Chapter 9: Chapter 10

‘Hands rolled on the floor and it would be dirty.’

The whole time he was dragged by Ellie, Damian thought of it blankly.

In fact, this situation still seemed like a dream.

‘It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her get angry.’

Why was she angry?

After all I am weak, is it because I am bothering you?  Or, is this also a dream?

At that time, Ellie stood tall.  Damian also stopped stepping along.

“Damian.”

Ellie’s expression looking back at me was terrifying.

She seemed angry and also seemed to hold back crying.

“Why are you still?”

“……… .”

“Why don’t you resist?”

Ellie’s voice filled with sorrow.

She felt like it was holding back tears.

Damian stopped trying to reach out.  He couldn’t stain Ellie’s face with my dirty hands.

“Are you…….,”

Can I ask her?  As if hesitated, Damian said in a soothing voice.

“……..Are you sorry for me?”

The question taken out of his mouth was not the answer to Ellie’s question.

He knew herself, but his words sprang out.

“Is Ellie taking care of me because she’s sorry?”

“……… .”

“If that’s the case, just, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Damian bowed his head.  He had to swallow a cry, a cry that seemed to come out of his way, several times.

“I’m used to this, so it doesn’t matter -”

“Damian.”

Ellie cut Damian’s words.

“Did you think I’m sorry for you?”

“………… .”

Damian said silently.

There was a moment of silence.  The sound of a cool whisper and slow falling snow filled their gaps.  Damian closed his eyes tightly.

It was then.

“I’m not sorry for making you think so,”

She said an unexpected word.

Damian looked up at

with a face that he couldn’t believe.

Ellie was looking at him with a repressed look.  Damian’s eyes wide open.

“I’m sorry to say you look weak. I should have apologized right then.”

“…….. .”

“I’m wrong. I’m so sorry, Damian.”

She said a plain apology, but it didn’t feel like it was.

It was because he felt Ellie’s sincerity.

Ellie sincerely didn’t think Damian was weak.

He was a child who survived the hardship and survived.  Damian was stronger than anyone else.

“I, I, didn’t want to hear an apology, just…”

Damian stuttered, unable to find an answer.

It was weird.  Ellie’s words didn’t go well with me.  She wasn’t a good match.  By the way, by the way…  .

“………. .”

Duk.  Tears flowed down Damian’s white cheeks.

“uh….”

Damian groped his cheek with a slightly surprised face.

It was a tear that came out without even knowing the owner.

Damian was embarrassed and wiped his cheek.  However, he never thought of stopping the tears that once fell.

Damian rubbed his cheeks, and a little cool hand led Damian.

“If you wipe it like that, it hurts because it’s sore.”

Ellie, who came close to him, held his hand.

Again.

The feeling of drinking a lot of hot water and covering a warm blanket.

It was so strange that I shed tears like beads again.

Starting with that, the mouth started to move freely again.

“I thought, I, bothered Ellie.”

“You are? Why?”

“just……..”

The sorrow that I had endured so far exploded in my heart.  Even though I never told anyone what I was feeling.

“Damian, stop crying. The wound will hurt.”

Elliei, do you hate me?”

Ellie stopped at the question.

Damian, with tears full of blue eyes, cried and looked up at Ellie.

The grip on the hand went into strength.  A strong force that cannot be felt by a child’s grip.

Ellie whispered for a moment, then shook het head.

“Why do I hate you. Why I don’t like you.”

“……..Really?”

“Yeah . Really.”

“Well, why, why did you avoid my eyes?”

“Huh……?”

Ellie blinked at an unknown question.  Damian flashed with a face full of water.

“It’s harmful to the heart……. obviously Ellie hate me…… .”

“Hey, that’s …….”

It’s because your face is so pretty.  It was frustrating because I couldn’t answer coolly.

Ugh.  Now, my face also started to get red little by little.

“No, I didn’t avoid it because I hated it. Just, a little so…..”

“………. .”

At Ellie’s words, Damian began to cry again.

“I won’t avoid your eyes. God, promise!”

“You, really?”

“Yes. Look, I put my little finger on it.”

“Yes, let’s hold hands.”

“………… When I eat, I want to eat at the next seat beside you.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Like that, Ellie was able to calm Damian after a few hits.

“What’s this. Your pretty face is messed up.”

Looking at his eyes and his face covered with scars, I bruised  not hate him.

“Don’t just be beaten in the future. You also fight back.”

“Huh.”

“No one can treat you carelessly. Okay?”

“Huh.”

“If there’s anything you care about, ask right away. Don’t get hurt alone.”

“……Huh.”

The last answer was a beat slow.  Ellie grinned and stroked Damian’s hair as if he couldn’t dry it.

Damian gently and quietly accepted Ellie’s touch.

“Now let’s go in. We need to heal the wounds.”

Damian nodded, following Ellie.

Suddenly, my heart was warm as before.

“Damian, you have someone to help you, obviously.”

“You can trust that person.”

“You will be happy.”

Eli’s words were true.

This feeling was happiness.

I can’t feel good even though I’m crying like this.

Like the snow,  this moment Damian broke down the wall of his heart.

???? ???? ???? ???? ????

“Okay, it’s done.”

Damian’s body was full of scars because he threw himself on it.

When I finished the treatment, I gently brushed my eyes that were still full of redness.

The night was getting deeper, and the children were already sleeping in a flamboyant way.

Even though time has passed, the Carsen crowds did not come in.

‘It has nothing to do with me anyway.’

“Now, let’s go to bed now,”

I said and sorted out the ointment, and the hem stretched.

As she turned around, Damian was rubbing his lips.

“What is it?”

“…….Can I sleep with Ellie?”

“with me?”

As I blinked, Damian nodded, blushing his cheeks.

“Okay, you’re scared of having nightmares….”

“But it would be uncomfortable because the bed is narrow. ”

As he hesitated and extended his words, Damian cried and blinked his eyes.

“No…?”

Can you see that face and say no?

“It’s not difficult.”

As I nodded my head countless times, Damian smiled brightly as if when he cried.

As I entered the bed, Damian lie down next to me.

The eyes that looked up at me did not see the same loneliness as before.

I, one of the insignificant aboriginal students, did I relieve this child’s sadness a little?  I was a little proud to think so.

I cleaned up Damian’s messy hair and recalled the story I had heard in the director’s office.

‘The director clearly brought out the story of the Duke of Shuetz.’

The peacock will be here as soon as possible.

That means that there is not much time left to spend with Damian.

When I thought about that, I felt a little disappointed.  It was a short period of time, but it seemed like I had a lot of love.

“Ellie, what do you think?”

Damian, who was quick to notice, raised his head and asked.

“It’s just like this, so I thought you was like a younger brother.”

“…….. .”

Suddenly Damian bite his mouth firmly.