CHAPTER 07
I pressed down a little harder without realizing it because I was nervous—and the crayon snapped in half.
“Ah.”
Oops. I need to be more careful.
I pushed the broken piece aside and kept coloring with the bigger half.
I used a dark green and a lighter green to draw the leaves.
Then I drew Mom, me, Uncle, and Grandpa. Once I was done, the picture actually looked pretty good.
Wow, I think I’m kind of good at this!
Feeling confident, I called out to Uncle, who was sitting in his office chair.
“Uncle, guess what—”
“No.”
“…..”
Wait, I didn’t even say anything yet!
I pouted and bit my lip, then smiled again.
Well, if Uncle says no, then I guess it’s a no!
“Uncle, then guess what!”
“I sai—hey!”
Uncle had his eyes closed but opened them with an annoyed look.
I didn’t miss my chance and held up the big drawing I’d worked hard on.
“Uncle! Want me to draw you too? Look, I’m really good at it!”
“No.”
But I smiled anyway, feeling proud.
That made Uncle frown even more.
“Why are you smiling? I said no.”
“Mom said Uncle says the opposite of what he means, so I should take it the other way!”
“…That mother and daughter…”
“I’m gonna draw you!”
“Do whatever you want.”
After that, I called him a few more times, but Uncle didn’t answer.
I drew more—our family, Uncle and me, Mom and me, and more. But my arm started to hurt and it wasn’t as fun anymore.
Sometimes I felt like Uncle was watching, but maybe I imagined it. He still had his eyes closed.
It didn’t look like he was actually sleeping, just pretending.
I set down my crayon, now almost used up, and peeked over at Uncle.
“Uncle, are you sleeping?”
“Yeah.”
“If you’re not really sleeping, will you play with me? I’m done drawing.”
I walked around him, pestering him.
“I’m busy.”
Even though he said it calmly, Uncle had his legs up on the desk, fingers laced over his stomach, eyes still shut.
“You weren’t busy just a minute ago.”
“I suddenly got busy.”
He said it without even opening his eyes.
“Liar…”
He’d been sitting like that the whole time. No way he got busy all of a sudden.
And he wasn’t even looking at the huge pile of papers next to him!
I kept bugging him, tugging at him.
Finally, after a while, Uncle responded.
“Alright.”
“Really?!”
I grabbed his arm, ready to jump up and down with excitement.
“Wanna play dead body game?”
He opened just one eye and looked at me.
I leaned in close to his face.
“How do you play that? I-Is it scary?”
What kind of game has such a creepy name?
“Nope. It’s fun.”
Uncle grinned.
If it’s fun, then of course I’m interested. I’m Aika, after all!
“What do I do? I wanna play!”
“The person who pretends to be dead the best wins. I’ll be nice and let you go first, so lie down and play dead.”
Pretending to be dead? I’ve never played anything like that with Mom.
“Hmmm…”
I tried to think of the most comfortable position to win.
“If you don’t want to play, forget it. One, two, three…”
“No! Uncle, can I lie down to do it? I just have to stay still, right?”
I quickly stopped him and ran over to the thick, soft carpet.
Then I hurried to move my drawings out of the way.
“Do what you want. If you don’t move until I call you, you win. I’ll buy you a prize.”
“Really?”
“Yep. But don’t move until I call you, and just breathe, got it?”
“Okay!”
He was being suspiciously nice, so I quickly lay down before he could change his mind.
I faced the ceiling, so I couldn’t see Uncle anymore.
What prize should I ask for? Maybe we can eat snacks together tomorrow? Or go outside and buy flowers? Or go hang out with Grandpa? I want to do all three…
“Close your eyes. Start.”
“Oh, right!”
How did he know I was peeking? I shut my eyes tight.
How long would I have to stay like this to win? I might even fall asleep…
Even though I was lying comfortably, my body felt itchy like I wanted to move.
And then, it started getting really quiet…
Creaaak. I heard the sound of a chair moving.
I held my breath so he wouldn’t notice.
I’m not sure how much time passed after that.
I heard a dull sound… then Uncle’s footsteps slowly faded away.
“Ah!”
Oh no—did I fall asleep?
I turned my eyes toward Uncle’s desk.
Since I was lying down, I couldn’t see him.
But something felt off. Like… I was the only one left in the room.
I slowly turned my head, looking around.
“Ah!”
Uncle was gone.
And from the look of it, he’d been gone for a while.
He left me here! I got tricked!
I was going to go easy on him when it was his turn!
“Uncle’s a big dummy!”
Fuming, I brushed off my skirt and stood up.
I stomped toward the door… but then stopped.
“…I should at least leave my drawing for him.”
I turned around and picked up all the papers I had drawn on, stacking them neatly.
Then I carefully placed them right in the center of Uncle’s desk—between his half-drunk tea and the giant stack of papers.
“If you throw it away, I’ll be really mad.”
I put my hands on my hips and squinted up at the towering pile of paperwork.
“…Why do Mom and Uncle have so much work anyway?”
It’d be nice if all that just disappeared.
While looking at the papers, I noticed another big pile—envelopes.
Some had been opened, some were still sealed.
Maybe if I helped read them, Uncle would have less work?
Maybe he’d like it if I read and told him what they said.
Mom used to love it when I helped her while she worked.
Hmm, maybe not. Uncle’s hard to figure out.
“Then maybe just tidy the ones sticking out…”
“Stop right there.”
As I reached out to straighten a few, Uncle suddenly appeared.
I froze with my hand still stretched out.
One envelope caught my eye.
It had my name on it—Aika.
Huh? A letter for me?
There was a long pause, then I slowly turned and looked at Uncle with a pout.
“You liar!”
“Caught me.”
Uncle shoved one hand deep in his pocket and walked over. Then he picked me up and dropped me far from the desk.
“Ah! Wait…!”
That was my letter!
“I was gonna go easy on you when it was your turn!”
“Want to play again then?”
“N-no. But you’re really mean.”
I mumbled and quietly shuffled back toward the desk.
“So go back to the old man’s house. Tell him Uncle was too mean and you can’t live with me anymore. Hey—why are you creeping up again like you’re gonna mess with something?”
“I’m not! I swear!”
I shook my head quickly and sat right next to Uncle.
Thankfully, he didn’t pick me up and move me again.
“Yeah, right.”
“Uncle, don’t you still have to read those letters too?”
“Yeah, so stop bothering me and go.”
“I won’t bother you.”
Uncle raised one eyebrow and stared at me for a while, then finally sighed and looked away.
“Do what you want. But the moment you get in my way, you’re out.”
“Okay. But Uncle, guess what.”
“Ugh…”
“Hehe, I just wanna read the letter that’s for me, and then I’ll leave…”
“Why would anyone send you a letter?”
“They did! It says ‘Aika’ on it! From the Imperial Palace!”
I pointed to the envelope sticking out with my name on it.
Uncle’s face turned even more serious.
“How do you know it’s from the palace?”
“Because of the lion emblem! Mom taught me. I know the other family symbols too!”
“You know the emblems?”
“Yep! And the vine—”
Knock knock.
“My lord, it’s Gerard.”
