***

(Casimir Kismet.)

I exhaled as I rubbed my palm all over my face before gazing back at the person sitting in front of me. We're in the living room, Misha was sitting on one of the sofas while I was sitting on a stool in front of her.

Both her hands were over her knees, she tried to look up to check on me but upon seeing me still staring at her, she immediately looked down.

Once more, I exhaled. "What made you think that it's a good idea to go into the currently high alert forest? Haven't I warned you about it before?"

She didn't answer and just rubbed her hands together.

I crossed my feet and arms.

Am I too lenient when it comes to her? I just let her play with her friend and the next thing I knew she was already in the middle of a forest murdering some wolves! And not just simple murder! Brutal massacre!

That supposed to be a green and flowery place turned into a horror field, for fuck sake! She's too adorable for that shit!

Anyway, luckily, nothing bad happened to her and all of them turned out safe. But it doesn't mean I have to just shrug this incident off. For her sake, I need to toughen up myself and scold her, or else she will not realize that what she just did was extremely dangerous and I don't want it to happen again.

Even though the overwhelming urge to hug her and brush that sad expression on her face is extremely hard to fight. I... must... resist!

"What you did was unreasonable, Misha. You chose to endanger yourself and your friend even though you were fully aware of how dangerous that place was. And before you say anything, just because you can fight on your own doesn't mean you should always jump into any danger without a reasonable reason to. You're just 10 for heaven's sake! Do you have any idea of how worried I was as I ran like a mad man while praying to some nameless gods so that nothing bad would happen to you?"

Man, she's so reckless and fearless... I wonder where she got that problematic attitude from.

She immediately raised her face and revealed her sad eyes. "But... I just wanted to get some flowers for you."

Must! Resist!

I closed my eyes and cleared my throat before opening them again. "I see. But the fault still stands. What if something went wrong? What if there was no one to help you from the dangerous situation you set yourself into?" I scratched my cheek using my index finger. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your purpose for going there. However, the fact that you've disregarded my warning and put yourself in grave danger is not something that I can easily condone. You have made a mistake and it has no excuse... All I'm saying is, I did not like what you've just done, Misha."

Her eyes enlarged as she stared at me with great concern. "Do you hate me now, Big bro Casimir?" She said with a voice filled with sadness.

Wait, wait! Is she about to cry?

The fuck?

Did... Did I overdo it? What should I do? Maybe I should stop it now before she ends up hating me!

"My, my." Tanya suddenly came out behind the massive vase at the corner of the room and sat next to Misha. She gently pushed Misha's face on her chest and rubbed Misha's head while expressing a gentle smile. "There, there... it's alright, Casimir doesn't hate you."

"Of course, I don't. I just want her to understand what she did."

Tanya's eyes shifted towards me while her hand was still rubbing Misha's head. "I know, and I fully agree with you. But you shouldn't be that hard on her. No one's got hurt and I don't think she will do it again. Right, Misha?" Misha nodded at her while still hiding her face. "Don't forget that you are talking to a child and not a fully grown adult. Furthermore, Misha is smart and I don't think you have to berate her that harshly."

I furrowed my forehead and shrugged. "Wait. Am I the one in the wrong here?"

Tanya furrowed her eyebrows and repeatedly shook her head. "No? Misha made a huge misstep by going in that place and endangering her life in the process. She made a mistake, it's true and that will never change. You are the one in right here and I agree with you... but let's stop the harsh words now."

Damn.

Now, I can finally understand what my mom had been experiencing back when I and Irina were still young. Every time mom tried to scold us, dad would always come to the rescue to save us. The very words Tanya just said just now were the very same exact words dad had been saying every time he tanked for me and Irina.

I'm still too young for this! Why am I already experiencing it?

Tanya gently pushed back Misha and raised her face using her hand. "Misha, you did something wrong and I know that you are regretting doing it. Now, to make up for it, you should apologize to Casimir. No buts and no excuses."

"But, Big bro Casimir is angry at me."

"I've just said no buts. Also, he's not angry. Well, maybe just a little bit. So, I want you to go to him and say your genuine sorry. That's all it takes."

For a few seconds, Misha paused, then she stood up and walked towards me while looking down.

I exhaled and closed my eyes as I felt her hands on my forearm. She leaned her head on my arm and gently held my forearm.

"Big bro Casimir... I'm sorry."

Once again, I exhaled and faced her. Her head was leaning on my arm while staring directly at my face with her teary eyes.

I stood up and squatted in front of her and leveled my head to her head. "It's unfair, you know that I can't stay angry with you when you're like that." I patted her head. "Don't do it again."

The next thing I felt was her arms wrapped around my neck. "I'm sorry."

I rubbed her back with my hand. "It's fine now, one sorry is more than enough. I was just concerned about you... very concerned. I don't know what would happen to me if I lost you. And I don't want to know."

"It will never happen," Misha replied.

As I shifted my gaze at Tanya, I just found her smiling while watching us. I smiled at her and she responded by smiling back.

I'm not gonna lie, she really did help me a lot in this one.