If It Makes Eine Feel Safe

Delta’s eyes flickered. Wolfram drew an unbearable picture of Regina—the supposed bitch-princess daughter of his second-eldest brother. However, she clearly looked like a rather unfavored child. Could this child be the way she was because tantrums and screams attract the attention of her parents more?

Came with this thought was a look she gave Wolfram. However, the man gave a head shake. Don’t be fooled, he implied. Delta then looked at the girl sitting on the twin’s bed, joining them in looking at the two adults. Everyone was waiting for Zenon to pick up his phone.

The woman then turned to Wolfram. “Maybe he blocked you already? How come he’s not answering? If they had to fly somewhere, the operator would say something else.”

“He just didn’t want to answer my call. Why would he after what happened earlier?” Wolfram finally stopped trying. The light in the eyes of the children grew duller by the second. He just dialed Yuri’s number, hoping to just pass the message.

[“Did you run into some problems? Or am I talking to Delta?”] Yuri’s voice didn’t sound too good either. He was somewhat annoyed, and it made Delta tilt her head.

“Uh, did something bad happen after we left to fetch the twins?” Wolfram lifted a brow. “Zenon was not answering my calls, so I thought you can pass a message for me. Whoever they sent to fetch Regina didn’t make it. She’s with us right now. You’re on loudspeaker, too.”

Yuri remained quiet for a moment before humming. [“All right. I’ll let him know. You can ask Dad to watch over Regina in the morning. For tonight, can you watch over her? She’s your niece. I’m on my way to the airport to fix Mariska’s problem, so I can’t talk longer or turn around.”]

With a shoulder shrug, Wolfram grunted in agreement. “I’ll just drop her off at Dad’s suite later tomorrow. Good luck with your problem. Mariska doesn’t screw up like… screw up that badly. You should be able to handle it. Good night.”

[“Good night, Wolfie.”]

“What?” Wolfram frowned at the phone, but the call was already disconnected. He then sighed. He forgot how Foxley called him ‘Wolfie’ at the table earlier.

“Looks like Regina would have to stay with us for the night.” Wolfram only sent a message to someone to make the hotel adjust their arrangements. He then looked at Eine and Foxley. “Let’s drop her off at your grandpa in the morning.”

Eine and Foxley looked at each other before the girl smiled at the man. “Wolfie, can we take her with us shopping? I want to know the kind of toys she has, so we can play together sometime.”

Regina turned to the girl. She had a strange expression on her face, but Delta and Wolfram didn’t call her out on it. This girl seemed to only like Foxley and not Eine. Then again, Foxley went where Eine did. Regina might not see them on their own a lot.

“…I don’t want to be that person, but her parents will pick her up at your grandpa’s suite. We shouldn’t keep her too long.” Wolfram waved his hand. “How about we just go around blindly? I will let you pick a gift for Regina, too. Since it’s a secret, she can’t see you buying it.”

“Oh!” Eine gasped and flashed a grin toward Regina. “I’ll pick out the best one for you! Hee-hee, I’m so excited! Hmmm… I will plan for it tonight!”

“I want to give Regina a gift, too!” Foxley pouted, not wanting to be left out.

Regina only stared at them before combing through her long hair. “I’ll pick out a gift for you two, too. When we meet each other again, be sure to bring your gifts for me, okay? Because I’ll be upset if I give you something, but you don’t give me something in return!”

Eine and Foxley nodded vigorously. That was why none of the kids noticed how Wolfram scrunched his face. Delta only chuckled and patted the shoulder of the man.

…

The morning breakfast was way less chaotic than the dinner last night. David didn’t open a serious topic, only asking about Eine and Foxley. It was even so strange because Eine and Foxley made sure to include Regina in everything. Did someone teach them how bad it was to be excluded?

Wolfram didn’t care too much. After all, they were leaving Regina in his father’s care after breakfast. 

His next problem was to deal with the trip to the mall. His battery was running out, but he didn’t want to make these kids cry. If they did, he had no idea what Delta would do just to escape him. She was a wife he wanted and his support beam to catch the falling ceiling. He had a lot to lose and fight for if he skipped going to the mall.

“Wolfie, Wolfie! It’s right here!” Foxley was screaming like an excited child. He then ran off to plaster his face and palm against the shop’s glass wall. The console he wanted was on display, and he could already imagine playing with it.

“Slow down, buddy. I can’t leave your mommy’s side.” Wolfram almost sighed. There were so many people around them, and he barely saw where Foxley went. It was good that Eine didn’t run in a different direction. She was only holding her mommy’s hand.

Delta chuckled as she saw how energetic Foxley was today. The boy wanted nothing more than to go to the mall with his father. For some reason, it didn’t have to be his real father anymore. He just wanted to be that kid on TV—always happy and always playing with his father.

She then looked down at Eine, who was strangely sticking close to her. The girl was even holding onto her hand tightly. “What’s wrong, Eine?”

“There are so many people…” Eine whispered, not knowing if Delta heard her. Then she looked up at Delta. “Mommy, what if someone went to grab me again?”

“That won’t happen again, sweetie. I won’t let that happen again.” Delta pressed her lips in a thin line. It was just a year ago. Of course, Eine was still scared. The man who took her was not even from Carolus’s group—he was just some drunkard who took a fancy to the beautiful girl.

Wolfram glanced in their direction, not letting his eyes off Foxley longer than a glance. He then whispered as he leaned closer to Delta’s head. “I know a place where we can get implant trackers for them. If it makes Eine feel safer, it’s just a small surgery.”

Delta pulled on her lips to smile dryly. “I’m not going to make my kids go under the knife when they’re just seven years old. That would be terrifying for them.”

“Yeah, but it’s more terrifying for Eine to walk around strangers like this.” Wolfram straightened his back. “It won’t show up even under X-ray scanners. I know it sounds ridiculous, microchipping them like dogs, but trust me, it serves great relief. Eine will feel safer—Kid me felt safer.”