Chapter 12
Two weeks have passed, and I ran out of patience. It gave me plenty of time to think and help me come up with this conclusion.
Carlyx’s answer was clear this time. Both he and I wanted the best for the children.
“Five days. I won’t stand still anymore.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Carlyx solemnly replied after stopping briefly.
“In five days, we’ll have a gathering.”
It was finally time for a family reunion.
***
Little River smiled broadly when he saw Luciana poke her head through the door.
“Sister!”
Unlike Luciana’s resemblance to Carlyx, River resembled his ex-wife. He had round sparkling eyes and thick double eyelids. Above all, his long droopy lips resembled a duck.
“Come in! Sister, hurry up! Hurry, hurry! We’ll be in trouble if daddy finds out!”
River had the same blond hair and sky blue eyes as Vera, which surprisingly resembled Daisy more than his ex-wife.
“Wait a minute.”
Luciana blinked slowly and looked around their surroundings carefully. Having confirmed that no one was there, she ran and climbed onto the bed.
“Sister! My sister is here!”
River’s face brightened. He began to babble before Luciana could settle down comfortably.
“Sister, daddy’s coming today.”
Afraid Luciana might leave, River quickly grabbed her hand.
“We’re going to meet our stepmother soon.”
River laughed cheerfully, revealing his teeth. A small dimple dug deep along with the smile.
Luciana, who sat next to him, nodded.
“Right. Daddy said he is going to hold a big family party.”
“Yes! Our stepmother wants a party.”
Big party! Big party! The excited River drew a big circle. Luciana gently corrected his words.
“No, you have to use honorifics.”
River grinned and wiggled his hands at Luciana’s worried smile. In fact, as the party approached, there was something he had to do in advance.
Still wearing his beaming smile, River stretched out his arm.
“Sister. Ta-da!! Here!”
“What is this?” Luciana blinked.
Now, a small arm spread out in the empty space between the two. It was a pale, soft, fragile arm.
“Arm pillow! Ravi will be shrong and become my sister’s aym pillow!”
“…I’m fine.”
“Noo! They say people who become arm pillows are cool!”
River shook his head and spoke firmly. In his head, there was a prince wearing a crown and fluttering cape. And that prince clearly gave the princess his arm as a pillow.
“I’m going to be a prince soon! That’s why you need to hwelp me!”
Prince? Luciana’s round eyes cast doubt. But River replied with a cheerful, clear voice.
“Prince is cool! The prince’s eyes are blue like mine. So I’m a prince. I can be a prince.”
“What is an arm pillow?”
“Since the prince gives an arm pillow to the princess, Ravi should do the same because Ravi is a prince!”
Even if you become a marquis, you can’t be a prince.
She thought so, but Luciana couldn’t bring herself to break her little brother’s innocence.
Eventually, she played along. But she didn’t completely rest her head on his small arm just in case she hurts her little brother.
River’s eyes twinkled while his lips squirmed.
“In the book, the prince has blue eyes, so it’s me! My sister is the princess!”
The prince and princess from the book mustn’t be related. Those two are so in love and thus, a completely different story played out in Luciana’s mind, but she just nodded.
“It’s okay! Lie down! The prince is strong!”
River looked at Luciana’s floating head and waved his arm up and down.
“Trust me!”
“Really?”
“Yup! I exercised when sister and daddy weren’t there!”
“What kind of exercise did you do?”
“Lifting Tino!”
River lifted up the dragon with his other arm. The green dragon the size of his upper body, Tino, shook like a seesaw.
Hoop. Whoop. Hoop. Whoop. Puhaa!
River took a big breath, exhaled it, lowered his hand, and lifted it repeatedly. His already puffy cheeks swelled even more.
“That’s why, sister, you can trust me!”
“Can I really put it down?”
“You’re not heawyy at all!”
Luciana decided to trust him and rested her head completely.
“Ughh!” River made a loud shriek as soon as Luciana did that. He soon clenched his lips as if to hold out.
‘I can do it! I’m strong!’
River’s face turned white over time. His eyes also opened so wide. The sensation in his arm was fading. Like he was under a curse!
Above all, for the first time in his life, he felt how unpleasant it was to have his blood blocked.
‘This is! This could be deadly poison!’
River couldn’t hold out and pulled out his arm. Luciana’s head instantly fell on the soft mattress.
“Ugh! Sister!”
It was Luciana who fell, but River was even more surprised. Bewilderment permeated his wide eyes. Tino fell to the floor as the strength left his arm.
“So-sorry!”
He followed his instinct and acted on it first, so he belatedly spoke.
“Uh, I, Ravi, didn’t mean to.”
The horrified Ravi lowered his tingling arm and shook it. Then he timidly said,
“S-Something bad was stuck in my hand. So I took my hand.”
“It’s okay.”
Luciana, who somehow expected this to happen, just smiled back.
She picked up the fallen Tino and returned it to his arms.
“Ah, my dragon. Dragons don’t fall!”
Only then did River noticed that he dropped Tino. Giving up with giving her sister an arm pillow, he hugged Tino tightly in his arms.
“It hurts when you fall.”
“Right. It hurts when you fall.”
Luciana, who stacked her two hands as a pillow, asked after a long thought.
“Why does River want to be a prince?”
“Umm, becyause a prince is loved.”
River pouted his lips. He looked at Luciana and muttered in a very small voice.
“I also want to be loved. Ravi will definitely receive a lot of love.”
“But I love River the most.”
“You love Ravi?”
“Yes, Ravi.”
Luciana comforted her brother with a brimming smile.
A cute little brother. He was the prettiest child.
‘Stepmother, no, auntie will like him, too.’
Daisy seemed to be very different from their birth mother. She didn’t know where that idea came from, but she believed it.
“Sister, do you love Ravi the most? Right now?”
The previously discouraged child asked in a bright tone. But the answer didn’t come right away.
Luciana cleared her throat, took a breath, and spoke with all her heart.
“I love Ravi and daddy the most.”
“I love daddy, too!”
River giggled and nodded vigorously.