Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

It was already evening when I returned home from shopping.

“I’m home.”

“Mom!”

As soon as I opened the front door and entered the house, I heard Escal’s voice.

My eyes widened at the sight of a child holding a bucket bigger than his body and walking around.

“Mom, look at this!”

With each step he took with the bucket, water overflowed and wet the floor.

I looked into the bucket with a puzzled face.

“What’s this?”

A carp the size of a forearm was flapping in the bucket.

The bucket was so small compared to the carp’s large body that it was almost half-bent over.

“Where did you get this?”

“Grandpa caught it!”

“Grandpa?”

In response to the unexpected answer, I raised my head and looked at my father who was sitting on the sofa.

“He caught it so you can make something delicious.”

My father was excited and pointed to Escal looking at the carp and humbly explained.

“I thought he would cry if I ate it, so I left it alone.”

“Good job.”

“I don’t know why this little guy is so stubborn, he doesn’t want to eat what he caught today for dinner and catch another one tomorrow.”

My father clicked his tongue saying it was the first fish he’d caught.

“Did you only catch one?”

“Yes, I can’t catch one. I had a hard time catching that one.”

My father grumbled at the joking question.

I playfully asked Escal, who couldn’t take his eyes off the carp.

“Escal, doesn’t this carp look delicious?”

“Yes?”

The child looked at me with shocked eyes.

As I playfully giggled, my mother walked in with Helios and a shopping bags.

“Why are you scaring him?”

“It’s a joke.”

I patted Escal on the rump and followed my mother into the kitchen.

“Why, Do you need anything?”

“Mom, please make some of those shrimp croquettes.”

“Shrimp? You can’t eat shrimp.”

“Escal likes them. Helios too.”

“I get it. Do you have anything you want to eat?”

“No.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

My mother left the shopping bags with the maids and took me to the back of the kitchen and whispered.

“He was very gentle and pretty. I think your father has loosened up a bit.”

“Father?”

“yes. After fishing together, all of a sudden he became friendly to him.”

“Escal is so kind. Even your father knows that.”

“I’ve been bragging about my kids so much that I’m afraid someone might think I’m an exaggerate mom.”

“It’s because he looks like his mom.”

I looked at my mother and smiled broadly.

*****

Dinner was shrimp croquettes and grilled turkey.

Escal and Helios didn’t even look at the roasted turkey and only ate croquettes, so the whole turkey was mine.

After eating one big leg, I went back to my room and lay down on the bed, and I fell asleep.

“Are you tired?”

“… Yes. I’m going to get up….”

I haven’t even showered…….

I mumbled something in my sleep and Helios kissed my forehead.

“Just sleep. I’ll wake you up early.”

I shouldn’t….

I drifted off to sleep with the softness of his touch, only to be jolted awake by the sound of something crashing.

What it is?

When I woke up from my sleep, I heard another noise again.

Helios picked up the sword he had released and approached the door.

“You don’t come out and stay still.”

“Be careful.”

I hugged Escal, who was sleeping soundly, as if to protect him, and watched Helios from behind.

Helios, who had his face on the door and listened to what was outside, suddenly opened the door.

“Who is it?”

“What, what?”

“… Father?”

In the gloomy darkness, My father with a bucket stood with a bewildered expression on his face.

What the hell is this?

I looked at my father with bewildered eyes and asked.

“What are you doing there?”

“Shh. Is the child sleeping?”

“Yes.”

My father, who put his finger in front of his mouth, sighed.

“This guy dies and I will go to the lake.”

When I looked into the bucket at my father’s words, the carp caught during the day had turned upside down.

“It’s okay to brighten me up, right?”

“If you know that the carp is dead, you will cry.”

My father frowned and continued.

“Before he finds out, we should replace it with a live one.”

“Are you going fishing at this hour?”

“The real fishing is at night.”

“Don’t do anything dangerous. If you get hurt, it’ll only make it harder for Mom.”

“Who says it’s dangerous? do you think I’ve been night fishing once or twice, I can walk there with my eyes closed.”

My father answered stubbornly and turned back with the bucket.

“I’ll be back.”

“Father.”

“I will go with you.”

Helios put on his coat.

“You must be tired…”

“It’s okay. I can sleep tomorrow.”

He quietly rolled his eyes and left the house.

“Please do it in moderation.”

“Yes, don’t have to wait, just go back to sleep”

I saw my father and Helios on the way to the lake and returned to the room.

There’s never a quiet day anyway.

*****

Helios returned only after the sun had fully risen.

“I’m home, Lena.”

Helios, who returned with his eyes closed, lay down on the sofa as if collapsed.

It’s commendable that he didn’t lie down in bed thinking about Escal, who was sleeping soundly in the meantime.

“Have you been there all along?”

“Yes. I haven’t caught a single one.”

“If you don’t catch one, just come back home.”

“How can I come back when I haven’t caught a single one?”

“Ugh. So did you two catch any?”

“Yes. Your father caught it…”

Helios mumbled in a sleepy voice.

As I was about to fall asleep, I took off his clothes and brought a blanket to cover him.

“You’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine, but the Viscount fell and his clothes were torn a little.”

“That… You must have had a hard time with my father.”

“It was fun though.”

Helios, who had just fallen asleep, smiled faintly.

“I’ve never been fishing with my dad before.”

“In the capital, there are no lakes.”

“Then you can switch to hunting or traveling.”

“…….”

“Since my mother died, my father has never smiled at me.”

A bitter smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

I knew that the late Duke of Anthemion had a bad relationship with Helios, but I had no idea that it had been that long.

“He wasn’t a good father, to say the least, and maybe I’ve taken after him… I may not have been a good father to Escal because I resembled my father.”

“Don’t say that. You are good enough as a father.”

I gently stroked his cheek in consolation with all my sincerity.

“When you say that, it sounds true.”

“Because you are.”

The sharp corners of his eyes softened as I calmed him down again with a confident voice.

“Yes, you are right.”

“… Go to sleep.”

I gently tapped Helios as I did with Escal, then leaned against his chest.

The regular heartbeat sounded like a lullaby, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

It was really a comfortable sleep.

*****

“I’m getting old, too.”

Viscountess Evelyn, who was examining holes in his pants on the sofa in the living room, berated her husband, who was smoking a cigarette.

“If you want to go out, go out alone. Why do you bother someone who’s tired? Even though the sun is high, you can’t seem to get up.”

“Did I ask him? He followed me.”

“What do you say?”

Viscount Evelyn raised her voice.

“A man with bad eyesight fell and tore his pants and what would you do if you broke your leg?”

“You keep nagging about having a hole in my pants.”

“I guess I don’t have to nag you. He already having a hard time shopping and he can’t sleep—”

“I’m tired, so I’m going in.”

Viscount Evelyn slowly got up and went into the room.

Ugh, really.

With a sigh, the Viscountess picked up the needle. Her eyes glazed over as she continued to thread the needle.

“Why is he causing another trouble?”

She sighed heavily, saying that nothing was going her way, Escal came out of the room.

“Escal you here? Is your mother still sleeping?”

“Yes. Grandma, what are you doing?”

“Your grandfather ripped his clothes, but it can’t seem I can’t fit the needle to thread.”

“I’ll do it for you.”

When Escal readily reached out his hand, the Viscountess smiled happily and handed him the needle.

“Be careful with it.”

“Yes.”

The child who had been wrestling with the thread with his hands like a fern succeeded in inserting the thread into the hole after a while.

“Here you go!”

Escal proudly held out the threaded needle.

“Good boy.”

The Viscount, who took the needle, began to sew.

With each movement of her hand, a tattered piece of fabric slid into place.

Escal, who had been paying close attention to her skillful hand movements, soon began to nodded and fell asleep.

The warm afternoon sun was streaming through the window.

Bang!

A loud knock was heard from the front door.