Chapter 94

And so, Aiden and I ended our late walk, and we entered the door of the mansion side by side.

However, Aiden, who put his hand on the doorknob, about to open the door at any moment, did not move.

‘What’s wrong? Why are you like this?’

As I questioned his incomprehensible behavior, Aiden let out a sigh and turned his head to me.

I didn’t know if it was because we had been walking side by side since that conversation earlier, but Aiden’s face was a little off.

Should I have said that his face color was bad, or that his expression was dark?

Was he suddenly sick somewhere? What, did he get stung by some weird bug?

I tilted my head and tried to infer his condition from the shadowy face, but suddenly Aiden burst into a small laugh.

This was what I was worried about.

Well, looking at him, he looked a bit… off.

I immediately pulled my upper body back and straightened my back.

Aiden faced me with only a shallow smile left from the small laugh.

Seeing that his face had returned, it seemed that he was not in pain.

Or did I see it wrong?

While I was thinking about useless things, Aiden’s pretty lips slowly parted in a smile.

“It’s okay, it’ll be okay, Miss. No matter what happens, whatever it is, in the end you will get back to the peaceful days like before. So, don’t worry about anything. Everything will be fine.”

It was a very sudden thing to say at the end of the silence, but the voice was strangely stuck in my head.

I blankly recited Aiden’s voice in my head over and over again.

It’s okay. It will be okay.

Funnily enough, when he said that, I really felt like everything would be fine.

He would always tell me I was okay when I wasn’t okay. And after that, I really was okay.

“Yes. Thank you, Aiden.”

With a heart of sincere gratitude, I raised the corners of my mouth.

I hoped the smile he was making right now wouldn’t distort.

Watching Aiden’s warm smile slowly turning into a fool-like face, I put my hand on top of his, which was holding the doorknob.

The trembling of his shoulders was felt at the tips of my fingers.

Oh, this look.

It was like Lucas and me from before. But, what did it matter? I thought Aiden forgot to open the door with his blank face, so I was just trying to help, so it was a little different.

Well, of course.

After a great self-justification, I turned the doorknob with force.

The form was a little odd because I couldn’t hold it with my entire hand, but the doorknob worked just fine.

As soon as I completed my purpose, I immediately removed my hand from Aiden’s to prove my innocence.

I took my hand away and glanced at Aiden… He was stiff as before. Even the stupid face and the blurry gaze were unchanged.

‘Are you a statue, or what?’

As I stepped through the open door, I tapped Aiden’s arm.

‘Wake up, Aiden. Are you going to stand in front of the open door all night?’

Only then did Aiden rush after me, finally coming to his senses.

Aiden tried to escort me back again.

Please, my age was 19, not nine.

That meant that I was not a child to be seen off everywhere in the mansion, that is, the house where I lived.

After expressing a firm refusal, Aiden nodded and headed to his room.

I liked how quickly he gave up.

“Aiden.”

I looked at his back, and quietly called his name. At the small voice, Aiden immediately looked back.

It was a quick movement, like a dog reacting to being called.

Come to think of it, it seemed that dog ears would suit him.

“Our backs. They would have been a good fit. Much more than the back view you saw back then.”

I just left with those words and turned around without hesitation.

No, it seemed a bit rushed.

My throat was tickling for some reason, so I couldn’t keep looking at that face.

It was a shocking and tiring, strange and fine night.

Or, it was actually a good night.

The next day, I grabbed a brush. It was because if I didn’t focus on anything, my head would become a mess.

As soon as I woke up that day, the confusion that had subsided from my night walk disturbed my head again.

To think that I was leisurely drawing in a situation where a war might break out soon was truly unreasonable.

I had no intention of drawing anything, so I just moved my hands obligatorily.

Thanks to this, only unknown brush marks were piling up on the canvas the size of my upper body.

“Jane.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Behind me, Jane, who was knitting, answered.

“Is there a way to remember something I can’t remember? Or is there a way to pinpoint the correct answer out of countless possibilities?”

“Mmm, well.”

There was silence for a while, perhaps as she was seriously contemplating an answer. Even during that time, I didn’t stop. This color and that color were all mixed together and the canvas was becoming dark…

“In the end, isn’t coincidence important in remembering things you can’t remember, or finding the right answer?”

“Coincidence?”

Sometimes Jane’s words were quite helpful.

Why, like the correlation between laughter and happiness like that the other day?

In that sense, I paused and turned around to listen to Jane’s story.

Unlike me, who stopped my hand, Jane was still moving her hand, looking at her knitting.

Oh, was I the only one who was listening?

I slowly turned my torso back into place and started moving my hands again, pretending nothing was wrong.

At that moment, I thought I heard a small laugh from behind my head… It must have been my imagination.

“Like, there are times when, very occasionally, you see something insignificant and something comes to mind. For example… Looking at soil and remembering the decision to buy cocoa powder.”

—-