Leave a comment

After spending a night in my home after so long, the morning arrived and yet, I was still clinging to Fina.

In both my lives, this was the first time I had gained a new family in the truest sense, so it just couldn’t be helped.

I was an orphanage-raised before, and in this life, my parents were my old comrades. It was a little hard to consider them exactly family.

But Fina was undoubtedly my little sister.

That sister was now sleeping soundly in her new baby bed. I sat beside it and simply observed her sleeping face.

As Maria said, she looked wrinkled at first, but once the filth was washed off from her, she turned shockingly adorable. It was lovely to the point you’d think it was an angel sleeping there.

I reflectively reached out and poked her soft cheek with my finger and enjoyed the sensation.

“Nicole, she’ll wake up if you touch too much.”
“Just a bit more.”

Fina didn’t seem to mind about my meddling and continued indulging in her idle slumber. I took that opportunity to have my fill of her cheeks.

Maria still cautioned me, but she didn’t stop me and just kept looking with a smile. In other words, I was still safe.

“Uhehe~”

I was just staring at her face, yet even I realized how loose my expression was turning. From other people’s perspectives, I probably looked to be in a complacent, dazed state.

Then, she seemed to have taken notice of my finger, she brought her hand up and squeezed it tightly.

“Mom, mom! Fina grabbed my hand!”
“Oh, good for you.”

I reported it to Maria in a fluster, but she just replied without getting up from the sofa near the fireplace. It seems that childbirth really drained a lot out of her.

She would normally be doing something in the house. Maxwell did hand the Queen Blossom nectar to her, which was supposed to be full of nourishment, but it wouldn’t show its effect in a day, I guess.

She didn’t seem to be as dangerously weakened as I was, so I could rest easy.

Fina kept tightly holding my finger, but remained sleeping without change. I also just sat there without pulling it away and observed her sleeping face.

I wonder how long I sat there like that. Maybe thirty minutes? After that much time passed, there was a ring on the door.

“Ah, we have guests. I’ll go check.”
“Please do.”

I couldn’t call Maria’s condition very good. As such, we had a maid working here. However, since I came home after so long, we had her take a day off to enjoy it privately as a family.

Lyell had his guard work so he was missing, though.

As I arrived at the entrance, Maxwell opened the door and walked in. He was practically a family too, so he could come and go as he pleased more or less.

“Welcome, Maxwell. Wanna see Fina’s face?”
“That is the first thing you are going to say? Good grief…”
“Is something wrong?”

He was acting more displeased than normal, making me feel a strange sense of crisis. It felt like I was stirring up a hornet’s nest.

“Eh, never mind, I shall take a look at Maria first and then your sister.”
“Oh, please do. I’ll say it in advance, but she is really cute.”
“You have been completely charmed, eh? I do understand your feelings however.”
“My sister is an angel so that’s natural.”
“You sound exactly like Lyell there.”

Hearing that, I instantly stiffened in place. I mean, we were certainly related by blood, but it was still me on the inside. Did I really take after him despite that?

“I also need to discuss something with Maria. I need you to hear it too so stay close, okay?”
“S-Sure… Then I’ll pretend to be looking at Fina and listen in. Maria is lying near the fireplace at the moment, after all”
“You do that.”

Like that, I heard him talk about the extremist group that had taken nest in the Northern Alliance. They seemed to have had connections to the human trafficking channels and procured children as sacrifices from there.

“I assumed the reason there were so many slave merchants in these northern parts was due to the bad public order left over from the Evil Dragon… But to think such people were moving behind the scenes.”
“Indeed, they seem quite malicious too. Also—Elliot is also moving.”
“Elliot? Ah, about Haumea?”
“Yes. She is my subordinate after all, so it would help me if he does not get too involved.”
“Are you asking me to tell that to Lyell?”
“Well, Lyell seldom visits the royal palace, but he still visits it more often than I, right? Thus, I would like it if he conveys that if the opportunity arises.”
“Still, she is Reid’s reincarnation like Cortina said, after all, isn’t she?”
“Well, he had certain circumstances to consider. He decided not to show his face for some time…”
“That is pretty cruel of him towards Cortina.”
“I am more or less of the same opinion.”

Saying that, he directed a meaningful gaze at my way.

I was conscious of her feelings. However, I could not respond to them at present.

I decided to feign ignorance and continued poking at Fina’s cheek, trying to ignore my guilty conscience.