"How did you catch the wild boar?"
“...”
"Did you catch it with that sword?"
“...”
"Mister?"
Michael leaned his upper body slightly toward Cabelenus.
Normally, the man would have scolded him not to cling so close, but today he was unusually quiet.
Michael tilted his head in curiosity and gently tapped the back of Cabelenus’s hand with his index finger.
But again, there was no response.
“Mister, you’re a fool.”
“...”
"Mister, you're dumb."
“...”
“Mister!”
"...What did you just say?"
Only after Michael gave Cabelenus’s knee a few loud taps did Cabelenus slowly turn his head.
“I asked how you caught the wild boar.”
"What about the wild boar?"
“Mister, you didn’t listen to a single word I said, did you?”
"I did."
"Then tell me what I said."
“...”
“See! You didn’t hear a thing!”
Michael frowned and crossed his arms.
Cabelenus looked at the child’s face, then roughly rubbed his own face with one hand.
It was a face he’d seen countless times before, so it was almost comical that it now felt awkward.
But every time he met those clear eyes, old memories surfaced, and he couldn’t bear it.
“I need a moment to think, so just quietly swing the stick.”
“I already swung it all.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I don’t lie about things like that.”
Michael gestured up at the sky with his chin.
Dusk was already settling.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“...”
“Nothing to say, huh?”
Michael smirked mischievously and raised his chin slightly.
Cabelenus opened his mouth to speak, but quickly turned his head away.
“If you’re done, then go.”
“...”
“I told you to leave.”
“Mister, are you mad at me or something?”
Michael cautiously stepped sideways to catch Cabelenus’s gaze.
“No. I’m not.”
Cabelenus glanced at the ash-grey eyes, then turned his head away again.
“If you’re not, then why do you keep avoiding my eyes?”
“I’m not avoiding them.”
“Liar! You still won’t even look at my face properly!”
Michael pursed his lips and blocked Cabelenus’s view again.
“I told you, I have something to think about.”
"Perhaps, is it because of Uncle James? Because Uncle—”
"Just go!"
Michael’s pupils trembled at the irritated tone, but Cabelenus still didn’t look at him.
Michael bit down hard on his lower lip, holding back tears that threatened to spill.
“Actually, Mum said she wants to invite you to dinner.”
“...”
“I was going to tell you when the time was right…”
Only when he heard the quiver in Michael’s voice did Cabelenus turn to look at him.
At some point, tears had welled up in the child’s eyes.
"...Why are you crying?"
The Michael Cabelenus knew was a kid who shrugged off harsh words easily.
Crying over something like this didn’t seem like him.
"The child is already very sensitive. They’re timid and easily frightened. So please, don’t say anything more cruel than this."
Cabelenus pressed his forehead.
He didn’t know why the memory of that day was coming back to him now, but one thing was clear — his heart ached.
The child had matured earlier than others his age and was more accustomed to pretending everything was fine than expressing his emotions.
Watching such a child who couldn’t even properly cry made Cabelenus feel like his insides were burning black.
"Don’t cry."
"I’m not crying!"
“I said, don’t cry.”
"I-I’m not crying!"
How could he say that when his eyes were red?
Cabelenus reached out his hand toward Michael, whose tears fell like tiny droplets.
The small face, barely big enough to fill one hand, was damp — but the feeling of touching it wasn’t unpleasant.
"I told you not to cry."
Gently, Cabelenus wiped the corner of Michael’s eye with his thumb.
Michael looked up with wide, rabbit-like eyes, then scrunched his face at the rough fingertip brushing his eye.
“Th-this is all because of y-you, sniff...”
Michael truly disliked him.
He was so selfish, had a bad personality, and honestly, everything about him was awful.
“…Honestly, I’m not sure what to do with you.”
But he never wanted to be hated.
Michael didn’t like the indifferent eyes, the curt voice, or the way he turned his back so easily — but even so, that was still better than nothing.
Even if Michael pretended to dislike him or acted like it didn’t matter, in the end, he treasured even the smallest bit of attention that came his way.
No matter how many hundreds or thousands of times he told himself that his dad was a bad person, he kept lingering in his mind.
“Hic, sniff, waaah!”
Michael’s voice grew louder, saddened by the face that was blurry and hard to see through his hazy vision.
He lied.
The truth was, he already knew everything.
After hearing that the pendant belonged to his dad, he had touched it dozens of times each day.
Finding the hidden secret, and even carefully pulling the picture inside the pendant without creasing it — none of that had been difficult.
But seeing his dad in real life for the first time — a man he’d only ever met in dreams — he didn’t know what to do.
He just quietly followed behind the man who, unlike other fathers, never hugged him or spoke a kind word, secretly harbouring a faint and awkward hope.
・・・・・
“He fell asleep crying.”
“What do you…”
Alicia didn't even finish her sentence and hurried to check on Michael.
Michael, nestled in Cabelenus’s arms, had a swollen face but was fortunately sleeping soundly without any major problems.
“I’ll carry him.”
“No, I’ll do it. He’s heavier than he looks.”
“...”
“Is even this burdensome for you?”
Cabelenus glanced briefly at Alicia’s expression.
But from her emotionless face, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“Come in.”
Alicia shifted slightly, making just enough space for Cabelenus to step inside.
Cabelenus hesitated for a moment, then cautiously stepped in.
Though he had often lingered around the cabin, this was his first time stepping inside.
“Michael’s room is upstairs."
“Alright.”
Cabelenus struggled to keep his nerves in check as he took one step after another.
The cabin was filled with a savoury aroma.
And on the table, a meal for three had been set.
“You can come up this way. Please be careful — the stairs are old and creaky.”
“...”
"This is Michael's room. You can lay him down here."
Alicia quickly made space for Michael to lie down.
After laying Michael on the bed, Cabelenus quietly watched Alicia as she tended to the child.
There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to begin.
“…I heard you invited me to dinner.”
“I wanted to thank you for taking care of Michael.”
“So you knew.”
“It would be strange if I didn’t.”
Alicia replied in an even voice as she arranged the blanket.
Michael had been certain his lie was perfect, but his excuses had been full of holes.
“Why didn’t you stop him? You and me…”
“The child looked happy.”
“...”
"As you may have noticed, this village isn’t a good place to raise a child. He’s seen a lot of things no child should have to."
Her sigh-laden voice made him want to embrace her, but he couldn’t.
Cabelenus looked at her hair, flickering like flames in the lamplight, and closed his eyes.
He wished he could at least see her face, but she still didn’t turn around.
“I know that no matter what I say, it won’t reach you properly. But—”
“Let’s continue the rest over dinner.”
“...”
“It would be a shame to waste the food I worked so hard to make.”
For a moment, Cabelenus’s eyes trembled.
Contrary to his expectations, Alicia turned to him and smiled.
・・・・・
“Does it suit your taste?”
“It’s delicious. Very. Extremely.”
The clumsily added compliment felt worse than saying nothing at all.
Cabelenus awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth and shoved an innocent piece of meat into his mouth.
He wanted to give a nice compliment, but he was hopeless at things like that.
“That’s a relief. I heard from Michael that he’s never gotten a compliment from you, so I was a little worried.”
“...”
What a blabbermouth.
The corners of Cabelenus’s mouth quivered slightly.
If he’d known it would turn out like this, he would’ve just said it was delicious right from the start.
“All of this — you made it yourself?”
“I don’t have a chef, so yes.”
“If you ever need a chef, I can easily—”
“I’m joking. It’s a joke. So don’t look so serious.”
Only after Alicia laughed brightly did the stiffness in his neck ease a little.
Cabelenus slowly set down the fork in his hand and took a short breath.
“…Honestly, it’s a little awkward.”
“What is?”
“You didn’t want me to be here.”
“To be honest, I still don’t.”
“...”
“But apart from that, I wanted to thank you. For taking care of Michael, and for saving him.”
Under the table, Alicia’s hands clenched.
She still couldn’t forget how Michael had excitedly described how impressive Cabelenus had been when he saved him.
From that alone, she knew Michael liked Cabelenus a lot.
“I didn’t do it to be thanked. And honestly, what happened then was mostly my fault.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
With that, no more words were exchanged.
By the time the candle on the table had melted halfway, Cabelenus spoke first.
“Michael seems more mature than other kids his age.”
“That’s because he tries to be.”
“To be honest, he looks much older than six.”
Cabelenus narrowed his eyes.
“How much older does he look? One year? Two? Or even more?”
Alicia maintained a steady smile on her face.
Cabelenus hesitated briefly, then let out a deep sigh.
“…As I thought, I really can’t do this kind of thing.”
At least, not in front of her.
A bitter smile crept across Cabelenus's lips.
Even so, Alicia’s expression didn’t falter in the slightest.
"I saw Michael's pendant."
"Michael looked like he was about to cry, saying he lost it, so it seems Your Highness had it."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"I was also going to ask for the pendant back."
Alicia’s smile deepened.
Cabelenus looked at her, then took out the crumpled pendant from his coat.
"It seems someone stepped on it during the attack — it got all messed up."
"That’s unfortunate. Michael cherished it a lot."
"So, I unintentionally saw what was inside."
"And?"
"It was a drawing of me."
From eight years ago.
Cabelenus let out a strained breath.
His heart was pounding loudly, as if he had been running.
"There was something like that?"
"Are you really going to pretend you don’t know?"
"Pretend? It’s just a drawing. It’s so old that even the artist has completely forgotten about it. I just thought there was no need to assign any particular meaning to it.”
Alicia was still smiling, but to Cabelenus, she looked like a cat with its fur puffed up.
"Michael said the owner of the pendant is his biological father."
“...”
"I'll ask you again."
"That child from eight years ago, did they really die?"
Cabelenus’s uncharacteristically trembling voice was heavily hoarse.
Even though everything was clear, and he knew Alicia was pretending not to know, he wanted confirmation.
He didn’t want to pretend he didn’t know when he already knew everything.
"…What if the child’s alive?"
“...”
"If the child is alive, what difference would it make?"
Alicia clenched the hem of her skirt tightly, swallowing back the rising tears.
The amulet from eight years ago, which she hadn’t been able to deliver, had finally found its owner, but she felt no joy.
Instead, everything seemed crumpled and ruined, like the battered pendant.
“It’s just a monster wearing the mask of a child."
“...”
“A child who inherits the blood of a monster is nothing but a monster in the end.”
“...”
“A child who should never be born."
Even though much time had passed, why did those dagger-like words from that day remain so vividly clear, without a single word forgotten?
A vein bulged on the back of Alicia’s hand as she stared at the face of the man who had said them.
"Those were your words. No one else’s but yours."
"I just—"
"Isn’t it ridiculous? They’re just words. Words you might have completely forgotten — words said in a moment of emotion. But even now, those words make my heart drop."
“...”
“And no matter what you look like or how much you’ve changed, I still can’t shake that lingering doubt.”
Because she still had that dream.
A faint breath escaped through Alicia’s clenched teeth.
“You, who denied the child over and over, ended up killing my baby. And now, in this wretched dream, the child who died before they were even born is being branded a monster.”
Alicia’s fingertips turned white.
It was only a dream, but her chest tightened so much that she suddenly found it hard to breathe.
“It's something that never happened. And in the end, it was just words.”
“...”
“But the one who said those words, of all people, was you. That’s why it hurt so much.”
Because he was so special to her, the wound ran just as deep.
Even at that moment, Alicia smiled, brighter than ever.
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