[Episode 118]
“You ran away.”
“escape? Where?”
“My dad is actually very scary.”
The child who made a horn with two fingers whispered that it was like a goblin.
“dad?”
“Yes…”
Erno Etam’s face was slightly displeased.
Because the father this child is talking about now is not himself. That fact alone made me feel uncomfortable for no reason.
Yes, the child in front of Erno Etam was Eirin.
To be precise, it seemed that Eirin from the previous life she had seen earlier would have exactly this kind of face when she was young.
She was still quite young and ignorant of the world, a little dark-skinned girl.
“I accidentally pushed my younger sister and my younger sister fell over… At times like this, my dad uses the rod of love, right?”
“A love hawk?”
Erno Etam’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“They say that the rod of your love is to hit so that you don’t go wrong because you love, but that’s what it hurts so much…” The
child’s face became teary-eyed.
“But when mom and dad love each other, that’s how it usually is.”
“…”
Erno Etam had to work hard not to laugh in front of the child.
‘Do they think that child abuse can be called love?’
Erno Etam couldn’t understand it.
Erno Etam knows that not all parents can love their children.
However, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. Attaching the name ‘love’ to it is a cowardly excuse and nothing more than greed to relieve guilt.
“Still, he said he hit me because he cared about me. Teacher, if you don’t love, you won’t even hit!”
The child, who did not know the true intentions of the lowly adult, just smiled broadly.
“But I was hit yesterday, and if I get hit today, it would hurt too much, so I’m secretly hiding now!”
Yesterday too, while eating by mistake, the child whispered to me that I stupidly dropped a spoon and hit my calf.
The child was still smiling brightly. It was a face that firmly believed that his parents loved him.
The child, still untainted with innocence, seemed to think that the punishment he was being punished was solely his own fault.
‘A hawk of love…’
It wasn’t a very funny name.
Isn’t it a despicable word that contains an excuse for the perpetrator for adults?
Even just hearing the name of Erno Etham was unpleasant.
He tried hard not to show his feelings. It was an effort not like Erno Etam, but somehow it seemed like it had to be.
“Where are you going, uncle?”
“…I was on my way to find my daughter.”
The child’s eyes widened at Erno Etam’s answer.
“Huck, is your daughter lost too?”
“It seemed so.”
“It’s good. I actually got lost a while ago, but no one was looking for me, so I told the police officer, Ajji, to come and find me!”
“…was it?”
I don’t know what the police are, but I thought it might be something like a guard.
“Yes, but my younger siblings got lost along with me and were looking for it first. Since I’m the older sister, she said I’d find her later.”
Erno Etham pursed his lips, but in the end he couldn’t say anything.
It’s because it seemed like it would only be painful to tell the truth to a child who believed lies to be the truth.
“Still, it would have been nice if you had found me first.”
“…so?”
“How many times has your uncle been visiting his daughter?”
“It’s the first one.”
The child’s eyes widened at Erno Etam’s answer.
“Wow, I wish I had a daughter. I wish I had a dad like you too.”
Oh, of course, it’s not that I hate my dad right now!
Hearing the little whispering voice of the child, Erno Etham nodded his head wordlessly.
“Go back quickly, my daughter will be waiting for you. I know very well that I am very lonely because I have waited so long!”
As the child muttered something while holding her hands tightly with her eyes closed, a door emitting pure white light appeared next to Erno Etam.
The series of actions looked so familiar that Erno Etam’s eyes widened.
“…would you like to go with me? baby.”
Erno Etam held out his hand.
The child opened his eyes wide and smiled forcefully.
“I can’t get out of here.”
“I will let you out.”
the child laughed
“I don’t rent, I’m still… not ready.”
The child shook his head.
“preparation?”
The child did not open his mouth any further to Erno Etam’s question. When Erno Etham did not come in, the door moved.
The door, shining like a halo, swallowed Erno Etam in an instant.
The child, watching Erno Etam stretch out his hand with a frown, was still smiling broadly.
It seemed that the shape of a small lizard could be seen through the sketchbook fluttering behind the child.
* * *
“My head hurts…”
I held my breath while holding onto my fragile head.
‘At the end… I think I used my ability on the fox with the wishing bead…’
After that, I thought I might have passed out.
“I’m not really a sickly beautiful girl…”
She faints all the time.
I scratched my head and jumped off the bed.
“Laurent?”
There was no one in the room. I slowly scratched my cheek and opened the door and went outside.
“Shall we go see Daddy?”
As I was walking down the hallway, I met eyes with Laurent, who was coming from afar. When I waved my hand, Laurent opened his eyes wide and hurried over.
“miss!”
“Hello Lauren.”
“Yes… I heard that the brutal beasts from the prison country tried to persecute and kill the lady…!”
“uh…?”
I didn’t mean to persecute or kill him. Maybe it was me and my dad who tried to kill me.
“No, I was just trying to kidnap you…”
“Naapchiyo?!”
“…”
“There’s a corner to kidnap our soft lady! This little, delicate girl!”
Maybe he tried to kidnap him because he was small and delicate?
Excluding the most common sense part and seeing Laurent in anger, I shed a laugh.
The corner of Laurent’s mouth looking at me fell apart once.
“Lora-ang, how long has it been since I passed out?”
“It’s been three days…”
“Three days?!”
I felt a little more serious than usual.
“Besides, Duke Erno…no, the previous duke fell asleep yesterday and didn’t wake up for the whole day, so the atmosphere in the mansion is unreasonable.”
Dad didn’t wake up?
I opened my mouth with a slightly nervous look as I licked my lips feeling the blood draining away.
“…Dad, where are you sick?”
“No, he said it was stable overall. I just can’t seem to open my eyes.”
Laurent quickly added his words, as if I was on the verge of tears.
“Princess Charniel called the doctor and looked at it, but there was nothing special about it. Prince Kalan said he was looking into it in case there was a problem with berserk or something like that.”
I shook my head and nodded.
Even after saying that, Laurent got down on one knee and made eye contact with me.
“Don’t worry really. He said he was just sleeping and there were no problems anywhere else.”
“…really?”
“yes.”
I nodded quietly. I missed my dad for some reason, so I walked slowly, and Laurent followed me.
“Princess Colin and High Priest Lucillion, who had heard the story while the lady fainted, also came to visit.”
“Richard and Lucy?”
“yes.”
“Aside from that, Her Highness the 2nd Prince and Lady Lillian Daisy also sent me presents.”
My eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“Oh, and the Rosemont family also sent me medicine.”
It must have been Phil, since Hill Rosemont had never done anything so lighthearted.
It just felt like a tickle in my chest.
“There are people who take care of me when I am sick.”
“yes?”
Laurent’s eyes widened as if he heard my muttered words. Heat rose to his face in embarrassment.
“No, just…”
“Of course I’m worried. I told you, the atmosphere of the mansion wasn’t even a word?!”
Laurent raised his voice as if he was unfair. I involuntarily opened my mouth and pursed my lips.
“I couldn’t sleep well either. do you see These eye shadows!”
Laurent abruptly thrust his face in and pricked the dark under my eyes with his index finger.
“Ugh…”
I smiled unconsciously, covering the corners of my mouth. After talking with Laurent, I arrived at Dad’s room before I knew it.
Laurent carefully opened the door. Dad, who thought he was sleeping, was unexpectedly awake.
Sitting on the bed, looking out the window was a face deep in thought.
“dad?”
Unusually, Dad, who didn’t know that I had entered, only turned his head when he heard my call.
“Eirin.”
“Dad is in pain…”
Dad suddenly opened his arms.
“Come here.”
I put on a puzzled expression, but the dodo also ran and jumped onto the bed.
Then Dad took me in his arms.
“It must have been very difficult.”
“yes…?”
At his sudden words, I looked at my dad with a puzzled face. Dad looked down at me and opened his mouth again.
“There.”
“…where?”
Dad’s expression hardened slightly as he closed his eyes.
When Dad looked up at Laurent, the quick-witted Laurent quickly bowed and left the room.
“The world you lived in…”
“The world I lived in? Ah… do you want to know about it?”
Dad’s expression hardened at my question.
“How many days has it been since you fainted today?”
“Laurent said it was the third day.”
“Have you ever had any dreams in your sleep?”
“Yeah… I had a bit of a headache when I woke up.”
Dad looked at me quietly, then nodded and stroked my hair.
“Okay then, I’m glad.”
My father muttered a little and was silent as he held me in his arms for a long time.
Kki-ik thump-!
Oddly enough, it seemed as if the sound of a broken mainspring kept rolling from somewhere.
The sound felt toxic to hear today.
