Chapter 63

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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Evi was in a difficult situation.

“Wow! Look at her!”

“I think he bought her everything. I’m so jealous…”

“Dad! I want that too!”

All the children passing by were looking at her with eyes full of envy.

It was understandable.

Because right now, almost all kinds of food sold at the event were held in Evi’s hands.

Sparkling fruit skewers coated in sugar water, well-grilled sausages, fluffy cloud candy…

One child, upon seeing what Evi was holding, even cried and badgered his parents to buy him just as much.

Evi, receiving such gazes from children her age for the first time in her life, was simply embarrassed.

The reason for her embarrassment was not just that.

“Professor, I can walk…”

At those words, he shook his head.

“That won’t do. What will I do if you get lost again?”

“But…”

Even just walking while holding hands would be enough, but was it okay to be held in one arm like this?

“But I’m heavy. If you keep holding me like this, your arm will go ‘ouch,’ Professor.”

As she said that, Evi made a motion as if it hurt by tapping his arm with the hand holding the candy, and Clois gave a bitter smile.

“I don’t think that would happen even if I held you all day.”

Even though she had gained much more weight and grown taller than when she first came in, Evi was still small.

It was clear that she still had to be fed for a long time more to be as big as other children her age.

As it seemed he wouldn’t put her down, Evi peeked below.

‘It’s high.’

She knew Professor Sian was tall, but being held in his arms like this felt like floating in the sky.

After meeting again at the lost child shelter, Professor Sian had said that losing her again was absolutely out of the question.

Then she wondered if they would be walking while holding hands from now on, but he immediately picked her up.

“If you’re tired, I’ll return to the Gifted Center right away.”

At the question asked with a worried voice, Evi shook her head.

The professor had found her again. With just that, the distant fear she had felt a moment ago disappeared once more.

When Evi said she wanted to see more of the festival, from then on, he moved busily around the event venue.

He, who carried all of Evi’s small bags himself, bought everything without hesitation that Evi showed even a little interest in as they passed places with food that children liked.

And then he put them all in Evi’s hands.

Even if Evi said she wouldn’t eat them or didn’t need them, he was stubborn.

In the end, Evi also gave up and accepted the things being pressed into her hands.

‘I think he’ll just throw them away if I don’t eat them.’

Throwing away food? That was something that could absolutely not happen to Evi.

So Evi busily and diligently ate the things he gave her.

The street food was delicious.

Especially the cloud candy, which felt like cotton where your fingers would sink in if you touched it, melted away like snow once put in her mouth.

‘It’s really sweet like candy!’

In Clois’s arms, Evi enjoyed the festival to her heart’s content.

Things that weren’t visible when she was walking while holding onto him because they were hidden by people were now clearly seen.

“That will be the last event today.”

While still holding Evi in his arm, Clois came to the riverside.

There, the people in charge of the event were preparing kites to be flown into the sky.

The things made of materials even lighter than other kites flew up with their tails lit when it was time.

Dozens of lights flew into the sky at once, and all the people cheered at the spectacle and made wishes.

Evi also stared blankly at the sky.

She had seen something like this in Elam as well.

At that time, she had made wishes together with her friends from the orphanage.

To want to eat candy, to want to have new clothes, to ask for help so as not to fight with friends… they each wished for things they wanted as they came to mind.

It was the same for Evi.

That she wanted to eat two potatoes tomorrow, or that she hoped to pick up a pencil someone else threw away at the upper school.

While making such small wishes that she hoped would definitely happen, when the light of the last kite became faint, she quietly made a real wish in her heart.

‘I always asked for them to let me meet my mom and dad.’

Why was it? Today, she felt like she didn’t have to wish for that.

‘Is it because I received so much…’

Feeling her eyes closing, Evi leaned her head against Clois.

She knew she shouldn’t fall asleep like this. Because it would be hard for the professor, she had to get down and walk now…

‘It’s warm.’

Like the mana stone she always slept while hugging at night, feeling the most pleasant warmth, Evi fell asleep in an instant.

“Oh dear.”

Thinking it was strangely quiet, seeing Evi who had fallen asleep before he knew it, Clois shifted her in his arms.

When he held her to make it more comfortable to lean on, Evi hugged his neck tightly.

‘I should return.’

The night grew deep. There was the curfew of the Gifted Center, and now it was time for children to sleep.

It seemed Evi wasn’t the only one, as there were many parents nearby carrying sleeping children in their arms or on their backs while returning home.

Clois naturally blended in among them and moved his steps.

While walking toward the Imperial Palace, looking at the street vendors who were starting to pack up their businesses, he saw a place selling children’s accessories.

Hair ties and hairpins, and even animal or human-shaped dolls for children’s bracelets or necklaces.

Without realizing it, Clois stopped his steps and looked over the stall.

At that time, the stall owner approached and said.

“Oh my, your daughter must be tired?”

“Ah…”

She’s not his daughter. She’s merely a child he happened to form a connection with by chance.

She’s a child who could never be his daughter…

“It seems so.”

Clois replied quietly and patted the back of the sleeping child.

“My, her face looks like she would have badgered her dad to buy things and cleared out our shop if only she were awake. Since she’s so cute. Right?”

At the owner’s words, Clois ended up chuckling. He didn’t feel bad about his chatter.

Among the hairpins on the stall, the owner picked up a red hairpin and held it up to Evi’s head, then said.

“How about buying this one? I’ll give it to you cheaply. She’ll like it very much when she wakes up.”

At the same time, the owner picked up other pins and asked Clois a question.

“What is the little lady’s eye color?”

“Green… it is.”

“Then green will suit her too. Since we usually match it with the eye color. But blue is selling well these days. Because the heroine of the newly released fairy tale book always wears a blue dress, now girls are all looking for only that color. There’s no kid in the capital who doesn’t have this.”

No wonder, he had noticed that blue pins or ribbons were attached to the heads of all the children around.

At the mention of it being a trend that everyone had, Clois said to the owner.

“Give me that.”

And he also looked at the other hairpins the owner was holding.

“Those too, all of them.”

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Chirp, chirp, chirp.

At the sound of birds coming from beyond the window, Evi opened her eyes.

“Mmm…”

Closing her eyes again as they were dazzled by the sunlight, she slowly blinked her eyes.

‘It’s my room.’

The fluffy mattress and soft blanket she had become familiar with now. And even the heavy scent of wood.

And above all, the moment she saw the mana stone emitting a faint light beside her, Evi realized she had woken up in her room.

“Hwa-ahm…”

When she was about to sit up while yawning and stretching, she felt something with her hand.

“What… is this…?”

The moment she looked at what was caught in her hand while rubbing her eyes still full of sleep.

“Heok!”

Evi jumped up in surprise. In her hand was a wooden squirrel doll.

She remembered what this was.

“I went out with the professor…”

She woke up in an instant. And yesterday’s events came vividly to mind.

She went out to see the seasonal festival with Professor Sian.

They saw the candy shop, did the fun drawing, and then lost the professor in the middle.

‘But he came to get me.’

After that, she went around while being held. Watching the kites fly away was her last memory.

“He brought me all the way here.”

She hadn’t even been able to thank him for letting her see the outside!

Furthermore, since he had carried her back all the way here, she must have been very heavy.

‘I should go quickly and thank him.’

While thinking so, as she was about to get off the bed. She saw something rolling around on the blanket.

“Uh…? What is all this?”

Evi picked up the things that were placed on her blanket. And soon her eyes widened.

On the bed, piled up in an armful, were sparkling hairpins, ties, and all sorts of other toys.