The Unexpected Reunion
P>“Mom—!!”
Um…ma?
Did she just call me “Mom” just now…?
Even Selena looked as stunned as I did. We stared at each other, faces frozen in bewilderment.
Something dark crossed my mind. My voice trembled as I asked carefully.
“Ah, young lady, could it be you’re already… a bastard child…?”
“No!!”
While Selena and I were exchanging meaningless small talk, the girl was still running toward us at full speed.
By the time she was close enough for me to see her clearly, I took a quick look.
Silky sky-blue hair.
Soft, pretty dark-blue eyes brimming with tears.
A gentle swell of her chest, even though she looked so young.
And those long, perfectly proportioned limbs.
She was beautiful enough that even the famous noble daughters of the Empire would have to yield.
Just as I was staring at her in a daze, she stretched both arms out to me, still running, and threw herself into my arms.
Poof.
She was tucked securely against my chest.
Eh…?
What kind of adorable creature is this…?
It was like a baby kitten that had wandered off the roadside and clung to me desperately, begging to be taken home.
But… this wasn’t just any baby kitten. It was a beautiful young lady with a mature, dignified smile—straight out of a novel.
I could happily give away my liver and gallbladder for her.
Moreover, this child’s body smelled sweetly and pleasantly… Wasn’t this too much for me?
I was feeling a happiness I hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Suddenly, Selena pushed me and the girl apart.
“Excuse me, who are you? Contacting an absolute stranger like this is clearly wrong.”
Selena’s face remained completely expressionless as she spoke coldly.
“Hmm… I know she’s worried about me, but…!”
“How cruel!”
“…What?”
“Selena, you’re being cruel. You don’t have to speak to a crying child like that.”
Selena looked at me with an exasperated expression.
“No, but I’m on bodyguard duty. This child might be hiding weapons under her clothes…”
I ignored Selena’s grumbling and spoke to the girl still crying in front of me.
“Hey, can you tell me what’s going on right now?”
After I finished speaking, she looked at my face closely.
Then, as if she had realized something, her eyes widened.
“I-I’m sorry! I thought you were my mom! You said you’d come after the count of one hundred nights, right? But even after a hundred nights you didn’t show up, so I waited every day, and when I saw two people approaching from far away… I thought you were my mom and ran over…”
The girl apologized, sobbing.
“I-I’m sorry. I knew you’d abandoned me, but I couldn’t give up… Hic… Because…”
Her words became harder and harder to hear.
The sound of deep sorrow and pain.
Her whole body trembled as she tried to hide it.
Her voice shook with emotions she couldn’t control.
All of it was something I had experienced before.
Fourteen years had passed since I became Serenia Roengrin.
The me from my previous life, buried deep inside, slowly began to resurface as I listened to the girl’s crying.
“Hic… Ugh… Hah…”
The memory of being abandoned by the one person I trusted most in my childhood, and the memory of being casually discarded by my lover.
And after coming to this world, the desperate craving for affection from anyone—it all overlapped.
I had no choice but to sit down. My breathing, which had been growing faster, showed no signs of slowing.
Even as Selena tried to speak to me.
“Young lady!”
When I looked up at Selena, she was calling out to me with a worried face.
“Are you okay? You seem to be in a bad state suddenly. Is there something wrong?”
Only after seeing the worry in Selena’s eyes toward me did I finally calm down.
“I-I’m fine, Selena. I’m completely all right.”
Right.
Right now I am Serenia Roengrin.
Whatever is wrong can be changed, and painful memories can be covered with good ones.
Just like burying mud with fresh soil.
“Hehe, life’s full of surprises, Selena. You’re really worried about me.”
I forced my emotions down and answered brightly, just like my usual self, like the usual Serenia.
Recalling her bright personality instead of the awkward, exaggerated tone I’d used right after transmigrating.
But Selena seemed to have a different impression.
“Young lady, just because you don’t seem strong doesn’t mean there’s a problem.”
Her eyes still held concern for the me she saw as the “before” version.
And I felt grateful once again.
“Thank you. But I have something I need to do right now.”
Even so, I couldn’t ignore the girl with tears in her eyes in front of me.
“It’s fine. Stop crying, there, there. Crying in front of such a beautiful young lady is a serious crime in the Empire!”
The girl hugged me tighter when she heard my words.
And that felt… not bad at all.
Just as we were embracing each other, two girls came running quickly from the path where the girl had appeared earlier.
“Ophelia—!!”
The two girls, one with pink hair and the other with white hair, called out to the girl who looked like Ophelia.
And the two girls who approached me were also incredibly beautiful young ladies, just like Ophelia.
Wait.
“Selena, am I dreaming right now?”
If this wasn’t a dream, then who were these angels in front of me?
Soon, the two girls saw Ophelia in my arms, let out familiar cries of excitement, and bowed their heads to apologize to me.
“We’re sorry, young lady! It seems Ophelia mistook you for her mom again. We’ll make sure to discipline her properly.”
My, her voice is so sweet.
A person apologizing can look this adorable.
I held back the urge to go “Wah wah wah” in front of the three girls and spoke to the one with white hair.
“You’re… from the orphanage in front?”
“Yes, young lady. I’m Hestia, and this is Lobelia. We were looking for our orphanage, so we’ll guide you.”
“That would be a huge help. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Although I looked like a noble young lady, it didn’t matter much.
After all, I still looked like a teenager!
Like the feeling of getting an ID check after turning twenty in my previous life.
So I walked toward the orphanage in front, surrounded by the three girls.
“Even outsiders who are complete strangers are treated so warmly. I’ve heard through rumors, but the people of Persen are all this polite, right?”
Then the girl named Lobelia answered my question.
“Well, I think it’s because Headmistress Anastasia has educated us since we were little. She always told us to treat strangers with kindness.”
Headmistress Anastasia must also teach humility to the children.
After all, if it’s a nun who teaches them directly, it’s only natural.
I wasn’t sure if I had a premonition, but as we talked, the girls were getting better and better in my eyes.
I stroked Ophelia’s head as she walked in front of me and asked them.
“It’s a bit rude to say this to people I just met, but if you’re kids like you, someone should have already adopted you. Aren’t you planning to leave the orphanage?”
Then Hestia answered with a smile.
“Hehe, we don’t. There were many people who wanted to adopt us, but no one ever came for all three of us. Since we think of each other as real sisters, if someone wants to take all three, we refuse.”
Hearing that, I felt genuinely happy inside.
I had been worried that if I took the children from elsewhere and they became distant or had conflicts among themselves, what would happen.
But seeing the way they looked at each other, it was clear they already thought of each other as family.
But… I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take them.
From the moment I saw Ophelia’s crying face, the hesitation about adopting them had been growing.
And the reason was obvious: I might give them more pain.
Well, I guess I thought my plan was too easy.
Ahh, what do I do?
I couldn’t back out now that I’d come this far.
Deciding too hastily made me uneasy.
While I was worrying about what to do, Lobelia, who had been walking on my left, took a deep breath and spoke to me in a slightly tense voice.
“Young lady, it’s a bit embarrassing for me to say this, but we grew up without knowing what family love is. Well, of course we have friends who are like real siblings.”
Lobelia continued with a bitter smile.
“And the absence of our parents has always been a stumbling block in our hearts. So… what I want to say is…”
Lobelia didn’t stop.
“If you can, would you please take us with you…?”
Her voice.
It was said that the voice of someone speaking from the heart reveals whether it’s sincere or not.
And what Lobelia had just said was.
One hundred percent sincere.
Thinking about it now, that sincerity made me pull myself together.
‘Right. Since there’s no telling when another adopter might appear, if I reject them here and now, that chance won’t come again. The kids need a guardian right now, and my plan can wait, right?’
After making up my mind, I looked at Selena. She understood the intention in my eyes and nodded.
“Hmm.”
Decided.
I looked at the three girls standing around me and spoke.
“First, I’m sorry for the late introduction. I am the head of the Roengrin family. Serenia Roengrin.”
At that moment, the girls’ steps stopped.
Surprised, all three of them couldn’t close their mouths and stared at me in shock.
That sight was quite adorable, but I had to get to the point.
“If it’s all right with you, would you like to be my children?”
This was the moment that was the most precious to me—the moment my three children were born.