“What?”

I’ve never connected with anyone……

“There’s no way it’s thanks to me……”

“Here, take the referral fee.”

“That’s right. It’s all thanks to me.”

Erica promptly shut her mouth and quickly accepted the referral fee.

‘Maybe it’s one of the customers from my shop?’

Occasionally, when she remembered, she would mention to people who came to her shop that there was a vacant room upstairs. None of them had ever shown serious interest, but since the landlady said it was thanks to Erica, it must have been one of them.

In truth, she was just forcing the connection because she couldn’t pass up free money.

Erica and Eric began descending the stairs, but the landlady didn’t follow. She seemed to have business with the new tenant as the sound of knocking was heard, followed by the landlady’s voice echoing through the stairwell.

“My, you’ve already finished organizing everything by yourself. Such a neat and diligent man.”

A man? It seems a single man had moved in.

“Since it’s moving day, you must be busy and probably haven’t gone shopping yet? Use this for your breakfast.”

By this point, they had already descended to the first floor, so they couldn’t clearly hear the new neighbor’s words of gratitude.

* * *

As soon as Erica arrived at her shop, she entered a small curtained space near the entrance. This makeshift kitchen, with pots and dried herbs hanging from the walls and ceiling, was where Erica created her medicines.

“Sigh, it’s already gone slightly bad.”

Erica sighed deeply as she washed, prepared, and placed on the cutting board the herbs she had gathered the day before yesterday. This was work she should have done yesterday at the latest, but her mind had been too unsettled to focus on anything.

“Eric, I’m your fa……”

…ther! How dare he shamelessly say such a thing? Just let him come once more and say that. I’ll chop him to pieces……

“Oh?”

When she came to her senses, she realized she had minced the herbs that were supposed to be roughly chopped, as if she were mincing him instead.

‘Get it together.’

While making medicine, Erica occasionally peeked outside the curtain. Unfortunately, since hardly anyone visited this remote shop, her purpose was to check on Eric playing in the store.

“Coochie coo. Come here.”

Eric, apparently longing for the puppy he had met yesterday, was playing by tying a string to a wooden dog figurine with wheels and dragging it around the shop. Erica was about to turn her head back to the kitchen when she paused.

Ding-a-ling.

The bell hanging on the shop door that led to the building’s first-floor entrance had rung.

A customer?

She eagerly poked her head out but found it was just Eric. Apparently bored with staying inside the shop, the child had opened the door and was poking his head outside.

“Eric, don’t go outside the building.”

“Okay!”

Erica hadn’t forgotten how he had answered so confidently yesterday and then immediately disobeyed. As she occasionally looked out while making medicine, she saw the child was not going outside but playing only on the first-floor stairs and in the entrance hall.

She watched carefully to make sure he didn’t unwittingly go outside the building while dragging his dog figurine, but the child would go only as far as the door before turning back.

“The wolf will come and rawr! Eat you up!”

He would shout like this.

Throughout this year, werewolves had frequently crossed over the city walls and appeared in the city on nights with a full moon.

Because of this, Eric knew how frightening werewolves were, so this time he obediently followed his mother’s words. Using wolves as an excuse had been a good decision.

“Mom, I need to pee.”

Eric shouted as he opened the shop door while playing enthusiastically. Erica shouted back without looking outside.

“Go upstairs to the house and use the toilet. You can do it by yourself, right?”

“Of course!”

“Oh my, my son has grown up so much.”

Since it was inside the building and using the toilet would only take a moment, she decided to let him go alone. Besides, Erica couldn’t leave the kitchen at that moment.

The medicine pot she had just placed on the stove had started to boil. She needed to keep stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom and burning.

Ding-a-ling.

As she was sweating profusely in the cramped space with only a window the size of two palms, wrestling with the medicine, the bell rang again.

“Is anyone here?”

She thought it might be Eric, but this time it was actually a customer.

“Yes, welcome!”

Erica quickly removed the pot from the stove and hurried out.

“I was wondering if……”

“Yes, what do you need?”

But the welcome customer asked many questions and bought nothing.

‘Sigh, why can’t I get a customer like I used to be, who just glances around and says, give me everything from here to there?’

After the customer left, as she was putting back on the shelves the items she had taken out to show, Erica realized,

“Eric!”

The child who said he was just going to use the toilet hadn’t returned for over an hour.

“Why isn’t he back yet?”

Could he have fallen into the toilet?

Erica hurriedly locked the shop door and went upstairs, turning completely pale.

It would have been better if he had fallen into the toilet—at least he would still be in the house. Despite searching every corner of the house, there wasn’t a single strand of Eric’s hair to be found.

He had vanished without a trace. Along with his dog figurine.

No, looking more carefully, not just the dog figurine but the entire toy basket was gone.

Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if he had never entered the house or if he had come in and then left. The door was locked with a key when she entered.

Could he have gone outside the building without her knowing? Or was he kidnapped while leaving the house? All sorts of terrible thoughts stirred in her mind.

“Eric!”

Erica rushed out of the house, pale as a sheet, calling for her child. There was no answer. Should she go up or down? As she was holding onto the stair railing, pondering, about to take a step down—

“Mom! I’m here!”

A faint answer came. From behind the door of the house across from hers.

‘Ah, I nearly had a heart attack for nothing.’

Erica moved toward the house across the hall, soothing her startled heart.

‘Hello. Nice to meet you. I’m Eric’s mom.’

Inwardly, she prepared words of apology and gratitude for the neighbor who had to deal with her child upon their first meeting.

‘I’m sorry my child caused you trouble……”

But that wasn’t it.

Before she could knock, the door flung open, revealing that the neighbor was none other than the person who had caused the greatest trouble in Erica’s life.

“……”

“Would you like to come in?”

To Erica, who was too shocked to speak, Roderick shamelessly invited her in, stepping aside behind the door.

Only then did she see clearly. Eric was sitting across from the girl, playing with his toy basket and snack bowl between them.

“Until Mom says it’s okay, don’t go outside to play. You must only play inside this building.”

“Why? Are werewolves taking children again?”

“Yes.”

A wolf named Roderick might take you away.

But the wolf was inside the house. Disguised as a neighbor.

Not knowing this, she had kept the innocent child confined to the building all day, thinking their location hadn’t been discovered yet. Little did she know this was the trap.

Barely regaining her composure, Erica walked past Roderick and entered. As she passed by, he seemed about to say something, but she ignored him.

I have nothing to say to you.

Her business was with her child, her child alone. Erica went straight to Eric.

“Mom, can I give this to Elodie……”

Eric trailed off as soon as he noticed his mother’s angry face.

‘Elodie?’

Erica’s gaze briefly turned to the girl sitting across from her son. The child looked up at her with surprised emerald eyes wide open.

So Elodie is that child’s name.

Had they become so close in such a short time that they had exchanged names and he had brought his toys to share? Eric, do you know that this fairy-like girl is actually your birth father’s other child?

Swallowing the words that welled up inside her, Erica grabbed Eric’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

“Oh, Mom. My toys.”

“I’ll buy you new ones.”

She blurted out a promise she couldn’t keep, eager to leave this place even though she didn’t have money for new toys. Eric, sensing something was wrong, followed Erica quietly without saying anything more.