7
Episode 7
* * *
After finishing the unusually dry dinner, as usual.
Chloe entered her room.
The culprit who placed the flowers by the bedroom door was said to be an adoptee scheduled for abandonment.
'I told them to bring him to my room in advance.'
The child was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he run away?"
It was understandable.
All children were afraid of her.
There was a rumor going around that said, 'If you cry, the Dark Witch will get you!'
Chloe stroked her dark, black hair and muttered.
"...Even if he ran away, it doesn't matter."
It was better if a suspicious child got scared and ran away on his own.
...After examining the purple flowers, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with them.
At first, she was angry, but soon everything became a bother.
Just as she was thinking that, she suddenly felt a sense of incongruity in the well-organized room.
"Sunlight..."
Warm sunlight streamed in through the slightly open window, along with the gentle spring breeze.
'Why all of a sudden?'
The maids thought that Chloe, a Dark Magic user, hated the light.
So they always kept the dark curtains drawn over the windows.
But today was different.
Chloe found herself drawn to the window.
By the window, there was a small vase with lily of the valley flowers in it.
[Lily of the valley flowers are believed to ward off bad luck.]
"What is this..."
At that moment, Chloe heard a soft, gurgling sound, like a child murmuring in their sleep.
'Ah, Coco used to do that.'
And then...
"Mwah."
"..."
"Swee...t potato..."
In front of the bedroom door where Coco used to wait for her every night, lonely.
There was a child lying face down in the position of baking bread, just like Coco.
'Is he asleep?'
She shook the child's shoulder, who was sleeping pitifully in one position, to wake him up.
Perhaps it was because she saw Coco overlapping with the child that she was unusually flustered. She even forgot that she was about to get angry.
"Wake up."
When the small child barely managed to lift his eyelids.
Their eyes finally met with purple eyes.
'My heart...'
It felt like it was rolling and falling to the floor with a thud.
'What is this? Why is this happening?'
While Chloe hesitated, the child suddenly shot up.
"Wow!"
"...Who are you?"
There was only one reason why she stuttered without realizing it.
She had always wondered what Coco's voice would sound like if Coco became a human.
Because the little child in front of her was cheerfully shouting in that voice that she had always imagined.
"Woof!"
"...What?"
Chloe's eyes wavered in confusion.
Then, the little child smiled brightly and waved his hand.
"I'm Coco!"
"...What did you say?"
The child's eyes quickly turned gloomy.
"Hmph. E-Even though I was acting like usual... You still don't recognize me..."
"What does that mean?"
In addition to the incomprehensible words, he even had a sulky expression.
'I haven't even said anything yet.'
He was a child who was acting incomprehensibly.
Soon, the little child, who had been pouting, lowered his head.
"Hmph. Never mind. H-Hello! I'm Coco!"
"...Coco?"
Chloe's eyes wavered in confusion.
The little child smiled brightly and waved his hand.
"Yes! I'm Coco!"
"...Ah, his name is Coco."
She recalled the profile of the adopted child.
She hadn't checked his name because she was too busy looking into his background.
Chloe recited dryly.
"I've finished investigating you."
"Wow, you recognized me?"
...What.
Why is he happy that I did a background check on him?
Why, why?
He's wiggling his butt as if he's wagging a tail that he doesn't even have.
And his eyes are sparkling?
'No one has ever acted like this when they've seen me before?'
She felt like she was getting drawn in by the other person.
"Then I'll ask you now. Why did you break into someone else's bedroom?"
At that moment, the child straightened his shoulders and looked up at Chloe.
He was making eye contact with her, but he wasn't even trembling.
With eyes that were surprisingly full of warmth.
"Haven't you learned the basic etiquette of not breaking into other people's mansions?"
"Hmph... I haven't learned that kind of etiquette..."
The child made a blank expression.
'This is giving me a headache.'
Well, he was an adoptee from a commoner background, so it was possible that he didn't know about etiquette.
"Why did you put the flowers there?"
"Ah! There were so many flowers in the field next to it, and they were so, so pretty, so I picked them and brought them here!"
"..."
"Hmph, am I not supposed to bring flowers either...?"
The child rolled his eyes as if he was flustered.
Chloe rubbed her temples.
Come to think of it, the purple flowers that Coco liked were blooming all over the annex. Seeing that he had also picked lily of the valley flowers, he seemed to be a child who liked flowers in the first place.
"...I hate flowers. And it's not polite to bring flowers to a stranger's room."
"Stranger..."
A faint sadness could be felt on the child's face.
But that was only for a moment.
The child looked straight at Chloe and smiled as brightly as the sunlight.
"I just wanted to get close to Chloe!"
"Why? It's useless to act friendly with me anyway. It's my father and the Council of Elders who decide your fate."
"It's not like that."
"Then?"
"Chloe is so cool."
These were the words of a child who would soon be kicked out of the family.
But Chloe was flustered.
It was the first time she had heard a child say 'cool' with admiration.
"...What?"
The child gripped his clothes tightly and his eyes sparkled.
"Um, actually. I saw it in the newspaper! Chloe seems like a really, really amazing Dark Magic user!"
"That can't be. There's no way the newspaper would say anything good about me."
* * *
Actually, I know it too.
There's no way the newspaper would say anything good about Chloe.
"Hey, Coco. Actually, my fiancé doesn't like me."
"Munch munch."
"...Besides my fiancé, everyone hates me."
"Woof?"
"They hate me because I'm a Dark Magic user. They say my mother died early because of me..."
When I was Coco the dog, I couldn't say a word.
I could only bark as if to comfort her.
But now I can speak.
'You're the only person who reached out to me.'
That's why I'm not scared of you at all!
I sparkled my eyes with infinite affection.
"I saw the picture in the newspaper! Chloe using Dark Magic looks so cool!"
"What's so cool about it..."
"The newspaper keeps saying that light is cooler than darkness. Um, I think. All the warm sunshine is loved because of the darkness!"
"What?"
"You can only meet the warm sunshine if there's darkness. So Chloe is cool! As much as the sunshine, no, even more than the sunshine!"
You stepped back with a flustered expression.
"...Darkness is just dark."
I could see the ends of your fingers twitching for a moment, and then a dark darkness blooming.
Is it an action to scare me? But I'm not scared at all.
"Wow! That's so cool! It's like there's a wonderful night sky full of stars on the tips of your fingers!"
You laughed in disbelief and asked back in a low voice.
"...Are you serious?"
I made warm eyes.
And finally, I met your sharp gaze.
"Yes, I'm serious. You're the only one who can make a night sky with your fingers, right?"
Your expression flickered for a moment.
I looked at your hair that was receiving the sunlight, and at your lips that always said warm words to me.
'Do you want to be friends with me now?'
My heart was pounding wildly.
But that was only for a moment.
"But still, don't come to my mansion."
You turned your gaze away.
"I hate meeting people because it's tiring. I'm going to close the doors of Seahawk Manor completely soon."
It was a complete rejection.
'I really, really worked hard to be friends with you again.'
I worked hard to open the window with my hands that don't move well.
I prepared flowers too. I waited in your favorite position.
I poured out a lot of cool words...
Is it still not possible?
I felt like I was going to cry, unlike a brave dog.
I barely mustered my courage and muttered softly.
"Then, I'll only be next to you a little bit so you won't be tired."
"..."
"I can move around on my own! My hands and feet are also very strong..."
I remembered the summer before I died.
'Originally, I was a weak and annoying dog.'
To the point where you massaged my body that was getting colder and colder every day.
'You must have been tired and annoyed to take care of me.'
But I don't need you to massage me anymore.
I pointed to my soft calves.
"I don't have bulging muscles, but I'm very healthy now, I'm strong, and I can walk much more than before!"
Your expression was still not good.
"T-There's no patellar luxation either..."
I didn't know what it was, but I even added the words that the veterinarians always muttered while looking at me timidly.
Nevertheless, there was no answer.
I was even more flustered, so I tried hard to observe your expression.
'Don't you believe me?'
I quickly raised my short hand.
Then, I drew a big circle out of what I could draw.
"I'm this strong!"
I have a cool hand that can pat you now.
I also have healthy feet that can walk hard.
I also have a mouth that can scold people who say bad things to you.
I'm confident that I can make you smile.
So, please...
"S-So. Can I come to play sometimes...?"
Can't we be friends again?