This place was small and modest, but everything in it was clean. The blanket she had pulled from the wardrobe and given him without a second thought, the stiff commoner’s clothes he was wearing now, all of it was clean and neat. On the table sat the soup he had not finished and a warm piece of bread, and beside them, fresh fruit had been sliced and arranged prettily.

Each and every one of them was something he had never had before.

“A witch…. And yet so warm….”

Emil covered the back of one hand with his other. It was the hand Selene had been holding until just a moment ago. She had been gone for quite some time already, but the warmth still seemed to linger there. His mouth went dry.

As long as she doesn’t find out, wouldn’t it be all right?

Emil was skilled at reading people, the way any child who had spent a lifetime surviving on borrowed goodwill would be. And Selene was clearly wary of him. Even so, the reason she had probably not sent him away was almost certainly because of the hair and eye color he had changed in advance.

“As long as she doesn’t find out.”

He muttered it to himself and tugged at his own hair. This was a witch’s home. The ingredients for magical remedies would be easy to come by here. If he only knew how to make them, he might be able to do it himself.

He steeled himself and clenched his fist, and then the door opened with a click.

“Emil, were you all right while I was gone?”

Selene walked in with a bright smile.

“Yes.”

With a grunt of effort, she moved her purchases to the kitchen, her hands overflowing with things. The basket she carried gave off a fragrant smell, and all sorts of odds and ends peeked out from between the items. Emil sat up slightly in bed and approached her with a curious look.

“What did you buy?”

“Ah, well….”

Selene laughed awkwardly and trailed off.

“It’s my first time living with someone…. And especially with a child like you. There were no clothes in the house that would fit you, no shoes either, and then I thought you would get bored just resting at home, and also….”

She murmured on and began taking things out one by one, laying them on the floor. Every single one was for Emil. He drew a shallow breath as he watched.

Selene smiled, bright as a rose in bloom. Emil’s gaze rested on her face. He bit down on his lip, afraid he might cry. Selene looked at his wavering expression and waved her hand.

“So I ended up buying all sorts of things…. Hahaha…. But, oh! Don’t feel burdened by it. These are just things I really, truly needed to get. If there’s anything else you need later…, once you’re better, let’s go buy it together.”

Selene did not realize the meaning of what she had just said. She had clearly planned to decide what to do with the child only after he had recovered. Yet without noticing it, she was already picturing a future past Emil’s recovery. Emil’s lips gave a small twitch, and he nodded.

“All right then, do you want to try on what I bought? Just leave what you’re wearing on the bathroom floor. I’ll take care of it later.”

Selene loaded Emil’s arms with a pile of clothes. She picked up the ones that looked like they would roughly fit his size and opened the bathroom door.

“…….”

“Oh, oh no! Right, just, hold on…!”

Emil’s mouth fell open before he could stop it. The bathroom was a complete disaster. Things she had been using lay scattered wherever they had landed, and discarded clothes were piled up like a small mountain. He turned around without hiding his surprise, and Selene’s face flushed red.

“I, well, living alone all this time….”

A shy blush spread across her face as she scratched her head. It had never crossed her mind. She had lived alone for so many years, and she had never invited anyone to her home. When her sisters came, she would tidy up with a quick spell. Emil said nothing and walked inside, leaving her standing there in her embarrassment.

“Emil. D, don’t worry about it…, just get changed and come out.”

Her flustered voice faded quietly from the other side of the door.

“Why isn’t he coming out?”

It had been quite a while since he went in, but Emil still had not come out of the bathroom. Selene waited, then knocked on the door with concern.

“Emil?”

No answer came, only the sound of rustling movement from inside. She tried the handle with a click, but it was locked from within. Had something happened? Had a wound gotten worse? Unease rose in Selene.

The Emil she had spent the past few days with was a child unlike other children. He never made a sound when she changed his bandages, and he held back his tears even through the pain of disinfecting. The way he held himself, it was like he feared that making a sound would only bring more blows. Over two days of tending to the child’s body, the reason had not been difficult to guess.

He must have been through something terrible.

“Emil, are you all right?”

She knocked on the door. She could have opened the locked door easily with magic, but she could not bring herself to use it in case it startled Emil, and so she rattled the handle instead. After two or three knocks, the door opened with a rustle from inside.

“Emil…?”

“I’m sorry. I meant to finish quickly.”

Emil bowed his head. What does that mean? Selene did not understand, and she looked past him into the bathroom.

“….Good heavens.”

The bathroom was clean. The clothes she had thrown around carelessly, the things left wherever they had landed, the bathroom that had gone untouched for so long, a child’s hands had tidied it all. Selene’s eyes went wide. He had suddenly cleaned? Was it too messy for him? Momentarily thrown, she murmured with a blank expression.

“Emil, why…. Why did you suddenly clean….”

“Oh, I…. I don’t have anything to give.”

Emil glanced up at her and spoke slowly. Selene’s eyes went wide. Something heavy settled in her throat. She felt that if she opened her mouth, a wet breath would escape with it. She barely managed to compose her crumpling face and swallowed once.

“Emil…. Haah….”

She pulled Emil toward her all at once. She dropped to her knees, met his eyes, and gathered his small body fully into her arms. It was that or cry in front of Emil, which would have been a sorry sight. Her chest trembled. How could a child, such a small child, say something like that. Her head ached. She felt she understood what Emil had been through without needing to ask.

The scars covering his body, the whip marks that looked like he had been beaten, the small and slight frame of a child who had not been fed enough. And now this, cleaning without being asked, watching her face for any reaction.

Every single thing spoke to the weight of the life this child had lived.

“Emil, do you still not remember where you came from?”

Selene asked slowly and quietly, her voice thick. She heard Emil draw a tense breath. He answered, still tense.

“No, I don’t remember.”

“…I see. That’s fine then. That’s fine.”

Selene stroked his hair without stopping. Then she pressed her forehead gently into Emil’s shoulder.