I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

Ellie?

When I saw those bright purple eyes, she naturally before my eyes.

Although purple eyes are common in the Croft family, the child's hair was slightly different.

One way or another, he could just be a distant relative.

The only thing that very much resembles Ellie is this eyes color.

At this time, the child's lips parted gently.

"Lord, have I hurt you?"

The child looked worried, looking meekly at Raymond.

He looks only 5-6 years old. And seeing such serious concern on the part of the little boy, the Emperor laughed.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. Doesn't you hurt?"

He shook his head pretty hard.

"Everything is okay! Mom always tells me to look under my feet, but I was carried away because of this doll."

The child was holding a doll carved in the mud. And he spoke, bowing his head in shame.

"I'm sorry."

"You're a polite kid."

The child continued more confidently that he even lifted his chin:

"It was my mother who taught me that. The good child will admit the wrongdoing and apologize! And I am a good! I listen to my mother very well!"

"Really? Your mother is wise."

"Oh, it is so! My mother is the most beautiful and intelligent person in the world!" said the child, flashing purple eyes.

"But where is your mother?"

Raymond looked up and looked around, but none of those around him matched the description.

"U-uh?"

Raymond looked at the boy in front of him.

Fear showed on the child's face as he looked around with a confused face.

"I'm lost, right?”

The child spoke softly.

"Mom said I shouldn't go… I'm lost."

He was about to cry. Naturally, he was frightened by the unknown.

Raymond was embarrassed when he saw tears protruding in those large eyes.

He had never before calmed a crying child.

He hesitated, but still dropped to one knee.

He met the child's gaze and gently took his small shoulder.

"Well, what's your name?"

"Carlisle."

The child's eyes were already reddening. Raymond felt uncomfortable in his heart when he saw the sadness in the purple eyes that so much resembled Ellie.

It felt like he was next to her again.

Raymond called the child's name as fondly as he could.

"Carlisle. Don't cry, we will definitely find your mother. In the meantime, as long as I'm there, you have nothing to fear. So…"

…don’t worry.

He tried to say it, but Raymond wasn’t allowed to finish.

Because Carlisle suddenly grabbed onto his arm.

The boy hugged him by the neck and buried his face in his shoulder.

Raymond at that moment froze and was already losing touch with reality.

After all, this wasn’t even the first time he fiddled with a child. There were moments when Edmund hugged him several times as a child.

But now everything felt different.

A strange warmth spread inside.

Why do I even feel this way?

Raymond couldn’t understand either his thoughts or the rapid beating of his heart.

As embarrassment and confusion overlapped, Carlisle's exclamation rang in his ears.

"Uwa, waaah!"

The body of the child, who burst into tears from the experience, was quietly trembling.

He stroked Carlisle gently on the back.

It was really awkward because he had never stroked a child before.

"It’s okay. Don’t Cry."

"Uwa-aaaaah! Mom!"

Carlisle sank deeper into his arms, instinctively looking for his mother. Raymond's shoulder was starting to get wet.

If it had been otherwise, he would have been embarrassed and in an instant pushed the child out of his embrace.

He was never one of those who could live for the sake of a child.

However, oddly enough, Raymond wasn’t uncomfortable with his new little friend.

Rather, only Carlisle's crying made him uncomfortable.

Not because the Emperor didn’t want to listen to the whining, but because he didn’t want the boy to cry.

It was very embarrassing for him to feel this feeling for an stranger child, but he didn’t stop calming Carlisle.

Calmed Carlisle raised his head and stepped back.

That was the time when Raymond felt a strange longing for the warmth that had gone away on his shoulder. Carlisle wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.

"Thank you very much, sir. Please stay with me until my mom comes. She'll find me soon,” Carlisle said, reassuringly, as if he wasn't going to cry anymore.

Unlike the children of his age, Carlisle could speak well and had a really good manners. Raymond was suddenly curious to know where this boy had come from.

Qualitative and expensive clothes spoke for themselves.

He was born into a noble house.

And for what reason was he alone in the night market?

I remembered Ellie again. At first it was about the eyes, but now the more I look at his posture, the more it resembles Ellie.

And why am I always thinking about her?

I'm probably crazy.

The first on the list was to go and find his mother.

Raymond asked, stroking Carlisle's head:

"Carlisle, if you give me a name or describe your mother's appearance, I'll ask someone to find someone."

"Oh, my mother's name is…"

"Carlisle! Answer when you hear your mom's voice!"

At that moment, when Carlisle tried to tell her name, from somewhere the disturbing screams of a woman were heard.

A voice that was already breaking from how long she screamed.

And that voice was familiar.

"Carlisle!"

His hand on the child's head froze.

"Mom!"

Raymond froze, as if time had stopped, and slowly turned his head. In the direction Carlisle was running.

Everything was moving around so slowly.

Now Carlisle is in mother's arms, a woman hugs her child.

Raymond finally found the face of this woman in the crowd and was dumbfounded.

Ellie.

Why are you here…

Rustic face and brown hair.

She changed her appearance with magic, but Raymond already knew this face.

"Uwa-aaah! Mommy!"

"Are you hurt? It’s okay now, thanks God! Mom is here."

And even in the surrounding bustle, her voice could be clearly heard.

"Mom?" Raymond muttered.

He didn’t see or hear anything else.

All he saw was Ellie and the child at the side.

This boy…

Is this Ellie's child?

His heart beat like crazy.

Unknowingly trying to reach them, he froze again when he saw a man approaching Ellie.

The man's platinum hair was as bright as the stars in the night sky.

He supported Ellie's shaking hands.

And hugged Carlisle as a matter of course.

Jeremy Drua again.

Carlisle knew Jeremy and rested his head on his shoulders.

Then Jeremy and Carlisle's platinum hair merged oddly into view.

Raymond couldn't take his eyes off them. Especially from Jeremy.

He holds Carlisle with one hand, and with the other grabs Ellie by the shoulder…

It looks like he's Ellie's husband and Carlisle's father.

When he saw them in the form of an ideal family, he could no longer think of anything, as if someone had hit him on the head.

And he couldn’t take a step in the midst of the feeling that the blood all over his body was cooling.

Indeed, against the background of their perfection, he was like filth.

Thus, he could neither approach nor turn away.

Meanwhile, Jeremy grabbed Ellie's shoulder tightly. Then he stood in front of her, as if blocking Raymond's view.

Raymond couldn’t take a step from his seat until, finally, they disappeared.

* * *

"Ellie, are you okay?" Jeremy asked anxiously as he walked away from the market.

"Yes, it's all right now."

I was so scared that it was difficult even to stay on my feet.

"Ellie, I'll hold you."

"And what …"

His fingertips gently rubbed my cheek. Is there blood on his finger? It looks like he got scratched somewhere as he ran through the market like a madman.

"It doesn’t hurt."

Jeremy laughed awkwardly.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"I lost Carlisle, and I went looking for him with… well, with the person I work with."

"Ellie, Ellie. Take it easy. It's all right now. Carlisle is here."

Jeremy grabbed my arm tightly as I babbled with my tongue. This gesture returned my sanity to its proper place.

I let go of his hand and reached now to Carlisle.

"I will hug you."

So it was much easier for me.

"What… Mom… "

I hugged Carlisle tightly and rubbed my cheek against his.

"You're not going anywhere else alone like this, do you understand?"

"But, Mom… where is uncle?"

Carlisle, blinking sleepily, suddenly widened his eyes and threw this at me.

I stopped and pushed away from him.

"Uncle?"

"He promised to find you. He was with me."