Chapter 6
“Mom?”
The horseman frowned more and more. It was obvious that doubts were deepening. So was Karina’s mind.
A mom! Karina is only twenty three years old. No matter how early she got married, she wouldn’t have an eight year old child.
‘You have to say something. Wake up, Karina!’
Fortunately, the mouth moved. The problem was that she blurted out without thinking.
“My husband died early. They’re his ex-wife’s children. I’m going to Tors where my relatives live because I’m at a loss!”
“…!”
Karina saw the look on the horsemen’s faces and realized that God had chosen the right answer in a daze. A young widow who took over the children of her late husband.
It was a way to explain everything, including the age difference between oneself and children, and the appearance that doesn’t resemble between them.
The horsemen looked at them with more subdued faces.
“You must have had a hard time.”
Karina smiled and hugged the children.
“I don’t want to think about the past. Right now, I just have to think about living happily with my children.”
This remark wasn’t a lie.
* * *
The trip she dreamed of wasn’t as easy as she thought.
The children crouched in fear, perhaps because of the increasingly rattling carriage as they left the city.
All Karina could do was to help the children when they were having a hard time.
“Would you like some water?”
Roland stretched his body, shaking his head helplessly.
‘It’s motion sickness.’
But Karina didn’t know any way to relieve the children’s motion sickness. Even more so, Karina herself had no motion sickness at all.
‘I wish I was the one that’s sick.’
Thinking of the rest of the journey, she felt more at a loss.
How long has it been?
The inside of the cover grew darker and darker, eventually turning pitch-black. The sun seemed to have set completely.
There was no equipment to light the darkness because there was no room for a lamp and a candle.
It was a little earlier than the usual time for the children to sleep, but now it was best to sleep.
It was when Karina tried to make the children’s pillows with bags and spread their coats and cover them like blankets.
A bluish light sprang up.
It was Roland.
“Roland.”
Karina said in a stern voice.
“Stop it. You don’t have to strain yourself when you’re sick.”
“…I’m not overdoing it.”
“No. Even now, you’re having a cold sweat.”
Karina spoke as if it wasn’t trivial, but inside she was quite nervous.
She lived like a frog in a well of a mansion, but she knew when money came in and she was in charge of managing the money.
What if the children don’t want to?
Karina and her children will need to have as much food as they can eat for a month.
‘I’ll get a job as soon as I get to Tors.’
Karina worked as a maid for more than a decade. She was confident in sweeping and wiping. Having touched some money, she was able to calculate the money.
Finding a job.
It won’t be hard.
‘They’re getting along well with each other.’
Unless someone bothers them like Lord Lenque, the children will get along as well as they have ever been.
‘We will get along.’
Karina made a firm commitment inside, then looked straight at Roland.
“Now that you have to sleep, turn off the fire. You don’t want to sleep in a bright place, do you?”
Roland nodded softly and soon the light completely disappeared. Karina fell asleep leaning against the wall of the cart only after she confirmed that the children were breathing in and out.
***
‘Hump…’
Karina awoke from her sleep with back pain.
‘
Ugh…’
A groan sprang out of her. It seemed that sleeping against the wall was the wrong choice. Karina stretched around and looked at the children.
‘Cute.’
The children were fast asleep, clinging to each other. Karina slept and waited until the children woke up. It was Roland who woke up first.
Roland opened his eyes round and looked around. He looked as if he hadn’t woken up yet.
Karina reassured him.
“We’re in the carriage.”
Roland seemed to be more relieved, but suddenly he was startled and shuddered.
“Are you sick? Are you dizzy again?”
“Oh, no.”
“Really? You got motion sickness yesterday…”
“It’s all right now. I guess I got used to it.”
“Thank God.”
Karina breathed a sigh of relief.
It will take a week for the carriage to arrive at Tors.
In the meantime, if the children continue to suffer from motion sickness, it was clear that they would have a serious problem before they even arrived.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? If you don’t mind, let’s eat something now. You never know when your motion sickness will go bad again.”
“What about Melissa?”
“There’s plenty of food, so let’s leave her be until she gets up. She must be tired.”
Roland nodded but scrunched back and forth as if Melissa had awakened to the conversation between the two.
“Melissa, are you up?”
“Uh…”
Melissa uttered a word, but she couldn’t hear it properly, perhaps because she was asleep.
“Driftiness?”
“I’m fine…”
Her tongue was loosened, but anyhow, an understandable answer came back.
“Wa, wa…”
It becomes a murmur again.
“What?”
When Karina frowned and asked Melissa back, Roland quickly rummaged through Karina’s bag and pulled out a bottle.
“Can I give it to Melissa?”
“Huh? Of course.”
Karina immediately noticed the situation. Melissa was saying she was thirsty.
“Wait a minute, you guys have your cups too.”
Karina got a bottle of water from Roland, then took out a small tin cup and poured the water.
“Drink.”
Melissa clasped the cup in her hands and gulped the water down.
Karina gazed happily at Melissa.
If the children can eat and drink something, the gut feeling that they might get sick is relieved.
Karina quickly pulled two fist-sized cream puffs out of her bag. The bag was full of high-quality food that Melissa had never seen before, as she brought her entire meal.
They’ll be out in two days at most, but she’s sure at best they’ll stop by the middle, so if they get off and buy new food, they’ll manage.
“Do you like cream puffs?”
Unlike Roland, who nodded his head, Melissa looked far away, not moving, only looking her eyes at the cream puffs in Karina’s hand.
‘You like it.’
Karina smiled and handed the children one cream puff each. The children ate it up in an instant, perhaps because they were hungry after getting motion sickness.
Melissa, in particular, loved the cream on her finger to the point where she kept licking it because she rarely had a chance to eat sweet desserts.
Roland must have thought of it, so he mumbled and tilted his head.
“Are we the only ones eating?”
“I’m going to eat something more delicious.”
Karina didn’t lie.
She put egg tarts in her mouth and savored the taste of it melting away.
“That’s all you eat?”
“That’s it for you, too.”
“And yet, our bread was much bigger…”
“Similar, similar.”
It was time for Karina to wave her hand. Suddenly, Roland’s said a statement.
“Karina, you’re angry right?!”
“What?”
Karina’s eyes widened.
Anger?
She simply ate bread with the children.
“Not at all?”
“Yesterday… I and Melissa called you mom in front of other people…”
“…”
Karina lost her words for a moment and stared blankly at Roland.
She didn’t know what to answer.
Roland has a quick tongue.
“Melissa’s done nothing wrong. I told Melissa. Karina permitted me only once. And yesterday, I called you mom first, so Melissa also said mom…”
“Roland.”
Karina cut off Roland’s words, who is now half-crying.
“Come here.”
She also beckoned Melissa, who had already been hiding behind Roland.
“And Melissa.”
Karina breathed in a long breath.
She didn’t want to show nervousness in front of the children, but she was forced to try to say something that would define their official lineage.
Roland and Melissa sat next to her. Karina gulped and opened her mouth, courage rose from the warmth of the children on both sides.
“I’m not mad.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Karina smiled.
“But at that time, you guys saved my life.”
“…Really?” Melissa peeked and asked.
“Of course. If you hadn’t called me mom, they’d have thought I was a kidnapper.”
“No way!” exclaimed Roland indignantly.
Karina put her finger in front of Roland’s mouth.
Of course, the rattle of the cart would have kept it from leaking out, but there was nothing wrong with being careful.
“The world only sees what it looks like, I don’t look like you at all, and there’s a lot of age difference.”
“But… We were never being kidnapped.”
“The young lady who serves as a maid, there are many people who will be disappointed that she has lured you with cream puffs.”
“N-no… Of course not!”
Roland seemed rather shocked, but Karina only repeated. When Karina realized that she had given the children an unnecessary scare, she hurriedly took care of it.
“Don’t worry too much, it’s just that people are like that. And now that I said I was your mother, the doubt would have gone away.”
“Mom…”
A murmur of Melissa, who crawled like a rat’s tail, hit her ear hard.
“So I thought about it… You guys, what do you think about me being your stepmother altogether?”
Roland and Melissa’s eyes opened wide and were surprised in all ways.
“You said that anyway and got on the carriage. And I’ve been thinking, maybe we’ll live together until you guys grow up…”
Karina hurriedly added a word, wondering if she had gone too far.
“Of course, you can buy as much as you want.”
“You need a good excuse to do that, people don’t like anything unusual. I’m a little too young to say I gave birth to you.”
Karina paused. She wasn’t sure if she could say the following things.
“As I said yesterday, my husband died early, and I think you should be my late husband’s children.”
There was silence.
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Karina pretended to wait for the children on the outside, but her inside is burning to the ground. Maybe the children want to go back to the orphanage.
Perhaps the children think Karina is trying to replace their deceased parents on the subject of being Lord Lenque’s illegitimate daughter.
Maybe…
It was Roland who broke the silence.
“Still, can we?”