By the time they returned to the cottage after visiting the city, it was already getting dark. Olivia couldn’t sleep at the thought that tomorrow she would finally return to the mansion. She sat on the sofa with Lime, drinking warm lime tea. Sitting under a large blanket together like when they were children definitely gave her a warm feeling of nostalgia.

“Ah, I just realized I need to deliver some medicine personally before leaving……”

“Now? It’s late, why not do it tomorrow?”

“We need to leave early tomorrow. I’ll just go quickly tonight.”

“No, give them to me. I’ll go instead. I’ll be faster too.”

Though it wasn’t that late, Lime offered to go instead, and Olivia gratefully stroked her well-grown younger brother’s hair. Though he grumbled not to treat him like a child, the way he followed her around made her want to tease him more.

“Tell them to take the medicine exactly as written in the instructions.”

The medicine was specifically made for the pets of elderly people who found it difficult to come to the cottage regularly. Lime took the individually packaged envelopes and left the cottage. Now I’ve really finished almost everything I needed to do here. It was a strange feeling. It felt both regretful and liberating.

“Though I organized everything on my own, if he says something strange again…… I’ll just have to confess again.”

But this time I really have a good feeling. I think he’ll bring the perfect answer. Olivia stamped her feet in anticipation, rolling on the sofa before getting up with the half-finished lime tea cups to clean up.

Knock, knock.

Hearing the knock, Olivia headed to the front door instead of the kitchen. It’s too early for him to be back—did he forget something? Holding two cups in one hand, she opened the door and looked around, seeing no one outside.

“Was it the wind?”

Just as Olivia was about to go back inside, something flew in quickly.

D-DAY.

Alois was near the thorn bushes from early dawn. Though he knew she wouldn’t come this early, he couldn’t sleep, and feeling anxious in the mansion, he came out early. In case she might come through a different part of the thorn bushes, he had lowered the defenses of other sections too. So that whenever the signal came that she had appeared, he could run to welcome her.

The dim sky gradually brightened. Birds announcing morning flew between the trees, tweeting. A few animal friends who knew today was the day Olivia would return also kept Alois company from morning, with sleepy faces.

— Master, next time, set a specific time. Yaaaaaawn.

A fox muttered, hugging its fluffy tail. What next time? He had vowed they wouldn’t be separated for the foreseeable future. Though he didn’t mean imprisoning her as before, the week had been so difficult that he felt he could somehow arrange to follow her wherever she went.

While imagining Olivia’s return, Alois suddenly began to worry about what expression he should greet her with. Once he started thinking about it, all expressions began to feel awkward. After practicing various expressions for a while, Alois messed up his hair, dissatisfied with all of them.

— Why is he doing that?

— Because he wants to look handsome, of course.

Hearing the squirrels chattering in the tree above as they watched everything, Alois felt embarrassed. He covered his mouth with his hand and pretended he hadn’t been doing anything, hiding his body under the shade of a tree.

Because he wants to look handsome. Though embarrassing, it was the truth that hit the mark. Since their first meeting, they had never been separated for this long. Moreover, while until now Olivia had been imprisoned here to repay a debt, this was the moment they could begin a new form of relationship that had progressed a bit further. The day Olivia returned to Alois’s mansion of her own will, without him forcibly keeping her, held a different meaning.

A subtle excitement and anticipation made his heart flutter. At the slightest breeze, he unnecessarily checked his attire and fixed his hair, though it hardly looked different.

Deciding that greeting her with a bright smile would be best, Alois practiced his awkward but earnest smiling expression alone.

The sky became completely bright and sunny, shining brilliantly before slowly beginning to darken again. Though there had been no news of Olivia by midday, she still hadn’t appeared by sunset.

At first, he was anxious that something might have happened to her, but later, sad thoughts made his chest cold. He tried many times to recall Olivia’s voice and stop tormenting himself by imagining the worst situations alone, as she had taught him, but as the sunset sky gradually turned purple, even recalling her voice became increasingly burdensome.

— Why isn’t she coming? Did something happen?

— I know. Olivia isn’t someone who wouldn’t come.

Even the animals, who believed in her return more firmly than Alois, gathered one by one, wondering what was happening. Alois stared blankly at the unresponsive thorn bushes with a hardened expression. His practice at smiling seemed futile now, as he couldn’t even recognize what expression he was making.

If Olivia didn’t return, he had thought he would despair, feel sad, or angry, but when the thought that she might truly not return occurred to him, his mind just emptied like a lost child.

“……”

While thinking she might not return, it seemed he had actually believed she would definitely come back. Before he could feel betrayed, he couldn’t accept that this was reality.

— She must be delayed due to circumstances. She’ll definitely come, even if late.

The animals gathered around, watching Alois’s reaction and offering words of comfort. Ironically, Alois felt their anxiety within their comfort, making him truly realize that she hadn’t come.

The sky was now completely dark. Without light, they could barely make out each other’s silhouettes. The darkness had settled so thickly that expressions weren’t visible. That was fortunate in a way. Because it was dark, no one could see his expression. Thinking that if he met Olivia now, he might unconsciously make an unsightly face, he rubbed his face dry and burst into hollow laughter. See? Again he was naturally thinking she would come.

Except for nocturnal animals, all the gathered animals had returned home. Though he kept thinking he should go back too, Alois couldn’t move his feet.

Various inner voices continued to fight within him. One shouted that he shouldn’t have let her go from the beginning, while another worried about what if she had an accident. A voice raised to go find her and bring her back immediately, while another grew louder, saying he should stop being foolish and go home.

As dozens of thoughts attacked each other and fought, a voice from the deepest part of his heart quietly spoke.

She really won’t come.

His fingertips trembled. The noisy voices suddenly disappeared. The sentence he had deliberately avoided thinking about, fearing it might become reality, emerged most clearly. Alois’s pupils shook anxiously. You promised. Recalling the pinky finger that still seemed to retain its warmth, Alois clenched his fist tightly.

“Let’s go back.”

He turned around. After standing for a long time, unable to move despite turning his back on the thorn bushes, Alois painfully managed to take one step. If he had been betrayed, he should just get angry and coldly turn away, but he couldn’t. After barely moving one step, he hurriedly looked back at the bushes at the sound of a small breeze.

The child crouched in his heart opened its mouth as if everything was fine.

Maybe she returned to the village and felt nostalgic for old times. She might have been happy because the villagers treated her well. She was originally someone who lived in human society. She probably didn’t intend to betray him from the beginning. She didn’t leave because she hated him. She surely meant to return, but when she went to the village, the memories and people remaining there were too precious, so she couldn’t come back……

In place of the silent Olivia, the child rambled on with excuses.

So don’t hate her, don’t be disappointed, don’t be upset, just think she’ll live well and turn away without regrets. Think that this was the extent of your relationship, and it’s not really that upsetting, right? He wanted to follow the voice speaking calmly.

“…… Ah, ugh.”

But he couldn’t. A tear rolled down his cheek and dropped to the ground. He truly didn’t know what to do. How he had breathed until now, how he had lived each day, how he had walked. All the things he had done so naturally suddenly felt too overwhelming and difficult. His trembling hand rose to wipe away his tears but then steadied his knees, which were about to buckle.

Why? Why isn’t she coming back?

She hasn’t heard my answer yet. She said she would wait, so why?

The resentment pouring out with his tears was closer to pleading than hatred. He wished she would ask him once more. This time he would answer without delay, and if it wasn’t the answer she wanted, he would tell her as many times as needed until he got it right, if only she would ask him once more. Alois couldn’t control his trembling body and knelt on the ground, unable to move even a step away from the stump where he had always waited for her.