Side Story. Cindy’s Stormy Night (1)

Rumble—

The sky had been ominous since yesterday.

The sun was nowhere to be seen, and the wind was damp and humid.

The premonition that heavy rain would soon fall came true without fail.

The rain that had been pouring for about an hour had already brought a typhoon with it, turning the city into a wasteland.

“Arwin, Darwin! Can you fix that?”

“Ye-yeah! Almost done! But throw me that rope lying over there, Cindy!”

“Sure, catch!”

They had said they would do some urgent maintenance, but one old warehouse was causing trouble.

Of all things, part of the ceiling had collapsed, and the twins were now repairing it while being drenched in pouring rain.

Cindy also firmly locked the rattling window sashes again and cleared away things that might fly around in the typhoon.

Crash! Bang!

Lightning flashed, and then thunder struck.

Cindy, who flinched in surprise, looked at the sky with worried eyes.

‘I wonder if Father and the children are okay.’

Jeffrey had rushed to the orphanage out of concern when the rain started falling.

Judging by the intensity of the rain and thunder, it didn’t seem like it would end simply tonight.

“Cindy! We’re done! Let’s hurry inside!”

“Huh? Oh! Wait, let me just tie this!”

Water leaked through the now useless raincoat.

Cindy struggled to tighten the last screw on the window with her vision blurred by rainwater.

That was when it happened.

Along with a cracking sound, something ominous was heard.

Before Cindy could look up, a black shadow covered her head.

‘It’s going to hit me!’

She flinched in surprise, squeezing her eyes shut and shrinking her body when, with a thud, a solid body embraced her.

“……Are you okay?”

Cindy gently opened her tightly closed eyes and looked at the man holding her.

Arwin, soaked from the heavy rain, was holding her with one arm while kicking away a fallen branch with his foot.

‘……Or is it Darwin?’

In truth, she couldn’t tell who was who since they were soaked from the rain.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

Cindy, who had been dazed, backed away in surprise and asked.

“I’m fine. What was that? A fallen branch? Is your arm okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m fine. It fell on my back, so it doesn’t hurt much.”

He rotated his shoulder as if it were nothing, then grinned and pulled Cindy’s hand.

“Let’s go inside quickly. You’ll catch a cold!”

“Oh, okay!”

Cindy frowned as she looked at the broad back leading her.

‘……Is it Arwin or Darwin?’

She had never had this problem before, but strangely today, she couldn’t tell them apart.

* * *

“Cindy, drink this. You worked hard.”

“Wow, warm vin chaud! I love it!”

Cindy and the twins, soaked from the rain, quickly washed up and changed into fluffy clothes, then gathered in the reception room where the fireplace was burning.

Their bodies, which had been in the rain for a long time, still felt chilly and trembled.

Cindy sat huddled in front of the fireplace, holding the warm vin chaud Arwin had brought in both hands, with a large blanket draped over her shoulders.

Arwin also warmed himself by the fireplace, following her example.

Cindy carefully poured the hot vin chaud into her mouth, blowing on it.

The warm vin chaud was sweet and slightly bitter.

Drinking the vin chaud in front of the flickering flames made her body feel like it would melt completely.

The problem was that she was starting to feel hungry from working outside.

If she was this hungry, the twins who had done the hard work must be even hungrier.

‘Should I make something for them?’

There should be some stew left that Mandy had made.

Mandy was a newly hired staff for kitchen work.

She was very quick with her hands, and above all, her cooking skills were excellent.

If she looked, there would be some preserves that she had made.

She thought she should bring some dry bread and stew when Darwin entered the reception room carrying a large tray.

“Ta-da-!”

“What’s that?”

“Cheese and jerky to spread on crackers, a bit of soup. And……”

Darwin, who smiled mischievously, raised one hand he had been hiding behind his back and shouted.

“La Chadore wine!”

Cindy jumped up in surprise and exclaimed.

“No way. That’s extremely expensive.”

“Cindy, we prevented this house from nearly collapsing. And our masters aren’t the type to be stingy about one bottle of wine.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

Arwin, agreeing with Darwin’s words, brought out wine glasses displayed on one side of the reception room wall.

“La Chadore wine, the flavor is to die for. Have you tried it, Cindy?”

And before Cindy could stop them, the wine bottle was opened.

Ah…….

Cindy gaped in surprise, then with an “oh well” attitude, accepted the wine glass from Arwin.

“……Fine, let’s drink. I’ll tell the mistress myself.”

“Wow, Cindy’s the best!”

“So cool, Cindy!”

The three gathered cozily in front of the fireplace and clinked their glasses together.

The clear clinking sound resonated, and the flavorful wine slowly moistened their throats as they swallowed.

Indeed, there was a reason for its fame.

The smooth swallow, the aroma that stimulated the nose, even the subtle aftertaste that lingered.

Cindy, with her eyes wide open, completely emptied the wine in her glass as if amazed.

“……What should I do? It’s too delicious.”

“Right? Drink, drink. Besides La Chadore, Orte wine is also good. They say they age it in premium oak barrels since that region is the main producer of oak.”

“But I think white would suit you better than red, Cindy. The white from the Henders region is the best.”

“Wow, how do you guys know such things?”

Cindy asked in amazement, already filling her third glass.

The twins replied with nonchalant faces.

“The circus director we used to work for was a wine enthusiast. He would always talk to the kids about which wine was from where, which one he remembered drinking where, and so on.”

“That’s right. We sometimes stole the director’s wine when we were upset. Then the next day, the director would go berserk trying to catch us.”

“I remember. Being whipped with a water-soaked whip was just a small punishment. Remember when we were locked in an oak barrel for over 20 hours? Remember?”

“Ah, right. If there hadn’t been a show, we probably would have been locked up longer…… We complained that our limbs couldn’t stretch, so after that, they didn’t put us in oak barrels anymore. Because we had to perform in the show.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. It was fortunate we were popular. Oh, but after that, they put us in the lion cage! That director was truly insane. What kind of person locks thirteen-year-old kids in a cage with hungry lions?”

“We survived because it was us. Right?”

“Of course. Thanks to that, we became stronger.”

Arwin and Darwin bumped fists and giggled.

The sound that startled them came right after that.

“……What did you say? They put you in a lion cage? How could such a thing……! Sob, sniff, sob.”

Cindy, who had been quietly listening to the twins’ story, suddenly began to wail.

“Ci-Cindy? Are you crying right now?”

“Good heavens. Cindy, did you drink all of this by yourself in an instant?”

Darwin shook the wine bottle lying at Cindy’s feet.

Somehow it was completely empty, though no one knew when she had finished it.

“No, nooo…… How, how could they put ki-kids in a li-lion cage? Isn’t that insane? Waaaah. Complete, bastard……waaaah! Bring him here, I’ll teach him a lesson, boys.”

“……Hmm, our Cindy can’t handle alcohol, huh?”

“Indeed. To think she’d get this drunk after drinking just half a bottle.”

Arwin and Darwin couldn’t help but laugh at Cindy, who had turned into a drunkard.

Regardless, Cindy beat her breaking heart, then suddenly hugged Arwin and Darwin.

“These poor twins! Waaaah…… But I’m glad you’re safe. I’m really glad you’re safe!”

“Cindy.”

“……Well, this is something.”

The twins, trapped in Cindy’s small arms, burst into awkward laughter.

They hadn’t expected the strict housekeeper to create a sea of tears over just half a bottle of wine.

They found themselves being hugged by Cindy and patted her back as she wailed.

“Don’t cry, we’re fine. Okay?”

“It’s all in the past. And now we’re really fine.”

“I don’t know. You might be fine now, waaah, but you weren’t, weren’t fine back theeeen! You’ve been through a lot, boys. Been through, been through…… waaaah!”

“……Phew, this drunkard.”

“So she’s the crying type when drunk. Cindy Chase.”

“It’s okay, from now on, you’ll only be happy. Yes, that’s right! ……Happiness isn’t… far… awaaay……”

Somehow her tongue was getting more and more tangled.

Cindy shook her head to try to regain her senses.

But that was the wrong choice.

Shaking her head made her even dizzier.

The world spins… her vision.

The world is dizzy.

“……What’s this, the fireplace is dancing? It must be crazy.”

When she opened her blurry eyes wide, tears that had been welling up fell again.

Finding this annoying, she rubbed her eyes roughly, when a large hand firmly grabbed her small hand.

“If you rub like that, your eyes will hurt.”

Darwin gently pulled her hand down, then carefully licked the back of her hand where tears had gathered.

The wet tip of his tongue brushed against Cindy’s skin.

“……Cindy, I think your tears taste like wine.”

He smiled and deliberately pressed his lips against the back of her hand, causing Cindy’s face, who had been staring blankly at him, to gradually redden.

“Cindy, are you going to make me jealous by only looking at Darwin?”

Arwin’s lips touched the corner of her eye while she was in a daze.

Cindy’s gaze naturally shifted to Arwin, startled.

Arwin, meeting her gaze, carefully kissed the corner of her eye where tear stains remained.

‘Is this a dream……?’

Cindy stared blankly at Arwin and Darwin, feeling her heartbeat getting faster and faster.

The world was spinning round and round, and her moral sense was also spinning round and round.

Could lips brushing against skin, kisses showering down tickling her palm feel this good?

Moreover, not just one but two of them doing it simultaneously—Cindy simply couldn’t come to her senses.

“……You know, thank you for crying for us.”

“It’s the first time we’ve seen someone cry for us. Thank you, Cindy.”

The eyes of Arwin and Darwin, who had come close, rippled deeply.

The three people’s breathing overlapped so closely that it was impossible to distinguish whose breath was whose.

Hmm, is this okay? Just as she wondered, their lips overlapped.