CH 52

: Bell (1)

"It is said that he entered."

The butler reported to the old man who was looking out the window.

The old man was looking up at the sky with his back on his back without looking back.

"It's been 7 years."

The old man, Marquis Bell, sighed briefly and looked up at the sky.

It has been over 7 years since I married my daughter.

And that time was also the time I parted with my daughter.

'Dad!'

A voice calling out to him still echoed in his ears.

The marquis ordered the butler.

"Tell them to prepare grandly."

Okay.

The butler left and Marquis Bell took his seat.

On one side of the desk was a small portrait of a girl.

He gently stroked the portrait.

"I'll see you in a long time."

What kind of expression should I make?

The Marquis Bell remembered the face of her eldest daughter, whom she had never forgotten in seven years.

"Anyway, it's not a good time."

The Marquis looked at the report in front of the portrait.

His expression was slightly stiffer than before.

* * *

The wagon entered Apton.

It wasn't even going through the gates.

The soldiers who saw Welton's crest opened the gate wide without asking or questioning.

"This is Apton!"

Ricky leaned out the window and looked at the cool scenery of Apton.

I miss you too!

"I will see you soon!"

As Anna puffed up her cheeks, Ricky stroked her hair and patted her.

Since the headquarters of the Pyro Church is located here, the darkness that blinded Anna's eyes will be lifted like a lie.

"Wow! Wow!"

Sara was excited too, so she jumped up and started shaking Bena back and forth.

- No, Master... .

After suffering for a week, Bena was about to die.

Of course, Jamie didn't even listen.

Sears asked Jamie, who was still looking out the window.

"Isn't Jamie having fun?"

"It's fun."

He doesn't show anything on the outside, but Jamie was the most excited among them right now.

'Here is the Pyro.'

What was the purpose of coming to Apton?

It was to have a conversation with the Pyro, one of the 12 gods.

I do not know what the outcome of the conversation will be, but what is certain is that from this point on, you will be able to take one step closer to your goal.

In addition, the place name "Garmon" written in Ganon's diary was also highly likely to be near Apton.

'Maybe I can get a lot out of it.'

This should be a very big turning point in our future plans.

The carriage stopped at a fork in the road.

From here, the road to the Marquis and the road to the Pyro Bridge were divided.

"I will go first."

Lars put Ricky and Anna's luggage on his horse and told Sears.

"It's been a lot of hard work so far."

"It's hard. Rather, I would like to thank you. The grace given by Earl Wellton is enough, but I was able to come here very comfortably because I was included in the party. I will never forget this grace."

No. See you later at the church."

Yeah. Should I say hello too?"

Lars brought a boy and a girl crying from behind and brought them forward.

Ricky's chin was wrinkled, trying to avoid crying somehow, and Anna had been sobbing for a long time to see if she couldn't hold back.

"Why are you crying?"

Sears squatted down and hugged the brother and sister gently.

"It's not like we're breaking up forever."

"Go, thank you. Absolutely, whoops! I will never forget... ."

"Thank you, Huiying-"

Sears stroked the crybaby's head and kissed the children's cheeks lightly.

"If you need help, you can always find a aunt. got it?

Yeah!

She comforted them further and then called Jamie and Sarah.

"Should I say hi to you too?"

Jamie and Sarah approached the Ricky siblings.

Unlike the dull Jamie, Sarah was already covered in tears and runny nose.

sister ."

Sarah sighed and walked over to Anna.

Anna groped and grabbed Sarah's hand.

"Aren't you going to go?"

"I will see you again."

"Yeah ."

"Don't cry."

Still, Anna was the older sister and hugged Sarah.

The two girls remained embracing each other for a moment.

Jamie looked at them both, then turned to Ricky.

"Sara still isn't interested in you."

shut up.

"What are you crying about?"

" A cruel child."

Jamie smirked as Ricky wiped his runny nose.

"See you again."

Jamie raised a fist, and Ricky, who was staring at it, smiled and clashed his fists together.

Like it or not, the two share a secret.

As long as there is nothing serious between the two of us, we will be together until the day we achieve our purpose.

Good bye!

Sarah vigorously waved her hand towards Ricky, Anna, and Lars, who were moving away.

Of course, the shaking hand was Bena's short arm.

-My arm!!

Jamie shook her head as she saw Bena being manipulated like a doll in Sarah's hands.

I felt sorry for saying that we should be together for nothing.

"Let's go too."

Sears stroked Jamie and Sarah's heads and led them into the carriage.

The Welton chariot set off again.

The destination was the huge castle that was approaching, the grand mansion of the Bell family.

* * *

Sara was exhausted from crying, so she fell asleep holding Bena in her arms.

- Do you think you can buy some?

- I thought I was going to die earlier.

After breaking up with the Ricky siblings, Sarah burst into tears in the wagon as the sky fell.

Sears couldn't stop crying so much.

It seemed that the sadness of parting with the first friend I had met had come to a great extent. Thanks to that, it was Bena who suffered.

Bena's fur was covered in tears and runny nose in Sarah's arms.

-I'm sorry. I didn't know it would be like this.

- You left me unattended for a week without knowing it.

Jamie coughed in vain at Bena's tip.

So what do you do?

In that situation, it is impossible to take her away from the children.

Most of all, thanks to Bena, Sarah's obsession with herself went away to some extent.

'What a headache.'

I'm sorry for her, but when I returned, I had to sacrifice for myself.

Jamie grinned and looked out the window.

And in the distance, I saw a group of soldiers gathered.

'What's going on?'

The eyesight of an ordinary person would not be able to tell the difference, but it was Jamie who obtained a sight comparable to that of a hawk as a life orb.

The soldiers were talking with serious faces.

Unfortunately, I didn't know what to say.

'Something must have happened.'

In a great territory like Apton, big and small things will happen every now and then.

Jamie turned off his nerves and closed his eyes.

It has entered Apton, but it will take a little longer to reach the Marquis.

Until then, I decided to close my eyes.

* * *

The carriage arrived in front of the mansion.

The gate opened when Jack, the leader of the Pier Knights, who was in charge of the escort, had a brief conversation with them.

"I miss you."

Sears was watching the door open.

she said with a faint smile.

"This is where my mother lived. It's been seven years."

A slightly excited voice.

Jamie looked at Sears.

There was quite a deep longing on her face.

This was the hometown I hadn't been to for 7 years, so it was natural.

The wagon crossed the gate and started moving toward the mansion in the distance.

Sears said to Jamie, looking out over the expansive grounds.

son. My mom used to play there a lot."

"See that big tree over there? My grandmother used to read books there."

"The lake is still there. On a hot day, I often played in the water there."

"The garden is still beautiful. I think your father paid a lot of attention to management."

"The house for the maids seems to have been newly built. It was a pretty old building."

At first, he told Jamie about his childhood, but it gradually turned into a story that only he knew.

Each time, Jamie only smiled awkwardly.

'I must have missed you a lot.'

7 years is not a short time.

Jamie didn't know why she never went home.

He didn't tell me first, and Jamie wasn't curious either. In order to be curious about her mother-in-law, she rushed past her childhood.

If I hadn't been involved with the Pyro now, I wouldn't have thought of coming.

"It's all here."

At Sears' words, Jamie looked out.

Suddenly, a huge mansion approached in front of me.

When I saw Sears, where did the excited face go, only the face stiffened with tension was visible.

The carriage stopped.

It was the hour when the sun was almost over the west.

"Your father must have been very old."

Sears muttered to himself before getting off.

When Jamie saw her, she smiled awkwardly at her son.

When the marquise's servant opened the door, Sears sighed softly and came out. And he gently hugged his sleeping daughter.

"Have you arrived?"

Sara, who was not awake, held Bena in one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other.

Huh.

Sears smiled and looked around the mansion.

Came here after 7 years.

Nothing has changed in the mansion.

She felt like her heart would burst. He hugged Sarah tighter and looked at the people who came to meet him.

And in the center stood a face she knew well.

"Welcome back, little girl."

An old butler with white hair with wrinkles on his face greeted her with a smile.

Sears forced a smile while holding back the tears that were about to burst.

" Long time no see, uncle. Are you very old?"

"What children and the elderly have in common is that their appearance changes day by day."

The butler of the Bell family, who was an old man seven years ago, is even older now seven years later.

That fact broke Sears' heart.

Phil, the butler of the Marquis, smiled and saw Sarah in her arms and Jamie standing next to him.

"The children have grown up really well."

Huh. I tried to give back to these children as much as I received."

"You are wonderful."

"It's been a long time since I've praised you, sir.

Sears' eyes reddened. She wiped away the tears that were about to flow with her hand and told the two children.

"Greetings. She is the one who took care of her since she was a baby."

"Is mom a baby?"

Huh. She was also a baby like our Sarah."

Wow!

Sarah made a small sound with a shocked face.

She seemed surprised to find out that her mother, who was always an adult, was once a baby.

Jamie left Sarah behind and bowed briefly to the butler.

"My name is Jamie Wellton."

"My name is Phil, the butler of Marquis Bell. Nice to meet you, Master Jamie."

"Please."

Phil nodded satisfactorily at Jamie's polite look.

"Should I say hello to Sarah?"

"Hello. This is Sarah Welton."

Yeah. Hello too, Miss Sarah."

Phil grabbed Sarah's finger and gently shook it, and Sarah grinned at what's so good.

"It's very similar to when you were young."

Huh. Sarah resembles me a lot. Jamie was like him."

"I see."

Phil nodded with satisfaction.

He took a step back and pointed politely into the mansion.

"Stop going in. The master is waiting for you."

father ."

7 years.

We haven't seen each other since we got married.

Only Earl Wellton visited Apton.

We could have gone together, but somehow we couldn't.

Because he didn't seem to be taking responsibility. I don't know why he thought that, but he thought that he didn't have enough time to pass on the love he had received to his children.

One year went by, two years, three years, time flew by quickly and it was seven years.

'The ugly daughter has just arrived.'

The place where Phil followed was in front of the Marquis' office.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar door, she recalled old memories one by one.

I played a lot of pranks in front of that door. Each time, my father smiled and hugged me.

'It's an old memory.'

The feeling of being unfamiliar is unfamiliar.

I realized that time had passed.

But Sears laughed. It was an unfamiliar space, but this was her playground where she always played.

And Phil knocked.

"I will go in, Master."

"Come in."

Sears flinched at the voice from inside.

The door opened. As Phil guided me into the room, an old man was standing there.

She still had her proud shoulders, but her gray hair and wrinkled skin were very different from what she knew.

She couldn't say anything. I just kept my mouth shut.

The old man, Marquis Bell, looked at such a daughter with a loving face and called out.

"Sears."

Dad!

At that call, the daughter ran away without looking back. She was held in her father's small arms.

For now, I was crying as someone's daughter, not someone's parent.

The guilt she had accumulated over the past seven years made her cringe.

I'm sorry I'm so sorry, Dad. The ugly daughter has just arrived... . I'm really, really sorry."

Sears went on to apologize to his father.

The Marquis gently patted the back of her daughter, who had grown up over the course of seven years.

no. Okay. Now that you're here, that's it.

Sears fell to the floor at his father's forgiveness.

As if announcing the end of a long separation, they hugged each other silently, without regard to the gaze of others.

Everyone kept quiet for the woman who was reunited after 7 years.

- Continued on next episode -