“It’s not there.”

“Right. It’s not just empty words. So, shall we start right away? As you said, time is what’s left.”

Idrish unbuttoned his shirt with a snap.

Why is he always taking it off?

The thick neck revealed a long collarbone. It was Idrish who was undressing, but my face turned red again. It couldn’t have been a very disadvantageous thing.

If I saw it this much every day, I would get used to it. Why do I act like a young girl seeing a man’s body for the first time every time I see it? There must be something wrong with me, too. I must like the naked body of a man too much.

“No matter what, it’s a bit much during the day……. Of course, breaking the curse is not impure or anything like that. Anyway, I’d prefer to do it at night. First, I’ll touch the night to check the progress of the condition, and if it’s not enough, all day, like Idrish said. But all day is just ridiculous…….”

“Shh, be quiet.”

Interrupting my rambling words, Idrish suddenly lowered his voice.

What? What’s going on?

I closed my mouth tightly and watched Idrish’s actions. He seemed to be listening to something. I also strained my ears in the quiet void.

Then I heard a noise in my ears, too.

“Eeeing!”

“What’s that noise?”

“Indeed, is it an animal’s cry?”

The surroundings were quiet again. I stared at Idrish, rolling my eyes, waiting to hear the sound again.

“Euaang!”

“Huh? Sounds like crying. A baby?”

“A baby?”

Idrish repeated. Instead of answering, I opened the door to the room.

Sure enough, there was a tiny baby crawling on the floor of the corridor. The eyes were already brimming with tears, ready to burst into crying at any moment.

Why is there a baby here?

The baby looked up at me.

“Uh……. Hello, baby?”

“Ee……. Ee…….”

“Oh, don’t cry. I’m not a bad person. Look, look at my virtuous smile!”

I grinned widely. It’s said that the younger they are, the more they like a pretty person’s pretty smile.

“Eyaang!”

The baby cried.

Such a little one wouldn’t be wandering around alone; there must have been a guardian nearby.

But strangely, no one was around. All the room doors were closed.

I pondered what to do with the child before finally picking it up. I couldn’t leave it on the cold floor. But the child didn’t easily stop crying. It seemed rather startled by my face, now that it was closer.

I’m quite beautiful, though……. Well, I must respect the baby’s taste.

I patted the plump little bottom and tried hard to comfort the baby. It didn’t work.

“Idrish, come here.”

“Really a baby.”

Idrish, who had come up before I knew it, said somberly behind me.

“Yes, it’s a baby. But I don’t see a guardian. Why would a baby be here alone?”

“I don’t know.”

“I didn’t see it when the train started again earlier. So where did it suddenly appear from? I don’t see the parents. Baby, did you sprout from the ground? Did you fall from the sky?”

But the baby only cried. I wiped the falling tears from its soft cheeks with my sleeve.

“It’s difficult. Anyway, the guardian must be on this train, right? There’s no way the baby got on alone. Let’s go look for them together.”

“I don’t want to. Just leave it and come back in.”

I doubted my ears at Idrish’s words.

“Leave the baby on this floor? How can you say that?”

“Just leave it where it was.”

As if to show his resolve, Idrish returned to the sofa and sat down just as he had been.

“Is the baby an object? Don’t do that, and help me find the parents. I can’t do it alone. We can find them quickly since the train only has a few cars.”

“That might just make us miss each other.”

“Our room is at the very end of the corridor. We won’t miss each other. If we go to the last car…….”

“Why bother with other people’s business?”

“What?”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

I was at a loss for words. Of course, it had nothing to do with me. But who in the world would see a baby crawling alone and just leave it?

“Babies can easily get into danger. An adult could be seriously hurt in an accident that wouldn’t hurt them. What if it falls somewhere while crawling around alone…….”

“So what? Whatever happens to that kid has nothing to do with us.”

There you go.

Really heartless, you are!
After all, that’s not just anyone, it’s Idrish. The villain Idrish!

How trivial it must be for someone who has planned to set the world on fire to find the parents of a missing baby. If things go according to his plan, this child’s life will soon be lost as well.

Of course, I won’t let that happen.

“Idrish can rest here, then. For me, the life of the baby, a single stone, and a single flower are all precious, so I can’t abandon any of them.”

I left the ominous words behind and slammed the guest room door shut.

I had a heavy worry again about whether I could really change Idrish’s heart, but now I decided to focus on finding the baby’s guardian.

“Ah, but it’s really heavy.”