Chapter 147 – Chapter 141 – Balancing (5)

When Ella, who had been chattering about the story she had just heard, fell asleep, the nursery was filled with the languid breathing of the baby.

After putting all the children to sleep, Hernán looked at Sharpie and Carine, who were working with him.
The two women looked quite different than usual.

The dreamer, who always had a bright expression and was overly energetic, was extremely tired.
In a way, it seems that regularity is not enough.

Even if it wasn’t recently that I added regular energy, it wasn’t enough already.
But a face like Carine who hasn’t slept in days.

Sharpie, as if he couldn’t stand it any longer, lay down next to them as soon as the children fell asleep.
She looked at Hernán with blurry heart eyes, then closed her eyes as she let out a yawn.

In contrast, Karine was the most energetic person in the quiet nursery.

Covering each child with a soft blanket, she even stroked the heads of Forti’s children.
Since Potty’s conspiracy was discovered, she has acted uncharacteristically, secretly reluctant to Potty’s children.

Besides, the period when she wore the brightest smile of her life, that is, the smile she had with Hernán from when she came of age until she was revealed as her princess, was at stake.

She even kissed her baby and her children before coming to Hernán.

“I enjoyed everything.”

I couldn’t see the fatigue that had accumulated like old stains on Karine’s face.

Did she take more sleeping pills than usual and get a good night’s sleep?
But then you should feel sleepy from the medicine.

While Hernan guessed that, he asked a sneaky question.

“Did you sleep well after taking sleeping pills yesterday? You look better than usual.”

Carine swept her long silver hair, her shiny hair, behind her.
She smiled lightly and asked Hernan a question in reverse.

“Does it look that good?”

“Huh. I don’t know what you’ll think if I say this, but you look the most energetic after coming here.”

The warrior made a strange expression at those words.
And he gave a strange answer that matched his expression.

“Nice dream… I had a nice dream.”

“Dream?”

It was an answer that was not like Carine at all.
No, it was an answer that was not exactly like the princess and warrior Karine.

However, it is also a response typical of Karine, who liked to make things and had a great artistic sense.

“What dream was it?”

“It was just a nice dream.”

She just said that and laughed out loud.
She covers her mouth with her hand and smiles, which makes me feel a little cute.

Carine took a step closer to Hernan, who had been silently watching the scene.

“Originally, you don’t remember your dreams when you wake up, right? So I have nothing to say.”

Karine, who had come to a distance where they could subtly transmit each other’s body temperature, put on an embarrassed expression.

“Still, if I had to say it, it was a dream in which you appeared. A dream in which you appear with me in the capital…”

Pretty specific for not remembering.

Hernán stroked his chin as if he was having fun.

“And?”

When Karine finished asking Hernán’s question, she immediately opened her mouth.
He seemed to remember quite a bit of the dream.

“You and I went into a little house in the alley. A simple wooden house behind the palace…”

She spoke softly in her dreamy voice.

“It was full of furniture and paintings made by you and me, and my children fell asleep in the warm sun while eating sweets I baked.”

Hernán stopped breathing and focused on the story.
Her story was a landscape that the two of them were actually creating.

A small house built by two people with little help from the family.

Since they weren’t completely independent yet, they used it as a studio they only visited during the day, but both of them secretly thought that this would be their home.

Although it was right up until Karine was declared her princess.

Hernán feels that when reality intervenes, she has a bitter aftertaste, and she focuses on Carine’s dreamy expression again.

“We left the brother and sister sleeping in the living room and went into our room. I think there were many vases decorated with roses. It must have been the rose you gave me as a gift…”

When her original sharpie is by her side, she loses her focus on Karine, but she becomes bizarrely engrossed in conversation with her today.

“And?”

As I gently let her go, Karine opened her mouth.
There, it seemed that her words would come out right away, but unexpectedly Karine let out her breath and closed her mouth.

“Did you wake up there?”

Instead, Hernán opened her mouth and asked a question.
Karine wiggled her fingers and slowly blushed in her face.

“Oh, no. The dream is still in full swing.”

In the sense of continuing the conversation, Hernán remained silent.
After hesitating several times, she opened her mouth as she looked around Hernán and her.

“There we undressed. To be precise, I think we took off each other’s clothes.”

I felt a bit of embarrassment inside.
However, perhaps Hernan was also affected by this atmosphere, he did not show any signs and continued to focus on her words.

“Kissing and teasing each other’s breasts…”

Karine placed her left hand on her own chest.
And with her right hand, she touched Hernán’s chest.

As if trying to recreate what she had seen in her dream, her hand stroked it slowly.

“I was moaning, but there were still people on the roadside, so I wanted you to pet me even though I told you not to touch me too much.”

Carine’s left hand, which had been touching her darling’s chest, now grabbed Hernán’s right hand.
And her unresisting Hernán’s hand slowly led her to her own chest.

The touch of soft flesh felt through the clothes.
And I feel her heartbeat rising little by little.

“And we…”

Karine groaned faintly and lowered her hand from Hernán’s chest.
Her hand passed Hernán’s belly and slowly stroked her hips.

Then, little by little, he advanced to the center of her between the legs of the man in front of her.

“We…”

Carine trembled in her hands and voice.
And she stopped her hand just before reaching her desired destination.

After staying still for a while, Hernán opened her mouth.

“We?”

Karine was still speechless.
However, as if her body had escaped from the heat of her dreams, it slowly fell away from Hernán.

“I don’t remember from there.”

With a bitter expression on her face, Carine let out a sigh.

“Come to think of it, I heard you’re going up to the garden today? You never know when the kids will wake up, so go upstairs.”

Hernan was surprised that he could feel her regret, and she looked at the blue eyes in front of him.

At one time, it was a place where his affection was poured out, and at one time, it was also a part that made me feel uncomfortable just looking at it.

But now, I didn’t feel any emotion at all.
I just think they are beautiful eyes.

“Hernan. Sharpie last time… No, the devil and I let you rest, right? So for now, leave it to me and the devil and go up. You’re not even going to rest.”

Hernan turned around and headed for the door.

“I will be back. If anything happens, call me right away.”

“Huh.”

Karine waved her hand lightly at Hernan as he left.

“I’ll wait with the kids, L!”

He only turned his head back, holding on to his doorknob.

Silver-haired Karine standing against the background of sleeping children.
Engraving the picture-like image in his mind, Hernán opened the door.

* * *

Reaching the end of the stairs alone, Hernán slowly opened the garden door.

The thick stone doors opened gently to let in the warm sunlight.
And along with the fragrant scent of flowers, it flowed through the door.

An afternoon garden that I haven’t seen in a long time.
It is unrivaledly beautiful in this prison-like house.

He looked at the scenery for a moment, then brought his hand in front of his eyes.

“A flower like this…”

Hernan glanced at the ring on his hand.
A rosemary flower ring made by Lenny.

As if it were her favorite flower, the child made presents for her parents with rosemary.
And Hernan plans to make a gift with this flower that the child likes.

However, he does not produce it himself.
All gifts and ornaments made with flowers will be made by Silnia, who is locked in a room.

Hernan, holding a basket, approached near the center of the garden and began picking rosemary bit by bit.

With this, Silnia makes a present for Lenny, lowering her vigilance and fear even a little.
Marina also agreed to the plan at the place where Silnia’s right to wish was granted.

However, she said that even if Silnia made it, she would do it herself.
That way, she said, the child would accept it more friendly.

“Ugh…”

I straightened my back because of the pain I felt when I had been bending my back too long.
After all, wasn’t it because I did too much with Silnia yesterday?

She decided to sit for a while, looking at the basket full of flowers.

As I walked to the chair in the vacant lot in the middle of the park, I noticed something somewhat foreign to the beautiful scenery.

Torn clothes.
Blond hair that stayed where it fell because there was no wind.
Scratches on floor flagstones caused by being hit by something hard.

Since Marina was beaten by Silnia, she has barely had time to tidy up her garden, so these little traces are all over the place.

Hernán thought he had to clean it up before the kids found it again.

And he found the most heterogeneous thing in the very center of the clearing.

“Blood?”

Hernan narrowed his eyes and knelt down on one knee.
He reached his hand toward the floor and touched the blackened bloodstain.

The blood, already dried up and close to a stain, was spread out quite widely, as if Marina were revealing her injuries.

“It’s strange…”

In fact, it is not strange in itself that bloodstains remain where a person is injured.
It’s a stone floor anyway, and it’s not a well-drained environment, so it’s natural even if the blood leaves a lot of traces.

However, there was a clear difference from the image in Hernan’s memory.

“I’m sure there were no bloodstains last time?”

He had only come up to the garden once after imprisoning Silnia.
At that time, there were no bloodstains like this in this empty lot.

But now, the bloodstains were clearly located in the center of the clearing, so it was strange to pass by without noticing.

Could it be that this side was too hectic at the time, so I overlooked it?

No.
It is unlikely.

At that time, I remember thinking to myself that someone hadn’t cleaned it because there was obviously no blood spilled by Marina in the vacant lot.

So, not Marina, but someone else’s blood?

Hernan, who watched the dark red stain, soon abandoned the hypothesis.

Here she has no woman to come up and bleed.
In addition, Marina’s blonde hair, which was hardened on top of the bloodstains.

Only the part of her that came into contact with her blood was stained dark red.

It must have fallen right after shed blood.

If someone else’s blood had been spilled later, it would have turned her entire hair dark red instead of just underneath.

“What?”

The more you look at it, the more difficult it is to understand.

The meaning of this old bloodstain that has suddenly reappeared now has nothing to do with it.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there is a problem with your mind.
But honestly, that’s very unlikely.

If there’s a problem, she’ll have noticed any of the girls sticking around all day.

Neither did I feel any signs of insanity.

The next hypothesis is that magical or miraculous supernatural forces intervened.
And that’s just as disgusting as the hypothesis you just discarded.

“It’s not magic.”

This place filled with divine power quickly dissipates even the magic of demons.
Then it is not a magical phenomenon.

He raised his eyes and saw the wall of this garden.
There was a relief inscribed with a household goddess who was worshiped in ancient times.

Although it is already worn and faded,
A look that never goes away.
It shows a subtle presence like a goddess who is presumed to be sealed here.

Hernán, who watched it for a while, immediately brushed his knees and stood up.
He decided to keep quiet about this fact and come up here with Marina later.

As there is a good chance that the discovery is more important than expected, it would be better to have a conversation in this place where it is difficult for demon gods to overhear.

And for that, Marina will have to wake up.

Hernán went into the flower garden, wondering if he could relate that fact to the current situation.
As important as this strange discovery is, helping Silnia reconcile with Lenny is important.

He slowly picked rosemary, a flower that signified domestic happiness.