Please Save My Child - Chapter 14

***

A lovely little house, bathed in sunlight.

“Mom!”

A girl with pink hair and yellow eyes ran out, holding flowers she had picked for her mother.

She had no father.

But rather than condemning the man who had left, people chose to point fingers at the woman who was raising the child.

“That woman had a child before even getting married, didn’t she?”

“She looks gentle, but she’s completely shameless.”

No matter how much people whispered, she did not hide.

The child was undoubtedly born from love. The man who fathered her had promised to return, so she held her head high.

She lightly touched the pendant of the necklace that hung around her and her child’s neck.

It was proof—the token he had left behind when he departed.

The child placed the nameless wildflowers in a chipped mug.

Then, the mother would stroke the child’s head, a silent promise between them.

The child loved that unspoken gesture more than anything.

She had once been a teacher.

It was a very small village, so the pay was not much, but the children followed her, and the villagers would often share food with her.

But the moment an unmarried woman gave birth to a child without a husband, she became a sinful woman.

She could no longer teach, and the village drove her out.

Pregnant and alone, she wandered from town to town, eventually giving birth and barely managing to settle down.

But she could never rid herself of the label—a woman with only a child, but no husband.

Even so, she tried to love her child.

She tried, and tried again, pouring all her strength into loving that child.

When the child turned fourteen,

She returned home at sunset with her arms full of wildflowers once more.

That time of day, when the crimson hues filled the little house, was her favorite.

During that time, she and her mother would prepare dinner together, sharing quiet, precious moments.

“Mom, I’m home!”

She had found so many beautiful flowers today.

Delighted, she entered the house, eager to show them off—

Only to find her mother standing there with a large suitcase in hand.

“…Mom?”

“……”

The woman the girl called “Mom” looked down at her small, frail daughter.

“Reina, I tried to love you.”

“……”

“But I just couldn’t.”

Still, I raised you for fourteen years. You should be able to manage on your own now.

In just two more years, you’ll be an adult.

The girl, staring at her mother as she spoke, couldn’t understand what she meant.

Just yesterday, they had smiled and gone to bed together.

It wasn’t until the woman stepped outside that the girl snapped out of her daze and grabbed onto her.

“M-Mom! I’m sorry! Mom! Don’t go! I’ll be better, okay? Do I eat too much? Am I costing you too much money? I’ll work harder! I’ll find a job tomorrow! Please?”

“……”

She couldn’t bring herself to grab her mother’s hand.

She was afraid—afraid that the moment she did, her mother would push her away.

So all Reina could do was clutch at the hem of her mother’s clothes.

Even then, she didn’t dare hold too tightly, fearing the fragile fabric would tear.

“Mom, what should I do? Tell me. I’ll do anything you want… If you’re just angry, then tell me why, okay?”

Her eyes burned, her vision blurred with tears.

But the woman whose hand she held was resolute.

“I just… can’t love you.”

“……”

Her mother’s hands, rough from years of hard labor, pried away the child’s desperate grip.

“You don’t resemble me at all. You take after him.”

“…Mom.”

“Your hair color, your eyes, your face—everything. The older you get, the more you look like that man. How could I possibly love you?”

Those were the last words her mother left her.

Not an “I love you.”

Not an “I’m sorry.”

But a cold truth—I cannot love you because you look like your father.

The girl stood frozen for a long time.

By the time she came to her senses, the sun had set, and even her mother’s shadow had disappeared.

The house was empty.

The flowers she had brought lay scattered on the floor.

The chipped mug sat lonely and hollow, holding nothing.

And on the dining table, abandoned, was a single necklace.

Only then did the tears come pouring down.

So, I’m really alone now.

There is still so much I don’t know about this vast world,

But I am alone.

An overwhelming fear swallowed her whole.

A crushing loneliness tore through her chest.

That night, the girl learned how to cry without making a sound.

That was the kind of child Reina Boten was.

And that was the kind of adult she grew up to be.

The only things left to her by her mother were the necklace around her neck—

And the surname Boten.

***

One day, Eugene found herself inside Reina’s body.

And every day, she was tormented by Reina’s memories, gradually becoming steeped in her past. The memories were never vivid at first, but they would suddenly resurface and haunt her.

Eugene’s memories were hazy, whereas Reina’s were clear.

Because of that, Reina sometimes wondered if “Eugene” was nothing more than an illusion.

However, there were rare moments when she became certain that she was not the original Reina.

One such moment was with blueberries.

The current Reina had no idea whether she had a blueberry allergy. She had no memory of it.

But if she were truly Reina, she would have known—because this body belonged to Reina.

“……”

She had regained consciousness, but her eyes would not open properly.

“……”

It had been an endlessly long nightmare.

Struggling against the dizziness clouding her mind, she finally managed to lift her heavy eyelids, revealing a blurred figure before her.

Where is this?

She couldn’t even process that simple question.

After being trapped in her most painful childhood memories, Reina could no longer recall where she had been, with whom, or what they had talked about before she collapsed.

She only wished that the place where she now lay was her childhood home, and that being abandoned by her mother had all been just a dream.

Someone was looking at her.

She wished it were her mother.

“Ah, M-Mom…”

“……”

“I’m sorry… I was wrong…”

If only I had been born looking more like Mom.

If only I had golden hair like hers, instead of this pink.

If only my eyes were green like summer grass, rather than this bright yellow.

Her mother had never been able to love her from the moment she was born.

But from the moment she first opened her eyes to the world, Reina had loved her mother.

Even now, she could not bring herself to hate the woman who had spoken such cruel words before leaving her behind.

Instead, she sometimes thought—if only I had resembled her, perhaps she wouldn’t have abandoned me.

She had to find some fault of her own.

If she didn’t, the misery would crush her, drive her mad.

All I did was be born.

That was all.

A large hand hesitated for a moment before gently patting her.

It was an awkward, clumsy touch, yet strangely comforting.

“…You did nothing wrong.”

“……”

The voice was deep and cold—entirely different from the one she remembered.

Yet the words, You did nothing wrong, were so tender that they nearly brought her to tears.

No adult had ever told Reina those words before.

“…Your Grace?”

Her throat was dry and hoarse, and she barely managed to call out.

But the man with the large hand—Duke Winternight—understood.

“Yes.”

“…What…?”

She had been in his office.

The duke had noticed she wasn’t eating properly and had provided her with tea and refreshments…

‘And then…’

Suddenly, pain had shot through her entire body, and she had struggled to breathe.

She vaguely recalled hearing the duke shouting urgently for someone.

Beyond that, her memory was blank.

“There are times when certain foods don’t agree with certain people.”

“……”

“You had a reaction to the blueberries. Did you really not know until now?”

His voice was calm, but he sounded as though he were scolding her.

Reina slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position.

“…I never had the opportunity to eat them, so I didn’t know. I apologize.”

Now that she thought about it, ever since Eugene became Reina, she had never eaten blueberries.

Unlike raspberries, which could sometimes be found in the mountains, blueberries weren’t something one could easily obtain. She had simply never thought to eat them.

However, the duke seemed to take her words differently, and his expression darkened.

“…I didn’t ask for an apology. Never mind.”

“……?”

The duke, who had clearly endured a great deal while she was unconscious, looked slightly pale.

‘That chair must be too small for him…’

Reina’s gaze drifted toward the chair he was sitting in.

The small, round chair barely supported his massive frame.

Isn’t it uncomfortable?

For a long moment, the duke remained silent.

Then, he finally spoke.

“…For a moment, I thought someone was trying to kill you.”

“…Me?”

Wouldn’t it make more sense for someone to try to assassinate the duke rather than me?

It was a grim thought, but a logical one, and Reina looked at him in confusion.

“Yes.”

The duke understood the reason for her puzzled expression.

Had she not become entangled in these events, there would have been no reason for anyone to target her life.

So, he continued his explanation.

“…We still haven’t identified the true mastermind behind Estelle’s attempted kidnapping.”

If they knew who was responsible, they could take direct action against them.

But even after pouring vast amounts of money and manpower into the search, they had yet to find a single clue—an abnormal situation, considering how much effort had been spent.

“And Boten, everyone in this estate already knows that you refused to obey their orders—their threats. Soon, the entire empire will hear of it. In other words, you will become the benefactor of this household.”

“…Will it really become that significant?”

“Yes. You saved the only heir of House Winternight.”

Of course, heir was not the only title Estelle held, but the duke chose not to elaborate further.

“You are the first benefactor of this household.”