Chapter 8
“Good night, Ivan.”
In the darkness, Ivan quietly repeated the woman’s voice that had already faded away.
After thinking for a long time, he carefully spoke.
“…But Mom. Where is your real family?”
The house was so dark that even shapes were hard to make out. Hiding his expression in the darkness, Ivan waited for her answer.
He suddenly worried that asking something unnecessary might make her leave—saying she should go back to her real home.
“…Mom only has Ivan.”
Just as his heartbeat started to tangle with anxiety, her quiet, sunken voice answered.
“Then… you don’t have any family? Have you been alone this whole time?”
Even though he wouldn’t be able to see anything clearly, Ivan quickly sat up.
“Yeah… Ivan hasn’t met any of Mom’s family either, right?”
“Well… yeah.”
“If there were other family, there’s no way Ivan wouldn’t have met them by now. Right?”
They had only met three days ago.
Yet she spoke as if they had been together for a long time.
It sounded strange—almost stupid—but Ivan decided to let it go.
“…So that means you don’t have anywhere else to go, right? You won’t suddenly abandon me, right?”
An arm wrapped around his back and pulled him in.
Ivan was held in her embrace.
“Ivan, where would Mom go? I told you—I’ll stay by your side. I promise.”
“….”
“You don’t need to feel anxious. Mom will protect you. No matter what happens.”
Her whisper, telling him not to worry, and her embrace…
were unbearably warm.
…I wish this woman were really my mom.
That thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Realizing how foolish it was, Ivan shook his head.
Then I’d be happy like the other kids.
Even though he knew it was a stupid thought, he couldn’t stop it.
Not a mom who comes home drunk every day…
Not a mom who throws leftover food from the bar…
The thoughts kept spilling out.
Not a mom who doesn’t care even if I get beaten somewhere…
Since she came, this small, worn-down house—one he had never liked—
had, for the first time, started to feel good.
The clean, shining floor.
The absence of the rotten smell.
The delicious food.
But more than that—
He liked this woman who always looked at him.
He liked the way she met his eyes and gently touched his hair.
It felt like—
It felt like being loved.
Ivan carefully slipped out of her arms and moved through the darkness toward the bed.
Feeling along the wooden floor, he lifted one of the loose boards.
From the small gap beneath, he pulled out a palm-sized brooch.
It was the brooch his real mother used to clutch drunkenly, laughing about how it would make her rich one day.
It was also the reason she always came back, no matter how many times she left.
The coldness of the brooch seemed to stop Ivan’s pounding heart.
If his real mother found out he took it, she would scream and curse at him.
If things went well… he would never see her again.
If things went wrong… he’d be beaten and locked up.
“…Ivan?”
But his hesitation didn’t last long.
At the soft voice calling his name, Ivan approached her.
And placed the red gem into her hand.
“Mom, Mom. I want to go to my dad. Let’s take this and go to him.”
He handed over the brooch his real mother treasured more than anything.
“I want to go to my dad. You said before, right? Let’s just go tomorrow.”
“…Your dad?”
“Yeah. You said my dad is a really important noble. And we were going to move anyway.”
“Ah…”
“I want to move. Please? Let’s go tomorrow.”
She didn’t answer right away.
Ivan grew anxious.
If he wanted to keep living with her, they had to go somewhere no one knew them.
Somewhere no one could tell her the truth.
“Tomorrow… Ivan, I understand how you feel, but we can’t leave that suddenly.”
She spoke hesitantly, troubled, while gently patting his head.
“It’s too sudden. There are things we need to prepare…”
“I really hate this place.”
She was someone who couldn’t ignore someone pitiful.
Ivan still remembered the expression on her face when he was being beaten.
She had been hungry herself but still gave him bread.
She had been half-asleep but never got annoyed, even when he kept waking her.
So please—
just this once more.
“I hate drunk men. And drunk women too. I hate how those women touch my face and my body.”
His voice trembled.
“I don’t even have friends here. Adults say kids shouldn’t play with me. They say I’m a bad kid, that I’ll ruin them. Even when I didn’t break the window, I’m the only one who gets blamed. I hate this place, Mom.”
“Ivan…”
“Please. I want to leave tomorrow. There’s nothing to pack anyway. Let’s just go. I’ll eat less. If we go to Dad, we’ll be rich anyway. I want to go there.”
He wanted to grab her and leave immediately.
“I want to live with Dad.”
Yes.
He didn’t want to lose her.
The moment he admitted that to himself, his anxiety only grew stronger.
“Ivan.”
He hugged her tightly.
“…Okay. Let’s do that.”
After some time, the answer he had been waiting for finally came.
Holding him tightly, as if she had made up her mind, she said:
“Tomorrow… let’s go to your dad.”
“Mom, let’s go early in the morning. As soon as it gets light.”
“…Okay.”
She nodded and wiped the tears from Ivan’s face.
* * *
As soon as the sky began to lighten, Ivan hurried her out of the house.
She wore the simplest clothes among what she owned, placed the money pouch and the brooch deep inside her coat, and carried a large bag with some food and spare clothes.
Meanwhile, Ivan—leaving behind the house he had lived in his whole life, never to return—
held nothing but her hand.
Holding the hand of the woman with golden hair and green eyes tinged with blue, he quickly led her through the narrow alley.
Even though the day had just begun, there were already a few people on the streets.
Ivan raised his collar to hide his face, worried someone might recognize him.
Then, tightening his grip on her hand, he silently prayed—
to someone he didn’t even know.
Please don’t let us meet anyone we know.
Please let us leave this town.
Please… don’t take her away from me.
“When is the fastest carriage?”
Arriving at the carriage office, Ivan stood on his toes and asked urgently.
“Where are you going?”
“To—”
“To Bakarakh,” the woman answered instead.
The employee’s unfocused gaze shifted from Ivan to her.
“There’s one carriage to the capital in 30 minutes, another in 4 hours and 30 minutes, and one more in 8 hours and 30 minutes. But they’re all fully booked.”
“What? What do you mean fully booked?!”
“Carriages to the capital are always in demand. If it was urgent, you should’ve come earlier.”
As Ivan protested, the employee frowned.
“Then if we go to a bigger city, can we get a carriage to the capital there?”
“…That’ll be difficult. Why are you going to the capital?”
The employee tilted his head, looking between them.
Just as Ivan was about to snap back—
“We’re going to meet family.”
The woman spoke first.
“…Do you really have to go today?”
The employee asked, as if thinking.
“I need to meet my dad.”
Catching the moment, Ivan quickly nodded and spoke politely.
“…In that case, there might be a seat on a mail carriage. I can’t guarantee it. Or…”
He looked them over and added:
“There’s a box seat on the carriage leaving in 30 minutes. It won’t be comfortable in this weather, but since you don’t have much luggage, you can make it to the capital.”
“We’ll take it! Mom, let’s go with that!”
Ivan nodded eagerly.
More people were starting to appear in the streets.
They had to leave now—on that carriage.
“Then, for the box seat—”
“Ivan!”
Just as the woman was about to pay, someone shouted his name from a short distance away.
At the sharp voice echoing through the street—
Ivan’s face turned pale.
