Chapter 91

Haniel was especially shy and did not talk, but as soon as her mommy was mentioned, she would become excited and start chattering.

When she repeated the short phrase [She’s pwetty and cool and the best], Darren spread his wings and smiled.

[Then do you want to live with your mother forever?]

[Fowevuh?]

What’s that?

When Haniel tilted her head to the left, Darren petted her glossy feathers with his open wing.

[It means you don’t separate for a very long time, and that you’re next to them until the end.]

[Ohh, it’sh a good thing.]

It was a very very good thing! Haniel beamed as she flapped her wings.

[Mommy’s gonna come get me. She’s gonna come and hug me like dis and spin spin awound! Mommy said so!]

[Is that so?]

Well, isn’t she energetic.

As Darren listened to Haniel’s words with a smile, he sensed somebody approaching behind him and turned his head.

The parent, as in, the Duchess was, just as her daughter had said, climbing up the lake’s hill. It was obvious though that she looked so exhausted in both mind and body that she was barely supporting her own body, let alone about to give anyone a hug.

[Looks like it’ll be hard for your mother to hug you today, though.]

[Ueh?]

That can’t be?

Shaking her head from side to side, Haniel lifted up the sole of one webbed foot. As she was bringing her to school in the morning, she had promised her countless times into her feathers.

‘Why? What about mommy?’

Darren looked at Haniel and her blinking, gem-like eyes with worry.

As things stood, she was already downcast due to the strict Lady Melleo, and she was still a child being teased in the midst of her peers.

But if even her mother, who’d come to pick her up, was out of energy and couldn’t hug her, she would definitely be disappointed.

“Ah…..”

At that moment, the Duchess finally discovered her child as she reached the top of the hill.

She bit her lips with a face that had grown gaunt in the short amount of time, due to whatever it must’ve been that happened down below.

Though he didn’t know what he could do, Darren also could not tear his eyes away from the mother-daughter pair.

“Baby, mommy’s here!”

The first one to smile brightly was the Duchess. The expression she’d had, looking like she held all the grievances of the world on her shoulders, was completely erased by her instinctive smile the moment she saw her daughter.

“Reinaaa!”

She probably didn’t even know what expression she was making.

Her shoulders had been sagging as if every step she took was burdensome, but now her speed gradually quickened as she ran towards her daughter.

“When did you come out! I told you mommy will come!”

[Mommyyyyy!]

Haniel as well pitter-pattered closer with her two wings spread out. However, when Catherine knelt down to pick her up and hug her, Haniel took a step back and shook her head.

[No, it’sh okay!]

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“Hm? What’s wrong? Mommy promised to pick you up and spin you around.”

[No no. It’sh okay.]

Perhaps saddened by Haniel’s consecutive rejections, the Duchess pushed out her lower lip.

“It’s okay even if mommy doesn’t hug you?”

[Yesh. It’sh fine.]

To think this day would come this quickly, when it had only been a few days since she’d started raising her. The way the sulky Duchess’s expressions changed was even more dramatic than the young swan’s.

“Baby, Mommy is….”

[Mommy ish Haniel’s fo-eva!]

For her sullen mother, Haniel’s white wing softly covered the back of her hand.

[My mommy is fweva foweva, so it’sh okay!]

***

“Haniel, say that again. If I do this, what do you say?”

[I love mommy foweva!]

“Oohh.”

When I tickled Haniel’s left cheek, her little beak chattered.

But I couldn’t stop here.

This time, I tickled her right cheek.

“And if I do this?”

[I’ll fo-eva like mommy!]

“Kyaa!”

What do I do with this child? Children really do need to be taught well!

Hugging my very own jukebox Haniel, it had already been a few hours since I wasn’t able to get up from the bed. Rolling this way, rolling that way, there was really nothing like a child’s adorable tricks to help you forget all your worries of the outside world.