Today, the child was unusually strange. He held a glass of milk, his favorite, yet somehow he doesn't seem happy. Park Noah leaned closer and saw stains of tears across his cheeks. Surprised, she put down her toast and asked, "Did you cry, baby?"
"Oh, I didn't cry!"
"What do you mean no? Your eyes are red!" Park Noah stretched her arms to hold the curly-haired boy but the child only shook his head. 'That's odd,' she thought. He never shielded away from her until now.
"Baby, come here." Noah attempted again, her hand gesturing a hug.
The child remained silent, his head hung low, avoiding the witch's gaze. But this time, he slowly takes a step toward her.
Come to think of it, until the day before yesterday, he had been glued to me all day, and yesterday he had less time with me.
"You haven't grown much. Is it because of lack of mana?"
The child murmured a soft 'no', still refusing to look at her directly.
"What are you saying? It's easy to see. Don't pretend to me, come here and hug me." The little boy ended up snuggled in the witch's arms. Park Noah placed the child on her lap, and continued their breakfast. Suddenly, Kyle Leonard returned to the kitchen, who wore an apron and gripped a feather duster.
"Put that child down."
Park Noah ignored him and turned to the child, "I'll hold you for ten minutes."
Her heart ached to see the poor child sulk every time he was forced away from her. For the last few days, Noah had been eating well and had rested plenty, thus regaining a little bit of her strength back; she believes she wouldn't faint like a stringy doll again despite her mana being sucked for a good ten minutes.
However, Kyle Leonard was cold than ever. "I took him last night and transferred him to my room to prevent all your mana getting sucked. And now you want your mana drawn out for ten minutes?"
Who asked you to do that anyway?
"A cold-blooded man who sheds no tears." Park Noah grumbled inaudibly to herself.
"What did you say?"
"There, there's a stain on the left window."
In a flash, Kyle whipped his head and scanned the window for any dirt. On the other hand, Park Noah grabbed the child and escaped into her room. But before she could lock her door, Kyle had already slipped his foot in.
"It's time for a walk."
During his stay, Kyle Leonard has set up a routine for Park Noah to quickly regain her mana. After breakfast, the next activity would be a morning stroll.
Noah plopped into her bed, rolling to the child's side, and made a lame excuse. "I have a chronic disease which could make me collapse under the sun, sir."
"Don't talk nonsense. Follow me right now." Kyle Leonard tried to grab her arm, but stopped. Noah looked at her with curious eyes, her eyebrow raised. Suddenly, he held her wrist, frowning.
"Is this a wrist or a branch of a dying tree?" He muttered, seemingly uncomfortable. "…You must have lost about at least five kilograms from two years ago."
"Do you know my weight?"
"There is nothing I don't know about you. I know your age, your birthday, your height, your weight, your blood type, your constellation, your fingerprints, your stride length."
Okay, that is creepy. Is he some stalker or something?
When Park Noah stared at him in bewilderment, Kyle Leonard became confused. "I don't know why you're pretending to be surprised. If you combined all the time you have spent alone with me in a confined space, it would fill at least a month. Did you forget, Lady Eleonora Asil with 15 previous convictions?"
One would think that a romance would blossom between two nemeses in their current situation hadn't Kyle Leonard uttered the words 'Lady Eleonora Asil with 15 previous convictions'.
"Or was it more? No, right, it was 15."
Noah remained silent, which made Kyle even more puzzled. He stared at her strangely, and suddenly he was frowning.
What else don't you like? My existence itself? Well, I've lived a bit too much like a cockroach for the past two years. My goal is to live a long and peaceful life, but I don't think I could have it easily.
After a period of silence, Park Noah finally nodded. "I'll go walk. But I'm bringing with me the child instead."
"The child…"
"Hold on, geez. Just come along with me." Noah called the child whom peeked out from behind Kyle's leg. There was still a sullen look on his face.
"I'm…I'm fine, but…."
"Huh?"
"I'll just stay home…."
Why is he so depressed?
The little boy's strange behavior didn't end that moment. In fact, it worsened during the night.
When it was already past ten in the evening, Park Noah waited for Kyle to fall asleep and secretly transfer the child from the crib in the living room and into her room.
"No."
But the child refused.
"I can sleep alone without Noah."
"What?" Her eyes widened at the child's unexpected remark. He was looking up at her with a determined look, his eyes seemingly stern. Noah asked him again, unsure whether she had misheard. "You're not going to sleep with me?"
"I'm not a baby anymore. It's been 15 days since I came out of the egg. So I can sleep alone." He seemed to mean it when he spoke with all his might. Park Noah, on the other hand, could only nod in surprise.
"Uh…yeah…"
The child turned to his side, avoiding her gaze.
Unsuccessful, Noah trudged back toward her bedroom, her shoulders slumped. The door closed behind her back. The tidy room felt a little queasy tonight.
It's like my beloved son suddenly declared his independence from his mother.
Frustrated, she tried to dismiss her weird emotions. "Oh, I don't know. Let's just get some sleep." Maybe he doesn't want to sleep with me anymore. Noah dove under the covers, still feeling odd. For almost an hour she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Eventually, she got up.
See, a child who's only been born 15 days, doesn't sleep well!
Park Noah sneaked down to the first floor and carried the child back in. The child whined with sleepy eyes. "I can sleep alone…."
"I can't sleep alone. Let's go to bed now. Let's go to sleep."
And three seconds after she lied in bed with the child in her arms, she fell asleep immediately.