Chapter 101 – Family (2)
Lucia searched her memories of her childhood to tell her story to her Grace. A time when neither she, nor Isabella, nor Mason, who had changed, existed.
The life of a family full of laughter in a small town where both parents are alive and the property is not rich, but there is no shortage.
It was then that the existence of Isabella came into her life.
During her vaguely memorable snoring days, she remembered clearly the moment she and Isabella first met.
One day when I was four years old, my parents took me to a huge mansion after busily preparing for a place to go from the morning. Lucia knew what the mansion was like even though she was young.
It was the mansion where Mr. Gordon, who had the most wealth in the village and was responsible for the livelihood of many villagers, lived. She was the mansion of her grandfather’s grandfather, and of a family that had lived in the village for a long time before his grandfather’s grandfather. I’ve only heard about it, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it.
The first time she saw the grand mansion, which seemed to come out of her parents’ old stories, she remembered gasping in surprise.
Is that palace-like mansion actually our home? Are my parents going back to the palace after hiding the fact that I am a princess?
Her heart was full of anticipation plus the maximum vanity and fairytale imagination her little ones could dream of, and whispered to her sister, a little disappointed when Mason chuckled and shook her head saying no.
It didn’t take long before her disappointment soon turned to acceptance.
The moment she passed through the huge front gate, passed through the garden adorned with colorful flowers, and saw three people standing in front of the mansion door, she was shocked beyond compare to the surprise she felt when she first saw the mansion.
They were dressed in beautiful clothes that fit their height, and she gave the impression of being elegant even when she didn’t know anything about it. But what caught her eye was neither the golden buttons on the man’s clothes nor the finely painted makeup on the woman’s face.
The one who caught her gaze was a child of her age who hid herself by grabbing the woman’s leg, escaping shyness and hunger from her hand clutching her doll.
The beautiful pink dress on her body and her beautiful face, which could not be covered even at a young age or fancy dress, caught my attention in an instant.
If there was a girl who lived in a palace-like mansion like this, the girl who had to live here was not herself, but this child suited her so well. To the point where I don’t even get jealous. She was just as good a girl as she was in this splendid space.
My parents stood at the door and talked with the adults in front of the mansion. The men greeted each other by hugging lightly, and the women smiled and talked to each other.
However, a strange current was flowing between Lucia and Isabella, who met each other for the first time.
Lucia remembered with tension the air current she felt at that moment. The moment when she saw her from afar, the crush and envy she felt disappeared, instinctively looking at each other, waiting for each other to act first.
Unlike adults who are accustomed to building numerous encounters and friendships. It was a stormy moment for children who had never experienced the invasion of new beings in the world of their own.
While the children anxiously waited for their respective parents to end their conversation hastily, a woman with the appearance of a lady from a fairy tale recognized the two children’s silent search.
She gently stroked the girl who was trying to hide her body as much as possible behind her so that she could only see her, and pulled her out from behind herself. In her child’s eyes, trembling at her embarrassment and betrayal, Lucia couldn’t help but sympathize with her. Because she also wanted to run away from this place, because her heart was like a chimney.
The child held her last reassurance — a small stuffed toy — tightly in her hand, nudging her and her Mason’s gaze. Seeing her with her head tucked into her stuffed toy’s head, blushing up to her ears, her grown-ups let out a small laugh at her.
Lucia couldn’t help but secretly admire the cruelty of such adults. She is an adult who casually bursts into laughter at a girl driven by shame. She might have burst into tears of her own,
But the lady-like grown-up didn’t blink an eye at her and bent her knees to meet her and her gaze. The woman, whose ebony hair matched so well with the purple eyes that the girl next to her also had, smiled at Lucia and Mason.
“Are you a Mason? And you are Lucia.”
It was her sweet voice, but Lucia was unable to say anything, as her tongue froze at the attention she poured on her in an instant. Soon, the tension that her girl felt was her own, and she too wanted to hide behind her mother’s skirt right away, but for some reason her petty pride, not wanting to be looked down upon by the girl in front of her, was her own. Got the legs stuck in place.
It was Mason who came out to save her. Like many times before.
“Hello. My name is Mason! I look forward to!”
“Oh, hello…”
She mumbled her name at her greeting, and when she greeted her, the woman responded with a gentle smile.
“Hello, I am Adelaide. Call me Ms. Adelaide. And this is my daughter, Isabella. Your age must be similar to or the same as you, Lucia.”
Then, she gently patted the back of the child next to her.
“Now, Isabella, should you say hello too?”
Then the child, who did her best to hide behind her stuffed toy, hesitated for a long time, and finally hid herself behind her mother’s back. Seeing her like that, for some reason, she felt that her shoulders were straightened at the thought that she had shown herself to be more mature. Her Aunt Adelaide smiled apologetically as she soothed the child hiding behind her back.
“I’m sorry. Because our daughter, Isabella, is shy.”
“Are you okay. Is her name Isabella? She has a pretty name!”
She seemed to like Mason, who drew her attention to himself with Mason’s kid-like smirk, but her aunt’s smile seemed even more delightful. Soon the adults moved inside, and Lucia, Mason, and Isabella followed them.
When Lucia looked inside her mansion, her eyes widened again. As if she were constantly renewing what she felt was her former surprise.
As beautiful as the exterior of the mansion, the interior was equally ornate. A high ceiling and a spacious central space, a carpeted staircase leading to this floor located in the middle of it, and beautiful paintings and ornaments interspersed with light fixtures hanging on each wall.
As she followed her elders up the stairs, she continued to stare at Isabella, her head bowed, clutching her Aunt Adelaide’s hand. She felt a little superior to her figure, who still couldn’t escape her awkwardness and embarrassment, but at the same time reminded herself of being taken care of by Mason.
A sense of identity, and a childlike desire to look like an adult.
It was at that moment that she realized that she wanted to become acquainted with her Isabella.
Before leaving to tell the adults a boring and difficult story that adults would share, the adults were pleasantly surprised and left Lucia, Mason, and Isabella in Isabella’s room. With words of surprise to each other.
Kik-Tak.
As the door closed, the silence that had been overshadowed by the chatter of adults settled in the room. The tension that had weakened when greeting adults was more evident than before.
Isabella, who is accustomed to sitting at a desk in one corner of the room, enters a familiar space and looks at herself a little more boldly than before, but she feels the absence of her aunt, and Lucia falls into an unfamiliar space in an instant. Could not hide a slight discomfort.
In the meantime, of course, she couldn’t help but admire Isabella’s appearance as if it were a well-displayed doll.
While Lucia and Isabella looked at each other and showed fierce competition as children, it was Mason who instantly destroyed the tension.
“Hello Isabella. My name is Mason!”
The moment Mason approached her and greeted her girl, the sharp search battle between Lucia and Isabella collapsed in an instant. This reaction was not expected, but he couldn’t hide his embarrassment, and the awkwardness was evident on his face.
A little awkward air flowed, and Isabella’s choice was to hug the stuffed toy tightly and hide her face again. In that moment Lucia knew what she had to do, and she immediately went into action.
Standing up from her seat, Isabella walked confidently to the table where she was sitting, standing next to her sister so that she could hide at any time, and with a small smile, she said in one voice.
“Hi! I am Lucia!”
She and she put a smile of repentance on her lips.
“Let’s be friendly!”
The kindness of knowing how to reach out to someone in difficulty.
A grown-up who can put up with her childlike behavior.
It was Lucia’s perfect victory.
“…”
Continuing to bury her face in her stuffed toy, Isabella, who was blushing even to the lobe of her ear, trembled as if she would soon cry, then glanced at the two of them and whispered barely audibly.
“This… This is Isabella.”
That was the moment when the relationship between the three children was opened.
