“Ugh, ugh…ugh…”
Shudder.
Charlotte trembled and groaned in agony.
It wasn’t because she was in pain.
The nightmare dragging Charlotte into deep darkness was tormenting her.
That unforgettable day.
The day she had tried to forget.
Despite her desperate struggle to forget, it was all in vain.
Charlotte was effortlessly pulled back to that day.
‘Our lovely daughter, can you sleep alone now?’
‘Mom, where are you going?’
‘Hmm. I have something important to do. I’ll be back after just ten nights. Stay here in the meantime.’
‘But isn’t this where kids without parents stay?’
‘There’s no other way.’
Her mother’s face, smiling awkwardly.
Although much time had passed.
That face was still vividly etched in Charlotte’s mind.
As her mother’s face resurfaced once again, many emotions were intertwined.
Regret. Remorse. Sorrow. Anguish…
Despite seeing all this, she couldn’t realize it at the time.
She foolishly waited for her mother.
‘Hey, come play with us.’
‘No. I’m different from you. My mom is coming back soon. She said she’d return after ten nights.’
‘You believe that?’
She is different from them.
She will leave this place soon.
Thinking this way, she drew a line between herself and the other children.
She built a wall in her heart.
A week passed like that.
Then two weeks.
Around a month later.
Young Charlotte finally realized something was wrong.
Most of the children here had a similar fate to Charlotte.
They had gone through a not-so-different process to end up here.
Realizing this fact belatedly, Charlotte tried to adapt to the orphanage, but it wasn’t easy.
‘You said you’re different from us, didn’t you?’
‘You said your mom would come. Why don’t you wait a bit longer?’
‘Hey, let’s go play somewhere else. The kid who doesn’t like playing with orphans is here.’
The painful mistake came back like a boomerang, hitting her hard.
It was no use regretting.
She would remain a loner.
…Or so she thought.
‘My name is Yuri. What’s your name?’
‘…?’
‘Your name. What’s your name? You do have a name, right?’
When Yuri appeared, Charlotte’s world changed.
The desolate child whom no one talked to.
The strange child who thought she isolated everyone else.
Yuri was the only one who approached such a Charlotte without hesitation.
‘With such a stern face, everyone will be scared. How about smiling more?’
Taking Yuri’s hand, Charlotte began to tear down the walls in her heart.
As Charlotte changed, the children at the orphanage also started to open their hearts to her.
Instead of staying in the past, Charlotte was able to move forward.
She learned to smile.
Charlotte became bright again.
No, she became even brighter than before.
To forget the pain.
To cover up her past mistakes and get closer to the children.
‘Mom? I’m not waiting for someone like that anymore! I’ve forgotten everything! Now, I have you all!’
Even when she was sad, she forced herself to smile.
When old memories surfaced, she laughed and covered them up.
Whenever serious thoughts came, she acted innocently to scatter them.
Though she had lived well like that for several years, sometimes…
Just sometimes, when Charlotte was weak…
When her body and mind collapsed, unbearable torment would surge in.
“Mom, don’t go…”
She thought she had overcome it.
She thought she had forgotten.
She believed she had become stronger.
But in truth, nothing had changed.
The nightmare seemed to whisper that to Charlotte.
“No, no…! Huh!?”
“Quite a noisy awakening.”
“…!”
Startled.
Charlotte hastily sat up and opened her eyes wide.
Right beside her, leisurely flipping through a book, was Aslan.
He glanced at Charlotte’s face briefly before focusing on his book again.
“Um… Did I say anything while I was sleeping?”
“Who knows.”
“I’m sure I was talking in my sleep…”
“I don’t really know. I didn’t hear anything. You slept peacefully.”
Ah. Is that true?
If so, that’s a relief…
Charlotte tilted her head, feeling her body more comfortable than she expected.
Looking beside her, she noticed numerous damp towels.
Did he wipe her sweat throughout the night?
“I-I’m sorry… You stayed up all night because of me…”
“I usually don’t sleep much at night. Don’t worry about it. The only difference was whether I read in my study or here.”
“Hmmm?”
Really?
Detective mode activated!
The book Mister was holding seemed to be open in the middle, indicating he read a lot throughout the night.
But the important thing was the bookmark!
The bookmark was placed in the first few pages!
Which means he barely read and had to put the book down frequently!
What was he busy doing?
She didn’t know!
End of deduction!
“Hehe! I’ll believe you!”
Charlotte smiled cheerfully and stretched.
She had felt somewhat heavy since yesterday.
But now, she felt strength throughout her body.
A feeling of being recharged?
She didn’t know what was recharged!
But Charlotte rubbed her eyes lightly.
“Huh?”
She found traces of dried tears around her eyes. Glancing to the side, she saw Aslan still engrossed in his book, seemingly uninterested in her.
She had cried while sleeping.
There’s no way he didn’t notice.
Yet he said she slept peacefully…?
Charlotte realized Aslan’s words were quite contradictory and smiled softly.
“Have you regained your strength?”
“Yes, I feel fine.”
“Then go out and eat. Julia should be having her meal by now.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll finish reading this and then go.”
“…”
Plop.
Putting away the blanket, Charlotte gently sat on the floor.
Step, Step.
Checking herself, she noticed she was dressed in different clothes, while Mister was still in yesterday evening’s clothes.
“You moved me here, didn’t you?”
“Sylvia did.”
“I remember. You carried me.”
“…Yes. I moved you.”
Aslan reluctantly admitted.
“And who changed my clothes?”
“The maids did.”
“I remember. You dressed me.”
“…Don’t lie.”
“Hehe. Just kidding.”
Hop.
Charlotte jumped behind Aslan, leaning over his shoulder.
Charlotte’s face was pushed in over his shoulder.
Charlotte brought her lips close to Aslan’s ear and whispered softly.
“Please keep my crying a secret from Julia. I’m not usually like this, but I’ve felt so comfortable recently that I let my guard down.”
“Alright. I won’t remember anything from last night.”
He’s really bad at being considerate.
Charlotte giggled.
“And sometimes… if I feel like crying, can I come to you?”
“As you wish. Holding back tears will make you sick eventually.”
“Hehe. I should come promptly to avoid getting sick.”
I’m fine.
I’ve forgotten everything.
I’ve overcome it all.
…But holding back tears was becoming impossible.
She hid it from Yuri.
She hid it from Julia too.
But in front of Mister, who had already seen through everything, it didn’t matter.
“From now on, I’ll only show my weak side to you.”
As she whispered in a teasing tone, Charlotte felt Aslan flinch slightly.
Hehe. Feels like I got him!
Charlotte laughed leisurely and stepped back from Aslan.
“I’m hungry! Time to eat! What’s on the menu, Julia?”
“…”
With her usual lively voice,
Charlotte dashed out. Left alone in the room, Aslan touched his reddened ears and murmured.
“I really feel like I’ve become a nanny…”
What kind of past Charlotte had gone through, what kind of trauma she carried, he wasn’t curious at all.
He just sincerely hoped that from now on, she would only have memories and that her future would be filled with happiness.
…So that he wouldn’t be killed.
***
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ demands a recheck of our dark knight’s health.]
“Are you really okay?”
“I said I’m fine.”
She says she’s fine.
[The Evil God Kali demands to check our dark knight’s temperature once more.]
“Let me see your forehead for a moment.”
“Oh. If this keeps up, my forehead might wear away.”
I had checked her temperature about ten times already.
With my hand, with a thermometer. All results were normal.
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ demands to call the doctor again…]
“Alright. That’s enough. You seem better now, so you can go outside and train.”
“Yes!”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ expresses blatant dissatisfaction!]
At this point, it’s overkill.
The doctor is probably busy, and it wouldn’t be right to call him over for trivial matters.
Ignoring Kali’s final demand, I gave the energetic Charlotte permission to go play.
“…”
Seeing Charlotte’s fragile side made me worry a lot inside.
Despite her bright demeanor, she had a significant amount of wariness.
I had expected that the darkness in her heart would be quite deep.
How big are the wounds she doesn’t show?
What if they’ve already festered?
What if she distances herself from me upon realizing I know?
The worries were endless.
“Whew. She’s like a little devil…”
I never expected her to turn it into a secret between the two of us.
Despite my efforts to pretend not to notice, she insisted on showing her weak side only to me.
It was a bit perplexing, but it was fine.
Now Charlotte had an outlet where she could show her tears.
For a child without parents, the value of such a presence is immeasurable.
Maybe Julia needs that too. Should I tell her it’s okay to cry in front of me someday?
…I thought about it briefly.
‘She’d probably just tell me to get lost.’
I decided it was better to drop it.
I can endure Julia’s contemptuous gaze about ten times a day.
Beyond that, it starts to hurt.
Sighing, I closed the book.
As I stood up from my seat.
“Ouch?”
Was it because I had been sitting too long?
Suddenly, a cramp struck my leg, and I wobbled.
It hurt. I couldn’t get up.
Sylvia. Sylvia, are you here?
That girl is always hiding in the shadows when not needed.
Nowhere to be found when actually needed.
“Ugh.”
“Mister?”
Just then, the door creaked open again.
Charlotte peeked her head in and tilted her head.
Then she grinned slyly.
“Mister, you have a cramp, don’t you?”
“I’m fine… Just go…”
“If you have a cramp, you need a massage, right?”
Hehe.
With a devilish smile, Charlotte slowly approached.
…I never thought I’d end up getting a massage this way.
