The Silent Heir

Chapter 20

A broken yet unmistakable angel who smiled and played with the children. Rose's hesitation was gone at that moment as the desire to protect her overwhelmed her worries and fear. "...We have to protect her... even if it cost us our lives." Emma whispered as a silent agreement was formed.

Emma was about to return and continue her chores when she noticed Iva staring from a distance. Emma traced her gaze and smiled. "Do you want to play with them?" Emma asked. The little girl seemed to consider the thought for a moment before she shook her head.

"No... not really..." Iva whispered back in reply. Her eyes were clouded by something, though Emma did not have the time to know what it might be as Iva walked back towards the mansion.

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"Sister Lucy sister Lucy! Come on let's play!" The children said as Lucy blinked confused.

"Eh? Didn't we just play?" Lucy asked incredulously as the children shook their heads.

"Let's play more! Let's play more!" The children shout back in reply.

"B-but it's almost your nap time?" Lucy asked as the children began to whine.

"No! We don't want nap time! We want to play!" The children protested as Lucy looked conflicted.

"Umm..."

"Please sister Lucy? Just one more time!" A child begged.

"Yes, just one more time! We promise!" Another voiced out in agreement as they soon began shouting in reply.

Lucy could not help but soon capitulate under their relentless attack as she sighed heavily. "Ok, but just one more time ok?" The young sister declared to the rejoicing children. Lucy could not help but smile beneath the children's laughter.

The sheer bliss and joy it had brought her were immeasurable. Their small laughter drowns out the voices that had always assaulted her mind but what made the children so special to Lucy was the warmth and comfort she had always wished to hold.

At some point in time, Lucy dreamed of having a child of her own. She dreamed of a day to hold her very own little bundle of joy whenever she walked past families during festivals. Even when she fought in the military, Lucy did not let go of the wish to hold her very own child.

Sadly, however, she never had the chance. For a brief bitter moment, Lucy remembered Kier. She had always thought that he would be the one to sire her the family she always wanted. In a sick twist of life, it was the very same man who robbed her of that dream.

"Yay! Let's play tag! Tag you're it!" The children, however, revived that long-forgotten dream. Their persistent nagging and loud laughter filled a family she once dreamed of. Though they were not of blood, it matters not to Lucy as her own blood could not even love her at all.

The sisters, the children, the orphanage, everyone, and everything related to them became her home, her family. Not of blood but of kinship. Lucy would never trade them again for a second time. She had everything she could ever ask for... well, maybe there was one more thing she seeks, but it was simply not worth pursuing. After all, who would fall for a scarred woman like her?

"H-hey that's cheating!" Lucy exclaimed as the children were already running with a head start.

"Come catch me!" The children shouted after as Lucy soon found herself giggling alongside the children. "Come catch me, sister Lucy!" A young boy shouts.

"No, me!" A shout echoed from another.

"No, me!" Soon enough, the children took turns shouting.

"H-hey you're going too far!" Lucy shouted after when one of the children began to drift farther and farther away. Lucy soon realized who the child was. It was the one who had given her a flower before. It was Adam.