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Chapter 9
I’ll Watch a Little Longer Before I Sleep
A voice that should not have been there was heard.
At Janice’s unexpected appearance, the old couple and Garen looked troubled.
Janice had come back downstairs after failing to find the photograph in Garen’s room. She had wanted to ask him where he had put it.
But then she overheard a strange conversation.
Until now, Janice had believed that the Bakers had died normally.
Whether it was right to describe a person’s death as “normal” was another matter, but she had thought her adoptive parents had simply died in an accident.
She had never even imagined they had been murdered.
Janice’s face turned pale.
She ran toward Garen.
“S-Say it. Quickly! Were my parents really murdered? Is it true?”
The Bakers were the kindest people in the world, people who could have lived without ever breaking a law.
Why would anyone kill them?
Janice wanted to know the reason.
“No, Janice. You heard wrong. You misunderstood.”
Garen tried to calm her down.
But Janice was not about to listen.
“That’s a lie! I definitely heard it!”
“…”
“That’s right. Uncle Fernando! Uncle Fernando will know! I want to go to him. Send me to him!”
A long struggle followed.
By the time Janice was covered in tears, her voice had become hoarse.
“I’m not a baby! Grandpa! Grandma! Please tell me. Please? I want to know.”
She begged while crying.
Sometimes she screamed and even cursed.
“You’re mean! Uncle, you’re a bad person! A liar!”
Even then, she desperately sought the truth.
At that moment—
“Janice!”
“Little one! My skylark!”
“…!”
The child suddenly lost consciousness.
The old couple and Garen hurriedly reached out toward her.
The one who caught her was Garen.
Fortunately, she did not hit the floor.
But the child’s body felt as light as a straw doll in his arms, and that made Garen feel bitter.
* * *
It wasn’t affection.
He recognized that she was his daughter, but how much fatherly love could develop when he had barely spent any time with her?
So this was pity.
Even while sleeping, Janice cried.
Garen wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“Mmm… Mom… Dad…”
Janice mumbled in her sleep.
She was not simply calling for them.
Fragments of emotions slipped out as well.
I’m sorry.
I didn’t know.
I miss you.
It seemed Janice felt guilty about the things she had done when she knew nothing.
Seven years old was only seventy-three to eighty-four months after birth.
Children that age were still considered young children.
Young children only needed to eat well, sleep well, and grow well under their parents’ protection.
That was their only responsibility.
She was too young even to enter a beginner academy.
What could she possibly have to feel so sorry about?
What could make her suffer so much?
“Hic… sob…!”
The child started crying again.
Garen awkwardly patted her stomach.
When her crying gradually quieted down, he let out a relieved sigh.
At that moment, a soft knock was heard.
When Garen turned around, he saw his mother, Bianca.
“You’re not sleeping?”
she asked.
Garen shook his head.
“I’ll watch over her a little longer before I sleep. You should get some rest, Mother.”
“You must be tired…”
“I’ll consider it punishment for not watching my mouth.”
He had not done it on purpose, but it was still true that the child had collapsed because of it.
So he decided to accept the punishment.
The doctor had said there was nothing physically wrong with her, but if she had fainted from shock, she might have a seizure while sleeping.
Someone should stay by her side as much as possible.
He could not make his elderly parents stay up all night.
Nor did he want to leave Janice with a maid who had nothing to do with her.
That meant he, the healthiest person present, should stay beside her.
After hearing him, Bianca looked at her son with a complicated expression.
“…All right. Sleep first if you need to. I’ll wake up soon and take over.”
“Take care.”
“Sleep well.”
After exchanging farewells, the door closed.
Silence returned.
Garen quietly looked at the sleeping Janice.
“You’re pretty when you’re asleep.”
“…”
“Wake up, kid. I’ll forgive you even if you keep acting annoying.”
She was so irritating that he wanted to smack her several times a day.
Still, there were a few tiny parts of her that were cute.
Garen sincerely hoped that Janice would return to her usual self by tomorrow morning.
* * *
Morning arrived.
Janice opened her eyes.
In front of the bed sat Garen, asleep in a chair.
“…Why is he here?”
Janice muttered while looking at him as if he were a dog bone—
No, dog poop—
No, a weed growing in dog droppings.
But only for a moment.
Soon she remembered that she had cried until she lost consciousness.
Her morning had already been unpleasant, and now her mood sank even further.
She missed her mother.
She missed her father.
And she wanted to know who those terrible people were who had killed them.
“Uncle! Uncle!”
She wanted to continue the questions she had asked yesterday.
Had her parents really been murdered?
And who was the culprit?
While she was at it, she also wanted the family photograph.
“Wake up already! Let’s talk!”
Janice shook Garen.
But he did not move.
Even though the chair rocked from side to side, he did not wake up.
She even pretended to shake him while secretly punching him.
Still nothing.
“Why won’t you wake up?!”
Janice kicked him.
Yet Garen showed no sign of feeling pain.
He remained asleep.
Was he some kind of hibernating bear?
Janice glared at him.
She imagined grinding her teeth together and biting him.
His body was not made of iron.
If she bit him, it should hurt.
And if it hurt that much, surely he would wake up.
She could definitely do it.
She was confident in her biting skills.
She bit beef, pork, and chicken all the time.
There was no reason she couldn’t bite human flesh.
But if she bit him, the bad-tempered Garen might refuse to tell her anything afterward.
That was the problem.
“I really hate you!”
Janice shoved him hard.
Crash!
The chair tipped over and fell to the side.
Startled, Janice froze.
But even then, Garen did not wake up.
“Geez.”
Did a ghost who had died from lack of sleep possess him or something?
At this point, it was obvious there was no way to wake him.
Filled with irritation, Janice stepped on Garen and left the room.
A little later, Garen slowly opened his eyes.
No one was there.
Fortunately.
Rubbing the back of his head where it had struck the floor, he slowly sat up.
His head hurt.
His shoulders hurt.
His back hurt.
Nothing on his body felt fine.
Oddly enough, the places Janice had kicked and stepped on were among the least painful.
“Ah, that brat’s temper…”
Garen grumbled.
How could someone so tiny have such a terrible personality?
“She’s only pretty when she’s asleep. Only when she’s asleep.”
He mocked himself for having worried about her all night.
But only for a moment.
Soon reality returned.
Even if he managed to avoid the issue today, there would still be problems afterward.
From what he had seen, Janice would never let this matter go.
Honestly, it would be easier if an assassin came at him with a knife.
Trying to fend off a seven-year-old child who kept asking why her parents had died was far more difficult.
Should he tell her the truth?
Or not?
And if someone had to tell her, he hoped it would not be him.
Garen decided to run away.
“Where’s the brat?”
He quietly called over a passing maid and asked where Janice was.
“She’s in Madam’s room.”
Perfect.
While Janice was with his mother, he planned to escape and return late at night.
By then, perhaps the situation would somehow be resolved.
Come to think of it, maybe it would be safer to come back tomorrow instead.
“After I leave, tell Mother that I won’t be coming home today. No, tell her I’ll come back tomorrow night! And don’t ask where I’m going!”
The maid looked puzzled, but Garen ignored her.
Satisfying her curiosity was far less important than escaping this house.
Grabbing his jacket, Garen hurried downstairs.
He checked left and right, front and back.
Then he dashed toward the front door.
Just as he grabbed the doorknob—
“Son!”
A voice he absolutely did not want to hear rang out.
“You’ve already been caught. Come over here.”
The voice was gentle, but it felt as though a hidden blade lay beneath it.
Garen tightened his grip on the doorknob.
Unfortunately, the old general was faster.
“Let’s go!”
Someone ambushed him.
A thick arm wrapped around his neck.
“Ghk! Father, my neck! Ghk!”
Garen was dragged away.
A short while later, the interrogation began.
“Tell me.”
“……”
“The person who killed my mom and dad.”
“……”
“Who was it? Why did they kill them? My mom and dad were such good people!”
