Chapter 68
Chloe, wearing pajamas adorned with ribbons and frills, smiled faintly as she looked at Shion.
For some reason, Shion found that smile dazzling. He diverted his gaze to the pillow the girl was holding and spoke gruffly:
“Don’t you think you woke me up?”
“Nope.”
Her brazen answer made Shion frown.
But the absurdity was only beginning.
“I came because I heard you having a nightmare.”
Shion looked at her with disbelief. A nightmare makes noise?
Chloe replied coquettishly:
“Only animal people with small ears wouldn’t know. Only those with rabbit ears can hear it.”
At that absurd remark, just as Shion turned his head, he heard a soft thump—something had landed on the bed.
Turning back, half-expecting it, he saw a small pillow placed at the edge of the bed.
“I want to sleep here.”
Before he could respond, Chloe began crawling onto the bed.
“What nonsense are you talking?”
Shion, who had remained calm until now, straightened his posture, his face stern, and barked:
“Go back to your room immediately.”
“I’m only doing this as a special favor for today. Next time, no.”
“What are you talking about? Go. I said you don’t need to.”
“Today’s the first day you’re sleeping here, so I’m being generous!”
“Hey.”
“Fine, then at least do me one favor later. That’s all, okay?”
No matter how much Shion tried to be firm, Chloe Arus was relentless.
She had climbed onto someone else’s bed as she pleased and even tucked herself under the blanket neatly.
“Not sleeping? I’m tired.”
Shion’s face hardened at her antics, then returned to a neutral expression.
“Fine. Sleep here.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“Anywhere you’re not.”
Chloe suddenly grabbed Shion’s wrist as he tried to leave.
Unlike earlier that day, when he had been pulled along without resistance, Shion now stared at the hand gripping his wrist with a cold expression.
“Let go.”
“Just for today.”
“There’s a limit to how much nonsense I’ll tolerate.”
“Just for today. It’s the first day you’re sleeping at our house.”
Shion, unwilling to entertain more nonsense, tried to free his hand.
“This place… it’s unfamiliar.”
If not for the low voice and the serious tone, Shion would have ignored it. But he paused and looked at Chloe.
“No matter how tough the place was, no matter how much you abandoned it, I know that place was your home.”
“…”
“Today’s your first day sleeping somewhere that isn’t home. The first day your home changes. So…”
Unlike her previous stubborn insistence, Chloe now spoke softly:
“So… let’s sleep together today. I’ll feel better that way.”
“…”
“Yes, Shion? Just for today.”
Behind Chloe was a large window.
The white moonlight bathed her like a halo, making her look paler than usual.
Shion watched the silver-haired girl who seemed as if she might vanish, then asked:
“Chloe Arus.”
“Huh?”
“You said no one abused you, right?”
Chloe, who had been quiet, had her green eyes tremble slightly at those words.
Not missing the change, Shion asked clearly:
“But then… how do you understand my feelings so well?”
It was as if she had experienced abuse.
His question wasn’t meant to trap her or provoke a fight. Shion was genuinely curious.
He was certain of this: Chloe Arus’s behavior mirrored that of a child who had been abused.
The smiles she forced while observing others, the tendency to act according to others’ wishes rather than her own—
That could only come from a child who had experienced indiscriminate violence.
But…
“Your mom, dad, uncle, or grandfather never abused you, right?”
He could now be sure.
Like Chloe, Shion could distinguish between those who could hurt a child and those who couldn’t.
“If your guardians weren’t responsible, then who planted that fear in you?”
Shion was genuinely curious who had caused Chloe to act that way.
Who could terrify such a bright, cheerful child?
“I’m just curious. Who was it?”
Shion asked gently, hiding his own violent impulses.
“I won’t tell anyone. Just say it.”
“…”
Even under his insistence, Chloe stayed silent, biting her lips, her face pale.
After a long pause, she spoke cautiously:
“It wasn’t me who experienced it.”
“Then?”
“I saw it happen to a friend I was really close to…”
Shion narrowed his eyes, trying to confirm the truth in her words.
“It was so awful what I saw, that’s why…”
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, clearly distressed even to think about it. Then she opened them again, looking at Shion with clear eyes, quietly asking:
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Is that okay?”
“…”
“Just thinking about it back then is too hard for me…”
Seeing her like that, who could refuse?
“Alright, then.”
Shion pushed aside the uneasy feeling in his heart and sat back down on the bed.
But Chloe still looked genuinely frightened just recalling it.
Curled up tightly, eyes shut, she looked like a child anyone would naturally worry about.
Shion’s voice softened unconsciously:
“…Are you really scared?”
“Yeah…”
Weakly, Chloe peeked at him and whispered in a fragile voice:
“If I sleep alone, I think I’ll have nightmares… I’ll shiver all night and won’t be able to sleep at all…”
“…”
“But I still have to go back and sleep, right? You said I shouldn’t sleep here, that you didn’t want to sleep with me…”
Does the wolf family teach kids to speak like that? Shion felt an odd sense of déjà vu.
Chloe’s little shoulders drooped as she fiddled with her fingers.
Playing the pitiful act again.
Seeing clearly through her, Shion narrowed his eyes. Who would let this happen to her?
“I sleep very quietly… I can sleep like I’m dead…”
Who would let that happen?
“Okay, Shion. I’ll go. So don’t be so mad…”
As Chloe sulkily dragged herself upright, Shion’s rational mind gave a hasty permission:
“Fine. Just sleep here.”
“Really? I really get to sleep here?”
Her excited voice filled the room, contrasting with Shion’s deep sense of defeat.
But he couldn’t take it back.
If he let her go, he would be haunted by incomprehensible frustration and regret all night.
“On one condition.”
Shion sighed deeply and warned the quickly lying-down Chloe:
“Leave as soon as morning comes.”
“Okay, okay! I’ll leave before you wake up!”
Chloe’s grin returned, as if she had never sulked.
“…”
She seemed to realize she had changed her attitude too quickly.
Under Shion’s stern gaze, Chloe looked elsewhere, pretending to be distracted.
Even her little eye rolls weren’t unpleasant—maybe only she could get away with that.
Shion sighed in mock annoyance and rested his head back on the pillow.
“Thanks, Shion.”
Chloe, now fully recovered, chattered again:
“You didn’t have a nightmare either, thanks to me.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“No, really. When you first came here, your face was so pale.”
“…”
“If you had fallen asleep with that face, you would’ve had a bad dream. I’m sure of it.”
Shion swallowed the thought that nightmares aren’t limited to sleep and closed his eyes.
“Shion, sleep?”
But just because his eyes were closed didn’t mean he didn’t hear her.
“See, I even woke you up from a nightmare and slept with you.”
Even if she hadn’t, and even if it was because she asked.
“So later, when I’m in danger or in trouble… don’t turn away. Help me, okay?”
Shion opened his eyes quietly to look at her faint voice.
“Promise me… you’ll definitely keep it…”
The child, who had already been through so much, now seemed to reach the limits of her strength.
Chloe, trying to speak, eventually succumbed to sleep.
Shion watched her even breaths and turned his gaze to the ceiling.
“You’re the same.”
His late reply was barely audible, as if it might vanish into the darkness:
“When you’re in danger or trouble…”
But in the silent room, the voice carried clearly.
“Try not telling me.”
And with those words, spoken when no one else could hear, Shion closed his eyes.
The little snakes hiding under the bed in his heart had, by now, completely disappeared.
