One Step Forward to the Flower Path

Dante carefully examined Ivanna’s fingers, wrists, arms, and shoulders.  He heard it from Sullivan, but when he touched her himself, the child was really in bad shape.  Twisted fingers, fractured arm, and wrists that are not flexible even if she was just a child.  She may not feel much problem for now, but it will be painful as she gets bigger.

It will be dangerous to hold a sword with these hands, her hands could have been completely damaged.  Dante raised his head and looked at Ivanna.  Her eyes, resembling her mother, were looking straight at him.  Dante smiled and gently wrapped the child’s hands.

“If you sleep well, eat well, and receive treatment well, Dad will teach you.  To lift a sword, the first thing to do is to be healthy.”

‘I know she is in a serious condition. I am well aware of the dangers.

But how can I say no when there’s so much excitement in such lovely eyes?’

“Really?”

“Yes.  Let’s do it when you get taller, gain more weight, and get healthier.  My daughter looks like her mother, so she will use swords well too.”

‘The child only needs to have hope.  It is up to me, the parent to figure out a way to fully blossom this little bud-like hope.

There was nothing more important than giving hope to Ivanna, who only felt despair.’

“That’s right. Lady Hugor’s skills were really great.”

“My little sister’s skills must be better than ours.”

The twins shook with pure glee at the cheerful permission from Dante.  They were more delighted than when Dante told the twins they would have a new sword.

“Did mom do well?”

“Of course.  She was amazing.”

“Lady Hugor was the best.  Even father can’t stand against her.”

“Really!”

“Yes.  Mom was the strongest.  More than Gerard.”

The face that added the new information looked very proud.  The twins also nodded enthusiastically.  Well, no matter how great the Emperor is, he can’t hold a candle to her.  To them, Lady Hugor is the best.

“Your mom was able to smash the altar with a sword, so Ivanna must be able to do it.”

The child’s eyes were filled with greater expectations.  The altar is now fully established in Ivanna’s mind as something that can be broken.  If you face she faced it again, she’ll be able to get back on her feet even if she’s scared at first.  Destroying that image was a most important task.

“So Ivanna. Eat well, sleep well, play well, get well treated, and get healthy quickly.”

“Yes.”

Now she answered well.  He was so proud that Dante gently stroked Ivanna’s hair.

‘I should call Sullivan and McKellen within today to talk about the child’s condition properly.’

As long as Ivanna has made up her mind, it’s better to start the treatment as soon as possible. He had to prevent her body from growing more twisted.

***

The four bathed in the fountain and wandered in the warm sun, soothing their bodies, before they returned to the mansion. 

Convinced that her dad wouldn’t pull out her power, Ivanna no longer trembled in fear when she saw the gorgeous hallway.  But still, she still couldn’t help but tremble when she saw people for the first time.  Whenever that happened, her father’s hand gently patted her back. Then the nervousness quickly stopped.  Ivanna squeezed her dad’s hem.

The twins that were still running behind Dante gave warning expressions to the servants while hiding their faces behind Ivanna’s feet.  The servants then quickly scattered when she was surprised. 

Dante left the twins alone.  There was a lot of work to do as they were the successor to the Duke.  But at least for now, it was much more important to be with Ivanna.  The more the three were together, the more stable each other’s mind and body were.  It was so good to the children that it was no match for studying.

“Ivanna.”

“Yes.”

When he arrived in front of the room, Dante dropped Ivanna, who was holding her, to the floor.  When her bare feet touched the cold floor, Ivanna pressed her toes.

“I put all the gifts Gerard sent in your room.  Look at them one by one and choose the one you like the most.”

When Dante opened the door, a bright light poured out of the room.  Ivanna opened her eyes wide.  The spacious room was full of toys and dolls.

“There’s a lot!”

How many toys would there be to fill up seven large wagons?  It’s all over the place and came until the child’s knees.  It was so piled up that she couldn’t even see the wall.

“There’s definitely a lot.”

“I think it’s a lot more than what we used to use.”

“Compared to what Louise should have received, this is just a small portion.”

At Dante’s low words, the twins hid their surprised faces and nodded seriously.  Louise didn’t receive too much, compared to her great name and sacrifice for the empire.  It was all because of the late emperor’s greed.

“Please stay with your sister so that the toys don’t collapse and hurt her, while she looks for what she likes.”

“Won’t Father stay?”

“It will be fine now that you are together.”

The twins are still young, so it will be fine for them to play with Ivanna, but Dante was different.  Even if he wanted to always eat snacks, walk, and sleep happily and peacefully with Ivanna every day, there were things that he had to give attention to.  Most of all, when he thinks about the guys who will covet Ivanna later, he knew that there are a lot of things to prepare from now on.

“Go play and be careful.”

Dante patted the two children on the shoulders and left the room.  The twins looked at each other, touching the shoulders patted by their father’s hand.

“He’s gotten a lot softer.”

“He would rarely give this encouragement.”

“When Lady Hugor was here, he was often like this.”

“He learned from Lady Hugor. He wasn’t always like this.”

“Maybe they learned from each other.”

At Luan’s words, Valerie thought for a moment and nodded.  Dante and Louise had a great influence on each other.  In a very good way.  And it was passed on to the twins.

The two chased after Ivanna wandering between toys.  When the heavily stacked toys swayed, one grabbed it and one quickly took Ivanna back.  Before she knew it, Ivanna accepted the twin’s touch without resistance, just like Dante’s.

“There’s a lot of balls, too.”

Balls of different colors, sizes, and materials popped out from all over the toy mountain.  Ivanna hugged, threw, and rolled the ball that the twins found.  If the toy mountain was touched and it started to shake dangerously, they all ran away together.

“The rabbit is wearing clothes.”

Ivanna found a big rabbit doll in the corner.  Its body was much larger than hers.  Its eyes were black, and the body was white. And it was wearing a blue suit.  Ivanna fiddled with the black tie the rabbit was wearing.

“If it’s this big, I think it can hug little sister.”

“Hug me?”

“Try it. Give it a hug.”

On Luan’s shoulder, Ivanna climbed onto the doll’s fluffy legs and hugged his fat belly tightly.  Being buried deep in the doll, it seemed like it really hugged her.

“Hahahaha!”

Valerie burst into laughter at the sight of her white little sister buried in the white fur.  When Ivanna opened her eyes in surprise, Luan immediately jabbed Valerie’s sides.

“Heuk!”

“Be quiet.  She is surprised.”

In a heartless gesture, Valerie fell to the floor holding her side.  Whether his sister moaned or not, Luan said very kindly to Ivanna without even looking.

“The rabbit has big arms, so it will make you feel good.”

The rabbit’s arms, which was as large as legs, were placed over Ivanna’s shoulders. She loved the fluffy fur that covered her.

“It feels good.”

“I’m glad.”

His little sister who smiled beautifully without dirt, dust, or bad smell was really lovely.  Luan smiled very affectionately at her and put his arm over the rabbit’s arm.  Ivanna opened her eyes wide because she was given a hug by her brother.

“You don’t like it?”

Luan smiled awkwardly and slipped his arm away at Ivanna’s wary appearance.  But Ivanna shook her head when she saw Luan’s yellow eyes nearby.  Luan was truly relieved and hugged his sister tightly together with the rabbit.

“That’s why you stabbed me?”

When Valerie saw it, she jumped up opening her eyes.

“The first person who gets the chance is the one who gets the prize.”

Even if Luan laughed openly, she couldn’t curse because her younger sister was there.  Valerie bit her lips tightly and stamped her feet. Valerie was angry, and jealous.

‘I’m so jealous of Luan. He’s annoying and hateful.  I can’t believe he hugged our little sister while I was distracted!  I was aiming to be the person to hug her for the second time!’ 

‘Then I can’t miss the third one!’

So Valerie ran straight into it.

“Hey, wait!”

“Heyaaa!”

“Ahahahaha!”

The doll, who couldn’t overcome Valerie’s mighty power, tumbled back.  Ivanna opened her eyes wide in amazement, Luan swallowed an inescapable curse, and Valerie laughed out loud.  The doll fell down.  Luan rubbed his elbow against the floor and cursed Valerie with his eyes.

“Are you crazy? What if that toy mountain collapses and hurts the child?”

“You just need to save her, what’s the problem? Are you not confident?”

Luan couldn’t say anything. Valerie laughed very loudly.

“Sister, are you hurt?”

“Are you all right, sister?”

When Valerie asked, Luan hurriedly looked at Ivanna.  Fortunately, the child shook her head.

“Wow, but this doll is really fluffy.”

“It’s soft.  As expected, there is no way his Majesty will send you just anything.”

“Do you like it sister?”

Ivanna nodded eagerly and hugged the rabbit tightly.  She really liked rubbing her face on his fat belly.  Valerie and Luan lay down without disturbing the child for a long time, so she could enjoy it as much as she wanted.  Lying down comfortably and seeing their younger sibling enjoying herself, there really was no better heaven than this.

“It would have been nice if we were together since from the beginning.”

“But now, we will be together in the future.”

Whether they thought the same thing, Luan replied right away.  Valerie laughed cheerfully.

“Yes.”

“You will be with me?”  Ivanna asked while fiddling with the decorations on the rabbit’s clothes.  Valerie stroked the child’s soft hair.

“Yes.”

“Shall we all do it together?”

“Father, me, Luan.  We’ll be with little sister forever.  Because we’re family.”

“You’re not going to throw me away?”

The words stiffened the faces of the twins.  What does she mean throw away?  They couldn’t contain the anger whenever this word came out of the child’s mouth.

‘Those who bothered my little sister, I will surely kill them.’

“That’s what we would like to say.”

“Sister, don’t abandon us.”

Ivanna opened her eyes wide.

“Stay with us.”

“Let’s be happy together.”

Together, together for happiness.  It was a very sweet remark.  It was also something she had never heard before.  So Ivanna laughed happily.  The wriggling little fingers clasped their hands.

“Yes, sister, brother.”  (TN: She finally called them Unni and Oppa, but as much as I want to use these terms, I won’t.)

The twins opened their eyes wide at the same time.  For the first time, their little sister called them sister and brother.  Just like calling Dante, Dad.

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.  Thump.  Thump!

The twins’ hearts beat violently.  They were happy to tears, it was impossible to hide this overwhelming feeling.

The two bit their lips firmly.  Otherwise, they felt like they would open their mouths and laugh and cry loudly.  But the little sister could be surprised, so, instead of laughing happily, the two extended their arms and hugged the lovely and precious sister from both sides.  Happiness was in their hands.