Shadows in Paradise - Chapter 99

The boy at the counter gave a quick nod.

“He’s not my dad!”

Her lips froze into a thin line as the clear, ringing voice from his shoulder shattered the silence.

The vendor paled at once, realising from her icy expression that he had said the wrong thing. Flustered, he stammered.

“Ah—n-no, is that so, little one? I only meant—you both look so fine, such a handsome man and such a pretty lady—that I thought you were father and daughter! Well, of course, you might just as well be uncle and niece…”

“This man is a king! I’m just a child!”

Eve furrowed her brows fiercely and gave the king’s shoulder a few firm pats.

Shed, who had gone to lengths to keep his identity hidden, gave the short legs dangling down his chest a sharp tap, silencing her reckless honesty.

“What is it, mister?”

The oblivious child peered down at him with wide, bright eyes.

“We’re just neighbors.”

Rather than answering, shed corrected her, his tone flat and clipped.

His curt response left the vendor chuckling awkwardly as he spread cream across the crêpe. Fortunately, it seemed he had not realized who he really was.

“When will the crepes be ready?”

“They’re made fresh, sir, so just a moment more and you’ll have them piping hot, straight off the griddle.”

“Then we’ll have a look around and come back.”

If they lingered, Eve would no doubt blurt out more dangerous nonsense.

The vendor’s face lit up, bobbing his head eagerly.

“Yes, of course! Take your time!”

Leaving behind the suddenly too-bright voice of the crepe seller, Shed turned away.

“Bad man uncle, where are we going? Picking more? Something yummy?”

“We’re buying lemonade.”

He had already decided, leaving Eve no choice in the matter.

But she nodded excitedly all the same.

“Lemonade? Mommy loves that!”

“I know.”

Shed replied carelessly, but he changed direction, heading towards a group of children selling lemonade from a street stall.

Perched on his shoulders, Eve spotted her mother waiting by the fountain in the distance. She leaned forward and stared.

Suddenly, her face dropped down in front of Shed’s.

Startled, thinking the child was slipping, he grabbed her legs at once.

“Eve…!”

Shed’s brow furrowed, but Eve asked with a guileless face,

“Bad man uncle. Isn’t my mommy pretty?”

“What?”

His eyes flickered at the sudden question.

“You think so too, don’t you?”

Eve pressed, insistent.

Well, of course…

“And why do you ask, brat?”

“My mommy’s the prettiest of all.”

Eve stood up straight again and looked towards the fountain. His gaze followed hers.

Sunlight broke against the drifting spray, scattering into a faint rainbow.

Before it sat Eve, clad in a cream-colored dress, quietly enjoying the late afternoon sun. At her waist, the silver dagger he had given her sparkled like an ornament.

The scene was unbearably peaceful, beautiful as paradise itself.

“Yes. She’s beautiful.”

Shed said with a crooked smile.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

Luise sat by the fountain, waiting for Shed and Eve.

The blazing summer had passed, leaving sunlight that now fell softly and warmly upon her skin. She basked in the gentle autumn sky, then turned her gaze toward the crowd.

Tall as he was, and with Eve perched on his shoulders, Shed stood out even from afar.

Luise followed the sight of father and daughter as though lost in a dream, her eyes chasing after them without end.

She longed for this fleeting happiness—woven from secrets and silence—to last forever. Even with unease lingering beneath it, if life could be filled with such moments, then perhaps eternity would not be so dreadful after all.

Had her father, Felix Ideana, felt the same joy when he looked at her? Was that why he sought eternity?

Luise bit down on her lip and shook her head. No. The eternity her father pursued was of an entirely different kind. The curse carved into her flesh had not been born of love, but of ambition—an ambition to seize an empire, monstrous and unrelenting.

Then—

“Hey, pretty lady, out enjoying the festival?”

A shadow intruded upon her fragile peace.

Three young men dressed up for the celebration closed in around her. Their hair was slicked back and oiled, their shirts were worn to impress, their trousers were wide-legged, and their shoes were polished to a glossy shine.

Luise gave them a single sidelong glance before averting her eyes.

“I’m with someone.”

“You’ve been sitting alone for a while, haven’t you?”

The man with the scarf around his neck smirked as he casually put his hands in his pockets.

Luise sighed inwardly, thinking that he was going to be a nuisance.

“I’m waiting for someone.”

“Then how about spending a little time with us while you wait?”

One of them sneered and spoke, while another spat on the clean paving stones of the square. Luise deliberately averted her gaze from the droplet of spittle clinging to the stones.

“No. My company will be here any moment.”

“You’re acting all high and mighty. Face that pretty shouldn’t come with such a price.”

The young man wearing a scarf reached out and took her hand. Luise’s brow furrowed as she pulled her hand away sharply.

“Enough. I have a child—and a husband.”

Her eyes flashed as she warned them. The young men only burst into laughter.

“A child, huh? A husband too? Then where’s that wedding ring, eh?”

Their gazes dropped to her pale, unadorned fingers. Loathing the feel of their eyes, Luise curled her hand into a fist, hiding them from view.

“We simply never bothered with rings.”

“What? Married to some pauper too poor to buy you even a cheap band? Throw that man away. We’ll give you a better time.”

They were not men who could be reasoned with. From the start, it was clear that they were not going to believe her when she told them that she had a husband and a child.

“There’s a good tavern nearby—why don’t we go together and—ugh!”

The moment one of them grabbed her wrist, he was lifted clean off the ground and thrown across the square.

“W-what the—argh!”

The others blinked, startled, before they too were slammed down onto the very stones they had spit upon.

“Not a child, and yet I can’t take my eyes off you for a single moment.”

In the midst of the fallen thugs stood Shed, effortlessly holding two cups of lemonade in one hand. Eve was sitting on his shoulders, gripping a crêpe in each hand, perched high on his neck.

“Wh-who the hell are you…?”

The ruffians scrambled backwards, shaken by the strength of the hooded giant.

He set the lemonade down beside Luise, lowered Eve into place, and then turned his body with languid ease.

“Your husband—that’s what I should say, isn’t it?”

The words trailed off without any finality, but that was enough. The situation was over. The ruffians scattered in a hurry.

Eve sat down beside her mother, holding her crêpes, and burst into delighted laughter at the sight.

“Mommy, isn’t bad man uncle cool?”

Excited, she pointed her crepe-laden hand toward Shed.

“Eve, careful! The cream’s going to fall.”

Luise quickly steadied the wobbling crepe before it could spill and calmed her daughter down.

“Oh right! This one’s for you, Mom.”

Eve held out the orange marmalade crêpe that she was holding. Luise hurried over to catch it before it fell, and the sweet, fragrant scent of marmalade wafted up immediately.

“Thank you, Eve.”

“Bad man uncle bought it! This too!”

Eve shouted as if there was no reason for her mother to thank her, pointing at the cup of lemonade Shed had brought.

Only then did Luise remember—once, she had loved desserts with orange marmalade and a glass of lemonade.

The years she had spent as a noble’s daughter now felt so distant that the memories were sometimes blurred and faded, as were the habits that had once come naturally to her.

Nowadays, she was used to eating oat biscuits so hard that they hurt her teeth, sour pickled turnips, and curd with a tang of raw milk. After Eve was born, Eclace provided her with fine ingredients, but without a cook, a woman living alone could not dine like a noblewoman every day.

What she cared about more than her own tastes was what Eve liked—and she always adjusted to that.

Living each day that way, Luise had forgotten her own preferences.

When someone else discovered the likes she had left behind, it felt bitter and astringent, like over-brewed tea.

Whenever Shed remembered those old habits and tastes of hers, she felt as if only she had changed, while he remained in the light of what was once radiant and pure. She alone had walked too far, down a road from which there was no return.

Lost in thought, Luise suddenly let out a soft, self-mocking laugh. It was ridiculous to dwell so much on a shabby crêpe and a cup of lemonade. All it had done was stir up an old preference she’d forgotten, and besides, this wasn’t a delicacy fit for a noble girl anyway.

The crêpe was thin and almost flimsy, and the lemonade was little more than warm soda with clumsily squeezed lemon juice.

And yet, it left her with a strange feeling.

“Thank you.”

Luise said at last, offering Shed a faint, bitter smile along with her gratitude.

“Mommy, try it quick! It’s yummy!”

Eve had already taken a bite, the cream smudging her lips as she grinned widely.

Luise raised her crêpe to follow her daughter’s lead, but hesitated halfway.

“Aren’t you going to have any, Your Grace?”

When she lifted her gaze to him, Shed shook his head.

“Not particularly.”

“There’s too much for me alone. Have some.”

“You eat first.”