‘Even if the boy vanishes in the blink of an eye, I won’t cry.’

Alisa was deep in her private resolve when Eden, who had been silent, spoke up out of nowhere.

“Are you on bad terms with your great-aunt?”

“Grandmother? No. Not really.”

“Then why are you living like this?”

Alisa realized then what Eden was asking. She hesitated for a moment, then let out a small sigh. It wasn’t a secret — everyone in the area already knew.

“My mother left the house. Not long after, my father passed away in an accident. My uncle agreed to look after me until I came of age.”

“And in exchange, what did your uncle take? This house?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s obvious. And then he handed you off to your great-aunt, it seems. Is your grandmother in any condition to get around on her own?”

“……Well……”

“Laughable.”

Eden pulled the corners of his mouth up. The softness that had settled over his face vanished in an instant, replaced by something sharp. Alisa froze, unable to keep up with the change.

The boy lifted himself from where he had been lounging on the bed. He sat up straight and looked down at her, and his gaze was like a young animal baring its claws. A pointed question came from Eden’s lips.

“Don’t you want revenge?”

“Revenge?”

“Your uncle deceived you and isn’t looking after you properly. If he keeps neglecting you like this until you come of age, he’ll throw you out. I can guarantee it — you won’t leave this house with a single coin.”

“……”

“Start quietly moving things out of this house now, little by little. If the great-aunt’s maids are giving you trouble, pin it on them and get them replaced.”

“But Eden, then I’d be just as much of a liar as he is.”

Alisa, who had been listening quietly, sat up and cut in. Eden’s brow furrowed. He started to argue back with a displeased look, then crossed his arms. He gave a small nod, as if to say, go ahead and say it.

“Mary and Hannah aren’t particularly careful people, so slipping money out without them noticing wouldn’t be hard. I know where the ledger is and which days my uncle sends money. But if I steal money, I really become a thief.”

“Even though your uncle has already taken your house?”

“Even so, I can’t steal and blame it on someone else.”

Eden’s mouth pressed shut. Alisa held her ground even looking at that displeased face.

She understood what Eden was saying. Even at thirteen, she could tell that what had happened to her was unfair. Everyone who heard about her situation felt sorry for her.

But Alisa had her own reasons. Reasons why she had to remain a good child, even at a loss.

“You know, I said my mother disappeared.”

“Yes. You did.”

“The truth is, she didn’t disappear — she left the house. So, what I mean is, she might come back someday. If I grow up to be a good child, a good person, then maybe……”

Eden said nothing. Alisa added, a little awkwardly:

“I know it’s not easy. If she were going to come back, she would have by now, and she would have at least sent a letter. Maybe she’s forgotten me by now. But still, there might have been a reason. A reason she had no choice.”

“……You live on miracles.”

“Yes. That’s why I try. Miracles don’t happen to just anyone, so I try not to be just anyone. If there’s something you desperately want, you have to desperately work for it.”

Eden looked like he had a great deal to say, but he replaced all of it with a small sigh. Alisa sat beside him hugging her pillow, smiling softly. Eden looked at her with an expression of disbelief.

“What on earth are you smiling about?”

“Just. Because I’m happy.”

“About what?”

“You listened to everything I said and didn’t call me pathetic.”

“Because you’re not.”

“Everyone told me my mother would never come back, that I was foolish and stupid.”

“That’s because it isn’t their life.”

Alisa looked at Eden steadily. Those words sounded almost like he and she were in similar positions.

Rather than share his own situation, Eden looked away.

“Even so, I’ll say this much. Find something else. No one will thank you for quietly playing the maid here. No one will take responsibility for your future.”

“I know that too……”

Just before Alisa could answer, a shout rang through the entire attic. Both children scrambled upright at the ear-splitting sound. Someone’s footsteps were drawing closer.

“Alisa! You wretched little brat! It was you, wasn’t it!”

“Hannah must have woken up.”

Alisa looked frantically around the attic. The breadcrumbs had been cleared away beforehand, fortunately, but there was something in this room that couldn’t be whisked away like food.

Eden climbed off the bed with a furrowed brow.

“Where should I go?”

“Over here!”

“Where?”

“Here, quickly! Hurry and hide!”

“Ugh, Alisa, ow!”

Alisa dragged Eden, who was looking for somewhere to hide, under the desk. Then she shoved the boy under the long-hanging curtain. Small groans and yelps came from below, but Alisa ignored them and straightened the curtain.

Eden being here absolutely could not be discovered by Hannah. If Hannah found him, she might strip those expensive clothes right off him from head to toe and sell them.

“Don’t come out until I call you. Understood?”

“I under……”

“I’ll call you again soon. See you in a bit.”

Alisa moved quickly before Eden could finish. She jumped up onto the bed, grabbed a pillow, and pulled the blanket over herself. She didn’t forget to kick off her socks and toss them somewhere at random.

Only after making herself look perfectly, convincingly asleep did Alisa finally relax. Moments later, she heard Hannah climbing up the ladder.

“Alisa, you wretched little brat, it was you! You……. Ow!”

The moment Hannah poked her head into the attic, she walked straight into the hatch cover. The loud bang that followed made it clear it had hurt tremendously.

Alisa flinched for a moment, but turned over and pretended not to hear. Hannah fumed to herself for a bit, then grabbed her head and shouted:

“Alisa Ludendorff! Open your eyes this instant!”

“Yaaawn…… Hannah? What’s the matter?”

“You, last night you let a mouse loose in front of my room again, didn’t you?”

“Pardon?”

“And, and you brought some horrible-looking brat in strange old clothes too, didn’t you?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t play innocent! I know that wretched child pulled some scheme to torment me again! Oh, my neck. Oh, my head, oh……”

Alisa tilted her head with an expression of complete ignorance.

Hannah reached out to drag Alisa out of bed, but failed because Alisa was buried too deep. Furious beyond measure, Hannah let loose a stream of foul curses through her swollen lips without pause.

“Han-na, stop it and…… come down…… you must have eaten too much baguette in the kitchen last night and got an upset stomach…… and had a strange dream……”

Hannah shot Alisa one last glare and climbed back down the ladder. She then screamed at Mary below, defending herself.

“It wasn’t a dream, Mary! Does everyone confuse dreams and reality the way you do?”

“You were drunk…… and collapsed……”

“No I wasn’t!”

When the sound of the two bickering had faded to almost nothing, Alisa crept toward the desk where Eden was hiding. She checked behind her one last time to make sure Hannah wasn’t coming back, then called out to the boy in a careful, small voice.

“Eden, you can come out now.”

“……”

“Eden. I said you can come out. If you stay in there any longer you’ll be covered in dust!”

The attic was quiet. There was no way he hadn’t heard her, but no answer came from beneath the desk.

Seized by a bad feeling, Alisa held her breath. With trembling hands, she lifted the curtain. Dust motes drifted and glittered in the sunlight filtering through the window.

There was no one there.

Only the radio, left face-down from the night before, sat there alone.

Alisa pressed her lips together, then let go of the curtain. It dropped to the floor, and a cloud of pale dust rose from it. She coughed hard, and her eyes filled with tears.

She looked around. Two pillows side by side on the bed. A rumpled blanket. And on the floor, a single handkerchief with a dried smear of snot.

That was all that remained of the boy in the attic.

The magic that had begun without warning ended without warning. As all things in life do.