Chapter 6

“…That is an interesting perspective, though.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that…”

Instead of answering, he ruffled my hair wildly.

Ptooey.

As I was losing my mind from the hair tickling my face, I heard a playful voice.

“Now, I’m a bad uncle, so what are you going to do?”

“B-But Mewony still wikes Uncwe, ptooey, wikes you!”

Only then did the hand messing up my hair stop.

D-Did I win?

I smoothed down my messy hair and glanced up at him.

Through the hair blocking my vision, I caught a glimpse of Mr. Oliver’s face.

But then.

‘…His expression seems strange again.’

A somewhat dazed face.

However, after brushing away the hair blocking my vision and looking again, his face was the same as usual.

‘What was that? Was it just my imagination?’

It was just as I tilted my head in confusion.

“U-Uh?”

My body suddenly floated into the air, my short limbs dangling.

Mr. Oliver had picked me up and tucked me under his arm.

“…U-Uncwe?”

“Yes, Marshmallow.”

Marshmallow? Is that me…?

It was a ridiculous nickname, but it was better than mud monster or little ghost.

Mm, nicknames are a sign of affection, after all…

Meanwhile, he began striding forward.

He stopped in front of Ricky’s room.

‘It feels like we got here in just five steps.’

I had definitely struggled and groaned all the way here…

‘Is this the difference in leg length?’

Mr. Oliver set me down on the floor as I trembled from a sense of relative deprivation.

Then, he bent down to meet my eye level.

“Marshmallow.”

“Yes?”

“Ahh-.”

“Ahh-?”

I opened my mouth as instructed, and something popped right in.

I blinked and rolled the object around in my mouth.

‘Gasp, this is…’

Candy!

I absolutely love sweet things, but since they were a luxury, I never dared to covet them.

What use was candy when I could barely make ends meet day by day?

The only candy I had ever tasted was a piece a noble had thrown me out of pity while I was begging.

‘Though it was nothing more than a crumb…’

In comparison, this was a large, round hard candy.

“It’s yummy…”

I shivered at the fantastical sweetness, and Mr. Oliver let out a small chuckle.

“Keep the blanket for yourself, Marshmallow.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t give it to me, just use it yourself.”

“But I bwought it to give to you, I have to give it…!”

Slurp.

My pronunciation was already difficult, but the candy in my mouth made it even more muffled.

Slurp, slurp.

I swallowed my drool and hastily tried to unwrap the blanket.

However.

‘Why is this happening?’

Because I had wrapped it so tightly around my body, the blanket wouldn’t come undone easily.

As I squirmed around alone, I heard a mutter from above.

“Ah, so you were a chrysalis.”

No, I’m telling you it’s a present, not a chrysalis!

But I didn’t have the presence of mind to correct him.

“Just a wittle!”

I shouted urgently and put all my energy into peeling off the blanket.

It seemed faster to just slip it off like clothing.

“Ngh.”

The blanket got stuck on my head at the end and I whined a bit, but-.

“Done!”

I finally succeeded in escaping the blanket.

However.

“…He’s gone.”

Mr. Oliver had already disappeared.

* * *

An empty room.

A diagonal crack appeared in the previously empty space.

Then, a long leg abruptly popped out from within.

“…Pfft.”

It was Oliver—no, Contie—who covered his mouth with his hand.

Having returned to his room, he sat leaning against the wall and let out a hearty laugh.

The image of the white-haired child came to mind.

After successfully wriggling out of the blanket alone, she proudly puffed out her chest, only to…

“…He’s gone.”

Even the way she stared at the empty spot and muttered in dismay.

White hairs were stuck haphazardly all over her face, like traces of a fierce battle.

“Honestly…”

It was amusing.

It had been so long since he had smiled so purely.

His life had always been tedious and dull.

In his childhood.

“It is said that a person’s power and abilities come with a corresponding duty. Since you, Young Master, are vastly superior to others, it means you must bear more duties than anyone else.”

Whether the words he had heard until his ears bled were actually true.

As he grew, the number of tiresome and dull things only increased.

To the point where he could no longer feel the difference between life and death.

So, around the time he considered just dying.

“Contie, come here!”

He met Labela.

The person who made his life vibrant. The one who made him realize what joy was-.

‘…Damn.’

At the thought of the woman he had unconsciously recalled again, Contie’s face stiffened chillingly.

A dry smile flitted across his coldly deadpan face.

‘Right. It’s been four years.’

Since he had felt that something was enjoyable.

Four years ago, after Labela’s death.

His endless boredom had begun anew.

With a sunken expression, Contie tossed a candy into his mouth.

Clack.

In the silence, only the sound of him sucking on the candy resonated quietly.

* * *

After my brilliant bribe operation ended in failure, I fell into a brief slump.

‘…It seems like all my plans end in failure.’

Of course, I was only in a slump for a very short time.

About a day?

I didn’t have time to mope around when I didn’t know exactly when Bramchois would close.

‘If bribery doesn’t work, let’s go with Operation Family!’

What is the meaning of ‘family’?

Doesn’t it mean people who share a dining table?

‘Which means eating together is just that important.’

Of course, absolutely.

So last night, I left a note in front of Mr. Oliver’s door.

As expected, I’m meticulous.

“You can’t sit thewe!”

I giggled and stopped Ricky, who had brought his tray, from casually sitting across from me.

“I can’t sit here?”

“Yeah. The ownew is thewe.”

“Owner? It can’t be Sister Jeanne…”

Ricky glanced at Sister Jeanne, who was sitting next to me.

Soon, his face gradually turned pale.

“No way, Lord Oliver… I mean, Mr. Oliver?”

“Yeah.”

“…You like him that much?”

“Yeah. I wike him.”

At my answer without a hint of hesitation, Ricky blinked.

Soon, his narrowed eyes turned to me.

“But I feel a little hurt?”

Hurt?

“Kiddo. You’ve lived with me for over two years, but you seem to like Mr. Oliver more, and he hasn’t even been here that long?”

Oh. I was left speechless and just blinked.

For once, Ricky’s words hit a nerve.

‘Right. I suppose he could feel hurt…’

But honestly, if I had to choose between Ricky and Mr. Oliver-.

‘So far, I still like Ricky more.’

Of course, I like Mr. Oliver too.

Though I was approaching him with the sly ulterior motive of getting into a good orphanage, even excluding that, I truly wanted to get close to him.

I had grown attached to him surprisingly quickly.

‘But it really is strange.’

He’s clearly a completely different person from me, so why do I feel such fondness and a sense of familiarity?

‘Well. I suppose it’s because various things happened while trying to get close to him?’

As I kept my mouth shut, my thoughts having wandered off track, Sister Jeanne chimed in.

“You’re making Melony uncomfortable, Ricky. Isn’t it a good thing if Melony makes a new friend? Why act like that?”

“Hing hing. Sister only hates me.”

“Aigoo. How old is our Ricky?”

“Twenty years owd!”

At Ricky’s display of a solid V-sign on either side of his face, Sister and I burst into laughter.

Suddenly, a wave of sadness washed over me.

‘Times like these won’t last much longer.’

The happy times I would spend in my little paradise.

‘…Right. That’s exactly why I need to pull myself together and try harder!’

Today, I’ll subtly bring up the orphanage to Mr. Oliver.

It’s about time I broke the ice on that subject.

‘Mm, I suppose I should specially share my carrots with him.’

Absolutely not because I don’t want to eat them.

It was just as I was internally burning with fighting spirit.

“How ridiculous. As if anyone would pay attention to a brat like her.”

A sneering voice pricked my ears.

‘This voice…’

I flinched and turned my head toward the source of the sound.