Annabelle brought Elion, who had lost all will to live, to the table and sat him on her lap while she waited for her mother to set the table.
"Belle, he's not a little boy anymore. Are you really going to feed him with a spoon again?" Her mother knew the desperate battle her son was fighting. Although she couldn't take his side completely, as she loved both her children, she didn't abandon him without support.
Annabelle, of course, pretended not to hear and continued waiting for breakfast.
Hearing the voice of his only ally in this hopeless darkness, Elion raised his head and looked at his mother as if he had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Mummy..." The boy moaned plaintively, looking at his savior.
She looked like a woman who had just begun her journey into the second half of her life. With soft, almond-shaped eyes and hair just below her shoulders, she smiled at them as if she were seeing a very pleasant sight. Looking into her peach-colored eyes, Elion noticed the small wrinkles beneath them. Like a curious child, he asked without thinking:
"Mum, how old are you?"
Clang! The plate with the lovingly arranged cheesecakes slipped out of her hands and began to spin on the table. Thanks to its round base, it spun without overturning, keeping all the food safely inside.
Looking at this strange spinning top, Elion involuntarily tilted his head and looked at his mother.
"Mum?" He said, puzzled.
With her lower eyelid twitching slightly, his mother spoke to him as if restraining some inner urge.
"Son, you said you're an adult now, right? As an adult, you should understand the one rule that applies in our house. It goes like this..."
"No. Asking. Mom. About age, "She said clearly.
Upon hearing this, he had a rough idea of the danger he was in, yet he still couldn't help himself and whispered quietly so that his mother wouldn't hear. After all, only a presumptuous fool would start arguing in such a state.
"Actually, I didn't say I was an adult. I just said I wasn't a child. Besides, you taught me to talk like that," he whispered, secretly enjoying the laughter behind him.
"Annabelle Efistion, is there something funny about that?" the woman said coldly.
"No... I'm just..." Annabelle muttered plaintively, shuddering.
"Well, I see. Let go of your brother and bring your father to the table." Her mother said indifferently.
"But..."
"No buts, young lady," The woman said firmly.
With no chance of challenging this decision, Annabelle slowly unclenched her grip on her brother and finally let him go.
"I... I'll miss you," She whispered.
Elion had already said, "Me too...", but, since some of his sanity had returned, he forced himself to remain silent.
Watching his sister's receding back as she kept looking back, he exhaled slowly and finally turned his gaze to the plate, which had stopped pretending to be a carousel.
Pulling the failed spinning top towards him, Elion picked up a fork and was about to start eating when he realized he had nothing to dip the cheesecakes in.
"Mom, something's missing here..." Elion hinted to mother.
"Unfortunately, everything is already in place. All the jam has gone, and condensed milk hasn't been delivered to the shops for a long time. So eat it like this".
Looking at the plate of cheesecakes without their usual accompaniment, Elion was overcome with inner turmoil and could only utter,
"But... That's impossible..."
"I'm sorry, son, but life is full of disappointments, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be," His mum said calmly.
And then tears welled up in the eyes of the failed hero, and his body began to shake. Seeing this, his mother realized her mistake and rushed to him.
"Oh, son, what's wrong? I didn't know jam meant so much to you," She said, wrapping her arms around him and stroking his head to calm him down.
"Don't worry, sweetie. Everything will be back in its place by your birthday," she said softly.
"R-really?"
"Of course."
"Even the condensed milk?" The boy moaned plaintively.
"Even that," the woman replied with a warm smile.
"All right then... I can wait a day. I'm not a little kid anymore." The boy finally calmed down.
After kissing her son on the top of his head one last time, the woman let him go and continued serving food to the other members of the family.
Elion accepted this unfamiliar turn of events and began eating his breakfast. Moreover, he found a positive moment for himself in this harsh reality. After pondering the phrase 'cheesecakes without jam for the first time,' the boy decided to focus on the word "first." He was a curious child, so the phrase "first time" sounded pleasant to him. Remembering the stories his sister had read to him, he decided to take on the role of one of his favorite characters: Gardemarine Gelion, the discoverer of new lands and seas. People nicknamed this great hero "Plunderer of Mysteries".
Savoring the word "first time" in his mind, he finally began to eat.
A few minutes later, while listening to his mother chat about what was new in the city, he became a little distracted and asked,
"Mom, is Belle lost?" But the truth turned out to be a little different.
Almost as soon as he said that, shuffling sounds were heard from the hallway. When he turned his head, he saw something strange: his sister was dragging his father on her back.
Of course, he knew that Annabelle didn't quite fit the mold of a typical girl. But seeing how easily she handled such a heavy load convinced him once again that his sister couldn't be judged by ordinary human standards. Her character and physical abilities constantly challenged the little boy's ideas of what was normal, so he wasn't surprised at all.
"Donovan had some kind of urgent meeting last night, and when he came back, he was busy with something all night. I'm sure there was another disaster, and he was completely immersed in the investigation. Those hyenas don't spare him at all. As soon as something serious happens, they immediately dump everything on him... All these damned scientists and analysts want is to get rid of responsibility as quickly as possible and get on with their research. Ugh, how tiresome." His wife looked pityingly at her exhausted husband and maliciously spoke about his colleagues.
"Why do they only exploit dad?" The boy asked innocently.
His mother looked at her son and smiled as she said,
"Do you think there's anyone else like your father, who works solely for the sake of his profession and not for any accompanying honors? He is an altruist, and you won't find anyone like him here. They use him, dumping all the dirty work on him. Truly nasty people..."
"But why does Dad agree to all this?" The boy asked, confused.
"Because he doesn't care. He's not concerned about the circumstances. He considers it his duty, and I can only respect his decision. After all, if he doesn't do it, who will...?" The woman finished dejectedly.