My Former Lover Didn't Die And Came Back - Chapter 50

「Kay, you know what to do, right? If someone comes looking for me,」

「Yes. If it seems like someone from the capital, I’ll pretend to be the boss.」

Sweat ran down Kay’s temples as she remembered her conversation with Blair. She was concentrating hard not to show her nervousness.

“……Hey.”

The man took another step closer to the counter.

“…….”

“Miss.”

Cold sweat ran down Kay’s back. The man seemed like he could kill with his gaze.

“Why are you lying?”

An icy voice came from the man, draining the color from Kay’s face.

“Huh? Miss Kay McBill.”

Kay’s lips trembled. A single drop of sweat fell down her slender facial line, darkening the walnut floor.

* * *

“Rabbit! We’re going to see the rabbit.”

“Alvin, if you don’t come quickly, Mom will scold you.”

Alvin pouted his lips.

The cause of their conflict was a rabbit burrow in the back mountain. They had found a rabbit family during their walk in the back mountains with everyone from the daycare during the day, and Alvin had completely fallen for the fluffy baby rabbits. When Blair came to pick up Alvin when it was time for the daycare to close, Alvin begged to go to the back mountain. But it was almost time for sunset. Going to the mountain at this time was extremely dangerous.

“Does it make sense to go to the mountain at this time?”

“But I want to see the baby rabbits.”

Alvin said without making eye contact with Blair, focusing his gaze on the ground. Sighing, Blair bent down to make eye contact with the child.

“Alvin.”

“Yeah.”

“Look into Mom’s eyes when talking.”

Only then did the child meet his mother’s eyes.

“Why do you like rabbits?”

“…….”

Alvin hesitated without answering.

“Huh?”

“…because it’s like Alvin.”

As Blair fussed, Alvin answered softly.

“What?”

“Rabbits also live with just their mom and baby. Rabbits don’t have a dad either. So, it’s like Alvin.”

“……”

Blair’s mouth fell open. Her heart dropped at the child’s words.

“Yea? So Alvin wants to make friends.”

“……”

Blair just swallowed her breath, not knowing what to say.

“……”

She persuaded the child with the excuse that it was just too dark to go and returned to the store, holding his small hand.

Clang.

The metal bell on the store’s door rang.

“Oh, we’re back. Are there many customers?”

Blair entered the store while holding the child’s hand. As usual, Kay was standing at the counter. In front of her were two tall male customers…

Creak.

“……”

When one of the male customers turned around, Blair’s face stiffened.

Thud, the child’s daycare bag slipped from her hand and fell.

The man slowly opened his mouth.

“Hello, Blair.”

That unforgettable deep voice. Blair had heard a greeting just like this before.

Three years ago, at a mansion on the outskirts of the capital. A man covered in blood leaned against the extinguished fireplace and called out to her like that.

…Ah. It felt like her breath was stopping.

“Was your surname, ‘Redfield’, derived from the maple trees behind the mountain?”

Blair answered hesitantly, unable to grasp the situation.

“It’s elderberry. The child often caught colds when he was young…”

Maple, elderberry. Both were trees boasting red leaves. Among them, elderberry was known for its effectiveness against colds. There isn’t a single person in Eleanor who hasn’t tried a concoction from boiling its leaves when they were young.

Wait. The child…?

Cedric’s gaze dropped to the hem of Blair’s skirt. A clenched hand was clutching her long skirt.

Peek.

The child peeked his face out from behind Blair’s skirt. Black hair and blue eyes. The child’s and Cedric’s eyes met.

‘Wait, that face…’

Cedric’s face turned stone-hard. It was Eden, his secretary, who gasped first. Kay at the counter was also alternating her gaze between the three of them.

“……”

Blair had been holding her breath since earlier. An invisible storm was brewing inside the small store in the small port city.

* * *

“Kay, you go home first.”

“…Eden, go.”

Blair and Cedric spoke almost at the same time.

“I’ll head in first.”

“Yes.”

Their responses came back at a similar pace. As Kay and Eden left the store, the clear bell sound rang out once more.

Then a moment of silence followed.

“Mommy, mommy!”

The suffocating silence was broken by the child’s youthful voice. The child asked while shaking the hem of his mother’s skirt.

“Yes, Alvin.”

The young mother bent down and answered gently.

“Who is that man? He has black hair just like Alvin.”

The child pointed at Cedric and spoke. He couldn’t hide the curiosity swirling in his blue eyes.

As the child pointed at him with his small hand, an indescribable thrill surged through Cedric.

Unless he was a fool, he couldn’t fail to recognize the child’s identity. The child was his…

“…Cedric.”

Blair spoke first. Cedric shifted his golden eyes to her.

“Why don’t we move upstairs? It’s time to tidy up the store.”

“…Let’s do that.”

“Alvin. You know what to do while mommy cleans up the store, right?”

“Yes. I have to wash my hands and face and sit at the table.”

The child moved his little legs and climbed the stairs leading to the second floor. Cedric watched the child’s back, his eyes transfixed, then moved to the second floor himself.

Bang.

Cedric looked around at the second floor spread out before him. It seemed they had converted the space above the store into a home suitable for a mother and child. A small fireplace, a red checkered blanket spread over a sofa, and an oak dining table with a pair of chairs. Beyond them, doors likely led to a bathroom and bedroom.

Dried wildflowers were hung on the wall. Pictures clearly drawn by a young child adorned various spots on the walls. It wasn’t a luxurious home, but there was a sense of affection for this space that was lived in and cared for by someone. For some reason, it made him feel lonely.

Bang. Thud.

The sound of a door opening and closing came from behind, and Blair appeared.

“I’ll just feed the child.”

After she prepared dinner for the child who was sitting at the table, she returned to Cedric in the living room. Blair looked at Cedric, who was sitting on the sofa. The sofa, large enough for her and her child, seemed like a toy to him.

Thump.

She sat down a little distance away from him.

Cedric’s lips parted first.

“Little Port. I never thought you would be in a border town.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been dusting off innocent neutral countries without a speck of dust.”

“……I see.”

Cedric raised his eyebrows and lifted his head at the calm voice coming through.

“You seem unfazed.”

“I thought I would be discovered eventually. There’s no such thing as keeping a secret forever.”

It was common for an owner to have their employee lie because they didn’t want their own to be discovered.

“Are you going to arrest us now?”

Blair asked with a serious face. For some reason, that question stung Cedric’s heart.

“……For what crime. You haven’t broken any laws.”

He replied. Blair bowed her head and fiddled with her nails.

“Is the child’s name Alvin?”

“Yes.”

It means ‘to grow up receiving a lot of love’. Is it a name she gave because it’s just the two of them in the family?

Cedric looked around the house for a moment and said,

“It’s cramped.”

“It’s because you’re big. It’s not cramped for just the two of us.”

Blair retorted with a displeased face, as though she took his comment about the house being small as an attack.

“He’s still young. But since he’s inherited my blood, he’ll grow to be just like me.”

“He’s still young. What are you trying to say?”

“Come back to me. Blair.”

Blair’s movements stopped. Only the sound of a child moving a spoon could be heard from afar.

“……”

Her eyes wavered. Blair, fiddling with her skirt for no reason, asked,

“……You didn’t get married?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then you need an heir. Since Alvin is a boy.”

“……”

Cedric felt there was no need to argue. Blair was right to some extent. It was true that he, as a noble, needed an heir.

“But eventually, you’ll bring in a legitimate wife, right? I can’t let Alvin become a bastard child.”

He was a good match for marriage, and so he would eventually get married. He couldn’t let them be treated like outcasts by his legitimate wife and her children.

“Are you saying it’s better for him to live as the son of an unmarried mother?”

Unmarried mother.

Blair’s lips trembled when she heard that. It seems he hit the nail on the head.

“Fortunately, there are quite a few unmarried mothers in this village, and we help each other out. I’ll raise the child properly.”

“My child is the child of an unmarried mother.”

Cedric growled lowly. That was when,

“Mom, I’m done eating.”

The child’s high voice changed the atmosphere. Blair, sitting at the dining table, met her son’s gaze as she looked back.

“Yes, Alvin. What should you do now?”

“I need to brush my teeth and wash my face.”

Blair mouthed ‘just a moment’ to Cedric, and then got up to clear the table. Alvin went into the bathroom and came out with his face wet. Blair changed his clothes into pajamas.

“Mom, mom. Can we go see rabbits tomorrow?”

“Really, those damn rabbits……”

“But they’re really cute.”

Blair sighed as she buttoned up the child’s pajama top.

Tick, tick.

The buttons on the child’s pajamas were fastened one by one. The sleepy child kept rubbing his eyes with one hand. Cedric watched the sight of the mother and son intently.

“……Now, all changed.”

After entering the bedroom with the child, she came out alone a few minutes later.

Thump.

Blair closed the bedroom door and said,

“The child is asleep, so don’t make any loud noises.”

“I have that much sense.”

Blair and Cedric looked at each other silently for a moment.

“……”

There was so much to talk about. But no one could find where to start.

Above all, the presence of a three-year-old child was significant. The child had an exceptional talent for interrupting conversations between two adults.

That was when,

Bang.

“……Mommy……”

The bedroom door opened, and Alvin walked out with annoyance plastered all over his face.

“Oh, Alvin. Why?”

Blair immediately rushed to her child.

“Alvin needs to sleep. But I can’t sleep.”

Alvin whined. It was a child’s typical bedtime fuss.

“Why can’t Alvin sleep? You must be tired from walking on the mountain during the day?”

Since they had been to the mountain behind the daycare, they should have had enough exercise. Perhaps it was because of the unfamiliar guest at home that he was slightly excited and couldn’t sleep.