“I—”
“Don’t like my mum. I don’t need anything like a dad.”
“...”
“I only need my mum.”
“So don’t even think about taking my mum away.”
For such a little kid, his gaze was surprisingly resolute.
Cabelenus quietly looked at Michael.
A child who looked just like her, but carried half of another man’s blood.
That fact alone made the child’s existence unpleasant.
If Alicia hadn’t cherished him, there would’ve been no reason to get involved.
“If I can take her away, I will without hesitation.”
Cabelenus tilted his head with a wry motion.
He knew he couldn’t win against the child for now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t show his spite.
“…Just now, I started to completely dislike you, Mister.”
“I’ve disliked you right from the start.”
“Why do you dislike me?”
“Because you took what was mine.”
Cabelenus slowly looked Michael up and down with an indifferent gaze.
At a glance, the child — clearly raised with love — had no visible flaws.
In fact, his smooth, untroubled smile was quite pretty.
But that was exactly why he disliked him all the more.
Every time he saw the boy’s glossy hair, he thought of the woman’s dry, brittle strands.
When he saw those plump cheeks, he remembered her pale and sunken ones.
When he looked at those soft hands, he was reminded of her damaged ones.
The child was like a parasite, growing by feeding on the woman herself.
“I never took anything that belonged to you, Mister.”
"You took it. And it was the most precious thing."
“Then, if I give it back, will you not take my mum away?”
Seeing the boy’s pupils tremble with anxiety, he realised how childish he was acting.
Cabelenus clicked his tongue and picked up the hammer without replying.
“Why won’t you answer?!”
“...”
“Mister!”
“...”
Instead of answering, Cabelenus tore off the protruding wooden board and hammered on a new one.
This place was such a mess that he couldn’t help but worry about how she had lived all this time, and there were more than a few places that needed fixing.
Rather than watching Alicia struggle, he preferred to move himself once more and eliminate all the work she’d have to do.
“Really, Mister, you’re weird.”
“...”
"You still won’t answer."
Michael slumped his shoulders, completely dejected.
It was the first time someone had openly said they disliked him, and it left him feeling unexpectedly deflated.
"Fine. I won’t talk to you either. Who do you think will miss whom?"
Michael turned his back on Cabelenus but soon glanced back over his shoulder.
"But, what exactly did I take?"
“You said you wouldn’t talk.”
“I won’t.”
“Just, let me know that one thing.”
Michael mumbled in a sulky voice.
Cabelenus, still hammering, glanced at the child’s round little head.
The insignificant creature, light enough to be lifted with one hand, kept bothering him.
“…Did you say you’re six years old this year?”
“Why do you ask?”
"Because you look too small."
“...”
He hadn’t seen many children before, so he wasn’t certain, but to Cabelenus’s eyes, Michael looked especially small.
Before leaving, even Gazeff said he looked more like five than eight.
“I’ll grow up fast. Bigger than you could ever imagine, Mister!”
Seeing the child’s face flush red with wounded pride, the mischief Cabelenus had been trying to hold back suddenly flared up again.
Cabelenus raised one corner of his mouth slightly as he hammered in the final nail.
"I don’t think that’ll be possible."
“Why?”
"I’ve never seen anyone grow taller later. I was already tall at your age."
"But Mum said some people grow late!"
"Judging by how you keep ending every sentence with ‘Mum, Mum,’ you really are just a kid."
Michael’s eyes grew as big as a startled rabbit’s.
Cabelenus let out a soft chuckle before tidying up the scattered tools.
Michael bit his lip while watching, then clenched his fists tightly.
He absolutely hated losing.
“Mister!”
“What?”
“Are you happy because you won against a kid?”
Michael stuck out his tongue mockingly, and Cabelenus’s expression hardened.
Michael noticed the change and quickly ran to stand in front of him.
Though that man was only standing there, the shadow cast over Michael made the hairs on his head stand on end. Still, he didn’t want to look weak.
“I won’t say it twice, so listen carefully. I don’t like you. Really, really don’t.”
“...”
“If you so much as lay a hand on my mum, I won’t just stand by. Got it?”
“Wow, scary.”
Cabelenus abruptly looked away, his face showing renewed irritation.
“Why aren’t you answering? Hurry up and say you will!”
“Why should I?”
“Mis—”
“Michael!”
At the sound of the voice torn with emotion, Cabelenus and Michael both instinctively turned their heads, neither one quicker than the other.
Alicia’s face, as she looked at them, was so pale it seemed almost ghostly.
“M-Mu… hic!”
Startled by the expression on his mum’s face, one he had never seen before, Michael began hiccuping repeatedly.
After quickly checking her surroundings, Alicia rushed over urgently and pulled Michael into a hug.
"Are you okay, Michael? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I’m, oh… hic! Hik!"
"Mum’s here now, so it’s okay. It’s really okay."
As soon as Alicia checked Michael’s condition, she pulled him tightly into her arms.
Her hand, patting the child’s back, trembled uncontrollably.
“Alicia.”
"Please, just go back now."
“I just…”
"I told you, I don’t need any help."
At the chill in her cold eyes, Cabelenus said nothing and pressed his lips tightly shut.
・・・・・
"Mum, I was actually the one who talked to that mister first."
“You did?”
"Yeah. So, that mister didn’t do anything wrong."
Michael nervously glanced around and fidgeted with his fingertips.
He disliked Cabelenus, but he didn’t want to lie to his mum.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t realise Mum would be this upset."
“...”
"No, Mum’s the one who’s sorry. I just got startled for a moment."
Alicia couldn’t say anything more and covered her face with both hands.
She didn’t want to show this side to her child, but seeing Michael and Cabelenus together made her mind go blank for a moment.
Unlike Cabelenus, Michael was so small and fragile.
"I should apologise to that mister now, right?"
"Mum will apologise instead, so don’t ever be alone with that man again."
"But you told me not to hate him too much..."
Michael mumbled, then quickly lowered his head at Alicia’s stern expression.
"Sorry. I won’t do it again."
“...”
“I just…”
The bowed head looked so pitiful.
Alicia held back the sting in her eyes and gently stroked Michael’s hair.
The soft strands tangled in her fingers seemed to calm her racing heart just a little.
"No, I’m sorry for saying strange things. I guess I’ve been a bit sensitive lately because I haven’t been feeling well. Don’t worry about it, okay?"
Alicia forced a smile to her lips.
She didn’t want to make her child anxious over problems between adults.
“Mum, are you sick?”
"If I get some rest, I’ll feel better soon."
As Alicia smiled, Michael’s expression relaxed almost instantly.
"More importantly, I’m planning to bake cookies for the first time in a while. Will you help me, Michael?"
“Cookies?”
"I’ll bake a bunch of peanut butter cookies — Michael’s favourite. How does that sound?"
"Awesome! But I want to shape the cookies!"
"Sure thing. If Michael helps, the cookies will taste much better.”
As Alicia stroked Michael’s hair, she glanced toward the window.
She tried not to worry, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the man was still there beyond the tightly closed window.
・・・・・
At the small hand suddenly thrust forward, a faint crease appeared between Cabelenus’s brows.
But the owner of the small hand didn’t care at all, waving the bag in his hand back and forth, trying to catch Cabelenus’s attention.
"What are you doing?"
“I’m trying to apologise.”
“Apologise?”
“I’m sorry for not taking your side back then.”
“...”
“You’re not going to accept my apology?”
Michael held out the bag in his hand once more.
Cabelenus raised an eyebrow at the faint scent of butter wafting from the bag’s opening.
“I don’t eat sweets, though.”
“These are different from regular sweets.”
“They don’t look any different.”
Cabelenus tilted his head skeptically.
“Anything my mum makes is different, you know?”
Michael tilted his head back, locking eyes with determination.
“…Alicia made them herself?”
“Who do you think you are, calling my mum by her name — ah! Why are you taking it without asking?!”
"You said you brought it to give to me."
Cabelenus opened the bag, ignoring Michael hopping around trying to snatch it back.
Michael bounced a few more times but realised this was a tree he couldn’t climb and fixed a sharp glare instead.
"But you said you don’t eat sweets."
“This is an exception.”
“Ugh! I shouldn’t have brought it!”
Michael stomped his feet noisily in frustration but kept sneaking glances at Cabelenus, who couldn’t take his eyes off the bag.
Michael's grey eyes were full of barely concealed anticipation.
"It’s good, right?"
“I haven’t even eaten it yet.”
"Why are you always so mean when you talk?"
"Because I don’t like you."
"I don’t like you either! I really shouldn’t have come!"
He had come prepared to be scolded by his mum, but all his guilt just vanished now.
Michael pouted and crossed his arms tightly.
Apology aside, he needed to make the purpose of his visit clear to the man.
"Just so you know, don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t come today because I like you. I came to keep an eye on you, you suspicious man."
"Keep an eye on me?"
“Someone like you?”
Michael’s expression twisted at the blatantly condescending gaze directed at him.
He thought the man was just a blunt, expressionless guy, but now he saw he was actually a downright mean person.
“Listen carefully. My mum doesn’t like you, Mister.”
“And very much so.”
Michael put extra emphasis on those last words, raising his chin stiffly with pride.
“From now on, I’m going to protect my mum from you. No matter what anyone says, I’m on her side. I will protect her. So stop bothering my mum and go back to your own home.”
“And if I don’t want to?”
“Then you’ll have to fight me.”
“What do I gain by fighting a brat like you?”
“I’m not a brat! You have no idea how scary I am!”
He tried to warn him with a scary face, but got no real reaction.
Michael sneaked a look at Cabelenus, then pushed his chest out a little more.
But Cabelenus, regardless of Michael’s actions, just opened the bag.
The well-baked cookies gave off a rich buttery aroma.
Crunch—
“It’s good, right?”
Before Cabelenus could properly chew and swallow, Michael asked.
Instead of answering, Cabelenus slowly chewed as if savouring the crumbling cookie in his mouth.
“It’s really good, right?”
Unable to hold back, Michael asked again.
Cabelenus frowned slightly and shook his head.
“No.”
The savoury peanut butter flavour spreading in his mouth wasn’t bad, but honestly, it wasn’t a taste he really liked.
The cookies, made to suit a child’s palate, were so sweet they almost stung the tongue of a man who didn’t enjoy sweets.
“You’re saying what my mum made doesn’t taste good? That’s a lie.”
“It’s just not to my taste.”
“Then don’t eat it — give it back!”
“No.”
Still frowning, Cabelenus put another cookie in his mouth.
The second one wasn’t much better, but he had no intention of giving in.
“You said it’s not good, so why are you still eating it? What’s your problem?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t good. I said it’s not to my taste.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“It’s different.”
“Are you messing with me right now?”
Michael ground his teeth furiously, then shot a sly, mischievous look at Cabelenus, who was blatantly ignoring him.
Then, seizing the moment, he went behind Cabelenus and kicked him hard in the calf.
“Ow!”
As soon as he kicked Cabelenus's leg, Michael collapsed with a scream and clutched his own leg.
“You sure know how to entertain yourself. You wouldn’t get bored even if you’re left alone.”
Cabelenus, with a fresh expression of irritation, put the remaining cookie into his mouth.
“…Mister, do you have something weird hidden in your leg or something?”
“Of course not.”
“Then how else do you explain this? You’re like a rock or something!”
Sniffling with a nasally whimper, tears welled at the corners of Michael’s eyes.
“That’s just because you’re weak in comparison.”
“I’m not weak! I’m really strong!”
“You’re weak. Very much so.”
“Am not!”
Cabelenus gave a blunt, expressionless evaluation, and Michael’s face twisted even more.
He was clearly the one who attacked, so why was he the only one hurting? He just couldn’t understand.
“It’s not me — you’re the weird one! You monster!”
At Michael’s sharp shout, Cabelenus’s eyes briefly flashed with a fierce glint.
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