Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

“Thank you, Fren. For telling me that.” Yuria said gratefully.

Even if it was something he could say without knowing the full meaning yet, the depth of his feelings was apparent. Yuria cherished Fren’s heart, although she couldn’t do much for Fren, and all she could offer was to love him with all her heart, Fren was opening his own heart little by little. It was good to see him starting to act his age, unlike their first meeting. Although her memories of that time had faded, she vividly remembered his lifeless, empty eyes.

Maybe when Fren is older he’ll come to know just how great a gift it was for me to see Him slowly, but determinedly opening his heart to me.

Sensing Yuria’s friendly gaze, Fren pushed the duck away for a moment to hug her. Yuria’s frame was considered small even by Fren, still, her embrace felt more reliable than any other. If being alive and enduring all the wounds of the past meant getting to meet Yuria, he was willing to do it again, and for the first time Fren was grateful to be alive.

Yuria accepted Fren’s damp hug and continued to meticulously lather the foam on Fren before rinsing it off. The whole process didn’t take very long after which Yuria had a proudly satisfied expression.

“Fren?” Yuri looked puzzled at Fren, who wasn’t making any moves to put his clothes on after bathing.

“Yuri Fren rub rub. Fren too, Yuri rub rub.”

[tl/n: Please, this kid speaks with onomatopoeias all the time! He means she washed him so he’ll do the same. The word is more like an imitation of the sound when you scrub. If you’re wondering what word is, this: ‘ppodeudeukppodeudeuk’]

“I’m fine, Fren,” Yuria said, feeling slightly distressed to see Fren still trying to do something for her.

“Fren is Yuri’s treasure. Yuri is Fren’s treasure. So~”

Yuria looked at him affectionately as he wiggled his fern-like hands then looked aside, nodding in understanding. Fren smiled brightly at her consent and struggled to get out of the bathtub with his small body; he resembled a cute short-legged puppy climbing stairs twice their size. Yuria supported Fren’s body with a proud expression in case he fell.

“Yuri, come.”

Yuriy nodded and stepped into the bathtub after folding her clothes and setting them to the side. Behind her shoulders, Fren recalled Yuria’s actions and brought the bathing sponge she was holding before.

The sponge, which seemed a decent size in Yuria’s hand, looked relatively large in Fren’s. The child rubbed the sponge into the soap, making foam; however, upon approaching Yuria he discovered that although she was sitting, she was too tall due to the raised bathtub. Because of that, Fren had to struggle to wipe Yuria’s body from his tiptoes, yet his touch was especially careful, like a feather was tickling Yuria rather than a rough sponge. Nevertheless, with a very focused expression, Fren meticulously scrubbed the foam into Yuria’s body.

The sloppy and clumsy workmanship caused soap to be splattered everywhere, including Yuria’s face, but she remained still. Soon, Fren diligently scooped water with his tiny hands to rinse her, yet because his hands were still those of a child, the water fell through his fingers before he could spray it on her body; nevertheless Fren persisted. He began to lose track of time as he stared at the never ending bubbles. The water temperature was also getting cooler. Fren knew from living with Yuria that staying too long in cold water was not good.

“Water blublu~ and gone but bubbles stay!” Fren stomped his feet in frustration.

“Then shall we do it together?”

Fren nodded. They both sprayed water to wash away the foam from her body. Afterward, Yuria and Fren changed clothes and left the bathroom with refreshed expressions. Their faces were dry and soft after the bath.

“Now let’s dry our hair.”

Fren calmly sat down on the chair and waited for Yuria. She carefully dried Fren’s hair with a towel. A large towel was draped across Fren’s head, rubbing it here and there. In the meantime, Fren’s face poked out and disappeared several times. As if it was spectacular, his head went back and forth. Then he swung his face back and forth between the towels like a little puppy playing. Yuria didn’t bother to stop his actions.

“Now Fren will do it!” Fren exclaimed. Since Yuria did it for him, Fren raised his hand wanting to do the same for her.

“Okay.”

It was okay to let him dry her hair with a towel. Although Fren looked at it as if it would be a bit difficult, it was not dangerous.

Yuria gently handed Fren the towel. Then she sat on the floor and bent back her head so that he could dry her hair. Fren carefully dried Yuria’s hair with his small hands. It was the first time he had dried someone’s hair, but he followed the figure of Yuria in his memory. Unlike short hair, Yuria’s long hair was more difficult than expected, but Fren never made even the smallest complaint. Then, Fren suddenly reached out and grabbed Yuria’s hair.

“…Jewel.”

“Mmh?”

“Shine. Twinkle twinkle~” Fren said while looking at Yuria’s hair. Unlike his dull black hair, Yuria’s hair was bright and very soft

“Fren shines more.”

Fren’s hair color was just like the night sky. Like a black sky, dreamy and mysterious.

In comparison, Yuria’s hair was ordinary brown. Sometimes when the sun shone on it, it looked blonde, but it was nothing special.

“No~ Yuri more! Yuri twinkle more!!” Fren said firmly.

“Fine, fine, thank you.” Yuria gave a small smile.

“Yuri angel!” Fren said, who was staring intently at Yuria as if possessed.

“To me, Fren is an angel.”

“Fren, no~”

The child shook his head.

“No, Fren is an angel. If I’m an angel, wouldn’t Fren be an angel too because he’s my son?” Yuria said in a friendly voice.

“Fren is Yuri’s son. Then Fren is an angel!” Fren said with a bright expression on his face. Yuria just hugged Fren tenderly.

Fren and Yuria had been together for nearly a fortnight.

Meanwhile, Fren had developed a hobby. It was a stretch to see it as a hobby, but it was the thing that Fren was most interested in. And that was imitating Yuria. Fren tried to do everything she did. It wasn’t just copying. Whatever Yuria did, he wanted to do it again to help her. At first, Yuria had a somewhat troubled expression on her face, but unless it was a dangerous thing, she listened to Fren.

“Now, this is Fren’s.”

Yuria combed her hair back to clean diligently for the first time in a while and took out a mop to wipe the floor. It was a small mop customized for Fren. At first, she was worried that it would be too difficult for him, but he wiped the floor with sparkling eyes as if it was just fun for him. It was adorable to see his small body lying on his stomach and moving his hips to and fro. If only one tail was attached to his buttocks, he would be just like a small animal.

“Fighting!” Fren had learned the word ‘Fighting’ from Yuria, clenched his fists and said.

“Fighting!” Yuria followed Fren and shouted then started to mop the floor. Following that, Fren crawled around and mopped the floor with a ‘tototo~’ sound. Like an acorn that had fallen to the ground, Fren followed the path Yuria had walked.

Perhaps because he was too absorbed in cleaning the floor, he could not see the chair in front of him and hit his head. With a bang, Fren fell backward. He was bewildered as if he didn’t know what had happened to him. His hands covered his forehead that had hit the chair.

“Fren, are you alright?” Yuria hurried to his side and asked with a worried face.

“…Hurt. Bung my head.”

Red forehead appeared between Fren’s little fingers. His eyes looking up at Yuria were watery.

“I’ll blow it for you.”

“Blow?” Wondering what it was, Fren tilted his head and smiled. Without answering, Yuria calmly grabbed Fren’s hands and lowered them, then blew lightly on his forehead. The lump looked very painful.

The breath on his forehead tickled, and Fren shivered. He shrugged and shook his head. Both hands were balled in fists and held together in front of his chest.

“It’s a talisman against pain. It won’t hurt anymore.”

“Again, again!” Fren urged, obviously enjoying the ticklish sensation. In response, Yuria had to blow on Fren’s forehead several times until Fren had a satisfied smile.

“Now I will do the rest,” Yuria said, worried he might bump into something while mopping the floor again.

“Fren can do it!”

“But if you bump into something, it’ll hurt.”

“Yuri take care of it. It doesn’t hurt.” Fren said with an adult-like look.

At those words, Yuria pondered for a moment, troubled. With all she had experienced so far, Fren was rather stubborn. Once he wanted to do something, he did not back down easily, and he turned his head from what he didn’t want to do. It was childishly stubborn, and it wasn’t much, so Yuria was the type to let the behavior slide. Occasionally, she applied appropriate sanctions for the things she thought weren’t for him, and Fren tended to follow her wishes, even if he didn’t like them. So if Yuria persuaded him well, he would yield. But Yuria didn’t want to oppose such a trivial thing, so she had to think of other alternatives.

“Then will Fren do something else?”

“Something else?” Fren tilted his head.

“Can Fren help me so I don’t bump into something?”

“Yuri no hurt.”

“Then can Fren watch me mop the floor and tell me what’s in front?”

“Then Yuri won’t hurt?” Fren asked, his eyes shining bright.

Just in case Yuria bumped into something and gets hurt like him.

“Of course. Fren will help me not to get hurt.”

At those words, Fren fell for it completely. And with his little assistance, Yuria was able to finish mopping the floor.

“Let’s eat now, Fren.”

“Ngh!”

Fren nodded proudly.

Yuria headed to the kitchen, where a small table was placed in the cooking area considering Fren’s height. A small bowl was placed on a small table. When Yuria trimmed the vegetables, Fren put the vegetables in the bowl and rinsed them. It was a natural division of labor. The two were standing side by side, looking at the same place. The appearance matched perfectly as if it had been set in stone. Looking from behind and without a doubt, it was a family.

After finishing the meal, Yuria was busy preparing to go to work. It was, to tell the truth, herb harvesting. Originally, she often made money by selling firewood and medicinal herbs she had gathered in the forest. There were other things she could do, but Yuria wanted something she could do quietly on her own. In the past, she had done things such as mending and embroidering, but the salary was low compared to the time and effort required. It didn’t matter before, but now with a family of two, she needed more money.

“Fren, I’m going out to work for a while.”

Fren gave a dissatisfied, “Ummh.”

“I’ll be back before sunset.”

She wanted to make up for last time by bringing Fren, but she had no choice as taking Fren to dig up cliffside herbs on the nearby mountain wasn’t an option.

“…Hurry.”

“Of course, I’ll never leave my family,” Yuria reassured Fren. She had been hesitant because she was worried about leaving Fren, who was still young, alone, and thus made her preparations at the speed of a tortoise.

Alone, Fren sat in a chair and looked out the window. That was the spot from where he could see Yuria coming. Now Fren trusted Yuria. Although he still felt insecure, he believed that she would not abandon him. It was a belief that grew in a short period.

How much time had passed? A strange man appeared in Fren’s sight. The black-haired man proudly stopped in front of Fren’s house. Then he hesitated for a moment and knocked. Fren held his breath. He was nervous and wary. After a while, the man opened the door when no sound could be heard from inside. Fren and the man faced each other.

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