Chapter 62
Lady Kenis’s health had not been very good — Charlotte had already heard as much through Baroness Bubbel. Apparently, the northern cold had given the lady a severe chill. Not realizing that this was merely an excuse for the Kenis couple’s plan to leave Nostri as soon as possible, Charlotte began to lose herself in thought — thinking about Aria.
She had met the couple three times over the past three days to see whether they were truly people to whom she could entrust Aria. Each time, the Kenis couple had treated Aria as if she were the most precious of treasures, and Aria had adored them in return. From the moment they met to the moment they parted, the little girl’s face had never lost its smile. Seen from afar, they looked just like a happy family.
Watching them from a distance, Charlotte felt — perhaps it really was all right to let Aria go to them.
They cherished Aria so dearly, and Aria followed them so well. It no longer felt right to keep standing between them just because she was Aria’s guardian. The title of “mother” suited Lady Kenis far better now. It was time for Aria to have a new family.
I was going to bring up the subject of adoption soon…
But she hadn’t expected the couple to leave so suddenly. The letter said their departure would be this very dawn. Though Charlotte had prepared herself many times, the suddenness of the news made her heart lurch. She clutched the letter tightly, trying to steady her breathing.
First of all, Aria’s feelings came first. Though she got along well with the Kenis couple, if she said she didn’t want to go, Charlotte would not send her. Or perhaps they could delay the adoption for now, considering Lady Kenis’s health. With her heart pounding heavily, Charlotte descended to the first floor.
Aria was in the kitchen with Anna, making cookies — gifts, she said, for the next time she met the Kenis couple. As Charlotte approached, the warm smell of flour dough and roasted almonds drifted toward her. She pressed her cheeks with her palms — she didn’t want her face to show her distress.
When she entered, she saw Aria standing beside Anna, small hands gripping a rolling pin, earnestly pressing down the dough. A smudge of flour stained her cheek, unnoticed in her concentration. Charlotte quietly crept up behind her and said brightly,
“Aria!”
“Mom!”
“Oh, my! My lady, when did you come in?” Anna exclaimed.
Aria jumped in surprise, then instantly threw herself into Charlotte’s arms. Anna reached out quickly to steady Charlotte, afraid she might fall, but Charlotte didn’t care — she hugged the little girl tightly. Aria felt soft and warm, like a freshly baked loaf of bread. Charlotte gently wiped her face with a handkerchief.
“My little Aria feels just like bread dough. Are you having fun making cookies?”
“Yes! Aria’s making them really hard. Dog-shaped ones, and bunny-shaped ones…”
Charlotte listened with a smile, then gave Anna a subtle nod. Understanding, Anna took the freshly baked cookies out of the oven and quietly left them alone.
Now alone together, Charlotte fed Aria a warm cookie. There won’t be many days left when I can hold her like this. Her eyes shimmered with sadness.
“…Aria,” she began softly. “What do you think of the Kenis couple? Are they nice to you?”
Aria chewed for a long time, then nodded a few times.
“Uh-huh. They always say I’m pretty, pretty.”
“Do they? That’s good.”
So even when Charlotte wasn’t there, the couple had treated Aria well. That was a relief. Charlotte pulled up a chair and patted her lap. Like a little rabbit, Aria hopped onto it. Charlotte smiled tenderly — not the smile of a caretaker, but of a mother who loved her child, even if that child wasn’t of her own blood.
The relationship between Aria and the Kenis couple was better than she’d dared hope. There was no real reason to hesitate anymore. So why were the words still stuck in her throat? She had to ask Aria — if she would go with them. She had practiced what to say hundreds of times on her way down from the study. No more hesitation today.
“Aria,” she said, “the Kenis couple is leaving at dawn today.”
Aria said nothing. Charlotte hesitated a little, then continued.
“They said… they’d like to take you with them when they go. They think you’re so lovely…”
Even though Aria was precocious for her age, Charlotte needed to explain carefully — that this wasn’t abandonment, but a chance for her to live happily in a good home. Still, saying goodbye was painfully hard. She’d expected it to hurt, but not this much. Realizing that this might be the last time she would see her so closely made Charlotte’s eyes burn.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“Then… won’t I be able to see you again?”
Charlotte’s heart dropped. Aria wasn’t crying or smiling — just looking at her quietly.
“…No, that’s not it. You might not see me often, but we can still meet sometimes,” she said.
It wasn’t quite true, but she couldn’t bring herself to say never. Charlotte had planned to visit a few times during the first month to check how Aria was doing — maybe even arrange for her to see Theodore if she wanted. But continuing to see her afterward would only hurt Aria. The girl had to learn to see the Kenis couple as her parents, not Charlotte.
Aria fidgeted with Charlotte’s sleeve. Charlotte was about to tell Anna to cancel everything — if Aria didn’t want to go — when Aria said something completely unexpected.
“Aria might not wake up,” she said.
“What?”
“Aria’s never woken up before dawn. I go to bed when the moon’s still up, and I only wake up when the sun’s really high.”
Charlotte’s throat tightened. Aria didn’t seem upset about leaving — she wasn’t afraid or hurt. She was simply… innocent. Happy, even. It was a relief — and yet, part of her wished Aria had said she didn’t want to go. The ache in her heart was sharp as a needle.
“Don’t worry. Mommy will wake you. I’ll kiss you and hug you tight to wake you up.”
Charlotte smiled as brightly as she could and wrapped her arms around Aria. The little girl hugged her back, clutching her shoulder tightly.
“The Kenis couple is going to the warm South,” Charlotte said softly. “When the flowers bloom. There are trees there that came all the way from the Far East, and white tulips — the most beautiful in the world. It’s breathtaking. You’ll love it, Aria.”
Aria would grow up in a beautiful place, beautifully. Charlotte would not be there to see it — but if Aria was happy, that was enough.
“Mommy, Aria loves you lots,” the girl whispered, rubbing her cheek against Charlotte’s.
Charlotte had heard that every day — but today, it sounded unbearably sad. Holding back the lump in her throat, she answered with a bright voice,
“I love you so much too. Mommy will make sure you’re happy, always.”
Once the snowstorm subsided, the busiest people in the mansion were the Kenis couple. From the very day they had discovered Charlotte was Aria’s guardian, they had been planning to flee. As soon as the blizzard weakened, Beth began pretending to be ill, while her husband Tilla played the part of the devoted husband, anxious and weary with worry.
But then, out of nowhere, Beth changed her plan — and Tilla froze mid-packing, eyes wide.
“Wait — weren’t we supposed to just pretend to be nice to the kid, then run away as soon as the storm ended?”
“That was the plan.”
“So why are we taking her now?”
All that coddling and cooing had been an act, though admittedly, Aria was adorable. If they weren’t criminals on the run, they might actually have considered adopting her. But with their escape and her brother Jamil to smuggle out as well, Aria was nothing but extra baggage. As her husband blinked dumbly, Beth hurled a sofa cushion at him.
“You idiot! There’s a way to make a lot more money — and you’d just leave her behind?”
“How? Aria’s guardian is Lady Blanche. We’ve already gotten plenty, haven’t we?”
“There’s a goose that lays golden eggs right in front of us, and you want to just walk past it? There’s a way — listen.”
Tilla frowned, uneasy, as Beth leaned in.
“We were going to sell her to the slave traders anyway, remember? Let’s tell them she’s the child Lady Charlotte Blanche was caring for. Then we charge them double — no, triple! You remember that contact of ours — the one who worked with the traders? He hated the Blanches.”
Two years ago, it had been Ronan Blanche who led the great purge of the slave trade. Just hearing the name “Blanche” made those traffickers flinch. If they learned this girl had been under Charlotte Blanche’s care, they might use her to take revenge — or to demand ransom.
“We agreed to pay the smugglers a mansion’s worth of gold for our escape, right? Let’s use this to cover that — and get enough extra for forged identities. The gold bars we were going to give the smugglers? Let’s just keep them for ourselves.”
“That’s… clever, but what if they get caught and talk? What if they spill everything?”
“What does it matter? We’ll be long gone in another country by then. Even a holy knight’s family can’t just storm another kingdom. If Aria were actually Charlotte’s real daughter, maybe — but she’s not.”
Tilla listened but still looked uneasy. What bothered him most was Charlotte herself. She’d treated Aria with such devotion, even though she wasn’t her real child. He’d even wondered if maybe Aria was her real daughter, and Charlotte just didn’t know the father — pretending she’d taken in an orphan to hide it.
So if — just if — Charlotte sent people to search for Aria… If she turned the world upside down like her father had, during the slave trade purge two years ago, hunting down everyone involved — then what? The thought alone made him shudder.
But Beth was thrilled, dreaming already of a luxurious new life in the Kingdom of Marsha. Annoyed by her husband’s hesitant look, she snapped again.
“Pack the bags already!”
Dawn arrived. Contrary to what she’d said, Aria woke up early — earlier than Charlotte herself — and came to wake her. Charlotte didn’t dawdle or pull Aria back under the blanket like she usually did. She rose quietly and stroked the girl’s hair. Outside, the sky was heavy with clouds, threatening hail.
“Let’s get ready, or we’ll be late,” she said.
Ignoring the gloomy weather, Charlotte smiled brightly. She wanted Aria’s last memory of her to be a happy one. Biting her trembling lip, she took the little girl’s hand and held it tightly.
