Jeron was a difficult child.
He had the kind of stubborn intensity befitting a protagonist.
Even after hours of rolling on the floor and screaming, Aisha still didnāt respond ā so eventually, he began throwing things.
But Aisha let him do whatever he wanted, indifferent.
At last, exhausted, Jeron caught his breath with angry snorts, glared at Aisha, and stormed out of the room.
Leaving the room hadnāt been one of her expected outcomes, and Aisha flinched.
Should she go after him or not?
As she hesitated, Mika stepped forward.
“Iāll go after him.”
“ā¦Will you?”
“Yes!”
So Mika followed Jeron, and Aisha let out a deep sigh as she looked around the wrecked room.
He really was a problem child.
“What if I canāt handle this anymore?”
Aisha was honestly afraid that she might eventually give up on Jeron.
She was already so tired.
Just then, the door burst open and Luzbel came in.
From the look of urgency on his face, he must have heard about what happened from the servants.
“Aisha! My goodness, what happened to this roomā¦?”
He frowned deeply, his brow creasing.
“Iām fine.”
“Fine? You look pale.”
Luzbel stepped close, brushing her cheek with a worried expression.
“ā¦Jeron seems to be going too far. Are you sure youāre all right? Maybe I should give him a firmā”
“And how exactly do you plan to ‘firmly’ handle him?”
“He needs to be disciplined. So that he never dares to defy you again. Or perhaps it would be best to isolate him entirelyā”
What on earth was this man talking about now?
“If you ‘discipline’ him like that twice, Jeron will only turn out worse.”
She cut him off mid-sentence with a scoffing tone, and Luzbelās mouth snapped shut.
His face shifted into that guilty, uncertain look ā he clearly didnāt even know what heād done wrong.
“Right now, Jeron is emotionally wounded and rejecting both of us as his parents. And in the middle of that, youāre talking about forcing and isolating him? Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds?”
“ā¦Itā¦ doesnāt sound very reasonable.”
“ā¦”
“Iām sorryā¦”
It wasnāt the time for jokes, but when her icy glare hit him, Luzbel immediately shrank back and apologized.
“If you tell me what to do, Iāll do it properly.”
“When youāre with Jeron, you look so awkward ā how exactly are you going to do well with him?”
Luzbel had no answer to that. He pressed his lips tightly shut.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ***
“What? Where did he go?”
“The cabin he used to live inā¦”
Apparently, Jeron had left the room and gone all the way back to his old cabin by himself.
Mika had tried everything to persuade him to return, but he wouldnāt listen at all, so she had no choice but to come back and report it.
Aisha couldnāt understand why Jeron was acting like this ā she was curious about the childās psychology.
Whenever something didnāt go his way, Jeron threatened them to send him back to the cabin.
And today, when things hadnāt gone his way again, he had actually gone there immediately.
While she was listening quietly, Luzbel said,
“Let him be.”
“What?”
Aisha turned sharply toward him, her tone biting, and Luzbel awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away.
In the end, Aisha decided to go find Jeron herself.
Luzbel went with her.
The road to the cabin was still rough ā far too dangerous for a young child to travel alone.
When they arrived and opened the old wooden door, they saw Jeron sitting inside, staring blankly into space.
“!!”
He clearly hadnāt expected her to come after him; startled, he jumped to his feet.
“ā¦W-why are you hereā¦?”
“Why else? I came to find you, Jeron.”
“ā¦”
“Do you want to live here?”
Or had he hidden a pot of honey here or something?
“Do you like this place?”
“ā¦”
“Iām just curious.”
“ā¦”
But Jeron kept his lips tightly shut, protesting with silence.
“If you really like the cabin, Iāll let you live here.”
Aisha made the offer.
Of course, she had no intention of letting him stay here alone.
“ā¦Yeah.”
After a long silence, Jeron finally opened his mouth.
He said he wanted to stay.
“You want to live here?”
“ā¦I do.”
Jeron, with a faintly wounded expression, nodded slowly, and Aisha said she understood.
“Do you need anything?”
“Donāt need anything.”
As if not wanting to talk anymore, Jeron shouted for her to leave and turned his back to her.
What had upset him this time?
“ā¦Are you really going to leave Jeron here?”
Luzbel, who had suggested the idea earlier and been scolded for it, asked in disbelief.
“He says he wants to stay, so what can I do? But I wonāt leave him alone.”
“ā¦Thenā¦?”
“Iāll live here too.”
“Excuse me?”
“What?”
It was a shocking declaration that left both father and son speechless.
Even Jeron, who had been lying with his back turned, looked up in surprise.
“What? Where else would I go without you?”
Aisha could only let out a baffled, awkward laugh.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ***
If he had refused even this, she had been ready to spank him and drag him back, but Jeron, though grumbling, didnāt seem entirely displeased.
“You donāt have toā¦”
His words were sour, but the corners of his mouth were turned up.
Apparently, this was his way of pouting ā wanting to be held back.
“Take care of me, then.”
“Hmph!”
He snorted, but his reaction was surprisingly mild. Seeing that, Aisha felt proud ā her declaration that theyād live together had worked.
And so, in no time, the three of them ā Luzbel, Aisha, and Jeron ā moved out of a perfectly fine manor and into the cramped old cabin.
Even Mika, Aishaās attendant, and Luzbelās butler had tried to follow, but they had barely been convinced to stay behind.
There wasnāt enough space for everyone anyway.
“ā¦The bedās small.”
Her first thought upon arriving was, ‘Where are we supposed to sleep?’
There were three people and only a single-sized bed. That meant two of them would have to sleep on the floor.
“Jeron should take the bed.”
“Aisha should take the bed.”
They spoke at the same time, then turned to look at each other in surprise.
“Jeronā¦”
“You should be the one to sleep there, Aisha.”
“What? No, Jeronās still a child ā we canāt make him sleep on the cold floorā”
“No, you should take the bed, Aisha.”
“I canāt give in on this one.”
Aisha cut him off firmly.
Then Luzbel tapped Jeron on the shoulder and said,
“You decide.”
“ā¦Iā¦”
Jeron looked thoughtful for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
“Slā¦ sleep tā¦”
Aisha held her breath for a second, half-expecting him to say letās sleep together.
“ā¦I sleep there.”
But the mischievous five-year-old, noticing her anticipation, quickly changed his words.
“Jeron, are you saying youāll take the bed?”
“Yeah. You two sleep on the floor.”
“All right.”
Still, Aisha was satisfied just hearing that Jeron wanted to sleep in the bed.
As she started spreading the beddingā
“Thereās only one blanket.”
No ā to be exact, after laying one down on the floor, there was only one left to cover with.
“I guess weāll have to sleep together then.”
He said it as if it couldnāt be helped, but why were the corners of that manās mouth lifting?
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ***
Aisha wasnāt that easy.
It wasnāt bedtime yet anyway ā they could just go back to the manor and bring more blankets.
Besides, with Luzbelās large build, one blanket between them would be far too cramped.
“Itās fine. Iāll go and bring a blanket myself.”
“ā¦Ah.”
For some reason, Luzbel looked disappointed, his shoulders slumping slightly.
“Iāll go. Please stay here for a moment.”
Without further discussion, he said he would go himself and immediately moved to leave.
“Jeron, donāt cause trouble and donāt make your mother worry.”
He didnāt forget to warn him as he went out the door.
Of course, Jeron didnāt even bother to snort in response.
And just like that, Luzbel left, leaving only the two of them inside the cabin.
Compared to the rooms in the manor, the cabin was quite small ā Aisha thought that maybe, by living here together, they might naturally grow closer.
“Jeron.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
She didnāt understand why he liked this cabin so much ā there was no way it held any good memories for him, and that worried her.
“ā¦Yeah.”
She remembered clearly the time she had found him here before, being brutally beaten by his nanny.
Maybe that was why his face now looked paler than usual.
“Are you really okay?”
“ā¦”
“Jeron, can I hug you?”
“No.”
She had wanted to hold him out of concern, but his answer came as a quick, firm refusal.
What a child with strong likes and dislikes.
Even so, Aisha thought to herself that he at least knew how to say no.
“I said donāt hug meā¦”
Ignoring his refusal, Aisha slowly approached and hugged him anyway.
“If you donāt like it, push me away.”
“ā¦”
But he didnāt push her away.
He just stayed quietly in her arms.
Maybe he had been waiting.
Waiting for someone to come to him first.
He probably didnāt know how to deal with people, so all he could do before was lash out and act violently.
“Jeron.”
“ā¦”
“From now on, Iāll do better.”
“ā¦”
She meant it.
Aisha whispered the words like a vow.
Until recently, she had thought she was only trying to survive ā but before she knew it, this lonely, desolate child had taken up a place in her heart.
The fact that she wanted to treat him better, to love him more, said everything.
