Chapter 47
“…That’s how it happened.”
“Hm.”
Joanie’s explanation, which had taken nearly an hour, finally came to an end.
Starting from how her family was poor and they couldn’t even afford to eat out like everyone else… After a long and detailed explanation, Joanie managed to convince Aeron.
“So, you’re saying it was because you saw her as a little sister?”
“Y-Yes! Kana was just too cute! I swear on my life, I didn’t have any ulterior motives or try anything! If I’m lying, you can take my life right now—”
“…Don’t you just come back to life anyway?”
“Eh?”
Joanie’s eyes widened in response to the sudden remark.
W-Well, he wasn’t wrong, but was that really necessary?
“…Even if I come back to life, my life is still precious.”
It was a pretty lame excuse, considering she had thought it through so hard.
“Fine, I understand. Kana may be a bit oblivious, but if you had other intentions, she would have noticed. It seems she liked you quite a bit.”
“…Ha, haha. Haa….”
‘…I don’t think that’s the case, though?’
Who in their right mind would try to assassinate someone they liked?
Unless… what was it called… a yandere?
Kids’ feelings really are impossible to figure out.
It would be great if she could just ask Kana directly, but the person with all the answers had long since dozed off, tired from being excluded from the conversation. Kana was peacefully asleep, resting her head on Aeron’s shoulder.
Joanie looked at the sleeping Kana.
‘…She’s so cute, I’ll let it slide.’
Not that she was all that mad to begin with, but seeing Kana sleep like an angel made whatever little frustration she had melt away.
It was probably a similar feeling to why so many parents, after being worn out by their kids all day, feel at peace when they see them asleep.
Seeing her so relaxed, unlike when she was awake, Joanie couldn’t help but smile.
‘Of course, she’s cute when she’s awake too.’
But there was something special about this kind of moment.
“Kana is…”
“Hm?”
Joanie, who had been so absorbed in watching Kana sleep, forgot that Aeron was still there. His voice was softer than before, perhaps because he was mindful of the sleeping girl leaning on his shoulder.
“Kana… has she been doing well?”
“Um, well…”
Joanie hesitated.
If ‘doing well’ meant eating and living comfortably, she could answer affirmatively.
Though she lived deep in the mountains, Kana’s home had everything she needed.
“She didn’t seem very happy.”
However, Joanie’s answer was different.
“She looked really lonely.”
Kana had pushed people away, keeping them at a distance with a sharp edge.
Now that Joanie knew more about her past, it made sense.
People had tried to steal her father’s precious keepsake, and if that wasn’t enough, they even came at her with weapons, intending to kill her. How could anyone be friendly in response to that?
If the first step is wrong, none of the rest will be right.
The players who had climbed the mountain, regardless of their intentions, probably met their demise for that reason.
Whether or not the SilMen had been involved was unclear.
But, unlike others, Kana had accepted Joanie, a fellow player.
“Kana let me stay by her side just because I knew how to speak Granic.”
At that time, Joanie’s Granic was barely passable, only knowing a few words, but that had been enough for Kana.
“If she really hated people, she would’ve ignored me, no matter how many times I visited.”
Aeron let out a low hum after silently listening to Joanie’s words.
“Just as I thought.”
The Kana Aeron knew wasn’t fond of physical contact. While she tolerated Garid’s touch when he petted her, she never gave off the impression that she enjoyed it.
For Kana to allow contact so easily now… At first, Aeron thought it was because Joanie was also a woman. But now, he realized it was deeper than that. He adjusted his position slightly so that Kana, who had shifted in her sleep, could lean on him more comfortably.
“Do you know about Garid?” Aeron asked.
“Yes, I heard he’s Kana’s father…,” Joanie replied.
“Technically, he was her adoptive father.”
Garid had saved Kana when she was at death’s door, after losing her family and home. He took her in as his daughter.
“When Garid once asked her about her parents, I was there,” Aeron recalled. “She told him, ‘My parents? They died long ago.’”
Later, Aeron learned that Kana’s biological parents were despicable people. They never gave her the love a child should receive, which explained why the young girl always seemed so emotionally detached for her age.
“Garid was the one who filled that void of love,” Aeron added.
To a child who grew up unloved, in the filth of street urchins, the experience of being cared for must have been an alien one. To Kana, Garid was the most precious person in the world. But in the end, Garid left her, succumbing to injuries from the war that he never fully recovered from.
In the aftermath, Kana filled the emptiness left behind by his death with the desire to uphold his beliefs and avenge herself on the Empire. But after the fall of the Grasis Kingdom, she lost even that purpose and disappeared.
“What a foolish kid,” Aeron said with a bitter smile. “She could have reached out to me if she felt so lonely.”
He’d known Kana since she was a small child. Yet, it seemed he hadn’t been enough to fill the void in her heart. But now…
“Looks like she’s finally found someone to fill that emptiness.”
Though she might not fully realize it yet, Joanie’s interest in her had left an impression on Kana. Allowing physical contact was proof of that.
Feeling a tinge of regret for not being able to be the one to comfort Kana, Aeron glanced at Joanie, reassured by the thought that the girl had found a new refuge.
“He wasn’t her biological father, huh…” Joanie muttered, digesting what she had learned about Kana’s past.
If Garid wasn’t her real father, then it meant that the bond between them was even more special. Joanie had noticed how deeply Kana cared for him despite not being related by blood.
Sensing the somber mood, Joanie decided to shift the conversation.
“By the way, Kana really seems to like sweet things and flowers. Was she always like that?”
“Sweet things, yes, but flowers? Are you talking about the ones you see by the roadside?” Aeron asked, puzzled.
“…Yeah, those flowers,” Joanie replied, confused by Aeron’s reaction.
Wasn’t that what she was talking about? What other kind of flowers could there be?
Aeron’s expression suggested this was news to him. Sensing something unusual in his response, Joanie nervously swallowed.
“She didn’t dislike flowers, but I don’t remember her particularly liking them either,” Aeron said. “Why?”
“She made a flower garden in front of her house and takes care of it like it’s the most precious thing. I accidentally stepped on one of the flowers and… well, it wasn’t pretty.”
Joanie stopped herself from mentioning the number of players who had met unfortunate ends because of that flower garden.
Aeron fell silent, lost in thought, his brows furrowing as he considered the unexpected revelation. Finally, he spoke.
“Do you think Kana is feminine?”
“Gasp…!”
Was that an assassination attempt just now?
Joanie took a sharp breath, having faced her second assassination attempt today.
Sure enough, after Aeron’s words, her chat window turned into a hellish frenzy.
“Well, I’m not really sure what being ‘feminine’ means…”
Trying to dodge the topic by glancing at her chat, Joanie attempted to avoid the inevitable with her well-honed skills in escaping social traps.
Aeron, though perplexed by her determination to survive, elaborated.
“You don’t need to overthink it. I’m asking if she cares about her appearance or if she’s ever shown interest in clothing.”
“…Come to think of it.”
Joanie squinted her eyes as she tried to recall.
…Not really.
“She’s probably been in the knight order too long, don’t you think?”
“She was like that even before, but I suppose being in the order made it worse. Anyway, that’s not the main point. You understand what I’m getting at, right?”
Aeron’s gaze grew distant, as though remembering something long gone.
“Garid once asked me a similar question.”
‘Aeron, what do girls like?’
‘Is this about Kana?’
‘Yeah. I wish she’d laugh and chat like other kids her age, but she’s always so stiff, like a boy. Isn’t there something I can do?’
‘Hmm… How about planting flowers?’
‘Flowers? Why flowers?’
‘Girls and children like flowers. Even if she’s not interested right now, don’t you think she’d take notice if she sees you planting and tending to them? Then Kana might want to plant flowers too, and that boyish side you’re worried about might soften.’
‘That makes sense. I’ll give it a try!’
Garid faithfully followed Aeron’s advice.
Each time Aeron visited, he saw more flowers at Garid’s home, a clear sign of his efforts for Kana.
Unfortunately, Kana didn’t show the slightest interest, so the plan didn’t exactly work.
“She probably didn’t love the flowers themselves. She loved Garid, who loved the flowers.”
Which is why she painstakingly gathered those flowers and created a flowerbed at the grave, so Garid could see the flowers he adored, even after death.
“In a way, it means Garid and I were half-successful.”
Whether in the past or now, one constant remains: children never fully understand their parents’ hearts.
It’s only when they grow older that they realize, leading to regret.
“Ah…”
Joanie’s sigh lingered in the drawing room.
***
“Mmm…”
…Did I fall asleep?
Was it because I snacked too much, or maybe Aeron and Joanie’s incomprehensible conversation lulled me to sleep like a lullaby?
I’d been feeling a bit drowsy, but when did I actually doze off?
Slowly blinking away the remnants of sleep, I tried to shake off the lingering drowsiness.
“…?”
Then suddenly, I made eye contact with Joanie, who had been staring at me.
For some reason, her eyes were brimming with tears, ready to spill over at any moment.
“…Aeron.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah… No.”
“…? So, did you sleep well or not?”
Sensing my movement, Aeron greeted me, to which I gave a casual reply.
It’s not important right now.
“Did you hit her?”
“…What?”
“Joanie, did you hit her?”
There were no visible signs of being hit.
Since the only reason I could think of for her to be like this was that, I asked Aeron, who looked down at me with a perplexed expression.
“Do you think I’m you?”
“…Whatever.”
If he just meant to deny it, why did he say that?
Anyone would think I was someone who just randomly hit others because I didn’t like them.
As I pouted, something suddenly charged toward me.
“Waaah! Kanaria!”
“…?!”
What can I say?
Of course, the identity of that something was Joanie.
She dashed at me, sobbing and sniffling, and I was taken aback, unable to react in time, as I found myself embraced by her.
“I didn’t know that… I thought… I was…uwaahhh”
“Ugh…”
It was hard to understand her words since I was already struggling to hear, and her pronunciation was wrecked by her sobbing.
As I tried to push her away, Joanie tightened her grip around me even more.
I could break free if I really wanted to, since she couldn’t be stronger than me, but…
‘Sigh.’
Instead of pulling her away, I decided to go along with it and let my arms hang limply.
I wonder how much she suffered from Aeron while I was sleeping.
Part of the reason Joanie was suffering from Aeron was probably because of me, so I should just let her be.
I told him to take it easy, didn’t I?
I shot a look at Aeron, conveying that meaning through my eyes.
“…It’s not because of me.”
As if responding to my silent accusation, Aeron put a fist to his chest, looking exasperated.
“Canaria….”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Holding onto Joanie tightly, I swayed back and forth in response to her movements.
She’s been through a lot, so I’ll let it slide this time.
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