Chapter 162.
2024.02.09.
At the child's fierce refusal, not only Herdin but even Blair and Ruth stared with surprised eyes.
Then Asiel, with that tiny body of his, pushed Herdin deeper into the office. He reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged along.
"Asiel, what's wrong?"
"Ruth hurt! Daddy no."
Asiel said that with eyes welling up, ready to burst into tears at any moment.
Herdin looked at the child with considerably flustered eyes, then analyzed the situation to interpret the meaning of the words.
Asiel was trying somehow to keep Ruth and himself far apart. Judging from his words and actions, Asiel seemed to think that he was hurting Ruth.
"Why is Ruth hurt?"
"Daddy did it."
"Daddy didn't hurt Ruth."
"No!"
But despite Herdin's protest, Asiel was resolute. That appearance was exactly like his wife's when she disciplined a child for doing something they shouldn't.
Dumbfounded, Herdin let out a hollow laugh, then met eyes with Blair who was watching with amusement, and smiled as if admitting defeat.
"So you're trying to protect me from His Excellency? I'm touched―"
"No, Ruth!"
Ruth, who had been approaching with a moved expression, couldn't come any closer at Asiel's stern refusal.
'Come to think of it, I think it was like that last time too…….'
It seemed that guy Ruth had feigned illness a lot in front of Asiel.
Herdin didn't think much of Asiel's words and scooped the child up in his arms.
"Alright, I won't bully Ruth."
Then he said to Ruth, who was anxiously hovering, unable to bring himself to approach any closer.
"You can leave work for today."
"Leave work for today."
The child babbled, mimicking Herdin's words and tone without even knowing what they meant.
Ruth, delighted at the early dismissal, lingered whining, "Can't I just hold hands once?" but ultimately left the office empty-handed, unable to withstand Asiel's fierce cries of "No!"
Blair, who had been happily watching the situation from behind, finally approached her husband and son.
"I didn't interrupt you while you're busy, did I?"
"I was waiting for when you'd come; this is too late. Come more often from now on."
It was a joke that wasn't quite a joke, spoken with sincerity, but Blair only smiled gently. It was a wish that his wife, who valued propriety and responsibility, would never grant.
Unfortunately, but for this very moment, he decided to be grateful for her deviation from the norm.
At that time, Asiel, held in Herdin's arms, pointed with his tiny finger at the drawing placed on his desk.
"Boat!"
At the child's voice, Herdin and Blair's gazes naturally turned that way. What Asiel pointed at was the cruise ship blueprint that Ruth had left behind earlier.
"That's right, a boat. A very big boat."
Herdin, who answered affectionately while stroking the child's head, recalled the plan he had thought of just before the two arrived and asked.
"Asiel's birthday is next month. How about spending this birthday in Libren?"
"In Libren?"
"They say the ship will be completed soon, and I thought it would be nice to look at it together."
"Daddy made the boat."
At Asiel's voice chattering proudly about his father's achievement, Herdin chuckled and added.
"Of course, I also want to show our son what a cool dad looks like."
Blair softly met the eyes of her husband who was waiting for an answer, then smiled and readily nodded.
"That sounds good."
There was no reason not to grant his wish to become a cool father.
* * *
The family of three arrived in Libren three days before Asiel's birthday. It was the first time they had returned since leaving after Asiel was born.
On the first and second days after arriving, they stayed only at the mansion to recover from travel fatigue, and on the third day, only Herdin went out to inspect the completed ship.
Tomorrow was Asiel's actual birthday.
They were planning to tour the ship during the day and have a party in the evening, so he had gone to check in advance.
Asiel, who had been reading picture books and playing with toys with Blair as usual, suddenly looked for Herdin when sunset approached.
"Where did Daddy go?"
"Do you miss Daddy? Should we wait for Daddy together with Mommy?"
The child put down the toy he was playing with and nodded. Blair picked up the child and approached the window overlooking the mansion's gate.
Looking at that scene, a memory from sometime suddenly came to mind.
'Come to think of it, in the previous life, I waited for Herdin with Asiel like this too.'
The memory of an exceptionally cold and bitter winter was now filled with warm memories.
Though she still couldn't recall it with a pure smile, she had reached the point where she no longer suffered from that memory. Like a diary of the past that she occasionally opened.
Blair explained a little more about Herdin's absence to Asiel.
"Daddy went out for a little while to prepare for Asiel's birthday tomorrow."
"Birthday? What's a birthday?"
"A birthday is the day Asiel was born into the world. It was a day when Mommy and Daddy were very, very happy. So it's a day when many people gather to celebrate."
"Is Daddy coming too?"
"Of course he's coming. It's our son's birthday."
Just as Blair answered, the mansion gate opened and the carriage carrying Herdin came into view.
Blair pointed out the window.
"Look, Daddy's here."
Asiel, watching Herdin get off the carriage, asked.
"But why didn't you come before?"
"Before? When are you talking about?"
Asiel's first birthday party was held very grandly at the townhouse in the capital. The person who held Asiel throughout that birthday party was none other than Herdin.
"Last year, Daddy built a small house in Asiel's room as a gift."
But Asiel, thinking his mom didn't understand him, shook his head and added an explanation.
"No. A long, long time ago. Daddy didn't come. Mommy cried."
"When did Mommy cry―"
Blair, listening to Asiel's story, suddenly recalled a memory and went blank.
If it was further back than last year, could it be…….
'Madam, His Excellency says his schedule has been delayed beyond what was planned. So this birthday, just the two of you…….'
Blair's pupils began to shake violently.
"Mommy's eyes were crying. Asiel was sad."
On that day in the past, did Asiel think she looked sad when looking into her eyes?
The moment she heard the child's story, the possibility became certainty.
"Ah……."
The tears welling in Blair's eyes fell in drops.
Only then did everything make sense.
Why Asiel in this life was afraid of Herdin.
And why he grew faster than in the previous life, why he was more sensitive.
Because he had already learned them once in the previous life.
If he had returned with an adult's mind, knowing he would eventually grow, he would have endured and persevered through that time.
But at that time, Asiel was only two years old.
If he had returned with memories at the age of two, it must have been very frustrating to suddenly have a body that wouldn't move as he wished.
For a child, the only way to express that frustration was crying.
'And yet…… Asiel smiled every time he saw me.'
The child, from the moment he returned through time and met his mother again, had been constantly telling her with his whole body.
That he too had returned to his mother's side.
That he loved his mother very, very much.
"It was you, baby. It was you……."
Even while giving birth to and raising Asiel again in this life, a corner of her heart had been haunted by the child who would have been left alone during that time.
But the moment she realized that Asiel in this life was the same existence as Asiel in the previous life, an indescribable emotion surged through her.
Along with relief, regret and sorry feelings for the child who had to go through two lifetimes without knowing anything filled her up.
Blair cried as she continuously stroked the child's small back and round head.
"Our baby, how frustrating it must have been not being able to speak……. I'm sorry I couldn't understand. It must have been so frustrating all this time."
"Mommy, crying?"
Seeing his mother cry, the child with tearful eyes rubbed Blair's eye area with his tiny hand.
"Mommy, don't cwy. It's okay. It's okay."
The child exactly mimicked the words and actions his mother used to comfort him.
Blair comforted the child who was worried about her tears and smiled through her crying.
"These are tears of joy, Asiel. Mommy's okay."
When Blair tried hard to smile, Asiel tightly hugged his mother. Blair tenderly embraced the child and whispered.
"Thank you for coming back to find Mommy, Asiel. Mommy loves you so much, our baby."
My love. My life. My world.
Having regained all those reasons, she would be happy forever from now on.
Together with the two beloved men who became her everything.
* * *
Black mana raged throughout the entire room, and before Asiel's eyes, Blair and Herdin disappeared into ashes.
The child watching that scene crawled out of the crib while whimpering.
"Mommy!"
The small feet of the child walking toward where his parents had been were stained with vivid red blood. It was the blood of Ruth, who had met his death at Herdin's hands just a moment ago.
"It hurts. It hurts……."
Asiel remembered and repeated what Blair used to say when he had fallen and gotten hurt before, and saw blood coming from a wound on his knee.
When the red blood stained his feet, he became scared, as if he himself were in pain.
The whimpering child's crying grew louder and louder. But the small feet toddling toward where his parents had been did not stop.
"Mommy……. Daddy……."
The moment he finally reached the spot where the two had been. The faintly remaining magic circle and black mana enveloped the child.
It was the scary magic that had swallowed his parents, but the remaining mana felt like what he had sensed from his daddy, so it wasn't that frightening.
Soon, mana as soft as his mother's touch enveloped the child's small body.
Asiel peacefully closed his eyes as if falling asleep in his mother's embrace.
And when he opened his eyes again…….
He was in warm water.
The child was briefly surprised by the suddenly changed place, but soon recalled his memory and felt relieved.
This was a small place in now-faded memories.
'Mommy!'
But Blair, whom he desperately sought, was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to burst into tears again.
-Baby.
A voice that sounded like a hum beyond the water was heard. Very faint, but it was definitely his mother's voice.
'Mommy?'
Blair was nowhere to be seen, but even after that, the voice occasionally reached him. Along with it, he also felt a warmth that seemed to softly embrace him.
Asiel listened to that voice and waited.
In his faded memories, there remained a memory of waiting quietly in this place and meeting his mother.
Sometimes he couldn't bear the stuffiness and squirmed.
Thus, on a certain day when he had grown enough to feel the space in the water was cramped. The space surrounding the child began to contract.
At the same time, Asiel instinctively realized.
That if he went out now, he could meet Blair again.
With the sole desire to meet his mother again, the child came out into the world after a long struggle.
Barely emerging from his mother's womb and coming to his senses, he felt the familiar scent of milk and the warmth holding him. At the same time, the longed-for voice clearly reached him from close by.
"Hello, baby."
For some reason his vision was blurry, but Asiel realized that voice was the mother's voice he had missed so dearly.
His body wouldn't move as he wanted, and even breathing was uncomfortable and awkward, but hearing that gentle voice, his anxious heart settled.
Asiel smiled bashfully at the mother he had met again.
Beside his mother, who always held him tenderly, everything would be alright.
And so, the child returned to his mother's embrace.