Episode 150
Side Story 7. Small and precious things (4)
âOppaaaaaaaaaaaa!â
In the voice of Caerine, who was crying sadly as if the world was going to collapse, Yssius looked guilty.
However, because he had no power to move his body, Yssius couldnât hug Caerine as usual.
When I saw Caerine get on Yssiusâs stomach and tap Yssiusâs chest with her small fist, I dropped Caerine from Yssius once.
But Caerine was held in my arms and cried sadly as if the world was going to die.
âOppa, heâs not getting up.â
While wiping her face covered with tears and runny nose, Caerine grinned and shed tears.
âOppa, if Oppa dies, noooooooâ¦â¦.â
Lying with a haggard face, Yssius barely moved his mouth to soothe Caerine.
âOppa is not deadâ¦â¦.â
Still, Caerine, who could not stop crying, sat on the bed where Yssius was lying.
When Caerine fell from Yssius, Cassius, who was touching Yssiusâs belly, sighed and opened his mouth.
âHow did this happenâ¦â¦.â
That was what I wanted to say.
The son had an upset stomach for emptying all the strawberries in a row, thinking that eating a lot of red strawberries might turn his eyes to red.
The daughter, who saw the son lying with a stomach ache, burst into tears, thinking that there was something wrong with her brother.
Obviously, itâs a serious situation, but at the same time, it was funny and cute, so I couldnât say anything.
âOh, I canât blame him for thisâ¦â¦.â
First, I opened my mouth to soothe my youngest daughter who was wetting my clothes with her tears.
âCaerine, Oppa will be up again soon. Itâs okay, letâs stop crying.â
âWooâ¦.â
It was so cute to see her forcefully holding back her tears, but unfortunately, this was not the right moment to tease her.
âIf Kael stops crying, Oppa can get up faster and play with Kael. How about it?â
âEung, okayâ¦â¦â¦â
âLetâs go to sleep now. Say bye to Oppa. Bye Oppa.â
Caerineâs eyes, which had stopped crying for a while, were filled with tears like chicken poo when she saw Yssius lying helplessly.
âOppaâ¦â¦.â
Caerine, who clenched her lips so that tears wouldnât flow down, waved her right hand.
Caerineâs lower jaw wrinkled like a walnut, perhaps because she gave her strength not to cry.
Seeing it, Yssius wave his right hand with a very guilty face.
âKael, Iâm sorry, Iâll get better tomorrow, so letâs hang out tomorrow.â
Kaelin leaned her head down as if her tears would come again, and buried her face in my neck.
I felt something damp flowing on my shoulder and smiled slightly.
âChildren are childrenâ¦â¦..â
âYerine, Iâll put her to sleep.â
Cassius said as he took Caerine, who was hanging from my neck.
âYes, Iâll keep an eye on Yssi.â
âYes, please.â
Cassius closed the door and went out, I lay next to Yssius and began stroking the childâs stomach.
âIt still hurts, right?â
Yssius replied in a drained voice.
âThatâs what Iâm saying, why were you so greedy that you ate that many strawberries.â
ââ¦â¦..Iâm sorry.â
Yssius spoke with a sombre look on his face.
âI really like The Purple Eye Archmageâ¦â¦..â
âYes, and so?â
Tossing the sweaty hair of Yssius to the side, I asked.
âThatâ¦â¦The Red Eye Archmage seems to be coolerâ¦â¦â¦.â
Yssius whispered low with a face that wanted to go into the hole.
Really, he still hasnât given up wanting to have eyes that look like mine.
âThatâs why you forced yourself to eat strawberries? Because you think that your eyes would turn red?â
âYeah, it was delicious, butâ¦â¦.â
âThatâs true, though. Itâs not good to eat a lot of anything.â
âYes, Iâm sorry, Mommyâ¦â¦â¦.â
Yssius looked up at me with his purple eyes and said.
âI was wondering if my eyes would turn red if I ate a lot of strawberriesâ¦â¦â¦ so thatâs why I tried it.â
His eyes resembling stars were slowly swaying.
âCaerine is still a baby, so she canât eat much, so I was going to help her later if I succeed.â
He was thinking about his sister too.
âSuch a lovable boy.â
âBut donât do that again. If you force yourself to eat a lot, youâll get a stomach ache. Like today.â
âYes, I wonât do it again.â
âYssius is sick, and you saw Caerine crying because she was upset because Yssi is sick, right?â
âYesâ¦â¦..â
Nodding, Yssius sighed quietly and added.
âKael, Iâm sorry that I surprised her a lot.â
âRight?â
Patting Yssius on the shoulder, I said.
âAnd if Yssi is sick, Mommyâs feeling is also hurt. So donât you do this from now on?â
âYes, Iâm sorry.â
Yssius raised his little finger and replied back.
âI promise.â
âYeah, our Yssi is really a good boy.â
I promised and kissed Yssius on the forehead.
âYssi, do you still want to have a red eye like Mommy?â
âEung.â
Yssius and Caerine said they like me, so they want to be like me.
I understood the psychology of children who wanted to resemble their favourite people.
I didnât know he was this stronghearted.
âBut, a lot of people say theyâre scared of this red-eye. Do you still want it?â
âHuh? Why?â
âThereâs no one here with red eyes, so a lot of people think itâs scary.â
Then Yssius tilted his head.
âWhy, I think itâs pretty. Isnât that so, Mommy?â
I was a little surprised that he was my son.
It hasnât been long since I was possessed and I had a surprisingly similar thought when I first found Yerineâs red-eye covered by an eye patch.
âIâm sure neither Daddy nor Caerine thinks so. She really wants to have the same eyes as Mommy.â
Yssius spoke clearly in a calm voice.
âAnd apart from being pretty and not pretty, Carine and I just want to be like mommy.â
Why?
They donât have to look like me.
And I should tell them to go their own way.
But why am I so comforted?
Eventually, I laughed.
âThank you, Yssi. For thinking so.â
âHuh. No, Mommy.â
âNo, I mean it.â
I said as I was flowing Yssiusâs black hair behind his ears.
âBut both Yssi and Caerine donât have to imitate Mommy.â
His purple eyes sent a look that he couldnât understand.
With those eyes mixed with disappointment and curiosity.
âBecause, for Mommy, youâre both already really pretty and kindâ¦â¦.â
I put the blanket down to the tip of Yssiusâs neck again and conveyed my heart to the child in a low voice.
âSo I just want Yssi and Kael to live their lives as you please.â
The child opened his eyes round.
And slowly blinked the eyes.
Yssius seemed to understand my meaning now.
âAnd Yssiâs eyes are exactly the same colour as Mommyâs right eye.â
âWell, thatâs right.â
âAnd like Mommy sometimes fire comes out of your hands, right?â
âBut my fire is a little fire.â
âPractice can make your fire bigger than Mommy.â
I smiled at Yssius and said.
âSo, everyone will know that Yssi is Mommyâs son.â
At that end, Yssius raised his hands in the air and stared.
And smiled brightly as he pulled his arm towards me.
âI see.â
Yssius, who slept with a happy face that day, was no longer brought up the story of the Red Eye Archmage from the next day.
*****
âWow, whatâs all this?â
âItâs been a while since Iâve seen you, so I bought a lot of presents.â
Erica said nonchalantly, magically moving huge packages of gifts.
Frightened to see the endless package of gifts coming in, I grabbed Erica by the shoulder and stopped her.
âEh, Erica. Why did you buy so manyâ¦â¦.â
âHuh? I didnât buy much. I just have kids toys, books and snacks you like.â
No matter how hard I look at it, I think kids toys will be enough to fill up two playrooms.
âWow, Aunt Erie is very rich.â
Erica said with a proud expression, stroking her nose at Yssiusâs pure eyes expressing admiration.
âHaha, auntieâs doing pretty well.â
âCool.â
Caerine, who was staring at the packages while holding Yssiusâs hand, raised her thumb.
Even so, the children lived without shortage because they were The Prince and Princess.
The number of gifts Erica bought was enormous, to the extent that these children were purely admiring.
âErica, thank you so much⦠but I feel really sorry.â
âNo, this is nothing.â
Erica looked back at the package and talked.
âThat gift combined is not much compared to the amount I manage from my work.â
âStill.â
âItâs really okay.â
Erica smiled and waved her hands.
âI bought them to see you and both of them happy.â
My nose was tingling from her sunny smile.
I canât do this.
âWhen I send her back, I have to send her back with a bunch of things in her hand.â
As I was determined inwardly, Erica pulled a red velvet box out of her arms.
âHere, Iâll give you this in advance.â
Erica bent over and set her eyes on Yssius and Caerine.
Uncovering the box, she smiled softly at the brother and sister.
It was a pair of monoculars in a box with a luxurious redlining.
âAunt Erie, whatâs this?â
Caerine, who has not had many chances to see monoculars so far, asked.
âWait, auntie will show you.â
Erica grinned and pulled out the monoculars from the box.
Only then did I notice.
Unlike regular monoculars, Ericaâs monocular lenses are red.
âAll right, there weâre done. The world looks red, doesnât it.â
âEung.â
âNow look in the mirror.â
Erica took out a hand mirror and showed it to the brother and sister, saying.
âItâs like your Mommyâs red eyes, right?â
The brothers and sisters opened their mouths when they saw themselves in the mirror.
Then they hugged each other and started screaming.
âWe have red eyes, too!â
I burst into laughter with Erica as I watched the children jump around and laugh.
***
At that time.
Eugene Ace was staring at his father in the Oval Office.
In a thin ice-like atmosphere, two sets of sharp eyes crossed each other.
âMarry, I will never do that.â
Ricktuanis, the predecessor of Duke Ace, narrowed his eyes in an awl-cold voice frozen with ice.
âCan you guarantee that your thoughts will never change in the future?â
âIt will never change.â
At the end of the sentence, Ricktuanis began tapping his fingers on the desk.
For a while, all they could hear was his finger tapping on the desk in the office.
Tuk.
Tuk.
Eugene felt suffocated by the tapping sound that was heard to the standard beat without a single error.
And yet completely hiding his agitated self, he was âplaying the perfect Ace Householdersâ.
Finally, the stifling tapping, Ricktuanisâs tapping fingers stopped.
And a sharp blade-like voice penetrated Eugeneâs heart.
âIs it because of that child again?â