘Did I… no, am I really…’
Since when had he been thinking like this?
A bolt of questions struck Ellie’s mind.
Those times he had begged to see a fairy, and even spent almost a week entirely focused on that little pot.
Even earlier than that.
-……
She hadn’t known. She really hadn’t noticed at all.
If the child had been thinking this way even before Ellie had become a ghost and awakened…
…how long had he been enduring and bottling up these thoughts alone?
Not being able to fathom what was going through that little head, Ellie felt for the first time in her life as if she might faint.
‘I thought he liked the flowers… that’s why he was so attached to them.’
But it wasn’t that.
He was trying to cheer up his father, who no longer visited because his mother had died.
Spending all his time, just before a day that should have been one of the happiest, on this.
Knowing that it was her death that had driven the child to this state filled her with a crushing guilt. She had even scolded him for constantly focusing on the flowerpot, oblivious to his real motives…
“Young master. That’s not true. The Duke is just a little tired right now.”
“Sniff…”
“Remember how you heard that the Duke has known the lady since he was as young as you? That’s why. She was incredibly precious to him.”
“……”
“The Duke loved the lady, your mother, so much that his wound hasn’t healed yet. People can have wounds in their hearts, not just ones you can see.”
As she spoke, Marie wiped the child’s tears with the back of her hand.
“Remember when you fell while playing hide-and-seek with me and your knee hurt so much that you didn’t notice I was there? Right?”
“Sniff, yes…”
“The Duke is just like that right now. His wound hurts so much that he can’t see anything else. But I assure you, the Duke loves you very much.”
So, please wait a little longer. Later, you can tease him all you want for being a coward!
With her exaggerated tone, Marie diverted the child’s attention and then stood up, naturally cradling the child in her arms. She gently cooled his tear-swollen eyelids with her cool hand and asked kindly,
“Now that you’re feeling a bit calmer, would you like some cake? Eating something sweet can make you feel better when you’re sad. Or, since you might be tired, taking a bath and sleeping wouldn’t be a bad idea either.”
“…Cake…”
“Good. But you must promise to brush your teeth after you finish. Promise?”
“Promise…”
Marie, skillfully soothing the child, sat him in a chair and placed a small piece of cake in front of him. Although it was long past midnight, she sang the most heartfelt birthday song ever.
* * *
Ellie sat by the bedside of the child who was traveling through dreamland, his mouth constantly open and drooling. He seemed to be in a good mood, as if he was eating something delicious in her dream.
-…….
You’re really oblivious, aren’t you?
Well, that was to be expected. Not only had he stayed up late past his usual bedtime, but he had also taken a bath after causing all that commotion, so it was harder for him not to be tired.
‘I couldn’t say anything……’
It wasn’t that she was still frozen in place from the unexpected shock.
It was more that she couldn’t bring herself to say a single negative word to the child who was crying pitifully, feeling so sorry for him.
In fact, she had tried.
[Adi, Adi. No, Daddy is……]
Her words just wouldn’t come out. She had just heard something a few days ago, and she wasn’t sure if it was okay to simply deny it like this.
She had seen him giving orders with a stern expression as to what he was going to do to the child.
She was afraid that if she said something the child would believe her completely and end up getting even more hurt in the future.
-Oh, I’m so stupid…….
What kind of parent is this stupid?
It was clear to her that if it hadn’t been for Marie, she wouldn’t have been able to comfort him properly.
If she had, the words the child had cried out would have become all too real and would have been etched into his heart as wounds once again.
Ellie bowed her head, faintly mocking herself for doing nothing but providing the cause of the problem and feeling relieved that it hadn’t turned out that way.
-Sleep well, Adi.
I hope you have good dreams. With that simple wish in mind, she gently stroked the child’s hair.
Well… it was more of a pretense of stroking, since it would pass right through him if she touched him.
But she had gotten used to it, and it wasn’t as pathetic as it used to be.
-Mommy will watch over you while you sleep.
Since ghosts don’t sleep, she could watch over the child all night.
It was good that she could at least get the truth out when she was sure he was asleep. If she had been asleep, she wouldn’t have had this chance.
That’s why Ellie sometimes found herself getting a little excited when it was time for the child to go to sleep.
So, she watched the child, his breath coming in shallow gasps and his face covered in cold sweat, and as she was about to say goodnight to him just like before…
-Huh?
Ellie’s face, which had been wearing a faint smile, slowly hardened.
Something was wrong.
* * * *
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