…
After 5 minutes, the kids finally received their lunch. They had happy expressions on their faces.
""Yay!""
The kids started to yell with excitement. It wasn't because they were so hungry, it was because when they all sat at the table together, They were connecting with everyone. Everyone loved the feeling of "family" because it didn't make them feel as if they were alone
When the kids looked at their lunch, which was soup, they still smiled like they haven't had it in a long time. They began to eat their lunch, stuffing their faces.
""This is so good!""
""It really is, Ms. Sylvie!""
The kids exclaimed leaving Sylvie with a happy and satisfied expression on her face. She really loved and enjoyed making people happy. Every time she did, she always had an addicting, warm bubbly feeling in her chest.
Sylvie looked at everyone's faces, dozing off from the wholesome moment. That was until she heard a jealous tone of voice. She looked over and saw Ester with a pouty expression looking at everyone enjoying their meal.
"Wow, it seems that my food isn't good enough, huh?" asked Ester with a "teary eyes" while looking away, clearly messing with the kids.
The kids froze and thought that Ester was serious so they quickly tried to explain to her that it wasn't the case.
"N-No, Ms. Ester! Your food tastes delicious too!" said Beth
""Y-Yeah, that's right Ms. Ester, your food tastes just as good!"" Louis and Hayden said, almost as if they were in sync.
Eve stopped eating and quickly walked towards Ester, hugging her to comfort her.
Ester was dumbfounded and looked towards Sylvie, seeing her smiling and they both laughed. Ester was expecting them to comfort her, just not to this extent.
"It's alright kids, I was messing with you. I admit, Ms. Sylvie does make a good soup" Ester said, reassuring the kids that she was joking with them. Everyone had a relieved expression until they heard a tiny and cute voice in the background
"Mommy does make a better soup" Abel said innocently as he wasn't able to read the room
Everyone was silent for a few seconds, until Ester started laugh
"Ha…Ha-Ha…Hahaha!"
When everyone looked and saw Ester laughing historically. Ester rarely laughed and was mostly serious throughout the kids' lives. So when they saw how hard Ester was laughing, even with teary eyes, it was like a virus, everyone started to laugh. If there were people outside walking through the village, they would be able to hear the loud laughter from the orphanage.
Abel looked at everyone with a confused expression. He wasn't sure why they were laughing but he started to giggle because of everyone and also he didn't want to feel left out.
Ester finally calmed down and looked at Abel with a warm smile and said
"Is that so…? Well, I'll see if I can ask your mommy if she can teach me how she makes it" said Ester while giggling a bit.
Sylvie started to chuckle at this wholesome moment. Sylvie enjoyed moments like this and wanted it to last forever.
After everyone had finally finished their food, they were excused. Sylvie and Ester started to clear off the table, with the help of Beth. As soon as everything was cleared, they heard the outside door open and the kids looked to see who it was.
It was Connor. He just came back home from the hunting team. Everyone greeted Connor, welcoming him home.
"Welcome back, Connor"
"Thank you for your hard work"
"Welcome back"
Connor welcomed the greetings, until he heard a small voice
"Welcome home, Connor" said Abel
Connor looked down at Abel with an indifferent expression on his face and ignored him. He walked past Abel and was about to head upstairs until he heard a voice in the distance
"Abel was welcoming you home, Connor. Don't you think you should say thank you?" asked Sylvie
Sylvie had a frown on her face, clearly not liking the attitude Connor was giving Abel. Clearly telling Connor to say thank you or else he'll get scolded.
Connor looked at Sylvie and saw her expression, he looked down and gritted his teeth
"Tch"
Connor looked at Abel, with a small grin and said
"...Thank you" Connor said reluctantly
Sylvie saw Connor's expression and was concern what was going on with him and asked
"Connor… What's going on?"
Connor was silent for a brief moment, thinking of what to say. However, he said
"...Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. I'm going to head upstairs, just a little tired."
Connor started to head upstairs to his room, leaving everyone silent.
'What's wrong with him? There's something eating at him and he won't talk to me' Sylvie thought to herself.
Connor was always a bright boy, but could be a little dramatic at times. However, he wasn't someone who didn't welcome someone's presence. This was really odd and she remembered that it all started when he joined the hunting team.
Ester was there when everything happened and wanted to explain to Sylvie what might be happening. Although she wanted to talk with Sylvie but not in front of the kids so she walked towards Sylvie and whispered
"Can we talk for a moment"
Sylvie looked towards Ester and realized that Ester wanted to talk about what just happened and nodded
They headed towards the kitchen and were quietly discussing the recent incident. Ester wanted to make sure Sylvie wasn't misunderstanding something that could lead to a problem.
"I think the problem with Connor started when he joined the Hunting team…" Ester whispered to Sylvie, which she nodded with agreement, so she continued "...I think the issue is that the other members of the team are rubbing their opinions onto him, clearly affecting his own opinions. Lately, there have been more and more outsiders visiting the village. They are mostly adventurers who needed a place to stay so they could complete their quests. Which means that the Hunting team has to work longer and make more of an effort to acquire more food. Clearly they aren't happy about outsiders and I think that's where the problem lies" Ester said as she finished her explanation
Ester was very aware about some things that happened in the village as she wanted to protect what Sylvie built. So she made sure to at least keep an ear out, making sure nothing happens and if something does, she'll know...Although Ester couldn't know about everything
Sylvie took a moment and processed what she said, realized what she was getting at and looked at Abel for a moment then looked back at Ester with a "really?" expression, to which Ester nodded
Sylvie frowned and said "Abel isn't an outsider…He's one of us" Ester nodded and said "I know…"
Sylvie had a confused yet angry expression on her face because of Connor's attitude and when she realized what was happening, her face got uglier and said
"Connor should know that Abel is-" Sylvie said but got interrupted by Ester
"I'm sure deep down, Connor knows that Abel is one of us. However, Connor is still young and immature and I think the best thing we could do right now is that every time he does it, we should slightly correct his actions, however we shouldn't scold him. I'm afraid if we do, it could lead to distractions when he goes out hunting"
Sylvie looked at Ester for a bit and nodded in agreement. Ester looked at Sylvie with a bitter expression and said
"Besides, I think Connor doesn't even realize his own feelings so I'm sure it'll pass… Just give it time"
"...Alright" Sylvie said
Ester looked at Sylvie and was glad that they were on the same page, and lightly patted Sylvie's arm, telling her to "cheer up"
For a brief moment of silence passed and it was finally Ester who broke the silence and said
"Alright, In a few hours I'll have to ask you to make dinner…since everyone likes it so much" Ester chuckled as she walked away
As Ester walked away, Sylvie remembered what happened earlier and smiled. Sylvie went to check up on Abel to see if his feelings were hurt, however to her surprise, it wasn't.
Abel was happily reading his story that was titled "The Hero that saved the world". It was about a young hero and his party defeating the Demon King. It was a true story as it talked about the adventures the Hero and his party faced and the before and aftermath of the events, just without certain parts.
Abel was happily reading when he heard a voice that startled him
"Is the story good?" asked Sylvie
Abel turned his small head and looked at Sylvie and said with a wide smile
"Yup!"
Abel looked back at his book, however, Abel was curious about something so he said
"...Mommy"
Sylvie looked down at Abel and was surprised at Abel's down-hearted tone. Usually he's happy and always bright, so it was a bit unusual to see Abel like this.
"Is something the matter?" Sylvie asked, wanting to know what made Abel so down.
Abel paused for a moment and asked
"This book is a true story, right…?"
Sylvie looked at the book then and read some of it and said
"That's what they say…Why do you ask?"
Abel again paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts together and said
"...Is it true that all demons are bad?"
Sylvie was very, very surprised by Abel's question, to which she pondered for a bit. She heard stories about the evil things that Demons had done so it was a general assumption that all Demons are bad. However, now that she thought about it…Demons were a bit similar to humans.
There were all kinds of kind and nice humans, however, when they wanted to be, they could be very nasty and dangerous, almost as if they were demons. So she thought that there should be kind Demons.
Sylvie looked at Abel with a bittersweet smile and said
"I don't know. I'm not sure…However, I don't see why not? There might be at least 1 nice Demon… Why are you asking?"
Abel had an indifferent expression, he was thinking about everything Sylvie had just said. It made sense to him that there should be at least 1 nice demon. So he turned and looked at Sylvie and said
"I-I read a lot of stories about heroes and demons… a-and… Sometimes when I look outside at the people…T-They have scary faces. They look like the demons that are in the books"
Sylvie looked at Abel and frowned when she heard those words but couldn't refute what he said. From previous experiences, they were like demons. However what surprised Sylvie is how observant Abel was for his age. She could see that he was uncomfortable, although he was curious.
Sylvie was silent for a moment before kissing Abel's forehead and started to hug him. She held his head towards his chest so he could feel her warmth. She was silent for a moment and said
"How about we take a break from reading for today, yeah…?" Sylvie asked as she paused for a bit then continued "...Why don't you play with the other kids? I'm sure they would want to play with you"
Abel didn't say anything until a few seconds has passed before nodding and said
"...I love you, mommy"
Sylvie smiled and kissed Abel's forehead and cheeks, kissing him and tickling all over as Abel giggled.
Sylvie continued to tickle Abel for a few moments and said
"I love you too, Abel"
Sylvie sat up and told Abel to play with the other kids, to which he accepted and got up and placed his book onto his chair. He waddled towards the other children, asking if he could play with them and they agreed.
A few hours has passed and as everyone started to get hungry, they heard a yell from the kitchen
"Kids! Come and eat!" Sylvie yelled.
The children once again got excited and ran towards the table, responding to Sylvie. When the children arrived at the table they were surprised about what they were about to eat as it was a bit unusual.
They were having some deer and what looked to be some kind of meat, however little did they know that it was horned-rabbit meat. Monster meat was extremely nutritious and yummy because of the energy stored within the meat. They had meat alongside some vegetables. They also had some milk to go with their dinner.
The kids' eyes sparkled with amazement! Some kids were pinching themselves while the others were looking at Sylvie and Ester asking if this is true. Both Sylvie and Ester nodded, furthering the kids' excitement.
Everyone sat at the table, Beth being the first to arrive while Connor being the last. When everyone was seated, including Sylvie and Ester, they said their grace which was normal as they did this every night, however tonight was a bit special. Tonight, Abel was finally going to say what he was thankful for. As everyone finished saying their grace, everyone, except Connor, looked towards Abel waiting for him to say his grace.
Abel noticed this and got nervous and waited for a few seconds before finally mumbled loudly
"I-I'm thankful for Mommy, Ms. Ester and everyone for being my family"
Everyone smiled and some even giggled, happily satisfied from Abel's words.
"...Tch"
However there was one person who wasn't happy and not everyone heard Connor except for Sylvie and she was about to tell him to knock it off, but decided not to as she remembered Ester's words from earlier.
Sylvie turned her head to look outside to notice the three moons that shined in the night sky.
'I just hope everything will work out…' Sylvie thought to herself but frowned and continued '...But I feel uneasy for some reason'
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Thanks for reading! As you've read, there was a time skip to when Abel was 4. I did a little recap towards everyone's characters and probably won't do it again until it's necessary if/when there is a time skip.
The story is starting out slow, but should pick up in a few chapters, as there will be a time skip next chapter.
If anyone has any questions/comments/concerns just ask and I'll do my best to answer them!
Anyways thanks for reading!
Check out my other novel:
'Reincarnated as a Horned Rabbit' (Ongoing)
2333 words | Chapter 6: Suspicion/Lunch & Dinner [Part 2/2] |