“Wow! That’s cool!” It was much better than having to go out and steal or beg for money. But when Freya lifted her spiteful face, she realized that it wasn’t anything to be jealous over. “Are you feeling alright?” She felt a little awkward after asking. No one in this place would ask that nor be curious about that. Those who showed signs of pain often suffered and died, and the only time a physician came around was when Sophia was sick.
“I am fine now,” he said quietly. Then the conversation ended for a long time.
Freya thought that going out to beg for money was better than having to knit. She couldn’t adapt to being stuck in the orphanage all day making hats, and it felt as if her fingers were going to get paralyzed.
When she was nearly done making the first hat, sunlight could be seen faintly through the window. “How long will you be here?” The boy asked.
If she wanted to eat, she had to rush. Freya gathered her things and replied, “I probably can’t eat if I am late.” Then, she heard an unusual sound from the opposite side of the attic. The light from the small window shone on the boy, and the side view of him lying on top of the dust was very difficult to look at. “Aren’t you hurt badly?” She asked, looking shocked. The boy had said that he was fine, but he didn’t look like it.
“You worry too much,” he replied meekly.
Struggling to turn a blind eye to the boy, Freya hurled an old cloak over his body and hurried down the stairs, which creaked loudly, sounding like they’d break soon.
State policy had brought many changes to the orphanage, and Sophia tried begging the children to avoid surveillance, but the results were not good.
“I don’t know those kids!” She yelled. She would be fined if she claimed to know the ones who’d gotten caught begging, so she pretended not to know them. The kids were temporarily knitting hats and clothes to sell, but they didn’t bring in a lot of money. Eventually, this caused disorder in running the orphanage, and as a result, Shiloh, who lived in the capital, often came to visit.
“Oh, please! Mr. Shiloh. Please don’t kick me out.” She’d often plead. He always shouted at Sophia when he arrived, and she was always crying. Despite her efforts, the situation at the orphanage worsened day by day. Eventually, Sophia sent the maid on her way, and Freya was instructed to fill her position. Freya was not at all happy with the situation in which she had to knit, and serve, at the same time, but she had no other choice.
Sophia had never said anything good to her since she was very young, and besides that, she beat her badly and starved her often. Now, she found herself in a position where she had to help Sophia get dressed up! Freya was furious and secretly gritted her teeth as she ground asbestos powder.
“Put a lot of honey in the powder so that it mixes well.” There was a lot of irritation in Sophia’s voice.
Although Sophia ran the orphanage, it was Shiloh’s property, and Sophia knew she would soon lose her position if she didn’t make a noticeable change somehow. Perhaps Shiloh had hit her last night as she now had a black bruise between her eye and cheekbone.
“You have to cover up this bruise for me, Freya.”
Freya became nervous as Sophia began to nibble on her long nails, but she knew that a beating would ensue if she didn’t comply. At times like this, Sophia was so sensitive that she didn’t let the slightest mistake go unnoticed, so Freya applied the powder carefully. But Freya’s hands still shook when painting Sophia’s lips with a mixture of honey and dye. Then, unexpectedly, she noticed a boy reflecting in the mirror, who was sitting in the corner of the bedroom, and she recognized him as the boy that she’d saved. He was writing something while reading a thick stack of papers. So-called helping Aunt Sophia with her work. Freya quickly reminded herself that there was nothing to envy.
The boy seemed to spend most of the day like that. He didn’t get along with anyone and never talked. When she’d first saw the boy, Freya recalled a cat that lived in a warehouse near the orphanage whose yellow fur shone brightly under the sunlight. At first, the cat never came close to Freya, but she slowly befriended it by giving it bones or fish pieces that she’d pick up on the road. The cute cat would then approach her coyly, eat the scraps, and disappear.
“Come over here.” When Sophia opened her mouth, the boy feebly crawled over, and she threw a few sheets of paper at him. “Take care of all these by the time I get back.”
She treated the boy not as a human but as an animal. He had to eat from the floor, and he curled his body up when he slept. I feel bad for some reason, Freya thought.
It was clear that he would’ve died if Freya hadn’t discovered him, but living in Sophia’s bedroom didn’t look like a pleasant experience either. Whenever Sophia suddenly had to leave for work, the boy crawled back to his corner. His face had become so pale due to the lack of sunlight as a result.
Although she questioned whether or not it was her responsibility to take care of him, she couldn’t take it any longer, and so she called out to him, “Hey. Come here.”
The boy didn’t show any reaction when Freya opened her mouth. She wanted to take him out of this room that was filled with Sophia’s aroma and lingering snarky remarks. When she put a little more force into her voice, he lifted his head from the stack of papers.
“Okay,” he replied.
“Let’s go to the attic.”
The boy stood straight up, almost knocking the side table over, perhaps excited to hear the word ‘attic,’ and followed Freya out of the bedroom. Quickly scanning their surroundings when they walked out onto the lawn, they secretly headed to the attic. After climbing the creaking, old staircase, they entered the musky room and found a comfortable place to settle down. Shortly after Freya sat down, she pulled out a cookie, wrapped in paper, which she’d received a few days before from Sophia, who had been in a surprisingly good mood. As soon as she opened the paper stained with cookie grease, a sweet smell wafted under their noses, and Freya broke it in half, kindly handing the one half to the boy.