Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 6
Ezekiel swiftly took the support pole from the boy’s hands.
“It’s fine. This is our task, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Ah, how can I not help! Right, Sister?”
The boy turned around to look at his sister. The woman, Iris, flinched and glanced back and forth between her brother and Ezekiel.
For some reason, Ezekiel instinctively lowered his gaze. To others, it would seem as though he was simply focusing on the boy, and no one would realize that he was deliberately avoiding looking at the woman.
The woman observed Ezekiel for a moment before clasping her hands together and responding.
“…Yes, Henri. Go ahead and help them.”
“Okay, Sister! Do you want to help too?”
It was Milena who stopped them.
“You there, Young Master! If you’re going to help, bring it over quickly, will you? Holding up this tent is really heavy!”
“Ack, yes!”
The boy eagerly responded, but the problem was that the support pole was thicker, longer, and heavier than he had expected.
As the boy stumbled while trying to run, Ezekiel skillfully caught him from behind. The boy turned around and gave a sheepish grin.
“Thank you!”
Naturally, the two of them carried the pole to Milena together, leaving the woman behind.
“On three!”
They propped the pole under the tent, pulling the lines until the canvas formed a triangular shape. Unlike the central support pole, the others were relatively light, so the boy dashed around like a squirrel, carrying them here and there.
He seemed to know what he was doing, handing Milena and Ezekiel the necessary items at just the right moments, speeding up the process. Milena was impressed.
“Wow, Young Master, have you pitched a tent before? You’re really helping a lot!”
“You can call me Henri!”
The boy, Henri, beamed as he dashed between the supplies, his flushed cheeks round and bright.
“My sister knows how to do this too. Every summer, our family would pitch tents by the river in Quilluxia and have fun!”
He then glanced shyly at Ezekiel, adding,
“Right?”
At this point, ignoring it was no longer an option. Ezekiel pressed his lips together briefly before offering a faint smile.
“…Yes, I remember.”
“Wow, you really do remember?”
Henri’s face lit up even more.
Milena tilted her head, puzzled. But the boy, too excited to notice, clenched his fists and asked eagerly:
“You’re the prince who visited when I was little, right?”
When he was little? Milena’s eyes widened. Her expression seemed to ask, Commander, you know this kid?
Ezekiel felt a headache coming on but showed no sign of it as he nodded gently.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Wow! I was waiting for you to visit again.”
Henri’s voice carried the same excitement he had shown when he had once asked, When will you come back?
Ezekiel remembered the sickly boy from back then. He had grown taller, his limbs longer.
But had he truly grown healthier? Ezekiel struggled to keep his smile steady as he softly apologized.
“I’m sorry. There were some… circumstances.”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you,” Henri quickly said, waving his hands. “Sister told me you’re a very busy man. And besides…”
As soon as he said ‘Sister’, Milena’s gaze shifted toward the six-horse carriage where Iris Quilluxia, unaware of their conversation, was chatting with her maid.
Regardless, Henri carefully continued speaking while glancing at Ezekiel for approval.
“…I figured you wouldn’t be able to come back because of what happened back then.”
“…Thank you for understanding.”
Ezekiel replied with a faint, bitter smile.
Perhaps sensing the need to change the atmosphere, Henri began chattering about things no one had asked about.
“The dog Fifi, the one that was pregnant back then, had puppies! Do you know how many? Three! Actually, she had five, but two of them died. Nanny cried so much.”
“…I see.”
“And the bridge collapsed again. But this time…”
The boy’s excited chatter about their past and life in Quilluxia seemed endless. It was likely because he was happy to see someone familiar, especially on a long journey that would last nearly two months.
Perhaps he was clinging to familiarity out of fear.
Ezekiel nodded at the boy’s stories, understanding this unspoken need.
Setting up camp and feeding the horses would take a while anyway, so listening to the boy wasn’t a difficult task.
But there was another person quietly observing this scene from a distance.
