Chapter – 28
Breakfast was as peaceful as any other day.
It was a little hectic because Croft had fallen asleep in the shop instead of his bedroom, but otherwise, the day started as usual.
After finishing the meal, Sasha rushed to the study, while Mari stayed behind to help Croft clear the tableware.
“Mariposa, I told you there’s no need to do this,” Croft said.
Correction: she had intended to clean.
“You and the others are supposed to be taken care of. If you want to help, do something simpler.”
“What could be simpler than putting away spoons…?”
Croft didn’t answer.
He quickly turned his head, levitating the dishes and glasses with his wand, and placed them into the washing tub.
Mari rolled her eyes and hesitated, seemingly wanting to say something, before looking at Croft.
“What is it?”
Croft could sense when a child was hesitant like this and asked without much patience.
Mari’s face darkened as she spoke.
“Um… Croft, did you… drink because of us?”
“What?”
What was that supposed to mean?
The dishes floating in the air wobbled.
Croft hurriedly finished putting away the dishes and turned to face her.
“I didn’t drink.”
“Hmm.”
“Mariposa, I’m serious.”
Croft spoke firmly, but Mari just averted her gaze, still unable to hide her disbelief.
“You don’t trust me?”
“Well, adults… they drink when something’s troubling them.”
Troubling.
At that word, Croft’s mind flashed back to last night, but he stiffened his face to hide his emotions.
“There wasn’t anything troubling me. And what do you mean it’s ‘because of you’?”
Hopefully, she hadn’t noticed what happened at dawn.
Croft’s blue eyes trembled faintly.
Mari hesitated before answering.
“Yesterday… I thought maybe hearing my story would make you feel uneasy.”
Croft sighed.
“So you thought I was completely wasted?”
“Yes…”
A tutting sound echoed in the kitchen.
Croft rubbed his throbbing forehead and spoke calmly.
“How do you even come to such a conclusion? Hearing about your mother didn’t make me upset or make me drink. Yesterday was just…”
His words trailed off.
How could he fabricate a story about going out to avenge Molly? He couldn’t tell the truth, and he couldn’t bring himself to lie. So he just looked at Mari in silence.
Mari, meeting Croft’s serious gaze, blinked her innocent green eyes, embarrassed.
Croft, keeping quiet, decided to change the topic.
“Mariposa, you said your reaction to loud noises isn’t related to thieves, right?”
Mari’s fear, triggered by Molly’s death.
“Yes.”
“But then what caused it?”
Croft asked, trying to shift the topic, but immediately realized he had spoken carelessly and looked at Mari for cues.
After a moment of thought, Mari answered calmly.
“There was an explosion accident in the past.”
An explosion. Croft’s blue eyes narrowed.
Mari slowly began her story.
“Four years ago, I lived briefly with Sasha’s father.”
She might have mentioned this when they first met.
“Uncle Dilek was a kind man. My mother liked him very much too; they’d known each other for a long time. Maybe that’s why he treated me like a daughter.”
A small smile appeared on Mari’s lips as she remembered Dilek.
“I liked him a lot too…”
But the smile quickly vanished.
Mari’s green eyes darkened with sorrow.
“My mother had just become pregnant when a fire broke out in our house.”
“A fire?”
“Yes… My mother and I evacuated, but the man inside…”
Her words faltered, but Croft could guess the outcome.
A house fire. An explosion. A man trapped inside.
“Before, I’d only been startled by explosions, but after my mother died, I became scared of them,” Mari explained.
Croft sighed, watching her carefully.
“Mariposa.”
Mari lifted her dim face to look at Croft.
“Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
But Croft could tell that her brave smile was hiding the truth.
“I was really happy when Sasha was born. I wanted to continue living like this. No more sleeping in alleyways, having a home, having a family… it was wonderful…”
“How did the accident happen?” Croft asked.
“My mother said it was probably an accident, that the house just caught fire. That’s why it exploded.”
Suddenly, a blaze had stolen the child’s happiness.
When Croft thought of Molly, he felt the same tightness in his chest.
“Sasha’s a magician, so Uncle Dilek must have been too. But why couldn’t he get out?”
“…The usable magical circles were limited,” Mari said.
Croft continued carefully, hoping not to hurt Mari further.
“There probably wasn’t a suitable magic circle available.”
“Do you think my mother couldn’t defend herself for the same reason?”
Mari’s voice was troubled.
Croft couldn’t answer.
He felt his heart drop—he hadn’t imagined that Mari would think this way.
“…Not all magicians can do everything,” he finally said.
Magicians rely on magical circles and tools to cast spells. Even Croft, a great magician, had limits.
If a thief had attacked suddenly…
“Mariposa, don’t think like that,” Croft said quietly.
Mari nodded weakly.
Croft looked down at her small head.
Both of her guardians had lost their lives.
Yet why did Dilek’s house, unlike other homes, explode from a simple fire? Maybe there was gunpowder, or magical tools…
Croft dismissed the thought. There was no point in dwelling on it.
Still, a faint unease stirred.
“Croft? Are you okay?”
“Ah…”
He realized he had been staring blankly at the air.
Croft quickly nodded, holding his wand.
“I was just thinking. You said loud noises scare you after your mother died?”
“Yes.”
It seemed Molly’s death had left a deep mark on Mari.
Dilek engulfed in flames, Molly’s eyes closing in a pool of blood… the deaths of her two guardians must have caused her great trauma.
“Were you hurt in the fire?”
“My mother injured her arm, and I got burns on my back. I’m okay now.”
Croft’s eyes scanned Mari’s small frame.
“Burn scars on your back?”
Mari thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Maybe. I’ve never looked at my back closely. But my mother used to be sad about the burn marks, so they’re probably still there.”
“I see.”
His mind was crowded with thoughts.
Losing Dilek, losing Molly, and raising Sasha alone… he could only imagine the pain Mari endured.
He puffed his wand once and said to Mari:
“Mariposa, follow me. I’ll put some medicine on the scars.”
“Medicine can remove scars? But you said they’re not that big.”
“It’s fine. If they can be removed, I’ll remove them.”
Following the movement of his wand, the chair slid under the table.
He gently led the hesitant Mari to the study.
“Big sis!”
But upon entering, they were met with a surprising sight.
“Ta-da! Princess Sasha’s magnificent castle!”
Recently obsessed with stacking books, Sasha had built an entire fortress as tall as Croft himself.
Mari gasped and ran toward Sasha.
“Sasha! You can’t make a castle out of books like this!”
“Why not? Come in, big sis! It’s amazing!”
Even Mari had to admit the fortress was sturdy.
Then Croft, feigning anger, knocked it down.
“I told you not to play with books!”
“Nooo!”
Sasha leapt to catch the scattering books, but Croft’s precise levitation magic overpowered her.
“My castle! My nemesis!”
“Quiet, or you’ll get in trouble.”
At the sound of Croft’s gritted teeth, Sasha fell silent.
“Books aren’t toys. Treat them carefully.”
“But I made it precious!”
“Say that one more time.”
All the books were restored to order.
Croft, exhausted in a different way, brushed his long hair back and took a transparent bottle from his desk drawer.
“This is the medicine?”
“Yes. It will remove the scars.”
Mari ran over to Croft’s desk, and Sasha followed.
Croft hesitated as he opened the bottle.
“Mariposa, is the scar lower on your back?”
“No, it’s on my shoulder blade. But really, it’s fine.”
“Just apply it then,” he gestured.
Mari hesitated, then turned around, fumbling as she unbuttoned the top of her back slightly.
Croft soaked a white cloth with the medicine and lifted his gaze to Mari’s burns.
“The medicine might sting a bit…”
His voice trailed off. The study fell silent.
Mari braced herself for the cold touch but felt nothing and blinked in surprise.
She turned slightly and saw Croft staring blankly at her back.
“Croft?”
Mari and Sasha both tilted their heads, curious.
Sasha leaned between them to see Mari’s back.
“Uh…?”
There, on the child’s back, was a burn about the size of a hand—and a faint, reddish magical circle.
