Danny gestured toward him. Masa gave his back a push, urging him to go. Ollie got to his feet with some hesitation, dusted off his clothes for no real reason, and then, as the gazes watching him in silence continued, he finally took Asel’s hand firmly and headed over. The eyes of everyone present trailed after him, whether they meant them to or not.
“Hatton wanted to see him.”
He pulled Ollie along and stood him in front of Hatton. Hatton, whose distinguished beard was his most striking feature, was a Tree Folk elder who had lived as long as Masa. He wore a warm smile and looked at them both.
“It’s been a while, Hatton. This is Asel. Say hello.”
“Hello, Asel.”
The child looked at him with the same blank, level gaze as when he’d first seen Alexa. Hatton, getting no response in return, seemed a little flustered and looked back and forth between Danny and Ollie.
“Asel can’t talk yet. He’s much younger than he looks. Bear with him.”
“Ah. I see. Nice to meet you, Asel.”
Even at that, the child gave nothing but a flat, unimpressed stare without the slightest trace of a smile.
“He’s a quiet one.”
Whether he had already adjusted to the child’s manner in that short time, Hatton laughed out loud and stroked his chin. His bristling, jutting beard disappeared and reappeared behind his palm in turn.
“In any case, he really is a beautiful child.”
“Right? I was surprised too when I first saw him. Doesn’t look like Ollie at all.”
“What?”
Danny agreed with Hatton and tacked on an unnecessary comment, and the sharp reaction from Ollie that followed was entirely predictable. In one sense, it was only natural that Asel — found on the ground — looked nothing like Ollie, but Ollie despised that fact with every fiber of his being. To the point that he wouldn’t stand for it even from Masa if she put it that way.
“What do you mean he doesn’t look like me! Look at his hands and ears — they’re exactly like mine!”
Ollie nearly shouted, pointing at his ears as if they had any particular features. Asel’s small hands were still stubby and unformed and looked nothing like Ollie’s at all, yet he stood his ground with full confidence.
“Well, sure. The ears do look a bit alike.”
“You put your heart into the strangest things.”
Danny nodded along to humor Ollie’s stubbornness, but Hatton did not. This was exactly why he disliked Hatton. He had let it slide all this time because of how close Hatton was with Masa, but having someone speak this way about him and Asel was something he could not allow. He turned his back on the spot.
He always does this — acting like he knows everything, like he’s something special, running his mouth like that. Ollie didn’t hesitate for a moment to tear Hatton apart in his mind.
“Where are you going, Ollie!”
“Leave him. He’s in a sulk again. That nature of his isn’t going anywhere.”
At those words that followed, Ollie’s shoulders gave a sharp flinch — but he didn’t stop walking. He’d been meaning to go to where Masa was, but then he caught sight of Kan waving him over.
Kan was there, and so were Bes, and — of all people — Jackson. Naturally, he had no intention of going over. But looking at the smug, self-satisfied expression on Jackson’s face, somehow not going felt like it would look like running away. In the end, he forced his reluctant feet and walked with Asel toward Kan.
“Ollie.”
Kan called to him in a gentle voice. Ollie did no more than meet his eyes — nothing else.
“Hey, Ollie. Come take a look.”
Jackson had his chin lifted, putting on airs. The way he gestured toward the child in the basket was sickening in how obnoxious it was. When Lucy and Bes stepped aside, a large basket woven from tree bark came into view. Drawing closer, he found inside it a baby with a face as squashed and uneven as a potato. Inwardly, he was already certain it could only be Jackson’s child.
“Ollie, the child next to you…….”
Lucy kept an eye on Jackson’s mood as she spoke to him. Ollie lifted the gaze he’d had on the potato-baby and looked at Lucy. Then he moved Asel forward. The child followed his guiding hands without resistance and stood in front of Ollie, looking at Lucy.
“This is Asel. Say hello.”
The look of pride on his face was almost glowing, and Kan felt a faint twist of discomfort in his chest. He was still uneasy about the child. Those glittering golden eyes simply never quite sat right with him.
“Hello, Asel. I’m Lucy. Wow…… you really are a beautiful child.”
Unlike in front of Hatton, the child answered with a radiant smile. The shift was like a flower bud bursting into full bloom, and the hearts of everyone present — Lucy included — dropped all at once. The reaction was especially dramatic from Lucy and Bes, who had only just given birth themselves.
“What! You kept such a beautiful child all to yourself! Ollie, that’s too much, honestly.”
Bes made a fuss and crouched down beside Asel.
“Well, I’ve been a little busy. You’re welcome to look all you want now.”
“Pfft. I think I might actually die, he’s so beautiful. Do you know what your face looks like right now, Ollie? You’re completely melting.”
Only then did Ollie reach up and rub his own face self-consciously. Bes laughed brightly and played hand games with Asel. The child played along quite well. Even without being able to speak, he understood everything they said and would write words into their palms. Each time he did, Bes and Lucy — and even Matthew’s expressions — melted soft and pliant as whipped cream.
“Hey, you too — come say hello.”
Jackson, unhappy with how things were going, forced his way in. He jerked his chin toward the basket. He meant for the showing-off to stop and for them to look at his child already. It was only then that Bes took Ollie’s hand and led him in front of the basket. I already saw it earlier…… A fleeting thought, and then he approached the basket.
“Andrew and Eva. Say hello, Ollie.”
Bes gently stroked the cheek of the sleeping child as she spoke. Ollie looked at the squashed, potato-shaped baby with an expression he made no effort to soften, and said flatly:
“Cute. Though Asel is cuter, of course.”
Kan pressed a hand to his forehead watching Ollie say what he had absolutely no need to say. But contrary to his worry, Bes and Lucy only snickered at his manner — as blunt as any parent’s — finding it more funny than anything. Thanks to their easy reactions, even Ollie’s remark — which could easily be taken as picking a fight — didn’t make the atmosphere freeze over.
“What? Look properly.”
But this was Jackson. Jackson, who would despise anything and everything Ollie approved of, until the day he died. He stepped closer and spoke like a threat.
“I did look properly.”
“Look again.”
The distance between Ollie and Jackson was now less than a single step. Lucy and Bes exchanged glances and signaled to Matthew and Kan with their eyes. Kan stepped in, placing himself between them. Matthew quietly took hold of Jackson’s arm and tried to pull him back. But the fire that had caught between them wasn’t going out easily.
“Why are you picking a fight, it’s so annoying. Is it because your child isn’t as good-looking as Asel?”
Ollie finally pulled Jackson’s trigger. Jackson didn’t hold back and lunged. A small fight broke out in one corner of an otherwise joyful festival. Luckily, Matthew grabbed him in a hurry, so Ollie didn’t end up flying across the ground from Jackson’s fist.
“Damn it! What did you just say!”
“I — I just told the truth. You started it!”
“Get over here, you!”
Ollie stammered, frightened by the violence. Even so, he didn’t forget to push Asel behind himself. Asel, unlike his usual self, moved in response to Ollie’s hand with strangely slow, unhurried steps — but Ollie was too scattered to notice.
“He’s not even your kid! You obviously stole him from somewhere! How else would someone like you get a child? A guy whose only family is the mother who abandoned him. And your father — dropped dead somewhere in a ditch!”
“Jackson!”
The words had gone too far. Kan grabbed Jackson by the collar. Matthew, face drained of color, held Jackson tight and tried to stop him. Behind Ollie, the child slowly let out a breath, gazing quietly down at the trembling, ungainly hand that kept being pushed back behind him.
“Masa is my family too, and you took her from me! Is stealing the only thing you’ll ever know how to do? And now you’re playing real family with some kid you picked up off the ground!”
“…….”
“You think I’m the only one who thinks this? No. Everyone does. That a person who grew up without a parent’s love must have stolen a child from somewhere — that’s what they all think!”
“Jackson, enough!”
Kan finally shoved Jackson with force. The hard push sent Jackson stumbling, and he toppled backward together with Matthew, who had been holding onto him.
