Mother became strange.

“Oh my, Bonita. What a sight you are.”

Bonita looked up at Aria with a blank expression.

“You’re so thin…”

Aria kept touching Bonita’s face, seemingly at a loss for what to do, visibly upset.

It felt somehow dazed. At the same time, it was a bit scary.

“Ouch.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, did it hurt a lot?”

Bonita reflexively groaned at the touch on her arm.

Even at that small reaction, Aria examined her as if the sky had fallen.

“It’s bruised…! Who on earth would−”

‘S-Scary!’

Bonita tightly shut her eyes at Aria’s angry face.

Aria was known for her capricious temper, sometimes kissing sweetly and then suddenly changing her attitude and getting angry.

But no matter how long she waited, Aria didn’t hit or pinch Bonita. Bonita carefully opened her eyes, holding her pounding heart.

“M-Mother?”

Aria was shedding tears.

Startled by the streams flowing down her beautiful cheeks, Bonita reached out with her small, thin hand.

“Mother, don’t cry. Bonita did wrong. Okay?”

“Waaah, Bonita! Mommy did wrong!”

But when her hand touched, Aria cried even more sorrowfully.

Worried that she might have hurt her mother, Bonita tried to squirm away, but Aria wouldn’t let her go.

“I’m sorry, mommy’s sorry, Bonita…”

Bonita blinked, tightly embraced in Aria’s arms.

It had been so long since her mother hugged her like this.

Calling her name affectionately, caressing her head with such warm hands.

‘It’s like Mother has become a completely different person.’

Bonita awkwardly hugged Aria back.

At this, Aria’s sobs grew even stronger.

“I’m sorry I died too early. I should have found you sooner, instead of letting you grow up with such a woman…”

Bonita didn’t understand at all what her mother was saying.

But she was so happy her heart could burst at the repeated whispers of “I love you” in her ear.

Bonita murmured, tightening her arms around Aria.

“I love you too, Mother.”

Though she couldn’t understand what had suddenly happened, Bonita fervently hoped.

If this was one of mother’s whims, may it last for a very, very long time.

* * *

Bonita was an exceptionally smart child for a seven-year-old.

“They say she came all the way to this countryside with just one child?”

“I heard the woman was a nobleman’s mistress. Her clothes are too fine to be a country woman’s, aren’t they?”

“Must have been kicked out of the family for having an illegitimate child. Tsk tsk, nobles are always like that. Acting all high and mighty, but they’re actually the dirtiest.”

But she wasn’t smart enough to understand everything the adults around her were saying about her and her mother. So Bonita once asked, clutching her mother’s skirt tightly:

“Mother, what’s a mistress?”

Hearing those words, Aria crumpled her pretty face like a demon and her eyes flashed fiercely.

“You, where did you hear that word?”

“Aunt Becky at the bakery…”

“Ha! A mistress, how absurd. If that were really the case, I wouldn’t even feel wronged.”

Hearing Bonita’s words, Aria muttered to herself, “Right, if it weren’t for that damned bastard, I’d still be there,” words Bonita couldn’t understand.

But even then, there was one thing Bonita could understand.

“Damn it. I didn’t pick her up to hear such nonsense.”

After muttering like that for a while like a lunatic, Aria raised her hand at Bonita. With a dull pain, she realized.

Aria was not Bonita’s birth mother.

She might have said it out of anger, but Aria seemed sincere. There was no reason for her to lie in the first place.

Of course, nothing changed even if Bonita knew this. She wasn’t particularly shocked.

Even if she wasn’t her birth mother, Aria was Bonita’s mother.

She didn’t know why Aria was raising her when she didn’t particularly like her… but still, Bonita loved her mother. She loved Aria more than her birth mother.

‘My birth mother must have abandoned me.’

Just outside the house, there were plenty of children who really had no parents.

They were caught by gangs of beggars in the back alleys and made to beg in ridiculous ways, only to have all their earnings taken away. In the dead of winter, many children died of cold because they had no home.

On top of that, they were beaten every day, so Bonita, who had a mother, was much better off.

Because mother worked.

Of course, she often squandered her earnings on alcohol and gambling. Still, she somehow managed to earn money to feed Bonita. When she was drunk, she would often hit Bonita, but not as severely as in other homes where bones were broken or ears were damaged.

She clearly had some level of responsibility.

Enough responsibility to raise Bonita without letting her die, become disabled, or go insane.

In other words, just that much.

But now, mother was…

“Bonita, would it be alright if mommy washed you?”

“…Pardon?”

Bonita, who was about to brush her teeth alone as usual, made a puzzled expression at the toothbrush in Aria’s hand.

And now, wasn’t mother holding a shower brush too? The warm water, which she didn’t know when it had been fetched, was a bonus.

“It’s been mommy’s lifelong wish to bathe her daughter herself. …Would that be okay?”

As Bonita hesitated, Aria’s face fell.

Seeing that sad face that looked like it might leave this world at any moment, Bonita stammered.

“W-Well.”

“Is it really not okay? Hm?”

In the end, Bonita was the one who lost.

“O-Okay. Please wash me.”

“That’s my girl!”

Clap! Aria clapped her hands with an excited expression.

Soon, she undressed Bonita and put her in a small bathtub.

As Bonita blinked her round eyes, warm water poured over her head.

“Achoo.”

Bonita sneezed softly as water entered her nose. At that sound, Aria startled and cupped Bonita’s face.

“Are you hurt somewhere? Are you okay?”

“My nose feels spicy…”

“Then you need to blow your nose. Hng, do it.”

“P-Pardon?”

“Hng!”

At the repeated “Hng” demand, Bonita blew her nose, her face turning bright red.

Sticky mucus stuck to Aria’s hand. At that moment, Bonita panicked.

‘She might get angry because it’s dirty!’

Aria detested anything dirty. Bonita looked up at Aria with a pale face.

“Oh my, how can even blowing your nose be this cute. You’re definitely my daughter.”

But far from getting angry, Aria showered Bonita’s cheeks with kisses. It was almost a fervent kiss, as if she was sucking on her cheeks.

Bonita was confused.

“Now, sit down.”

Regardless, Aria hummed a tune and sat Bonita on a small chair.

Her hands dug into Bonita’s greasy hair. Even though it must be dirty from not being washed properly for days, Aria showed no sign of dislike.

‘Is she going to pull my hair now?’

Or… was she suddenly going to bring scissors?

‘I don’t want my hair to be cut…’

Bonita rolled her big eyes around, but Aria remained calm.

At first tense, Bonita gradually adapted to Aria’s touch.

The mother washing her hair was far less skilled than before, but deep affection could be felt.

Aria, caressing Bonita’s pink hair, asked:

“Bonita, what year is it now?”

“It’s 617, Mother.”

“617…”

Aria muttered as if chewing on something, then smiled weakly.

“Then our Bonita must be seven years old.”

It was an oddly fresh reaction, considering it had already been two months since the new year.

“For seven years, you…”

Bonita rubbed her eyes and looked at Aria in the mirror.

At that face filled with regret and lingering sorrow, Bonita’s heart felt very strange.

“Mother.”

“Just a moment, keep your eyes closed. The soap might sting if it gets in.”

But soon water came rushing to rinse her hair, so Bonita could no longer see her mother’s expression.

* * *

“Bonita, shall we sleep together?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Of course, why not?”

Bonita wriggled into Aria’s arms.

Until yesterday, this would have been something she couldn’t even dare to hope for, but thanks to the affectionate behavior shown today, Bonita was able to muster up the courage.

“It’s warm.”

Bonita’s lips relaxed into a smile. Despite being in a cold house where chilly winds whistled through, she didn’t feel cold at all being tightly held by her mother.

Aria carefully tucked the blanket around Bonita.

“Sleep well, my baby.”

“You too, Mother.”

As Bonita mumbled in response, Aria smiled softly and quietly sang a lullaby.

With the rhythmic patting and the sound of her mother’s heartbeat that she hadn’t heard in a very long time, Bonita quickly fell asleep.

“Bonita, are you asleep?”

Aria asked in a small voice. But instead of answering “no,” Bonita only breathed in and out at regular intervals.

It was a sign that the child was completely asleep. Only then did Aria let out the deep breath she had been holding.

Seven whole years.

One year thinking Bonita had been stillborn, and six years after her own death.

In her memory, Bonita was just a tiny baby in her womb, but she had already grown so much.

Yet she could recognize her at a glance because the child looked exactly like her former self. It was as if there was a small version of herself in the mirror.

Perhaps blood really doesn’t lie.

She remembered the voice of her husband, Duke Lisianthus, that she had heard before dying.

“Elodie, I won’t let you die like this. I’ll save you. No matter what it takes.”

At the time, she thought it was an impossible, childish plea.

Still, grateful for the love he was sending, she smiled faintly, sorry to leave him alone.

But when she really opened her eyes, she had come back to life.

In the body of the friend who had betrayed her, no less.

As the adoptive mother of her own daughter.

It was no laughing matter, but Elodie, no, Aria decided to gladly accept this opportunity.

Her gaze turned to Bonita.

“Bonita, my beloved baby.”

The child, not even half her size, was more precious and lovable than anything in the world.

Aria smiled bitterly as she gently stroked the sleeping Bonita’s hair.

“Now, mommy will protect you. Mommy will, without fail…”