Side Story 2 (Part 2)

Spring passed, and as summer began. 

Olivie appeared at the banquet hall.  

Her smile, which made everyone happy, remained unchanged, and she stuck closely to Emily, as if to make up for the time they hadn’t seen each other, just like before. She laughed heartily as before and enjoyed making jokes.  

Last winter and spring,  

Olivie acted as if there had been no gap in between.  

To the extent that it made the worry over her absence seem pointless, Olivie appeared even brighter and laughed more than before.  

Her charm that made people happy remained, and her smile, crinkling her freckled nose, was the same as before.  

Yes, that’s how it seemed.  

So he thought she was okay now, and tried to brush off his needless concerns.

Perhaps he even felt relieved.

She had been on his mind for a while, but now he no longer had to worry about her.

At a banquet he attended by chance, surrounded by a group, he suddenly saw Olivie standing with a completely empty look in her eyes, devoid of any emotion.

Until then, he hadn’t noticed the eyes that weren’t happy at all despite her smile.

If he hadn’t seen that, he might have forgotten her.

But…….  

After that day, when he saw her forced smile, everything about her that had reassured him seemed strange.

No, it would be more accurate to say he started seeing things properly.

Her bright expression was no longer the pure, happy smile of someone enjoying all the joys of the world.

It was as if she was wearing a solid mask…

Somehow.  

‘She seems to be trying hard.’

So much so that it was pitiful to watch from the side.  

“…….”  

But that was still as far as it went.  

Robin’s line was clear, and he had no intention of crossing it.  

She was his sister’s friend, after all.

Even thinking otherwise was out of the question.

In his eyes, Emily was still a baby, and her friend was just a baby too.

Robin shook his head briefly and turned away.

* * *

After returning from the academy, Robin was busy learning the trade by traveling around the surrounding kingdoms. Since most of the family business was in trade, it was common for him to be away from home for as short as half a year or as long as a year.  

Naturally, his attendance at banquets with Emily decreased, and as much as that time decreased, so did his encounters with Olivie. No, it would be more accurate to say he almost never saw her.  

There were even times when he would only drop Emily off.  

By the time Olivie had faded a bit from his memory, three years had already passed.  

And that year, his mother passed away. It was sadly due to her long-standing illness, a persistent cough.

It was mid-winter.  

Fortunately, it happened while he was in the territory.  

Although the funeral was held in the territory, not the capital, quite a few people came and went.  

During that time, Emily would cry herself to sleep every time she opened her eyes. She barely ate and hardly spoke. Worried that his young sister, who was neglecting her health out of deep longing for their mother, might fall ill, Olivie visited the territory.  

“Oh, it’s so cold.”  

She came with her brother, Evan Elphano.  

Rubbing her dry hands, Olivie, wrapped in a white fur coat and hat all over her body, somehow resembled a……  

“Like a polar bear from a book.”

“…….”  

Indeed, she looked like a bear, as Evan said.

But Robin, who didn’t say it out loud, looked back at Olivie. Whether it was because of the cold or because she was embarrassed, Olivie, blushing, glared at Evan.  

“It’s because it’s cold. Our territory isn’t this cold, you know.”  

“Well.”  

While Evan scratched his chin and nodded, Olivie handed over her clothes one by one to the family’s servants and stood before him with a much lighter body. It seemed that almost one and a half of her body was clothes, and seeing her small and thin figure, Robin lifted his head.  

Our Emily hasn’t grown at all. Even though the same three years had passed, Olivie had become mature.  

Surprisingly so.  

Children grow up quickly

He thought.  

“Where’s Emily?”  

Olivie crossed the line as if treating him like someone she had known for a long time.

There was no hint of reserve in her tone.

For a moment, Robin wondered if they had been close, as her friendly question made him point his index finger toward the ceiling.  

“In her room.”  

“So, which room is that?”  

At Olivie’s words, who placed her hands on her hips as if frustrated, Robin awkwardly cleared his throat. Then he gestured to the maid standing beside him.  

“Show the young lady to the room.”

“Yes.”  

At his words, the maid stepped forward. Olivie glanced at Robin, nodded, and turned her body.  

“Thank you.”  

“Sure.”  

Olivie turned her body so quickly that a cold wind seemed to blow. Her back looked somehow spirited.  

The pitiful appearance he last saw was nowhere to be found.  

Nor was there any sign of the nervousness from when she was eight years old, when they first met.  

Seeing her now, it seemed like she had left the Olivie Elphano he remembered far behind.

It was as if the tips of his ears were slightly warming.

After Olivie arrived at the estate, Emily quickly found her stability. It seemed to help greatly to drag the child, who had been crying all the time, out of her room and make her move and eat together.  

“Hurry up and eat. The soup is getting cold.”  

As Olivie, tearing bread and chewing it, chided her, Emily, who had been staring blankly at the soup bowl, weakly picked up her spoon.  

Robin didn’t know about anything else, but even that was a significant improvement to him.  

His Father and him didn’t know what to do, so they just comforted her and left her alone.  

“Oh, right, Emily, I want to see that gemstone mine.”  

“Huh?”  

As Emily lifted her head with a spoonful of soup in her mouth, Olivie shrugged her shoulders.  

“You told me about it. There’s a huge gemstone mine in the estate. You said it looks really beautiful when the morning sunlight hits it. Sparkling.”

At Olivie’s somehow excited words, Emily glanced at Robin, and Evan, noticing the exchanged glances, scolded Olivie.  

“Do you want to indulge in luxury even after coming all the way here? Aren’t the jewels at home enough for you?”  

“You fool, I’m not saying I want to take jewels from there. I just want to see mine. Our family doesn’t have one. Or maybe you could buy me one.”  

“Where would I get the money?”

“Then try talking to Father.”  

“You try it.”  

“Aren’t you the heir?”  

Robin put down his utensils at the sight of the Elphano siblings sitting side by side, bickering endlessly.  

“You can go see it.”  

“Really?”  

Taking Robin’s words as consent, Emily’s eyes sparkled as she turned to look at him from her seat.  

“Well, it’s not a difficult thing.”  

Robin wiped his mouth and turned his head.  

Honestly, going to the mine wasn’t much of a problem.  

The mine wasn’t that far from the mansion, and the road was well-paved, so they could go up by carriage.  

“Only if your health is okay.”  

Emily’s health was the only issue.  

“……”  

As if she expected this, Emily pouted at the conditional approval.  

“……Tsk.”

Her expression was full of dissatisfaction as she stirred her soup bowl with a spoon.  

But Robin, who had seen his mother pass away from a common cold, couldn’t compromise when it came to her health.  

However, unlike Emily, Olivie’s words, as a guest who had come all the way here with no expectations, were a different matter. Especially since Olivie, who had stayed at the estate for a few days, hadn’t asked for anything until now.

Robin, who was concerned about her, lifted his head.  

“If Lady Elphano wants to see it, we can arrange a separate visit…”  

But before he could finish suggesting a separate visit, Olivie pushed bread towards Emily.  

“Emily, eat a lot quickly. You’re not sick because of an illness, right?”

“……”  

“You’re just sad.”  

Olivie, with her arms crossed, smiled as she looked at Emily, whose eyes were brimming with tears.  

“Still, you need to take care of your health.”  

At the words directed towards Emily, Robin stared at her.  

But without noticing the gaze directed at her, Olivie spoke gently to Emily, as if comforting her.  

“So, Emily, you need to eat a lot, take your medicine well, and sleep well too!”  

“……”  

“Chat with me, laugh, move around a lot, and then…”

Trailing off her words for a moment, Olivie briefly lowered and then raised her gaze, lifting the corners of her mouth. As if comforting herself, Olivie spoke calmly and smiled at Emily.  

“Then you’ll be okay again.”  

“Sniff, Lie.”  

At the kind words, Emily lifted her head.  

Tears, which had been welling up at the corners of her eyes, were now fully gathered. Emily, who had been sniffling all along, suddenly lifted her head as if determined.  

“That’s right, I’m not sick.”  

“That’s right! So, quickly get healthy in body and mind. Before I go home, let’s definitely go see it together.”  

“Okay!”  

Olivie’s smile towards Emily deepened.  

And Robin…  

“……”  

…couldn’t take his eyes off that smile.  

From the way she closed her round eyes to smile, to the curve of her lips that seemed perfectly drawn. Even her expression as she scrunched her freckled nose.  

“……”  

He couldn’t look away.