“…Could it be that she’s a child who lost her family?”
“…Yeah. She might have wandered here after losing her parents.”
Seeing the girl suddenly burst into tears, the two realized she might indeed be a child who had lost her family, wearing pitying expressions.
“Teacher…”
“…Don’t look at me with those eyes, or I might just start thinking that way.”
A man sighed at the girl’s pleading gaze that seemed to say, “You’re not just going to let her go, right?”
“…Hey, what’s your name?”
“…I don’t have a name.”
The girl kept silent for a moment before slowly shaking her head in response to the question. Unlike Emily and Peter, who had names, this girl had none.
Their expressions of concern deepened upon hearing her answer.
The girl noticed they were under the misunderstanding that she had lived such a tragic life that she didn’t even have a name, but she opted not to correct them.
She wanted to observe these two, the ones who made her feel such emotions, from closer up, and she knew those two would not just abandon a pitiful child like her.
Was it because of that, perhaps?
“If you have nowhere to go, how about living with us here?”
“…Is that okay?”
“Of course it is.”
The girl was now allowed to stay with them.
“Teacher, it’ll be inconvenient to call her if she doesn’t have a name, so let’s give her one!”
“Let’s do that. What good name could there be…”
“Hmmm, how about ‘Eve’?”
“Eve… That’s a nice name. What do you think, is ‘Eve’ okay for you?”
“…I like Eve.”
Thus, the girl received a name.
“Great. Then let’s get along from now on.”
“Let’s have a good time together.”
And so, the nameless girl became Eve.
*
“Emily, Eve! Get up and have breakfast!”
It took no time for Eve to blend into their lives.
“Yes, Teacher! Emily, wake up! It’s already morning.”
“Yawn, Eve. Just five more minutes…”
“If you keep dragging this out and the food gets cold, the teacher will get sad like last time, you know?”
“Ugh, fine… I’ll get up.”
Peter and Emily, who had been living together from the start, were already very open-hearted toward Eve, but that wasn’t the only reason.
“Since Eve came, mornings have been so much easier. It used to take ages to wake Emily when it was just me.”
“That’s because you’re too soft on Emily. If you keep letting it slide every time she says just five more minutes, it’s like it’ll take you an eternity to wake her up.”
Eve knew the two very well.
More than anyone else, she understood what actions would win their favor and how to make them happy.
“Hey, Eve! That’s a bit much! It’s true I like to sleep a lot, but…”
“Haha, but Emily, I heard that beautiful people are actually sleepyheads. Since you’re pretty, it’s only natural you sleep a lot!”
“Oh. Is that so?”
“Of course! You’re super pretty, Emily.”
“Hehe…”
For Eve, winning over their hearts was no difficult task at all.
Of course, she didn’t always act with calculated intentions.
Eve was genuinely kind to them.
She simply knew what roles they expected of her and acted to perfectly fulfill those roles.
“Haha, I’m glad you two get along so well. I’ll be heading out now, so you both take care of the house.”
“Have a good day, Teacher. Leave the cleaning and tidying to us.”
“Sure, I’m always grateful. I’ll be back.”
Peter, the middle-aged man, was always filled with worry for the frail Emily whenever he had to go outside for work.
Therefore, Eve made it a point to show him that she was dependable.
So he could worry less about leaving Eve and Emily alone at home.
Not to mention easing some of the burdens he had regarding household chores.
“So, Emily, should we clean up and start on the homework the teacher gave us?”
“Ugh, I don’t want to study…”
“If we finish quickly, we can continue the games we started last time!”
“Oh! Then let’s hurry and do it so we can play!”
Little Emily was conscious that her weak body always brought worry to Peter.
And she was stressed about not being able to help much.
So, Eve made sure to assign tasks to her that wouldn’t strain her body too much, helping her out along the way.
At the same time, she became a good friend to Emily, who had no one to play with.
“Guys, I’m back.”
“You’re back! Teacher, we finished all our homework!”
“Haha, really? Well done. So, instead of the tough math today, how about we study history with some old stories?”
“Wow, sounds good!”
To become a great person, one must not neglect their studies. Peter took on the role of a teacher, educating them little by little after returning home each day.
And Emily, who always wore a bright smile, even despite her weak body.
In this family, Eve had naturally become an irreplaceable presence.
An incredibly peaceful and happy daily life.
But Eve knew.
Just how fragile that peaceful and happy life was.
Eve was aware.
That Emily and Peter weren’t actually family.
That Peter was merely taking care of the orphan, Emily.
And that, what killed Emily’s parents, was none other than Peter himself.
*
Wars aren’t common, but they’re also not extremely rare.
Peter was a war orphan himself.
Because he had been an orphan, he endured hardships that nearly cost him his life, but luck had it that he was picked up by the military and managed to survive.
This way, Peter became a loyal soldier for the country that raised him and participated in the war.
He didn’t give it much thought.
He did it simply because the country said so.
Thus, Peter killed many of the enemies, giving his all to the country he was loyal to.
One day, he stumbled upon a necklace on one of the enemy soldiers he’d killed.
With no real reflection, he wore it as a trophy and stayed in a city they had occupied that night.
Peter went into a house and witnessed a woman shaking in fear while caring for a baby, who then collapsed right in front of him.
As he rushed to check on her, he found she had died on the spot.
And then Peter saw it.
The woman had a necklace around her neck that was identical to the one he found on the enemy soldier that morning.
Inside the broken necklace was a picture of a young couple holding a small baby.
His dazed eyes looked at the necklace he wore and then fell upon the small baby crying for its lost parents.
At that moment, Peter painfully realized.
That the actions he had been taking so thoughtlessly were what produced children like that war orphan.
It was the first time in his life he felt something like self-loathing.
He sat there silly for a while, then suddenly drew a knife to his own throat.
But at that moment, he heard a child’s crying.
Peter looked at the baby left alone without anyone to care for it and memories of his own desolate childhood flooded back.
Realizing he shouldn’t die, he burst into tears.
That day, Peter quit the army and took in a child.
That was his secret he could never share with Emily.
It was also the reason why, having raised Emily with love, he insisted on being called Teacher instead of Father.
And the reason he kept surviving until this day.
That’s why Peter continued to wear a smiling face every day, for Emily, whom he loved dearly.
Yet Eve knew.
That Emily already knew about Peter’s secret.
Sadly for Peter, Emily was a very perceptive child.
She could vaguely remember when she was just a baby.
Sadly for Peter, Emily also had keen hearing.
She could hear Peter mumbling apologies in his sleep for the things he had done.
Sadly for Peter, Emily was sharp enough to sense.
That if she were to die, Peter might just take his life, too.
So she continued to live with a bright smile today, hiding all those truths.
For the sake of the Peter she loved so much.
Only Eve knew those truths.
That’s why Eve loved the two of them, who lived not for themselves but for each other, loving one another deeply.
She thought it was truly tragic yet beautifully magnificent.
Thus, Eve wished for their happiness.
However, supporting each other meant that if one were to disappear, the other would fall apart as well.
Tragically, Emily was a frail child.
*
As the days went by, Emily grew thinner.
Peter tried to get medicine for her, but no matter what he tried, her physical condition didn’t improve significantly.
Yet Emily never lost her bright smile even in such circumstances.
But that wasn’t her true feelings.
While Peter had stepped out for a short while, Eve was able to hear Emily’s inner thoughts under the condition of keeping it a secret.
“…I don’t want to die.”
Facing death, Emily finally spoke out that she didn’t want to die.
Since she had never expressed such thoughts before, Eve realized Emily was sensing her own impending demise.
“…If I die, it can’t be…”
However, it was easy to understand that Emily’s fear of death stemmed not from her own fears but from worrying about Peter.
“…I wish for Teacher to live for a very long time.”
Until the end, Emily thought of others beyond herself.
“…Don’t worry. Teacher will live a long life. I promise to fulfill your wish.”
“…Hehe, I feel a bit relieved since you said that, Eve. Then… may I ask something from you…?”
“…Sure.”
So, Eve made a promise to Emily.
That her wish would definitely come true.
“Goodnight, Emily.”
With a sense of reassurance, Emily smiled and closed her eyes.
*
The next morning.
“Emily! Have you seen where Eve went? I wanted to thank her at the dining table… Ah.”
“…Teacher.”
Eve had disappeared.
“Umm, I think I’ve gotten better.”
Emily had regained her health.
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