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Chapter 7
After finishing a characteristically dry and uneventful dinner, Chloe entered her room.
The culprit who had left flowers by her bedroom door was said to be the adopted child who was soon to be disowned.
I told them to bring the child to my room beforehand.
But the child was nowhere to be seen.
“Did they run away?”
That would make sense.
All children were afraid of her.
It was said that among the public, a phrase was popular: “If you cry, the Dark Witch will take you away!”
Chloe absently smoothed her pitch-black hair, dark as night, and muttered,
“…Even if they ran away, it doesn’t matter.”
If some suspicious child had tucked their tail and fled on their own, that was rather convenient.
…After all, she had examined that purple flower, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it.
At first, she had been angry. But soon, everything just felt bothersome.
Just as she thought that, she suddenly sensed something out of place in the neatly arranged room.
“Sunlight…?”
A warm spring breeze drifted in through the open window, carrying gentle sunlight with it.
Why all of a sudden?
The maids believed that Chloe, being a dark mage, disliked light.
So they always kept the heavy curtains drawn by the window.
But today was different.
Without realizing it, Chloe walked toward the window.
On the sill sat a small vase, and inside it were lilies of the valley.
Attached was a poorly written note:
[There is a superstition that lilies of the valley chase away evil spirits.]
“What is this…?”
At that moment, she heard a soft, snuffling sound by her ear, like someone smacking their lips in their sleep.
Ah. Coco used to do that.
And then—
“Smack.”
“……”
“Thaaank yooou…”
In front of the bedroom door—where Coco used to wait for her every night, lonely—
There was a child lying face-down in a “bread-baking” position, just like Coco used to.
Is she asleep?
Seeing the child sleeping pitifully in one stiff posture, Chloe shook her shoulder to wake her.
Perhaps because the image overlapped so strongly with Coco, she forgot, for once, the anger she had been about to express.
“Wake up.”
The small child barely lifted her eyelids.
And finally, their eyes met—violet eyes staring into hers.
My heart…
It felt as though it dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.
What is this? Why am I like this?
While Chloe hesitated, the child suddenly sprang upright.
“Wow!”
“…You. What are you?”
There was only one reason her voice faltered.
She had often wondered what Coco’s voice would sound like if Coco were human.
And the little child before her shouted brightly—
—in exactly the voice she had always imagined.
“It’s me!”
“…What?”
Chloe’s eyes wavered in confusion.
The little girl waved cheerfully.
“I’m Coco!”
“…What did you say?”
The child’s expression quickly turned gloomy.
“Gasp. I—I was just like usual… and you still don’t recognize me…”
“What do you mean?”
Not only were her words incomprehensible, but now she looked dejected too.
I haven’t even said anything yet.
The child’s behavior was completely baffling.
Soon, after pouting with duck-like lips, the girl bowed her head.
“Gasp. N-no, never mind! H-hello! I’m Coco!”
“…Coco?”
Chloe’s eyes trembled again.
The little girl smiled brightly and waved.
“Yes! My name is Coco!”
“…Ah. Your name is Coco.”
Chloe recalled the profile of the adopted child.
She had looked into the background first and hadn’t bothered to check the name.
“I’ve finished investigating you,” she said flatly.
“Gasp—you looked into me?”
…What?
Why is she happy about that?
Why?
The girl wriggled her hips as if wagging a nonexistent tail.
Her eyes sparkled.
No one has ever reacted like this to me before.
It felt as though she was being swept up in the other’s pace.
“Then I’ll ask. Why did you trespass into someone else’s bedroom?”
At that, the child straightened her shoulders resolutely and looked up at Chloe.
She didn’t tremble despite meeting her gaze.
Her eyes were astonishingly warm.
“Haven’t you been taught the basic etiquette that you must not intrude into another person’s residence?”
“Gasp… I-I never learned that kind of etiquette…”
The child looked completely clueless.
My head hurts.
Well, she was a commoner-born adoptee. It wouldn’t be strange if she didn’t know proper manners.
“Why did you leave the flowers?”
“Oh! The flowers! There were soooo many in the grass nearby, and they were so, so pretty, so I picked some and brought them!”
“……”
“Gasp—am I not supposed to bring flowers either…?”
The child rolled her eyes nervously.
Chloe pressed her temple.
Come to think of it, the purple flowers Coco liked were blooming everywhere around the annex. And judging by the lilies of the valley, she must simply love flowers.
“…I hate flowers. And it’s not polite to bring flowers into a stranger’s room.”
“Stranger…”
A faint sadness flickered across the child’s face.
But only briefly.
Soon, she looked straight into Chloe’s eyes and smiled brightly like sunshine.
“I just wanted to get closer to you, Lady Chloe!”
“Why? Acting friendly with me is useless. It’s my father and the council of elders who will decide your fate.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what?”
“Because you’re so cool, Lady Chloe.”
It was something said by a child who would soon be cast out of the family.
Yet Chloe was flustered.
It was the first time she had ever heard a child call her “cool” with genuine admiration.
“…What?”
The girl grabbed her clothes tightly, eyes shining.
“Sooo, actually! I saw it in the newspaper! Lady Chloe, you look like an amazing, amazing dark mage!”
“That’s impossible. The newspapers would never speak well of me.”
Of course I know that too.
There’s no way the newspapers would speak kindly about Big Sister Chloe.
“Hey, Coco. Actually, my fiancé doesn’t like me.”
“Munch munch.”
“…Not just my fiancé. Everyone hates me.”
“Huh?”
“They say they hate me because I’m a dark mage. That my mother died early because of me…”
Back when I was Coco the puppy, I couldn’t say a single word.
All I could do was bark as if to comfort her.
But now I can speak.
Big Sister is the only person who ever reached out her hand to me.
So I’m not scared of her at all!
With boundless affection, I made my eyes sparkle.
“I saw the picture in the newspaper! The one where you’re using dark magic! You looked sooo cool!”
“What exactly is cool about that…”
“The newspapers keep saying light is cooler than darkness, but, um, I think warm sunshine is loved because darkness exists!”
“What?”
“You can only meet warm sunlight because there’s darkness first. So you’re amazing, Lady Chloe! As amazing as sunshine—no, even more!”
She stepped back with a startled expression.
“…Darkness is just dark.”
Her fingertips twitched, and black darkness bloomed from them.
Was she trying to scare me? But I wasn’t scared at all.
“Whoa! That’s soooo cool! It’s like your fingertips are filled with a beautiful night sky!”
She let out a low, incredulous laugh.
“…Are you serious?”
I looked at her warmly.
And finally met her blade-sharp gaze head-on.
“Yes, I’m serious. You’re the only one who can create a night sky with your fingers, Lady Chloe.”
Her expression faltered for a moment.
I looked at her hair glowing under the sunlight, at the lips that had always spoken kindly to me.
Does she want to get closer to me now too?
My heart pounded wildly.
But only for a moment.
“Even so, don’t come to my estate.”
She turned her gaze away.
“I don’t like meeting people. It’s tiring. Soon, I’ll close the gates of the Haeguk estate entirely.”
It was a perfect rejection.
I prepared so, so hard because I wanted to be close to her again.
I opened the window carefully with hands that didn’t move well.
I prepared flowers. I waited in her favorite position.
I poured out all those cool words in a rush…
And still, it’s not enough?
Tears threatened to spill, unlike a brave puppy.
Summoning all my courage, I muttered softly,
“Then… I’ll just stay beside you a little bit, so you won’t get tired, Lady Chloe.”
“……”
“I move well on my own! My hands and feet are really strong…”
I remembered the summer before I died.
I used to be a weak, troublesome puppy.
She used to massage my body every day as it gradually grew cold.
She must have been tired and annoyed taking care of me.
But now, she doesn’t have to massage me anymore.
I pointed at my soft calves.
“I don’t have big muscles, but I’m super healthy now, and strong, and I can walk way more than before!”
Her expression still wasn’t good.
“A-and I don’t have a dislocated kneecap either…”
I timidly added words the veterinarians used to mutter when they examined me, even though I didn’t fully understand them.
Still, no answer came.
Flustered, I tried to read her expression.
Does she not believe me?
I quickly raised my tiny hand.
Then I drew the biggest circle I could in the air.
“I’m this strong!”
Now I have hands that can pat you gently.
Two healthy feet that can walk as much as I want.
A mouth that can scold anyone who says bad things about you.
I’m confident I can make you smile.
So please…
“S-so… could I visit sometimes? Just sometimes?”
Won’t you… be close to me again?
