I didn’t answer for a moment and only licked my lips.
Elodie wouldn’t really think I was her real mother.
She wasn’t raised in an environment where she could grow up so innocent.
However, because of the hope seen in that one soft word, my heart ached by itself.
‘How much would she have missed her mother to say something like this?’
I swallowed my dry saliva.
I didn’t want to hurt the girl’s heart, but I couldn’t instill false hope.
“…Elodie.”
I carefully called Elodie — the name of the girl who saved my life just a few hours ago.
“I’m not your mother, but I’m not ‘miss’ either, so call me Aria.”
“…Aria?”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head.
“My name is Aria Bertin.”
“Aria…”
Elodie kept mumbling it in her mouth as if something bad would happen if she gets it wrong.
I deliberately pretended not to know and talked to her.
“You must be very tired.”
“It’s okay.”
Elodie gave all of her strength to keep her eyes wide open.
“I can hold it!”
“No, you have to sleep.”
The clock hand was already pointing past midnight.
It was too late for a child to stay awake.
I thought for a moment if there was a place to put Elodie to sleep.
‘…I can’t help it.’
I lived alone in this house, there could be no such thing as an extra blanket.
We had no choice but to sleep together in the same bed.
I took Elodie’s hand and took her to the bedroom.
As for the bed, I got the biggest and best one — it was big enough for two adults to sleep.
It wouldn’t be difficult to sleep with at least one child.
Elodie lied down in the bed without hesitation.
I was worried that she might have trouble sleeping, but fortunately, her eyes were already half-closed as I lied down beside her. Probably because she was very tired today.
I patted the blanket to shape it, and then put the pre-boiled water-filled compress under it.
Although she had already fallen into a light sleep, Elodie’s eyes snapped wide open in surprise.
“What is it?”
“It’s a compress. Isn’t it warm?”
I smiled brightly.
“This is a compress…?”
Elodie hugged the compress and muttered in amazement.
“You can’t hold it like that. You could get burned.”
I took the hot compress from Elodie’s hand and placed it on her feet.
“It’s warm.”
“Isn’t it hot?”
Elodie shook her head.
“I’m glad. Now let’s go back to sleep, okay?”
Elodie nodded her head slightly and then closed her eyes.
I waited for Elodie’s breathing to be even before I left the bedroom.
‘…Phew.’
The whole bathroom was a mess.
I frowned as I picked up her clothes that were scattered on the floor.
It wasn’t something she could wear — it wasn’t stitched properly and was torn in parts as she grew up.
‘…Tomorrow, as soon as the morning comes, I’ll go buy clothes for Elodie.’
* * *
“Can I come in here?”
Elodie looked up at the signboard of the children’s clothing store and held my hand nervously.
As if I would miss Elodie’s hand on my side.
“Of course you can.”
I replied firmly.
“We’re here to buy you clothes. If not for you, why else would we go in?”
“…It’s so clean and pretty.”
“Well, I think you’re clean and pretty, too.”’
“Really?”
Elodie’s eyes widened as she looked up at me.
My heart ached by surprise because it seemed like she had never heard such a compliment before.
“Of course.”
I nodded my head and opened the store door with all my might.
“Welcome!”
Immediately, a bright voice burst out from the inside.
The clerk ran towards Elodie when she found her, eyes widening in surprise.
No matter how clean she was, she had no choice but to come out wearing her ragged clothes, so she seemed to recognize Elodie.
“Oh my, this child…”
I cut off the clerk’s words.
“Her name’s Elodie, she came to live with me. Elodie, you should say hi.”
“H-hello…”
Elodie stuttered but certainly said hello.
“That’s a pretty name, Elodie.”
The clerk smiled broadly.
“What are you looking for?”
I took out my notebook from my pocket.
It was a habit I learned after going through various trials and errors to jot down the items I needed before shopping.
“First of all, I need five pairs of underwear that fit my child. I want five pairs of socks, too.”
I quickly read what’s written down in the notebook.
“Also… I need pajamas, three comfortable dresses, formal dresses… Oh, I need a winter coat, too.”
The clerk’s smile grew even bigger.
“You’ve come to the right place! We just got new clothes for the little lady.”
The clerk roughly measured Elodie’s size with her eyes and guided us to a stand with the right sizes.
I glanced at the price tag. No matter how good the business is lately, even if you have extra money, you can’t waste it.
Fortunately, I couldn’t see many expensive clothes.
This was enough to allow Elodie to smile and pay for whatever clothes she chose.
I smiled at her.
“Elodie, do you like anything? What do you want to try on first?”
“… W-well…”
I blinked my eyes.
Elodie looked nervous since she entered the store a while ago, but now she looked particularly tired.
To the point where she couldn’t even speak properly.
“Are you sick? Do you want to rest at home?”
“N-no.”
Elodie shook her head.
“T-that…”
Elodie’s eyes flickered anxiously across the clothes.
‘…Ah.’
I groaned at the sudden realization.
It wasn’t that hard to figure out what her eyes were looking at.
She was looking at the price tag.
She was trying to choose the cheapest one, but she seemed embarrassed because both of them were more expensive than she thought.
I spoke to Elodie in a stern voice.
“Elodie, if you don’t tell me what you like, I have no choice but to buy all the clothes here.”
“What?”
Elodie’s eyes widened.
“You can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“…I’m going to grow up soon, the clothes are going to get smaller, so it’s such a waste… You shouldn’t spend so much on someone like me.”
I closed my eyes and opened them.
I wanted to run to the prison where the traffickers would’ve been held by now and kick them at least at their vital points — but it was not the time.
I bent my knees and made eye contact with Elodie.
“Elodie, let me tell you one thing, I don’t waste any money buying your clothes — no, I’m dying to spend it.”
Her answer didn’t come right away.
I could feel my heart pounding. It was only after a heavy silence that Elodie slowly opened her mouth.
“…Really?”
I took a deep breath.
It was because her voice was filled with a sense of skepticism that a child of that age should never have.
I bent my knees to look at Elodie and then answered firmly.
“Then, would I lie?”
Elodie looked like she had a lot to say but just nodded her head instead.
The problem was that she still seemed to have no intention of choosing clothes.
So I decided to choose one myself.
Lovely sky blue dress that goes well with Elodie’s silver hair, purple dress that goes well with her low chromatic red eyes, warm winter coat, etc…
Fortunately, Elodie didn’t seem to dislike the clothes I picked out.
It was rather the opposite.
Because she couldn’t take her eyes off the clothes in my hands.
I bought clothes one by one for fun…
“I went a little over the budget.”
Elodie’s clothes were already in her hands.
It didn’t matter.
I saved a considerable amount of money because I had no place to spend it while living alone.
At times like this, spending a little wouldn’t make me go bankrupt.
After finally buying all the clothes, I left the store with a bunch of beautifully wrapped boxes in my hand.
Elodie was dressed in rags when she entered the store, but when she left, she was wearing a pretty light blue dress and her coat.
Elodie kept fiddling with the coat curiously.
“It’s very warm.”
“Is it hot?”
“Nope.”
Elodie held her coat tight.
She seemed to be worried that someone would steal it away from her.
“No matter how pretty it is, you should take it off when it’s hot. Or else you’ll get a heat rash. Okay, Elodie?”
Elodie nodded her head with a bashful smile.
While we walked a little, we arrived at a café not far from the clothing store.
The café, decorated with a small brick house, was compact and simple.
As I approached the café, I could see the black letters on the simple wooden signboard.
<Café Aria>
Yes, it was the café I ran.