It was peaceful. Blair liked such a simple and peaceful daily life with her people. She didn’t want to lose this everyday life, so she had even rejected a marriage proposal from the next head of the capital’s greatest family. When Kay made another playful comment, Blair burst into laughter again. But she didn’t know why a part of her heart felt sore.

It was because someone was sacrificing themselves to maintain this unchanging daily routine. She felt it every morning as she stared intently at the list of casualties.

Yes, Cedric. That man was there.

The reason Blair could exchange jokes with Kay now was because Cedric had fulfilled his role on the battlefield for three years.

To protect this sunny daily life, she refused to be by his side. She was the one who rejected him, but why…

The two left the store and returned to the bustling street. It was the same place as usual, but different. The expressions of the people passing by were bright, and the air was slightly warmer.

A week ago, the war had ended. It ended with Eleanor’s victory. Litunia declared a complete surrender.

Relief and happiness filled the faces of the people in the marketplace. Kay, who was linking arms with her, was also excited about the fact that she could have a child in a peaceful time.

Blair was smiling broadly while talking with Kay, but she kept feeling like she was wearing a mask.

‘…A week has passed. It would have taken only three days for him to come here to Little Port from the last battlefield.’

Blair and Kay walked down the street, exchanging trivial conversations.

Another week passed. People quickly got used to the fact that their country had won the war. Soon, people hardly brought up the topic of war anymore.

But the tall man did not visit Blair’s store.

* * *

Kay safely gave birth to a daughter. The baby, who resembled her mother, came into this now peaceful world with a gentle appearance.

“Boss, I can’t believe it… Did I really give birth to her?”

Kay couldn’t take her eyes off her baby even as she was teary-eyed. Kay’s reliable husband also stood by their side with a tear-soaked face.

Actually, Marilyn from next door was also pregnant. When she mentioned her pregnancy, a tear streamed down the face of her husband, who always seemed to be scheming to smoke cigarettes secretly behind his wife’s back.

Blair found all these situations both happy and strange. Their pregnancies and childbirth reminded her of when she gave birth to Alvin. She couldn’t be purely happy like that. She didn’t know how much she resented that man while being pregnant and going through labor for two days.

The world had become peaceful. It had been three months since the long war with Litunia ended.

Time flew by, and in that time, Alvin grew a bit more.

Thud.

Blair opened the door to the second floor of the store and entered the house. She looked at the dining table where today’s newspaper, which she hadn’t had time to read because she rushed out due to Kay’s childbirth, was placed. It was definitely her seven-year-old angel who had put the newspaper there. He knew his mother’s habit of reading it every morning.

Thump.

Blair slumped at the dining table chair. Helping with Kay’s childbirth was entirely exhausting. The baby just wouldn’t come out, so in the end, the heaviest midwife almost climbed on top of her to push it out.

“…Ha,”

As usual, there were tasks she had to do, but today she was too tired to even unfold that gray paper. What’s the point of looking? His name wouldn’t be there anyway. It’s already been three months since the war ended.

Swoosh.

Contrary to her sulky mood, Blair’s hand reached for the newspaper on top. And habitually, she started flipping through it to find the list of deceased.

Rustle, rustle.

The last battle with Litunia was said to have been fierce. Both sides suffered tremendous casualties. It took a while just to identify the bodies, so the list of deceased was published over one or two months. Bodies that were burned or severely damaged ultimately remained unidentified, and at some point, a separate list of missing persons started appearing in one corner of the newspaper.

Rustle. Rustle.

But as the end of the war approached, there were rarely new names on either the list of deceased or missing persons. One name every two days, one name every three days. That’s how she could feel the end of the war with her whole body. The end comes like this, seeping in without any sound or rumor.

“……”

…I should probably reduce my newspaper subscription next month.

Alvin’s school expenses weren’t small since he started attending school. She wouldn’t mind if Alvin wasn’t interested in studying, but he loved reading new books too much. Blair was surprised that there were so many books in the world and that book prices were not cheap. He’s only seven years old now; how much money will it take when he enters the academy later? The store is still thriving, but still, she should save more money.

“……”

Blair turned her head and stared at the wooden drawer. In the top drawer were ‘those’ documents. If those documents were revealed to the world, Alvin would be granted the rights as the successor of the Fitzgerald Ducal family. He could live a life without envy…

“……”

Blair stared at the wooden drawer, her gaze piercing through it.

Would those documents still be effective…?

The war had ended, but Cedric hadn’t come. Doubt began to rise in Blair’s heart. If he hasn’t come to find her after such a long time, does it mean he has forgotten about her? Perhaps he already found a new woman.

Would Cedric still want to fulfill those documents if he has someone new…?

Then would those documents become just a piece of paper written without much thought by an impulsive young man four years ago? With Cedric’s power, it would be easy to make those papers meaningless.

Her white hands snap the newspaper shut with a thud. Blue eyes turned towards empty space.

Her last moment with Cedric came to mind. The moment when she saw him off at Little Port harbor heading towards the battlefield.

「Wait for three years. I’ll finish as quickly as I can and then come back.」

Thinking about it now, that was also a lie. Didn’t the war drag on for an extra year anyway?

…Liar. He said he’d finish quickly and come back.

He was a man full of bravado. How could a general end a war early by his will? He seemed too generous in his self-assessment.

“…Liar.”

Blair murmured with a vacant look in her eyes. Why did she think he wouldn’t deceive her again? Why…

…I should contact the newspaper company tomorrow. I need to cancel or at least reduce my subscription. I have to save for Alvin’s tuition fees.

But the pile of gray papers in front of Little Port’s jerky store did not decrease the next day or the day after that.

* * *

It was a day when fragmented sunlight was warm.

Sweat beaded on Blair and Alvin’s foreheads as they climbed the hill. They traversed through a dense forest of elderberry trees. Alvin was leading the way, holding his mother’s hand. Now, at seven years old, he was the tallest among his peers in the village

“Alvin, you need to be careful as you climb.”

Alvin started climbing the tree without hesitation.

“Uh-huh.”

Since he’s now a bit older, his mother’s words were now a secondary concern. The child, who’s recently completely obsessed with climbing trees, has always loved the hill behind their home.

“……Sigh,”

A worried sigh escaped. Blair, with her hands on her hips, watched her son climb the tree swiftly like a squirrel. Kay argued that it was good that Alvin wasn’t only interested in books, saying that these days, talents need to be well-rounded. But Blair, his biological mother, was worried Alvin might get hurt. The child was her only blood and treasure in the world.

“Only go up to that branch you see there, okay?”

“Uh. I got it.”

The child replied nonchalantly and climbed up the tree. His gentle nature remained, but Alvin was not the angelic child he once was. Especially when he became obsessed with something, he couldn’t focus on anything else. Once he found something that captured his full attention, his mother became secondary.

……they say seven is a difficult age.

Blair crossed her arms and looked around.

The green grass was vibrant. Yes, sometimes she had to let the child be. It was five years ago when she decided to fully accept her child. The problem was that she had been focusing too much on the child since at some point.

The child will leave her embrace someday. In the blink of an eye, he will become an adult and find his own path. When he takes his place in society, she must send him off into the world, since that is the natural order of things. And time always flows faster than one thinks……

“……”

Thinking about the swift flow of time, Blair’s thoughts stopped at a certain point.

A slight expression faded from the woman standing with her arms crossed in the middle of the grass.

It was always like this these days.

No matter what she thought about, it often fell onto one topic. Blair thought about the man who led the war to victory, but his whereabouts were unknown afterward.

She met him at nineteen, and they reunited in the blood-filled Cavendish residence three years later, then parted ways. They met again at her shop in Little Port three years after that. The man who boarded the ship saying he would return in three years hadn’t shown even a shadow after four years had passed.

Now she was twenty-nine, and Alvin was seven.

……10 years. It’s been 10 years.

She turned from nineteen to twenty-nine. The child she bore at twenty-two was now seven years old. She met Cedric in the spring when she was nineteen. Their intermittent connection had already lasted 10 years. But could it be said that there is no end to everything in the world? There are no exceptions to anything.

She recalled their first meeting.

She had spoken to a young man who had come to fix the stable at her parents’ house where she lived. The young man, thin but well-built, turned around. His eyes were slightly upturned, giving him a fierce look, but his cheeks were as red as apples. On closer inspection, even his earlobes were red. She could chatter away to him without thinking of the consequences because she was so young at that time.

Could she do that now? Having learned too much about the world, she couldn’t act fearlessly in everything now. Of course, she knew there were moments in life when she needed to be brave. If one could act as they intended, how easy life would be.

A wind mixed with the scent of grass blew by. As green leaves brushed against her cheek, Blair thought.

……If I hadn’t spoken to him when we first met, would we not have connected?