# Chapter 24
I’d have to keep him from mingling with other children for a while. That was the conclusion I reached after staying up all night thinking about it. I was worried about how to make him accept this, but Rite agreed without resistance. Seeing Rite nodding with a completely defeated expression made me feel bad.
‘Later… when you can control your horns, I’ll let you play with them again.’
So I unnecessarily made such a promise. And thus, Rite went back to sticking by my side instead of with the children.
“Rite still can’t be without Arden, huh?”
Lucy said playfully, looking at Rite hiding behind me. Rite didn’t even acknowledge her and turned his head away. I finished paying with an awkward smile.
On the way back to the forest after finishing all our errands, we saw two figures at the edge of the village. Too small to be adults. My eyesight wasn’t good enough to see clearly, but before I could recognize who they were, Rite hurriedly pulled down the edge of his hat and pressed it down deep.
The child who had been watching the direction of the forest as if waiting for someone turned around at the sound of our approach. It was Cal. Ea, who turned her head a moment after Cal, had her expression harden.
“There he is.”
Ea tried to hold Cal back, but he ignored her and walked up to me. Cal, who stopped about three steps away, was quite tall. He looked more like he was 15 than 12. Cal glanced up at me and then snorted at Rite, who was behind me.
“Coward.”
At Cal’s words, I reflexively reached out and grabbed Rite’s hand. I was worried he might rush at Cal in a fit of excitement. But after a small flinch, Rite showed no other reaction.
“Acting all high and mighty when you’re nothing. Why did you pretend to be so great?”
“…I never did that.”
“You were always hiding behind Ea and running your mouth.”
Ea looked up at me intently. As if she wanted me to stop this situation. I wasn’t sure if it was right for me to step in on a children’s fight, or how to end this situation without hurting Rite, but I cautiously opened my mouth.
“Cal, Rite isn’t feeling well. I’d appreciate it if you could stop and go home today…”
At my words, Cal snickered and then turned his gaze back to Rite. Not only was my sentence cut off, but his clearly mocking smile made my heart sink.
Maybe the reason Cal ignores and ostracizes Rite isn’t because of Ea, but because of me. He must have heard what the adults say. If they think I’m ridiculous, then Rite, who lives with me, must look pathetic to them as well. My heart raced, cloaked in uneasy emotions.
“Keep hiding all the time, you coward. Behind a girl, behind an idiot.”
“I told you he’s not an idiot.”
Rite’s voice was savage. His eyes were filled with venom as he looked at Cal. This wasn’t good. I gripped Rite’s hand tighter, but Rite didn’t care and approached Cal.
“Rite, let’s stop and go.”
I pulled his arm, but Rite resisted, applying his strength. Seeing Rite like this, Cal twisted his lips up in a smile. He seemed to want to provoke Rite by any means necessary. Every single action felt conscious and deliberate toward Rite.
“What are you going to do, glaring at me like that?”
“Say you were wrong. And apologize.”
“Rite, please.”
I raised my voice, but no one paid attention to what I said. Should I pick Rite up and run away again? But didn’t that just provoke Rite’s anger last time? If he went into an irrational state again, I couldn’t guarantee we would get through it safely this time.
The more I thought, the more my head hurt as if experiencing an overload. I felt dizzy and confused. My anxious heart couldn’t think properly. I could only flee to our hideout like a small creature hiding from frost, taking Rite with me.
“Acting tough when you can’t do anything if someone just puts a hand on your hat…”
That’s when Cal reached out toward Rite’s hat. It was truly just a moment. Too quick for me to block. In that brief instant, Rite quickly turned his head, but the hood caught on Cal’s fingertips.
The small pin couldn’t withstand the force and fell to the ground. The hat was half-removed, caught on one horn. Both Cal and Ea stared at Rite’s horn with surprised eyes. The pitch-black horn that didn’t belong on a human head.
I hurriedly reached out and put the hat back on. Rite stood stiffly, not even blinking. Though the horn was covered again, their gazes were still on the spot above Rite’s head. Where the horn had been.
The worst had happened. I frantically looked around first. It felt like the sound of my heartbeat had materialized and was blocking my view with a haze. Nothing could be seen clearly. I rubbed my eyes hard and checked if there were people around. At the eerie-looking village entrance, there was a tree set upside down marking the boundary with the forest. Being the path connected to the Winter Forest, no people were in sight.
Then.
“…Monster.”
Cal’s eyes darted back and forth. He stepped back little by little, staggering, before falling backward. Ea also blinked rapidly with her hand covering her mouth.
Cal tried to get up several times but fell back down, perhaps because his legs had gone weak. Still looking at Rite, he felt around the ground with his hand. That young hand grabbed a stone.
“Get away!”
I quickly blocked in front of Rite, but it was already too late. A small stone hit Rite’s forehead and fell. Cal retreated hastily, but his gaze never left Rite. Fear filled Cal’s eyes.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I raised my voice without realizing it. My whole body trembled as if from the cold. Those terror-filled eyes now turned toward me.
“You just saw it.”
“Saw what? What did you see that makes it okay to throw stones at a person?”
“It’s not a person!”
At Cal’s scream, I felt Rite grab my clothes. He was trembling. I could feel that trembling clearly even through the fabric. I had failed to protect the child. The child was hurt. Those two facts dropped a huge rock on my heart. The person who should have been hit by the stone was me, not Rite.
“What are you talking about?”
“You saw it. Those horns on his head, under the hat…”
“So you threw a stone? Cal, that doesn’t erase your mistake. Lying is wrong.”
Cal and Ea looked at me with bewildered eyes. Those two gazes poked at me uncomfortably. My palms were soaked with sweat.
It’s a stroke of luck. I tried to consciously think that way. The only witnesses were Cal and Ea. I just needed to resolve things with those two. They were still young children, so adults wouldn’t easily believe them. No, they must not. If I insisted it was nonsense, it would somehow work out. But before that, it was better to control what they said.
“You shouldn’t say such things carelessly.”
“Are you taking that monster’s side right now?”
“I’m telling you not to say such things.”
“You’re a monster too, aren’t you? You’ve been hiding it all this time… That’s why you live in the Winter Forest. Because you’re a monster!”
At Cal’s outcry, Rite’s trembling intensified. I became increasingly anxious. It would be a disaster if he had another episode. I needed to get the child home quickly and comfort him.
Ea helped Cal, who was shouting in excitement again, to his feet. Ea also seemed flustered, but she was calmer than Cal. While patting one of Cal’s shoulders, she looked at me.
“…I think Cal saw something wrong.”
“Ea?”
“A monster? That’s ridiculous.”
“…”
“There are so many unusual people in this world.”
The words that came from Ea’s mouth were unexpected. Cal looked at Ea with a face that seemed betrayed.
“…That’s right. It’s ridiculous.”
Her attitude was as if she knew but was willing to pretend not to know. I had no reason to refuse her willingness to play along with my act.
“Then we’ll be going first. Goodbye.”
Ea immediately led Cal toward the village interior. Their hurried steps seemed urgent. I watched until the children’s backs were out of sight, and after they disappeared from view, I turned my attention to Rite.
I saw him with his head bowed deeply, trembling. I knelt in front of the poor child and met his gaze. When I cupped both his cheeks to raise his head and meet his eyes, I felt moist skin. Rite was crying.
“…Arden.”
A voice locked tight called my name. I responded with a voice that I squeezed out, pretending to be calm.
“Am I a monster?”
“…”
“Am I a bad and evil monster?”
The child who had always been so brave asked this while dropping thick tears. It felt like my heart was being torn apart. I wanted to cry with him, but I couldn’t.
I had ended up leaving a painful memory in Rite’s childhood. Should I have refused to let Rite play with his friends even when he asked? Should I have made him dream and view the world only from that cabin, even if it was an isolated world? Would it have been better if I had raised him to be someone who couldn’t function without me, who knew only me?
Regret endlessly and rapidly went back to the day I first met Rite. The day that was whiter than any other day. The coldest day of that year, Rite was abandoned, wrapped in a thin cloth without proper clothes. Was it right for me to take him in that day?
“No.”
I held Rite in my arms. I felt like I was going to cry. Not wanting to show weakness, I gritted my teeth and held back.
“You are not a monster.”
Our good Rite. I whispered the same words over and over as I stroked his small back. It was words for Rite, but also words I was saying to myself.
“If someone calls you a monster just because you have horns on your head, then it’s the world that’s wrong. Not you.”
Rite is not a monster.
I don’t raise you like that. Absolutely not.
