[Merlin is...]
[...]
[Yet he is... I am......]
"Tick, tock, tick, tock..."
Raindrops beat against the old wooden window, stirring up imperceptible ripples. The slightly cool, damp air filled the entire room as a girl suddenly sat bolt upright on the low bed. She looked around in a daze, a wave of heat throbbing at her temples. Raising a hand to gently wipe away her sweat, she let out a long sigh.
"Phew, here we go again."
"Child, get up and have breakfast."
A woman's voice came from outside the door, followed by the door swinging open. An apron-clad, somewhat stout middle-aged woman flashed an indulgent smile at the girl. Her name was Sara. "Come along now, eat first and you can sleep more after, my dear."
Sara's light yellow curly hair was very coarse, her eye bags heavy. She seemed somewhat lacking in energy and undernourished, yet that gaze filled with indulgence and love still radiated a bright light.
The moment Sara entered, the girl's face blossomed into a smile. Her immaculate, silky white hair drifted loose, and her matching silver eyes held the pure, beautiful, bright, and crystal-clear innocence unique to a child. Skipping barefoot over in two or three steps, she flung herself straight into Sara's arms like a holy angel hidden among mortals. Her clean, sweet voice made the love in Sara's eyes deepen even further.
"Mom, I'm going right now." Tilting her head back to meet Sara's gaze, the girl raised both hands to gently stroke the corners of Sara's eyes. Her relaxed brow furrowed slightly, her tone carrying a hint of vexation and worry. "Mom, you need to rest more, you know? Your health isn't good to begin with..."
"Alright, alright, I'll listen to you. Go eat now." Sara stroked the girl's head, but as if that weren't enough, she pulled the girl tightly into an embrace and planted a fierce kiss on her forehead before finally letting her go.
The girl skipped over to the dining table, where only two slightly moldy pieces of bread and a cup of water sat. Her feet, dangling above the floor, swung back and forth as she happily and contentedly picked up a piece of bread to chew on slowly.
Sara took off her apron, looked at the pattering rain falling outside the window, and pulled a black umbrella out from the cabinet by the door. After wiping it back and forth with her sleeve, she placed it by the entrance and turned back to instruct the girl.
"Child, Mom is going out to work. If you want to sleep more after eating, go ahead. Wait until the rain stops before you go out to play."
The girl obediently put down her bread and waved at her. Her sweet smile healed the woman once more. "Don't worry, Mom. Be sure to take care of yourself. I'll wait for you to come home."
The door emitted an unpleasant squeak as it closed, immediately followed by the sound of shattering glass from next door, and then the muffled, dazed, and crude curses of a man. Frowning, the girl walked slowly toward the door.
Another loud crash echoed out, and the sound of a boy whimpering in pain, which he was trying desperately to suppress, rose from outside the door.
"Oh dear, child, you... come over here quickly!"
Sara's anxious voice made the girl inside the room raise an eyebrow slightly. She turned back to the dining table to continue enjoying her breakfast, acting as though she had heard nothing at all.
Creak.
Sara led a young boy inside. The boy was extremely resistant, but in his emaciated state, he couldn't even overpower Sara. It wasn't until they closed the door behind them that the girl got up and walked toward them.
With a face full of worry, the girl grabbed Sara's hand first, then cast a wary look at the young boy. Her timid appearance made Sara pull her into another hug.
"Don't be afraid, child."
After soothing the girl, Sara looked back at the boy. Crouching down, she deliberately maintained a certain distance from him. Seeing the boy's tense body relax slightly, she said, "Severus, you've suffered. I know your father... isn't very easy to get along with."
Seeing signs of hostility from the boy again, Sara immediately stopped talking. She stood up and fetched a blanket from the girl's room, draping it over the boy's shoulders. From the very beginning, the boy had been shivering all over. His slightly long, medium-length hair was soaked—whether by the rain or some other liquid, it exuded a strong, pungent odor of alcohol.He had originally intended to refuse Sara's blanket, but when he looked down, his short, thin tunic looked so glaringly inadequate that his clenched hands instinctively pulled the blanket tighter around himself, as if trying to shield his entire body. When he looked up to find Sara's gentle, friendly smile, he quickly averted his gaze and coughed a few times in bewilderment. Finally, a few muffled words squeezed out from his chest,
"Thank you, Ms. Sara."
Sara nodded. Seeming afraid that any sudden movement might frighten the boy in front of her, she slowly stood up and patted him gently on the head. "You can hide out here for a while. Coincidentally, my daughter is here too; the two of you can go play in the park next door once the rain stops."
The boy glanced sideways at the girl, but quickly shifted his gaze away again and said nothing more. The girl, who had been standing behind Sara all this time, now stepped forward. She reached out to hug Sara and said in a grown-up manner, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll take good care of him. You go on to work."
Seeing her daughter act this way, Sara stopped nagging and pumped her fist with a proud, self-encouraging grin. "Not to worry—with my daughter here, I can do anything!" She looked thoroughly cheerful and blissful.
After watching Sara leave, the girl turned her head to look at the deeply uncomfortable boy. She did not mind the look the boy had flashed the moment his eyes met hers. The boy wanted to silently take off the blanket; keeping his head down the entire time, he just wanted to get out of here. But his still-aching body made it impossible to move with any ease.
A moldy piece of bread appeared in his field of vision, followed by the girl's soft, sweet voice—though it lacked the warmth she had just shown the woman: "Want some?"
The boy shook his head rapidly. He tried to raise a hand to refuse, but his breath hitched, and a sharp pain surged from his arm, causing him to gasp involuntarily. It must have been broken when he was thrown out of the room just now.
The girl took in the boy's awkward distress. She pulled back the bread and made no further moves.
Perhaps she doesn't want me staying here, and I shouldn't stay either, the boy thought to himself.
Just as he was about to leave, the sound of a man and a woman quarreling drifted over from next door. His stride suddenly faltered, his expression turning ghastly pale, and then he sped up his pace.
"If you go back now, it won't just be that arm that gets broken."
The girl spoke up abruptly. Though she didn't physically block the boy as her words implied, it was still a kind gesture of sorts. Yet the way her gaze swept over his entire body left the boy feeling chilled to the bone and deeply uneasy.
The boy kept his head down, his eyes falling on the girl's bare feet. He quickly raised his gaze to look at her: she had a clean face and neat clothes. Her unique, snow-white hair made her look like a fairy from some wonderland, with delicate, flawless features—he had never seen anyone with such unusual hair and eye color before. He couldn't help falling into a deep daze, until the girl moved out of his line of sight on her own, jolting him awake like someone snapping out of a vivid dream as he immediately stepped back.
His pitch-black eyes were once again filled with vigilance, tinged with a complex emotion. He squatted down and laboriously shed the blanket, folded it somewhat awkwardly, and stood up sideways.
"You..."
He seemed to want to say something, but the boy closed his mouth instead, abandoning the thought.
He reached out to grip the doorknob, but turned it with unexpected slowness. During this process, the argument next door subsided, followed by a woman's stifled sobs and the sound of someone dashing out the door.
The boy breathed a quiet sigh of relief, yet his expression twisted into a conflicted, tangled knot upon hearing the crying. In the end, he left anyway.
Listening to the door next door opening, the boy's voice became indistinct, while the woman's weeping grew louder and more hysterical. It wasn't until all the sounds faded away that the girl returned to her bedroom.
The girl lay back down on her bed and gradually closed her eyes, but a rustling sound came from the doorway.
When that sound faded and receded into the distance, the girl lifted her eyelids slightly and flicked her childish fingers. A crumpled slip of paper drifted over.
"Sara goes out strolling every day and never wanders too far from home. The only time she goes to the river two streets away to zone out is at seven o'clock."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the note; she rolled over to continue sleeping, and the note folded itself a few times before drifting lazily into her top pocket.