72 – Cypress Mosaic

Four ​shadows ​walked ​in ​a line along ​the ​narrow ​path ​that ​stretched endlessly across the ​back ​of the forest.

A ​dog led the ​way, ​sniffing ​the ​air, ​followed ​by a tall ​figure ​and ​a short figure ​holding hands. It was ​Elian and ​Lucas. The ​largest shadow, ​Lorenz, lagged ​about ​five ​or six steps ​behind, as ​if he could only ​be at ease when ​everyone remained within his ​sight.

They looked ​like ​an expedition party made up of ​members with distinct personalities.

The ​expedition, ​which ​had ​explored ​the forest in ​the morning, ​had ​been wandering through ​the ​woods for several more hours ​after lunch. ​This ​was because Lucas ​wanted ​it.

The ​child, ​completely ​captivated by ​the ​forest, had ​been fidgeting in his seat even during ​the meal. Several ​times, his hand ​had stopped mid-bite as ​he scrolled ​through the photos ​he ​had taken with ​his digital camera. ​According to ​the ​rules in ​Manhattan, ​such behavior ​would ​not have ​been ​permitted, ​but Lorenz was ​exceptionally ​lenient today.

Toby, ​who ​was ​leading ​the way, suddenly stopped. His folded ears stood straight up and twitched a couple of times.

The dog veered off the path and entered the woods. However, he never strayed too far from the trail. Crunch, crunch. The sound of him stepping on and rustling the fallen leaves was pleasant to hear.

Elian looked down at Lucas.

“I think Toby found something again.”

The clear eyes looking back at him sparkled with anticipation.

The two held hands and followed Toby. Despite spending the entire day in the forest, the child still seemed fascinated by the sensation [visit our site]of dry leaves beneath his feet. Elian smiled silently as he watched Lucas deliberately choose [stolen content]the driest leaves to step on. It reminded him of his own childhood. On the mornings after a snowfall, he used to run out in front of the house with Vincent, delighted to find and step on patches of snow that no one had touched yet.

Toby stopped beneath a large oak tree, sniffing long and hard with his nose pressed into the leaves.

“Is it here?”

Elian and Lucas crouched down beside the dog.

“I wonder what it is this time.”

They had encountered various treasures in this forest today alone. A long-legged spider with stripes, a squirrel running away with an acorn, a vivid orange mushroom, and a ladybug crawling atop a fallen log. Each time, Lucas had been busy capturing those precious moments with the camera hanging around his neck.

The child reached out and carefully lifted the leaves where Toby had been sniffing. After the rustle of dry leaves brushing against each other, a smile appeared on the small face that had discovered the secret hidden beneath.

A brown beetle revealed itself from under several layers of leaves.

“Wow… it’s a really big and cool beetle, isn’t it?”

When Elian marveled, the child looked at him and beamed an even wider smile.

While his emotional expressions had become more natural recently, today he was clearly expressing his intentions more frequently and more definitively. It was a welcome change.

Curling his small body, the child held his breath and focused on the mysterious creature before him. The stately insect paused for a moment, then slowly waved its antennae to explore the surroundings. It then proceeded forward cautiously, one step at a time, before eventually changing direction.

This time, the child began operating the camera to diligently capture the image of another find.

Watching the completely absorbed child with a fond expression, Elian straightened his knees and stood up. The dense trees completely blocked the sky above his head. He quietly placed his palm against the giant tree in front of him. The vitality of the tree was transmitted through the rugged bark.

He wanted to take a deep breath of the fresh autumn scent that must be filling the air.

The damp smell of earth emanating from the leaves that had absorbed the energy of the ground, the bitterness rising from the bark, and the deep vitality exhaled by the trees filling the forest.

However, no matter how deeply he inhaled, all he could feel was the sensation that the air was cold and damp.

Even though he was seeing it with his eyes and touching it with his hands, he suddenly felt afraid because everything surrounding him felt fake.

“Elian, I analyzed the samples sent by that company, and it looks quite promising. Perhaps you won’t have to take stabilizers anymore!”

The face of his mother, thrilled by the hope that a cure for Pheromone dependency might be developed, came back vividly to mind. Elian’s pale hand slid smoothly across the brown bark.

“Lucas.”

Crunch. Crunch.

Elian turned his head at the sound of someone larger and heavier pressing down on the leaves as they approached.

It was Lorenz.

For a moment, Elian felt a slight, inexplicable chill. Was his body temperature dropping because unauthorized copythey had spent Read on Read BL Novelstoo much [unauthorized copy]time in the forest? Come to think of it, the area around his neck felt exceptionally chilly and cold. While he unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, Lorenz approached him.

“Shall we head down for snacks now?”

At Lorenz’s suggestion, the child shook his head.

“You’ve already played a lot. I think you must be tired.”

He wasn’t tired; he wanted to play more. The child shook his head repeatedly. It was a quite firm expression.

Elian, checking the time on his wristwatch, gently supported Lorenz’s words.

“But it’s already 4 o’clock. Even if you don’t feel it, Lucas, your body might be tired.”

As a sign that he didn’t want to go back yet, the child fiddled with the ears of his rabbit doll. Perhaps because the child looked discouraged with his head hanging low, Toby approached and rubbed his nose against Lucas’s waist. The child stroked the dog’s back and then quietly hugged its fluffy neck.

“Lucas, I cannot give in to tantrums.”

At Lorenz’s stern voice, the child’s large brown eyes wavered.

Lorenz had made it clear at the beginning of the consultations that he could not endlessly indulge the child just because he showed anxiety reactions. Elian had agreed with this. If a child were exempt from daily rules and responsibilities simply for exhibiting anxious behavior, it could actually be poisonous.

However, other than not leaving his room and not speaking, Lucas was an exemplary child in every other way. Since he rarely threw tantrums, there had been no need to treat him with particular strictness in the first place.

Yet now, for the first time in months since coming outdoors, Lucas was exhibiting behavior similar to being stubborn. Elian interpreted this unauthorized copyas a positive signal. Strongly asserting what visit our siteone wants and being stubborn was an appropriate developmental response for a child of that age—behavior suitable for his years. It could be a sign that Lucas was recovering.

Looking down at the child, Lorenz without hesitation knelt on one knee in front of Lucas to lower himself. He then took the child’s hand and felt it as if confirming something.

“Look at this. Your hands have already become this cold.”

He took gloves out of the large crossbody bag he wore across his chest and put them on the child’s hands. Then, he wrapped a child’s cloak made of blanket material around the small shoulders.

Throughout this, the child remained still, entrusting himself to whatever Lorenz did. And Elian, standing beside them, looked down at the two.

Lorenz Lockhart, tightening the knot of the child’s cloak with a stiff, stern expression and clumsy fingertips.

Is it this man?

Is this man the one behind that trial?

The inhuman mastermind who pushed forward a dangerous Clinical Trial where people died and took no responsibility… is it really this man?

Lorenz held the child’s small shoulders and met his eyes.

“Now that I know you enjoy playing here, you can come back as often as you like in the future.”

“……”

The child looked back and unauthorized copyforth between Lorenz and Elian. Noticing the stolen contentdirection of that gaze, Lorenz added in a confident tone.

“Both I and the teacher will come again together.”

Elian was quite surprised. It was because Lorenz had already accurately read what the child’s gaze implied.

“But since today is the first day, it’s not good to overdo it.”

The child, who had been listening to Lorenz’s words while blinking his large eyes, finally nodded slowly. He was convinced.

Lorenz’s expression softened considerably.

“Good. Since your body has grown cold, let’s go down and have cocoa and marshmallows. I’ll light the fire in the fireplace, and you can roast the marshmallows yourself. How does that sound?”

At the mention of the fireplace, marshmallows, and cocoa, the child’s face brightened instantly. The child quickly looked up at Elian. Seeing the face anticipating the fireplace, marshmallows, and cocoa, Elian couldn’t help but smile.

“And, here.”

As Elian reached for the child’s hand, he suddenly turned around as an object thrust itself in front of his chest. Lorenz was holding out a muffler. The cozy-looking tartan check muffler was the one he had been wearing draped around his own neck.

Startled, Elian waved his hand in refusal.

“Oh, no! I’m not cold. I’m fine.”

“Fine, my foot.”

Tsk. Clicking his tongue, Lorenz, seemingly impatient with the waiting, personally wrapped the muffler around Elian’s neck.

“It’s different from this time of year in the city. Between the river breeze and the humidity of the forest, the temperature drops sharply around this time.”

The moment the muffler touched his skin, a cozy warmth was felt immediately. Once he recognized the warmth, the fact that he had been feeling the cold until now became even more apparent.