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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Playing Dead
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I got distracted and accidentally pressed a little too hard, snapping the crayon in half.
“Ah.”
Darn, I need to be more careful.
I set the broken half of the crayon aside and used the larger piece to color in the rest of the space.
Dark green and a lighter shade of green for the leaves.
Once I had drawn Mom, myself, Uncle, and Grandfather, the picture looked quite decent.
Ooh, I think I’m pretty good at this.
Filled with confidence, I called out to my uncle, who was sitting in his office chair.
“Uncle, you know…”
“I don’t.”
“……”
Hey, I hadn’t even said anything yet.
I bit my lip and scowled, then broke into a grin again.
Right, if Uncle says he doesn’t, then he doesn’t!
“Uncle, then you don’t know…”
“I do… Hey.”
My uncle, who had been resting with his eyes closed, irritably opened them.
I seized the opportunity and held up the large drawing paper I had worked so hard on.
“Uncle. Should I draw you too? Look, I’m really good at this, right?”
“No.”
At his words, I smiled with satisfaction.
That only made my uncle’s scowl deepen.
“I said no. Why are you smiling?”
“Mom said your words and your heart don’t match, so I should just take the opposite of what you say!”
“……The two of you, mother and daughter, are a real pair.”
“I’ll draw you too!”
“Do whatever you want.”
After that, I called out to him a few more times, but he didn’t respond.
I drew our family, then my uncle, then Mom and me together, and finally my uncle and me together. By the time I was done, my arm ached, and I was bored.
I wondered if the occasional glances I’d felt were just my imagination, as my uncle kept his eyes closed the whole time.
It felt like he was just closing his eyes, not actually sleeping.
I put down the nearly worn-out crayon and crept closer to him, peeking at his face.
“Uncle, are you sleeping?”
“Yes.”
“Uncle, if you’re not sleeping, play with me. I finished all my drawings.”
I continued to linger around him, pestering him.
“Uncle’s busy.”
Contrary to his casual tone, my uncle had his legs crossed and propped up on the desk, his hands clasped over his stomach, and his eyes closed.
“You weren’t busy just a moment ago.”
“I suddenly got busy.”
He said without even opening his eyes.
“Liar…”
He had been in that exact same position the whole time. It was ridiculous to claim he’d suddenly gotten busy.
And he hadn’t even glanced at the mountain of paperwork piled up next to him!
I kept clinging to my uncle, whining.
After a long while, he finally responded.
“Fine.”
“Really?”
I grabbed his arm, ready to jump for joy.
“How about we play dead?”
My uncle, who had been motionless with his eyes closed, cracked one eye open and asked.
I moved closer to his face and asked.
“How do you play that? Is it… scary?”
What kind of game has such a scary name?
“Nah, it’s fun.”
My uncle grinned.
Fun.
If that word didn’t pique my interest, I wouldn’t be Aika!
“How do you play? I want to. I want to!”
“The person who’s best at pretending to be dead wins. I’ll be generous and let you go first, so go on and play dead.”
A game of pretending to be dead? I’d never even played that with Mom.
“Uhm…”
I pondered what the most comfortable position would be to beat my uncle.
“If you don’t want to, then don’t. One, two, three…”
“No! Uncle, can I lie down and pretend to be dead? I just have to stay still, right?”
I quickly cut him off and ran over to the thick, wide carpet, sitting down.
Then I hurriedly cleared away the drawings I had worked so hard on.
“Do as you please. If you don’t move until I call you, you win. Then I’ll buy you a present.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You can’t move until I call for you, just breathe. Got it?”
“Yeah!”
His sudden kindness was suspicious, but I was afraid he’d change his mind, so I quickly flopped onto my back.
My head was facing the ceiling, so I couldn’t see my uncle’s face.
‘What kind of present should I ask for? Should I ask him to have snacks with me tomorrow? Or to go out and buy flowers together? I could even ask the three of us to go on an outing with Grandfather. I want to do all three…’
“Close your eyes. Start.”
“Ah, okay!”
How did he know? I squeezed my blinking eyes shut.
How long would I have to stay like this to beat him? I felt like I might fall asleep.
Even though I was in the most comfortable position, my body felt antsy.
But for some reason, it seemed to be getting quieter around me…
*Creak.* The sound of a chair.
I held my breath, afraid my uncle would catch me.
How much more time passed?
With a dull thud, the sound of my uncle’s footsteps faded into the distance.
* * *
“Hah!”
Oh my gosh, I think I fell asleep!
I glanced over at my uncle’s desk.
Lying on the floor, I couldn’t see him.
But I had a strange, sinking feeling, as if I had been left all alone in the room.
I mustered a little more courage and turned my head this way and that.
“Ah!”
Uncle was gone.
And it seemed like he had disappeared quite a while ago.
He left me here! Uncle tricked me!
And I was even planning on going easy on him when it was his turn.
“Uncle is a big dummy idiot.”
I huffed, brushed off my skirt, and stood up.
I turned and walked to the door to leave, then stopped.
“Still, I should leave the drawings for Uncle.”
I went back, gathered the papers scattered on the floor, and placed them on his desk where he would be sure to see them.
Right in the middle, between his half-finished teacup and the mountain of documents.
“If you throw them away, I’m going to really hate you.”
With my hands on my hips, I narrowed my eyes and glared at the stacks of paper taller than me.
“…Why do Mom and Uncle have so much work?”
It would be nice if all of this just disappeared.
My eyes darted to the side, and I fiddled with the documents, then noticed a pile of letters as high as the paperwork.
It was a mix of letters my uncle hadn’t opened yet and ones he had already checked.
If I helped him, would it lessen his workload?
Maybe he’d be happy if I read them and summarized the contents for him.
Mom always liked it when I stayed by her side or helped her while she was working.
Hmm, no. Maybe it’s better not to touch anything?
I just couldn’t figure Uncle out.
“Then I’ll just organize the ones that are sticking out…”
“Freeze.”
Just as I reached out to tidy up a few stray envelopes, my uncle appeared.
I froze, my hand still outstretched.
An envelope with the name Aika written on it caught my eye.
Huh? A letter for me.
After three seconds of silence, I stopped thinking for a moment, whipped my head around, and shot my uncle a sullen look.
“Uncle, you’re a liar!”
“You caught me.”
With one hand stuffed in his pocket, my uncle strode over, picked me up, and set me down far away from the desk.
“Ah, wait a minute…!”
Right, there was a letter for me!
“I was going to go easy on you when it was your turn!”
“Want to go again?”
“N-no. But still, Uncle, you’re really mean.”
I hesitated, then slowly inched my way back toward the desk.
“Then you might as well go back to the old man’s house. Go tattle. Tell him your uncle is so mean you can’t possibly live with him for the rest of your life. Hey, what are you getting closer for, planning to cause more trouble?”
“Nooo. I won’t cause any trouble.”
Shaking my head, I stuck close to my uncle’s side.
Thankfully, he didn’t pick me up and move me again.
“I’m sure.”
“Uncle, you have to read all those letters over there, right?”
“Yeah, so stop bothering me and go.”
“I won’t bother you.”
My uncle raised an eyebrow and glared at me for a long moment before finally turning away with a sigh.
“Do what you want. But the second you become a nuisance, you’re out.”
“Okay. But, Uncle…”
“Ahem.”
“Ehh, I just want to see the letter that came for me before I go…”
“Why would a letter come for you?”
“It did! It says Aika right there! It’s from the Imperial Palace!”
I pointed my finger and poked the letter that was sticking out.
My uncle’s expression grew even fiercer.
“And how do you know it’s from the Imperial Palace?”
“The lion crest there! Mom taught me. I know all the other family crests, too.”
“You know the crests?”
“Yup. And the ivy…”
*Knock, knock.*
“My lord, it is Gerard.”
