014
[The Spirit King of ◇◇ murmurs, ‘Narcissus.’]
Narcissus?
I looked around, but there wasn’t a narcissus flower in any vase.
‘What could it be?’
I pondered deeply while wandering around the spacious room in circles. Suddenly, I stopped somewhere and lifted my head, and there it was…!
“……!”
It was a door engraved with a narcissus!
It was hard to notice at first since it was next to the large bed, but after taking a round, I found it.
“Ugh.”
Standing on tiptoe, I grasped the doorknob with all my strength and opened it.
Creak, creak.
Unlike the well-kept bedroom, this door seemed like it hadn’t been opened for a long time.
It was difficult to open, but… I managed it!
“Ahko.”
I stumbled inside and widened my eyes at the dark interior.
Unlike the outside, this place was filled with the musty smell of dust.
It seemed like no one had cleaned here!
“Achoo!”
I sneezed and rubbed my nose as I looked ahead.
In the empty room, there was only one item.
A frame covered with a thick cloth.
[The Spirit King of Water gently pushes your back.]
[It’s okay. Go ahead.]
One step, then two.
For some reason, my heart was pounding.
With a feeling like someone was guiding my hand, the cloth fell away.
“……”
There was an admiral depicted at a younger age. There was also Brother Elzen that looking much younger.
I hadn’t met him yet, but the tall boy was probably Mikard, my another brother.
‘And then for my sister. I don’t know her name…’
In the arms of a noblewoman called ‘Aul,’ there was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.
The baby had its eyes closed in sleep, so I couldn’t see the eye color, but the hair was a soft pink.
Just like my hair.
‘Noblewoman? Admiral’s wife…? Lady Aul? I don’t know what to call her, but she has pink hair too!’
Her eyes were curved gently downwards, looking very graceful.
The water-colored eyes held both a hint of a smile and tears, giving them a mysterious look, and her nose and chin were rounded.
She wasn’t thin but slightly chubby, making her cheeks appear very soft.
Just like mine!
‘Huh, but…’
As I blankly stared at the painting, I suddenly took a few steps back.
Beep – beep – beep –
An abrupt, short alarm sounded in my ears.
I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
‘Why, strangely…’
Someone with pitch-black hair and eyes seemed to overlap with the face in the portrait.
It definitely wasn’t the same person, not even someone I knew, so why did it feel so familiar?
Why was I having trouble breathing?
“Haa, haa.”
Clutching my chest, I staggered backward.
Thud!
Then I collapsed, unable to help it as my head spun.
‘My head, my head hurts.’
It hurts!
Countless scenes flashed rapidly before my eyes.
People in white gowns.
The sound of hurried footsteps.
The chest of someone rising and falling urgently.
Beep – beep – beep –
A dreadful, unpleasant sound.
This sound gripped my ankle and dragged me somewhere.
Why does that stiff, gray building seem so terrifying? The moment I recalled the rectangular building lined with square windows, I started trembling.
“A-Ah… Aaaaah!”
“Crab!”
“Aah-!!”
On the bed lay a very beautiful person.
With no strength left, they tried their best to smile, so I put on a little show.
I danced, clasped my hands together, and sang.
And I prayed a lot, a whole lot.
Don’t take them away to the distant stars.
Please, don’t take them away.
“Don’t go, Mom…”
Thunk.
With a final word escaping like a sigh, I collapsed into a firm embrace.
A single tear trickled down my cheek.
***
‘Remember this song, my beloved daughter.’
A gentle hand caressed me.
Half asleep, I struggled to open my heavy eyelids.
I didn’t want to miss the voice of [ ].
‘A hundred steps to the end of the corridor where the breeze softly blows. Following the moonlit, starlit path. Beneath the shadow of the willow tree, by the pond where the narcissus blooms. A small box is hidden at the bottom. It is a gift to give to sorrow.’
I didn’t understand what it meant.
Narcissus, pond, box.
I could only remember these words vaguely, so I nestled deeper into [ ]’s embrace, rubbing my cheek.
‘Black hair and black eyes are not our true form. Even if you are alone, don’t forget, my daughter.’
No, I don’t want to be alone.
I won’t remember.
I’ll forget it.
I’ll erase it completely.
So please, say it again.
“Mommy…”
Pause.
Diegon, who had been stroking the back of a child no bigger than a baby turtle, froze at the small whisper that reached his ears.
There was no mistaking it.
The child was looking for her mother.
‘Tsk, how long has it been since she got here, and she’s already fainted for the second time.’
His reddish-purple eyes held the small child.
Initially, she was an unwanted and reluctantly accepted foster daughter.
He had even tried to send her to his eldest sister, who had no children, but it was rejected outright.
The eldest sister had already declared that she did not want to raise a child.
The second sister, Cecilia, whom he did not even want to call a sister, was greedy and already had three children—two biological and one adopted.
His third sibling was raising twin boys, which was already overwhelming, making it impossible to bring up the topic.
Thus, the father-daughter relationship fell upon him by some twist of fate.
Nevertheless, he felt no aversion to the idea of adoption itself, and so he decided to try raising the child somehow.
But this child demanded a lot of attention.
She even possessed the unbelievable power known as the Spirit King’s blessing.
“Mikard and Elzen were already a handful… but you’re on a different level. It’s like you’re something left at the water’s edge.”
He acknowledged it.
Whenever he saw the child, he was reminded of his lost daughter, causing him distress.
Hence, apart from the necessary encounters, he had kept a certain distance.
‘For some reason, I was feeling anxious…’
But today was strange.
After finishing his training, a maid approached him hesitantly to report something.
It was about Shupetty going to the Narcissus room.
At that time, he thought it was just the usual curiosity of a young child and said he understood, but his neck tingled the entire time he was showering.
It felt as if someone was continuously calling him.
Eventually, as the water dripping down his back started to feel almost painful, he rushed out, still half-soaked.
‘And then I found this little one having a seizure.’
What kind of pain was the child harboring in such a small body?
“If there’s something hurting you, let it all out. Little one.”
He would accept everything.
After all, that was a father’s duty.
Even though they weren’t blood-related, as long as they were family, Diegon had a responsibility.
And he had no intention of turning away from that responsibility.
“You’re awake. Are you alright?”
Shupetty’s breathing had changed.
Diegon, noticing this quickly, gently stroked the child’s head.
After repeating this action a few times, the child’s tight grip on his pant leg slowly loosened.
‘Like a little crab, always clinging on.’
Though Shupetty had been examined when she fainted, there was no significant issue with her body.
In the past and now, all the signs pointed to psychological triggers, according to the doctor’s opinion.
It was frustrating because, without knowing where the child came from, it was impossible to identify the root of the problem.
‘At least this time, I found out something.’
Shupetty was longing for her birth mother.
Perhaps there were memories of her birth mother buried somewhere in her subconscious.
“I remember…”
“What do you remember?”
“I have to go. To the pond…”
Shupetty murmured while rubbing her chubby cheeks.
She seemed half-asleep, looking adorable enough to make the corners of his lips twitch slightly upward.
“I have to go.”
Shupetty whispered with clearer pronunciation than before and then slowly got up.
“Crab?”
He called her quietly, but Shupetty’s vacant eyes didn’t seem to hear him.
The child broke away from him and wobbled toward the door, as if she had never collapsed.
Then, she stopped and stared at him intently, as if to say, ‘Follow me.’
‘She’s acting like a stray cat calling for help.’
