7
Episode 7
* * *
"Dad! That beggar is sleeping in my room!"
The boy woke up with a start at the piercing scream.
'What was I doing?'
His head was foggy with sleep, and he couldn't grasp the situation right away.
Soon, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps and the Director's shout.
"You useless brat! I told you to earn your keep, but you're slacking off?"
Only then did the boy realize his situation.
He had fallen asleep while cleaning Heiron's room.
"I... I'm sorry. I apologize, Director."
Heiron's feather-filled duvet looked so soft that he had only meant to rest his head for a moment, but he had fallen asleep.
"You didn't do your job properly, so you'll have no dinner tonight. Go to the solitary confinement and reflect on how lazy and selfish you are until tomorrow morning!"
No matter how much the boy begged for forgiveness, it was no use.
The Director shoved him into the cold attic.
The boy went to the corner, curled up as much as possible, and lay down. And to forget the cold, he tried to recall happy and joyful memories.
But all that kept floating in his head was the affectionate voice of the Director's wife, soothing the angry Heiron.
"There, there. Let's stop being angry, my son."
That voice kept poking at his feverish head like an ice pick.
'If I were Heiron, I would never have thrown a tantrum.'
'If I had a mother, I would be the kindest child in the world.'
'I would do whatever I was told and become a useful child who could earn his keep.'
And, and more...
Thinking about such 'ifs,' he ended up crying silently.
The boy curled up to endure the loneliness and swallowed his sobs.
His hands and feet grew cold and numb, but his body kept getting hotter.
He felt like a snowman carelessly abandoned under the summer sun.
He felt like his whole body would melt away, leaving only a wet patch and old clothes behind, and he would disappear from this world forever.
He wanted to shout for help, but his throat was so swollen that even breathing was difficult.
'Maybe I'll die like this without even seeing my mother's face.'
In such fear, the boy barely whispered words he had never uttered before.
"...Mom."
I'm here.
Before I melt away like a snowman, could you hug me just once?
If he was destined to disappear like this, he wanted to melt away in the arms of a warm person.
It was then.
Someone tightly grabbed his limp hand.
'...Who?'
A large, warm adult's hand.
He wanted to open his eyes, but he didn't have the strength to move even an eyelid.
"I'll... definitely... give it to you... someday."
A lullaby-like whisper, a comforting voice that made him want to cry.
It wasn't melting the boy like snow, but making him stronger and stronger.
He couldn't understand what it was saying, but just listening to it made him feel safe.
Soon, something as soft as a flower petal lightly touched his forehead and fell away.
"Good... night, Leo."
At that moment, the boy's eyes fluttered open.
Dazzling morning sunlight poured white into the bed where the child was lying.
The boy hurriedly looked around, but all he saw was an empty chair beside the bed.
"...A dream?"
But for a dream, the warmth that had settled on his forehead was too vivid.
The boy touched his forehead, where the fever had subsided, and muttered.
"Who is Leo?"
It was a mystery he couldn't solve as he was now.
* * *
Early dawn, when the moon had set.
Toma, who had been lying down comfortably with his legs stretched out for the first time in a while, stretched leisurely.
"Yeah, this is the life."
He couldn't be more relieved that the annoying kid was gone.
Whether it was because he had scared him with Belinda's story every night, the kid, whose complexion had been getting darker day by day, finally didn't return to the dormitory last night.
'He must have made a big mistake and got kicked out, right?'
Serves him right.
Toma, chuckling as he looked at the empty bed, suddenly felt a chill and rubbed the back of his neck.
Was the window open? Why is it so creepy...
"You seem to be living the good life. Seeing you lying there with your legs stretched out."
"A, a, Miss?"
Belinda was standing by the door with her arms crossed, since when?
He stood up abruptly, but it wasn't because he was afraid of her and showing respect.
He was there to serve Schwebel, who would become the head of the family. There was no reason to fear a fallen noblewoman.
'That's how it should be...'
Strangely, his legs were trembling.
Belinda's flashing eyes and the way she twisted one corner of her mouth into a smile were so terrifying that it was suffocating.
Tap.
Belinda took a step closer.
"You know, I really hate it when someone touches my things without permission."
Thud.
The folding fan Belinda was holding touched Toma's forehead.
That was all, but Toma's legs gave way in an instant, and he slumped onto the bed.
"And someone with a rotten disposition and looks like a sprouted potato like you."
Whack.
Belinda's high-heeled shoe aimed between Toma's legs and dug in.
"Heeek!"
By a very narrow margin, Toma was able to preserve his body, but there was no time to feel relieved.
"You dared to touch my things."
"Keueok."
It was because Belinda's fan was pressing down on his Adam's apple.
He could just get rid of this fan, but Belinda's eyes in front of him looked like those of a madwoman, and he couldn't even move a finger.
"Keueup. I'm, I'm sorry..."
"That's strange. Didn't you know better than anyone what happens when you make eye contact with me?"
Thwack.
At Belinda's words, laced with elegant mockery, Toma immediately prostrated himself, not even realizing that his knees were breaking. But there was no time to feel the pain.
The moment the tip of Belinda's fan touched Toma's neck.
"If something like this happens again, you know better than I do what will replace what's touching your neck now."
It was as if what was touching his neck was a blade, and he couldn't even breathe properly. That was the level of murderous intent.
Toma couldn't get up from his spot for a long time after Belinda left.
* * *
"Oh, that's so refreshing. You're marked by me, you jerk. I'm just gonna, whack!"
How dare you bully our kid?
Belinda, who came out of Toma's dormitory, dusted off her hands with a relieved expression.
Thanks to the testimonies of the servants who were summoned from dawn, Toma's past actions were thoroughly exposed.
It turned out that this wasn't the first time he had bullied a newcomer and driven them out.
With a much lighter expression, Belinda twirled her folding fan as she walked down the hallway.
She stopped walking as if she had found something in the middle of the dark hallway.
A low exclamation burst from Belinda's mouth as she stared blankly into the air.
"Ah?"
[Synchronization rate: 1/100]
The Synchronization rate, which hadn't moved for the past week, had changed for the first time.
