I must’ve pressed too hard without realizing—snap! The crayon broke clean in half.
“Ah.”
Ugh, I should be more careful.
I brushed aside the broken half and continued coloring with the larger piece.
Dark green and lighter green for the leaves.
Then I drew Mom, me, Uncle, even Grandpa—now the picture looked pretty good.
Oh wow, I might actually be good at this.
Feeling proud, I called out to my uncle, who was sitting in the desk chair in his study.
“Uncle, guess what.”
“No.”
“……”
Wait, I haven’t even said anything yet.
I pursed my lips, frowned, and then smiled sheepishly.
Well, if Uncle’s not here, then he’s not here. No big deal!
“Uncle, then I guess you’re not here.”
“I’m ri—hey.”
Uncle opened his eyes with a sigh of irritation.
Seizing the opportunity, I held up the big drawing I’d worked so hard on.
“Uncle! Should I draw you too? Look, I’m really good at it!”
“No.”
I smiled contentedly at that answer.
Uncle’s frown deepened.
“Why are you smiling when I said no?”
“Mom said you always mean the opposite of what you say. So I just flip it around!”
“…That mother-daughter duo…”
“I’m gonna draw you too!”
“Do whatever you want.”
I called him a few more times, but he didn’t respond again.
I drew family, drew Uncle, drew me and Mom together, and even me and Uncle.
But after a while, my arm started to hurt and I got bored.
I thought I felt someone’s gaze every now and then, but Uncle had his eyes closed the whole time.
Though… it didn’t seem like he was actually asleep.
I put down the nearly-used-up crayon and tiptoed over to Uncle.
“Uncle, are you sleeping?”
“Yeah.”
“If you’re not sleeping, play with me. I finished my drawing.”
I hovered around him, nagging persistently.
“Uncle’s busy.”
Despite the bored tone, he was just sitting there with his legs crossed, hands laced over his stomach, and eyes closed.
“You weren’t busy just now.”
“Got busy suddenly.”
He didn’t even open his eyes when he said that.
“Liar…”
He’d been in the same position this whole time—how could he suddenly be busy?
He wasn’t even looking at the huge stack of documents next to him!
I kept pestering him.
Finally, he responded.
“Alright.”
“Really?!”
I grabbed his arm, practically bouncing with excitement.
“Wanna play dead body?”
He peeked one eye open and asked.
I leaned in closer to his face.
“How do you play that? Is… is it scary?”
What kind of game has such a creepy name?
“No, it’s fun.”
Uncle grinned.
Fun?
If something sounds fun, there’s no way I, Aika, can resist!
“How do you play? I wanna play! I wanna play!”
“Whoever pretends to be dead best wins. I’ll be nice and let you go first. Go on, play dead.”
Play dead, huh? Not even Mom’s played that with me before.
“Hmmm…”
I thought hard about which pose would make it easiest to beat Uncle.
“If you don’t want to, forget it. One, two, three…”
“No! Uncle, can I lie down to play dead? I just have to stay still, right?”
I quickly stopped him from counting and ran to the thick carpet spread wide across the floor.
Then I hurriedly cleaned up all my drawings.
“Do whatever you want. If you don’t move until I call you, you win. Then I’ll buy you a present.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just breathe quietly and don’t move until I call you, okay?”
“Okay!”
He was being weirdly nice, which was suspicious, but I flopped down on my back before he could change his mind.
With my head facing the ceiling, I couldn’t see Uncle’s face.
‘What should I ask for? Maybe we can eat snacks together tomorrow? Or go out and buy flowers? Ooh, I want to go out with Grandpa and Uncle too. But I want to do all three…’
“Close your eyes. Start.”
“Oh, okay!”
How did he know I was peeking? I squeezed my eyes shut.
How long do I have to stay like this to win? I feel like I might fall asleep.
Even though I found a comfy position, my body started to itch.
And it was getting strangely quiet around me…
Creak. I heard the chair move.
I held my breath so Uncle wouldn’t catch me.
Time passed.
Then I heard a dull sound, followed by his footsteps walking far away.
***
“Hap!”
Oh no—did I fall asleep?
I glanced toward Uncle’s desk.
Lying on the floor, I couldn’t see him.
But something felt off… like I was completely alone in the room.
I moved my head around cautiously.
“Ah!”
Uncle was gone.
And it seemed like he’d left a while ago.
He left me behind! Uncle tricked me!
I was going to go easy on him when it was his turn!
“Uncle is such a dumb jerk.”
Fuming, I brushed off my skirt and stood up.
I turned to leave but stopped at the door.
“…I should still leave him the drawing.”
I returned and neatly gathered all the papers scattered on the floor.
I placed them front and center on his desk—right between his half-empty teacup and the mountain of documents.
“If you throw them away, I’ll really be mad.”
Hands on hips, I narrowed my eyes at the stack of papers taller than me.
“…Why do Mom and Uncle have so much work?”
It’d be nice if all that just disappeared.
Fidgeting, I started touching the documents. That’s when I noticed a pile of envelopes stacked beside them, just as high.
Some had been opened, others hadn’t.
Wouldn’t helping with these reduce Uncle’s workload?
If I read and summarized them, he might like that.
Mom used to love it when I stayed nearby or helped out while she worked.
Hmm… or maybe not. Maybe I should just leave them alone?
Uncle’s too unpredictable.
“Then maybe I’ll just tidy the ones sticking out…”
“Hands off.”
I was reaching for a few that were poking out when Uncle suddenly appeared.
I froze mid-reach, like an ice statue.
Then I spotted a letter with my name on it—Aika.
Huh? A letter for me?
After a three-second pause, I slowly turned my head and gave Uncle a sulky glare.
“You liar!”
“Caught me.”
With one hand shoved deep into his pocket, Uncle strode over and lifted me up, plopping me far away from the desk.
“Wait, hold on—!”
Ugh! I had a letter!
“I was gonna go easy on you when it was your turn!”
“Then should we play again?”
“No! I mean… but Uncle, you’re so mean.”
I hesitated, then slowly crept back toward the desk.
“So I guess you should go back to the old man’s place. Go tattle. Say your uncle’s so awful you can’t live with him. Hey! What are you doing now, coming closer again?”
“Nuh-uh. I’m not causing trouble.”
Shaking my head, I snuck right up next to him.
Luckily, he didn’t pick me up and move me again.
“Yeah, right.”
“Uncle, don’t you have to read all those letters too?”
“Yeah, so don’t get in the way.”
“I won’t.”
He raised a brow and stared at me for a while, then finally sighed and turned away.
“Do whatever you want. But the moment you interrupt, you’re getting kicked out.”
“Okay. But Uncle…”
“Tch.”
“I just wanna read the one addressed to me…”
“Why would you get mail?”
“I did! Look, it says Aika! From the Imperial Palace!”
I pointed straight at the poking-out envelope.
Uncle’s face darkened.
“How do you know it’s from the palace?”
“That lion emblem! Mom taught me. I know all the noble family crests too!”
“You know their crests?”
“Yup. And the vines—”
Knock knock.
“My lord, it’s Gerard.”
