episode_0159

51. The Black Knight and the Awakened Girl. (1)

Suah and I spent time talking about each other.

Favorite foods, animals, places. Things like that.

” And… And… Ah! Purple… I like purple! ”

” Really? Why do you like purple? ”

” Yes! Mom… Oh, so… ”

Su-ah starts to look at me when I mention that her mother left after telling me that we would become a family.

” It’s okay. You’re the kind person who made it possible for me to meet our Suah. ”

As I hugged Su-ah, patted her head, and told her it was okay and encouraged her to keep talking, Su-ah started to cry slightly.

Perhaps… it was because it brought back memories of my precious family.

” That’s right… uh, mom said… purple was the flower that mom and dad… met… la… la… ”

” Lavender? ”

” Oh, yes! That’s it! In the lavender field… I heard that my dad proposed to me. So I said I liked her from then on… When Haneul was 3 years old… When we all went to play in the mountains near the settlement, I saw it too, and it was really pretty! ”

” Really? Then shall we go together later? ”

” Really?! That place… well… uh… ah… uh… ah… ”

The sight of Su-ah suddenly shaking and starting to cry while repeatedly saying, “Mom, Dad, don’t die.”

” Su-ah?! ”

I grabbed her soft cheek and lifted her face to look at me, but she seemed to be caught up in something and did not realize that she was looking at me face to face, and continued to shed tears.

Judging from this reaction… it seems that after they all went out to play together… Su-ah’s parents died at the hands of demons or lawbreakers.

I have forgotten the memories that I had forgotten in sadness and fear…

‘It was too… easygoing. I was just trying to… recall the good times we had as we got to know each other…! ‘

He just hugged Su-ah, who was in an unstable state, shedding tears blankly, and slowly poured divine power on her, allowing the child to calm down.

” It’s okay. Because I’m here. So it’s okay. ”

As I slowly stroked the child’s back and patted her to reassure her, Suah buried her face in my chest and fell asleep, either because she was tired of crying or because she was trying to escape from unpleasant memories.

I just lifted the child up and laid him on the bed and covered him with a blanket. He must have been worried about the child too, so he came behind me.

” Charlotte… ”

” I thought that if I talked to my child about what he or she likes, we would become closer… but I didn’t know that he or she would have such a hard time because of it. Isn’t that stupid? ”

As I slowly caressed Suah’s cheek, the warmth of his embrace from behind made tears fall onto the blanket that was covering Suah.

” That’s not true. Su-ah too… Just a moment ago, she was really happy, smiling and talking, right? I just didn’t know that the children’s parents would end up like that. ”

” But… I said I would be a mother, but it seems I’m not ready yet. I should have paid more attention… ”

” Same goes for me. Let’s… think positively. To Su-ah… it made her recall memories she didn’t want to recall, but in the end, sooner or later, there was a high chance that this would happen.

We don’t know anything about these kids. So all we have to do is make sure that the kid doesn’t get hurt by what happened earlier. Everyone makes mistakes. We just have to try not to make those mistakes again. ”

As I listened to his story, I slowly lowered my head and looked at Su-ah who was sleeping.

He may be right. I don’t, because we don’t know anything about these two kids.

What you like, what you dislike, and what happened to your parents who were your family.

Now that we have learned what kind of situation Su-ah’s parents came to, and why these children became orphans, we just need to make sure we don’t remember those sad memories again.

Yeah, that’s how it’s done. Slowly… Becoming a family with him, with these kids.

*****

When I slowly opened my eyes, the sunset was already setting and the moon was rising outside the window.

I felt sorry for Su-ah, so I wanted to stay by her side. I sat down, caressed her forehead, and watched over her. Then, I fell asleep without realizing it.

Looking at the blanket falling ‘slurp’, it seems like he saw me sleeping and covered me up.

” Huh… Where did you go…? Huh? The sky… isn’t there…? ”

Looking at the neatly made bed next to me as I stretched, I guess he must have gone out with Haneul to help the two of us sleep.

” It would have been better if I had just woken you up… ”

‘She’ll be here soon,’ he thought, placing his hand on Soo-ah’s forehead as she slept soundly and whispering while slowly stroking her hair.

” I’m sorry. I should’ve been a little more careful… I’m really sorry for bringing up memories you don’t want to remember. I guess I’m still not good enough to be your mother. ”

The sleeping child wouldn’t hear, but still… I wanted to apologize.

If I hadn’t asked you to talk about it… you wouldn’t have recalled those unpleasant memories.

But apologizing directly is a bit… scary, so I’m going to do this cowardly, whispering to you while you’re sleeping… I hope you’ll forgive me.

” Hmm… First, let me wash my face… ”

The moment I got up and was about to head to the sink, I felt a small warmth in my right hand.

” Don’t… go… ”

” Su-ah…? ”

Su-ah gets out of bed, grabs my arm, and starts sobbing.

” I… I, I’m okay… Please don’t leave me… Yes? Uh, if you tell me not to cry, I’ll try to hold it in… So…! Like mom and dad… Please don’t leave me… ”

My heart started to ache as I saw her start to cry and beg me not to leave, as if she thought I was abandoning her.

Apparently, she cried while talking about her parents who gave birth to her, and she thought I was leaving.

He wiped away Su-ah’s tears that were still flowing, sat down on the bed, hugged her, and stroked her head.

” I won’t… leave you. So it’s okay. And if you want to cry, cry. If you want to laugh, laugh. You don’t have to hold it in. ”

” Sister… ”

I could tell that the child depended on me so much that he cried and begged.

It’s only been a few days since we met…

That’s why… I thought it wasn’t the right thing to do as an adult to apologize to a child who was sleeping like I did a little while ago, so I held Su-ah’s two small hands.

” Su-ah, I’m sorry… ”

” Yes…? ”

” Earlier… About Su-ah’s mom and dad… You made me think of sad memories. That’s why Su-ah… cried like this even now. Right? ”

Suah nodded silently and I continued speaking while holding the child in my arms.

” Sister, I just wanted to… get to know Su-ah better. From now on… I’ll try harder so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. So… will you forgive me? ”

” Then… let me stay like this a little longer. My sister’s embrace is warm… so nice… Ha, but…! If you make me cry again next time… I won’t forgive you…? ”

” Okay. Thank you for forgiving me. I will make sure you don’t cry again. ”

After looking at each other’s faces and smiling, they hugged a little more.

Just as Su-ah felt the warmth she had lost in my arms, I could also feel the warmth of a child as I held Su-ah.

As we were hugging each other like that, the door opened behind us.

” Sister!!! ”

As he turned his head at Haneul’s voice, Haneul let go of his hand and quickly approached him.

” Me too… Me too! I want to hug my pretty older sister! ”

” Okay, I got it. ”

He put Su-ah aside for a moment, lifted Haneul up, put her on the bed, and hugged them both at once.

Haneul was smiling, as if she liked it, while her face was pressed against my large chest. Suah, perhaps because she was my older sister and felt a little embarrassed to be held by me, just buried her reddened face in my arms without saying a word.

” Where did the sky go? ”

” Come meet Puppy, who grew up with Hyung-ah! ”

” Puppy? Oh, you mean Cerberus. ”

” Ke…be… I don’t know, it’s hard to say… I’ll call you Woof Woof… ”

” Yeah, yeah. And what did you do? ”

” Riding a puppy and touching its fur and… and… ”

While talking, Haneul suddenly felt a ‘groaning’ sound from her stomach and touched her stomach.

” Sister… I’m hungry… ”

” Really? Then, shall we all go eat together? ”

” Yeah! ”

” Is Suah okay too? ”

” Yeah… I’m a little hungry too… ”

I put them both down for a moment and unpacked my luggage.

Seeing you move like this, I know I don’t need to stay in this sickroom any longer.

” Where are we…? ”

” I’m going to the room where my sister and brother live. It’s bigger than here. What do you think? Is it good? ”

” Bigger room! Cool! ”

Haneul was excited to hear that she was going to a bigger room, and she started rolling around on the bed, urging them to hurry up and go.

Anyway, these kids… didn’t have much to pack, so I just put them in the bracelet, but when Haneul saw that, her eyes sparkled and she grabbed my arm.

” Is this amazing? ”

” Huh! It suddenly disappeared! What is this? ”

” This is… a magic bag. ”

” Magic? ”

” Yeah. Later, when the sky gets a little bigger… I’ll let you know. ”

” Really?! Then…! ”

Sky suddenly sticks out her little finger. Perhaps, it seems like she wants to make a promise.

” Shall we make a promise? ”

” Yeah! It’ll be known later…! ”

” Got it! ”

He crossed his little fingers with Haneul and made a promise, and then he lifted Haneul up into his arms.

I don’t know for sure, but… I didn’t hate the way my child would bury his face in my breasts or press against them, as if he liked how soft my breasts were now.

” Will Su-ah be hugged by her brother? ”

” Yes? Oh, no, that’s… Yes… ”

We left the room together with him, who was looking at Su-ah, who was envious of the sky that was holding her.

*****

” Oh my, where are you going this evening? ”

The lady working in the medical area asked us with a warm expression when she saw us, and I told her that the children seemed to be all better now and that we were going to the room where we were staying.

” Really? Are you sure that’s okay? If you need this lady’s help, just let me know, okay?”

The mother said that it would be difficult for us, who were still young, to take care of the children, and that she and her friends could help take care of the children whenever we wanted. She gave the children candy as they followed us, telling them to listen well.

” Yes, I’ll come to you if I need help. Then, we’ll go up, so I think you can give the room to those who need it. Then, take care! ”

We came up to the room where we live with the kids laughing and putting candy they got from their mother in their mouths and opened the door.

“” Wow… “”

The two children seemed very pleased, as they got down from my arms and his and began to slowly look around the room.

Suah was quietly looking around here and there, thinking it was night, but Haneul was running around as if she was having fun.

” Oh, heavens…! ”

When Suah called Haneul, she ran over to her older sister and Suah grabbed Haneul’s hand.

” Didn’t my sister tell you? What should I do at night? ”

” Don’t run… Stay quiet… ”

” You know very well. You’re a good person… ”

As I watched Su-ah caressing her younger sister’s head, a warmth began to bloom inside my heart.

I just held his arm and approached the two children.

” Hey, it’s night now, so let’s be quiet like you said. Okay? ”

” Yeah… ”

” If you be good tonight, we can go meet the big dog again tomorrow, okay? ”

” Yeah! ”

After that, he started taking baths with the children while he cooked.

Haneul grabbed my hand and told me to hurry up and go in because it was her first time taking a bath, and Suah slowly followed us in.

When I washed the two children, black water flowed out, but perhaps… judging by Haneul’s reaction, it seems like she had never washed them properly.

As I hugged the two children with a sad heart, Suah looked at me in surprise, but Haneul just smiled happily.

” It’s hot, so you have to go in slowly and carefully. Okay? ”

As I soaked in the bathtub, Haneul started playing in the water and Suah suddenly looked at me and slowly came over to me.

” Thank you, Sister. ”

” No need to be thankful. ”

” Still… Thank you for accepting me and my younger sibling like this. After Mom and Dad disappeared… I didn’t know what to do… So I followed the strange robed people who said they would take good care of my younger sibling… But it was so scary. ”

Suah was in the warm bath, but she was shivering as if she had goosebumps remembering the time she spent with them, and when I heard the sound of water overflowing, I was already holding her.

” It’s okay. It’s really okay now. Don’t be afraid. From now on… let’s be happy together. Okay? ”

” Yes! ”

On behalf of the parents of the two children who passed away… I will definitely make them happy.

To do that… you need to go to the War Memorial Settlement.