episode_0224

The nights at our house tended to be noisy.

Marie and I always had quiet, similar routines, but Louis was different.

His adventures, running around Brisedon with all his might today, continued all night. There was no time for quiet.

And when our daughter Latina added her own interjections to her Oppa’s stories, they became even more vivid.

With slightly tired faces, we rested our chins in our hands and listened to the children’s stories with contented expressions, as if watching a play every day.

Marie and I would look at each other and exchange knowing smiles, as if to say, ‘We used to be like that once.’

On the one hand, we shared the sentiment that it was fortunate we could pass down those beautiful and fun times to our children.

But even that daily play was bound to reach an inflection point sometimes.

“So, are there a lot of sweets in a place called Deseo?”

“Tons! There are even places where an entire street is just filled with sweets shops.”

“Did Unnie eat all of them?”

“Hmm—if you want to eat all those sweets, you might be able to someday. But you’ll get a stomachache, won’t you?”

Interestingly, Louis and Latina were sitting with their chins in their hands, watching ‘Lia’s play,’ just as we always did.

The slight difference was that Lia wasn’t rambling on about her own stories but answering the children’s questions one by one.

Louis, unaware that the girl standing before him was the princess of this country, threw out questions freely.

Despite that, Lia didn’t seem bored at all and happily told her stories.

“Uncle Ritsu, you said you’ve been to Deseo too! Then you must have been to the South Harbor market, right?”

“Huh? Uh… that’s right.”

“Can you tell me how many amazing things there are there?”

And sometimes, she even used a way of speaking that drew us in like this.

So, it was natural for it to get even noisier than usual.

As we all chatted about various things, a savory smell wafted from the kitchen.

Just as Latina exclaimed, “It’s apple pie!”

Marie truly did sit down in front of us, holding a large plate.

“Everyone, eat while you talk. Be careful, it’s hot—.”

“Yay!”

“Oh.”

Louis and Lia bumped the backs of their hands trying to pick up the same piece of pie.

The two children looked at each other for a moment, then immediately put on playful expressions and began a battle of wits.

“Move.”

“I picked it first?”

“No. I picked it first.”

“Well, alright. If I move—what will you do for me?”

Louis, encountering the concept of repaying someone for yielding for the first time, was greatly flustered.

The children of Brisedon would always move if he told them to.

But this girl from outside was different.

Louis looked towards us, as if seeking help.

But Marie didn’t interfere at all, instead blowing on a piece of pie and feeding it to Latina.

In the end, he protested in a sulky voice.

“Why should I do something for you? You can just eat another piece.”

“This is your mom’s apple pie, isn’t it? And since you’ve eaten a lot of this pie—the piece you tried to pick first is the tastiest piece, isn’t it?”

“……”

“And in Deseo, when we serve food to guests, we only serve the best things. Uncle Ritsu, is Brisedon a little different?”

“By no means. We also never treat our guests poorly.”

‘Did you hear that?’ Lia said, wearing a triumphant expression.

For Louis, who had been enjoying a self-centered life, a crisis of a lifetime had arrived.

He couldn’t say anything and desperately racked his brain.

I’m sorry, son.

Honestly, even I couldn’t move a muscle against that skill of hitting the nail on the head with logic.

The answer I’d found was that it was simply easier to give in when a red-haired girl started being stubborn.

Fortunately, Louis seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

“Then what do you want?”

“I want to go up the mountain tomorrow. Can you guide me?”

“Tch. Fine.”

Louis ate his pie, looking away with a sulky expression.

Though he spoke curtly, his expression didn’t seem truly displeased.

After eating a light late-night snack, the boisterous energy cooled down.

The children also seemed to be getting sleepy, their chatter beginning to fade.

Marie laid out the bedding, and the children lay down side by side in the order they had washed up.

Lia and Louis seemed to bicker from their first meeting, but now their relationship seemed very close, and they didn’t stop talking.

Perhaps my son had been waiting all this time.

For a peer to chat with him all night.

“So, is there a place even farther away than Deseo?”

“Yes. If you sail for a very long time, there are completely different countries, they say. People from there are even in Deseo.”

“What kind of countries are there?”

“Hmm—a country with a vast desert, a country where all sorts of spices grow, a country made up of many nations, a country covered in ice……”

“Then what country is at the end of the world?”

“My mom says—.”

I, who had been eavesdropping, held my breath.

Lia said.

“They say there’s a ‘Country of Flowers’ there.”

Louis asked again.

“Country of Flowers? What’s that? Is it a country with only flowers?”

“I’ve never been there, so I don’t know. But they say it’s extremely beautiful, and everyone who has gone there once longs to go back. However, that country doesn’t accept people who have visited before.”

“Oh—. Your mom went there, they say?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can’t go back to the Country of Flowers.”

“Right?”

Louis said in an excited voice.

“I want to go too—it sounds interesting.”

“But we’re still young. I, hmm—to go there, I’d need my mom’s permission, and it’s dangerous, so there’d be a lot to worry about, it seems difficult.”

“Well, it’ll work out somehow….”

Their murmuring voices gradually grew softer.

Soon, only their soft breathing remained.

I got up from my seat and peeked into the children’s room.

Louis, Lia, and Latina were leaning on each other, fast asleep.

“……”

As I stared blankly at the sight without a word.

A soft hand rested on my shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

Marie looked down at the soundly sleeping Lia and smiled faintly.

“Unnie’s child… she’s grown so much. Really, I was surprised by how much she resembles Unnie when she was little.”

“That’s right.”

Marie and I returned to the master bedroom, and I told her everything.

About hearing Lia’s story from Louis, meeting Lia in person, and going to the main house.

Marie calmly nodded her head.

“She didn’t see the past.”

“I still don’t know if it hasn’t manifested yet, or if she simply can’t see it. But my father’s blood runs in her, so she should definitely have the ability to see memories…. Lia, on the other hand, seemed to only be seeing the ‘future’.”

“……”

Her warm hand gently stroked the back of my hand.

“Are you afraid?”

“It would be a lie to say I’m not.”

I poured out the deepest things in my heart, as if confessing a sin before God.

“How could I not be afraid? I still don’t know much about that girl. I only know that she’s brave, kind, and good-hearted, just like her. Even though Lia knows nothing right now, if she ever starts seeking answers about her own secret… if she hears the truth of the past from those around her, even without seeing it herself. Will our peace remain as it is?”

“……Ritsu Oppa.”

Marie had called me ‘you’ after our marriage.

But sometimes, she would call me by my old name like this.

And this gentle summons immediately cleared my hazy mind.

“I’ve also had the same worries. If Oppa were to face the past again, would you throw yourself into the flames like before… I wondered if you would suddenly leave me and the children behind.”

“That won’t happen. I swear.”

“That’s why I worried a lot. So that Oppa could be comfortable here. But, you can’t ignore it forever….”

I felt like I knew what Marie wanted to say.

“So, you didn’t stop it ‘this time’.”

“Yes.”

I knew it too.

I myself had been indifferent to outside matters, and had also made an effort not to engage with them.

Like some nameless pond in the mountains where no one ever came.

The reason I could live completely disconnected from the outside world was purely due to Marie’s efforts.

Perhaps many people I had ties with in Deseo long ago might have looked for me.

For example, Uncle Joseph.

The court physician-nim who saved my life.

And Mr. Aban, who told me to come to the school if I had nowhere to go.

They all might have sent at least one letter trying to find me.

Marie politely handled those matters without letting on anything to me.

Until the lingering resentment in my heart completely settled.

Until the impurities swirling in the distiller evaporated.

Over thirteen years, I had matured, regaining my genuine smile.

And watching me gradually reach out to the outside world by compiling books and writing letters.

Marie had, as if by chance, asked me.

‘If I was ready to face the world again.’

That’s why she didn’t stop Lia from entering Brisedon and allowed her to come before me.

“Haha. Did I seem like a trustworthy adult to that child?”

“Lia already seemed to want to treat you like a father. You did well.”

Marie embraced my head and let it rest between her breasts.

The scent of dandelions and her warm embrace melted away the fatigue accumulated in my body.

I had embraced my wife’s body many times before, but today, I especially wanted to hold her for a longer time.

Burying my face in her warm chest, I whispered.

“I also realized something, Marie.”

“Yes.”

“That is….”

Blood ties continue.

But sins do not.

The feeling I had when I first saw Lia.

It wasn’t fear or disgust—.

From the moment I felt my body flush with joy and welcome.

I believe the answer was already set.

However, I couldn’t say it.

My consciousness was gradually fading.

“……Heh heh. I’ll hear it next time. Good night.”

My wife’s gentle goodnight drifted faintly to my ears.