One Step Forward to the Flower Path

After discussing in detail Ivanna’s treatment with the two doctors, Dante took a dinner tray from Alaine and headed to the child’s room.  He haven’t heard of the twins returning to their rooms yet, and Ivanna’s room was very quiet.  When he opened the door and entered, the three siblings lay side by side in the corner of the room as they slept.

“I rarely took naps.”

Dante set the tray on the table and approached the three children.  Ivanna was lying buried under a large rabbit doll, and the twins were sleeping with the child’s hand on each side.  The sight and even the breathing of the three people were very peaceful.  Dante watched the scene for a moment.  The appearance of the children sleeping with the softly pouring moonlight as a blanket made him feel various emotions.

Warm, comfortable, cozy, peaceful, happy······.

It was so beautiful that it fits well with all the good feelings.

Wonderful.

Dante, unfamiliar with his sentiment, covered his mouth.  The sleeping twins opened their eyes at the same time.

“Father······?”

The twins glared at the person as they came to their senses.  However, when they realized that it was Dante, and their eyes relaxed.  The two rubbed their eyes and raised their bodies.

“It’s late.  Go eat dinner and sleep in your room.”

“Our younger sister······.”

“I wasn’t going to wake you up because you were sleeping comfortably.”

Valerie and Luan looked sadly at her small hands, and then gently stood up.  Dante carefully hugged Ivanna, who did not wake up and continued to sleep well even after he talked softly with the twins.  Dante gently chuckled and kissed her small forehead as she gripped his clothes in her sleep.  He laid her carefully on the bed, then paused.  On one side of the bed, there were two black cat dolls.  Dante looked at it and saw the rabbit doll that Ivanna had just slept on.

“Luan.”

“Yeah.”

“Put that rabbit doll next to your sister.”

Luan quickly placed the large rabbit doll next to Ivanna, who was holding onto the hem of Dante’s shirt.  Only when the soft hair of the doll touched her skin that she let go of Dante’s hem.

“Hmmm.”

Cute sleep talk flowed from her lips.  Both Dante and the twins laughed quietly.

“Sooner or later, Ivanna’s treatment will begin.  It would be quite painful to get the misaligned and twisted bones back together.”

“Does she have to do it?”

“Just leaving it is not good for her growth.  The pain will increase as she grow older, so it is better to treat it as quickly as possible.”

When Ivanna said she was sick, the twins were very worried.  The two still couldn’t forget how Ivanna had a seizure after mistaking the bathtub for an altar.  They probably won’t be able to forget the sight until they die.

“I will be there, too, but make sure that Ivanna does not suffer alone.  I don’t want her to be left alone.”

“Yeah.”

The twins nodded quickly.  Dante gently stroked Ivanna’s sleeping hair.  Even if she was sick and in pain, she won’t be alone anymore.  So Dante earnestly hoped that the child would become well.

***

Ivanna, who was sleeping well, suddenly became thirsty and opened her eyes.  When she woke up yawning, she was lying in bed.

“I slept on the floor.”

The rabbit that she slept with under the blanket was guarding her.  Ivanna stroked the fur of the rabbit, which was soft no matter how many times she touched it.  The Meows were the best, but the rabbit was also good.  Ivanna hugged the rabbit as tightly as she could.  It smelled good.

“My older sister and older brother aren’t here.”

‘We slept together, but when I opened my eyes there was no one.  I wasn’t lonely because there was a rabbit, but somehow I felt cold.  Ivanna trembled.’

“Oh? It was my Dad.”

Ivanna, who was holding the rabbit tightly in place of the missing older sister and brother, found her father next to her bed.  Her dad was sleeping in a large chair.

“Dad, you.”

Ivanna put the rabbit and crawled to the edge of the bed.  She thought her dad, who was sleeping, was amazing when she first saw him.  Usually, when she fell asleep, and then woke up, she was greeted with food.  Ivanna looked at her father’s face with her chin on her hand.  The nose is high and the lips are thin.  The eyebrows were dark and the chin was slim.  His hair covering his white-skinned face was black.  When he opened his eyes his pupils stood out.

“Pretty.”

‘My dad, who fell asleep with his eyes closed, was very pretty.  I could now understand why my mom said that I would like my dad because he is so pretty.’

Ivanna, who had been looking at her Dad’s face for a while, sniffed and smelt something as she turned her head.  There was something to eat on the table.

“I’m hungry.”

“I was hungry.  After all, I couldn’t even eat dinner because I was tired after playing with my sister and brother.  I am hungry?”

Ivanna felt strange, so she rubbed her belly.  It was a luxury to eat a meal while in prison.  Water and bread were given for breakfast and dinner, but the time for the dishes to be collected always came quickly, so she had to eat them immediately.  If she returned to prison and lost consciousness because of the pain from having my power pulled out, she had to starve.  And, of course, there were many days like that.  Her power was pulled out every day, and even though she suffered every day, she couldn’t get used to the pain.  It also became natural to be numb by hunger.

“But not here.”

When the time came, they brought food every time, everything was warm and tasty, and sometimes her dad fed her.  And the agonizing hunger was instantly forgotten.  Ivanna came down from the bed and rushed to the table.  Today was the first time she saw this.  Vegetables and meat were sandwiched between the bread.  Ivanna looked around it, grabbed the top bread, and put it in her mouth.  It was moist and tasted amazing.

“Delicious.”

She ate the bread, the vegetables under it, the meat, the tomatoes, and even the bread at the bottom.  She didn’t know what it was, but it was more delicious because she ate variously.

“I’m given something delicious every day.”

She looked around while licking the oil on her fingers.  There were up to a thousand shiny toys that were piled up, and there was delicious food in front of her.  Besides, she doesn’t get hit by anyone, and her dad, sister, and brother gently hug her.  It was a really nice place she had never thought of even in her dreams.

“I will continue to live here.”

‘My dad said it.  He said that I don’t have to move around every year, he says I can stay here if I want to be here, and he will make me happy.  Like when I lived with my mother.’

“This is a big house.”

‘It was flashy, big, and so unfamiliar that I didn’t feel like this was my home.  As always, it seemed like a place that I’d have to leave again one day.  However, if I could continue to receive delicious food, sleep in a warm place, and be with my father, sister, and brother who are kind like my mother, it would be okay to stay here and make this my home.’

‘Home is the best place.’

“I wish I had a mother too.”

Losing her mother twice was even sadder and harder than living through the same pain twice.  Perhaps she could have prevented her mother’s death when she came back from the past.  If she had quickly come to her senses and begged her mom not to die, she would have been alive.

Mom was buried in the cold ground again.

As she did in her first life, she will never see her mom again.

Me, my dad, my sister, and my brother.

Because of me.

“······.”

Ivanna suddenly became depressed.  What should she do if her dad, who was separated from her mom forever, learns that because of her, her mom has not escaped death?  What if her dad gets angry and hits her? 

‘I don’t want to be hit anymore, and I don’t want my dad to be angry at me.’

She lost her appetite.  Ivanna couldn’t eat any more bread and laid it down.  She became depressed.

“I’m scared.”

She couldn’t tell her dad because she was afraid that he, along with her sister and brother would get angry. 

I can’t tell you everything I knew about my mother’s death or that I died at the age of 16.

I couldn’t.

I was so scared.

Ivanna got up from her seat.  She had no appetite, and then she lost interest in the toys she was going to play with.  She just want to sleep again.

“······.”

Ivanna put on a fluffy blanket and hesitated to get back on the bed.  The blanket was cold.  It would be a little better if she hold the fluffy rabbit.  But when she looked back, her father was there, and he looked much warmer than a blanket or a rabbit.

“I don’t like being cold.”

‘I thought about it for a while, but I still hated the cold.’ 

Ivanna left the blanket she was holding and approached her dad.  He was still sleeping soundly.  Ivanna whined and climbed onto his sturdy knees when her dad didn’t get up even after she pulled his pants a few times.  It was harder than the bed but much warmer and cozier.  Ivanna sat on her dad’s legs and leaned her face against his wide chest.  Thump, thump.  As soon as she put her ears on his chest, she heard her dad’s, calm heart.

“······I feel good.”

I can hear a warm, peaceful, and calm heartbeat.

My father’s arms that he would always protect me with felt really nice.

It was so good, but it seemed so sad if my dad got angry that I couldn’t stop my mom from dying.  Even though I don’t have a mom anymore, I thought it would be painful if the father I finally met left me.

So I won’t tell anyone. I won’t tell them that I will die in the future, that I have already died and then I come back to life, and that I knew about my mom’s death but I couldn’t tell her.

All of it.

I’ll just bury it in my heart.

Ivanna quietly closed her eyes.

***

Dante, who was sleeping comfortably in a chair, suddenly awakened to the weight he felt on his legs and chest.

“······Ivanna?”

He was startled.  Ivanna was sleeping in his arms.  Dante, with confused eyes, alternated between Ivanna and the empty bed.  He have very sensitive senses, so he usually wakes up when someone approaches him.  But he didn’t know at all until Ivanna crawled into his arms.  Even while she slept comfortably for what seemed like a long time, Dante couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

“Valerie and Luan can’t even do that.”

He was embarrassed, but he didn’t want to wake his daughter, who was asleep in his arms, so he gently patted her back.  Ivanna dug into his arms a little more and clasped onto his clothes.  Her face looked very comfortable.

 “······Is it hereditary?”

It wasn’t his first time experiencing it.  A long time ago, this happened a few times when he was with Louise.  There were often times when he didn’t know that Louise, who was sleeping with him, had slipped out of his arms, or secretly entered his bed late at night.  At that time, he thought that Louise had extraordinary skills.  As he looked back at it now, it might be the special power of the Guardian of the Holy Spirit.

“It’s not a bad feeling anyway.”

As soon as he open his eyes, he sees his daughter sleeping in his arms.  Far from bad, he felt very happy.  The morning feels refreshing.  The weight on his legs and chest was nice.

“You have to gain more weight.”

Even though she was getting fed a lot, she still felt bony in his arms.  Dante gently patted the sleeping child’s back, clicking his tongue.  He should feed her a bunch more delicious things.  Because it is natural to help the child grow.