The Silent Heir

Chapter 30

An: I somehow manage to get a spark of inspiration. Those are rare these days... and I did this during exam week so you can only imagine.... eh whatever I'll pass it anyways... hopefully... maybe. Anyways have a good read! 

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"Here, wear this sister Lucy! I made these from scratch!" A sister smiled in delight as Lucy blinked at the finely woven coif that had a gentle shade of green as its color.

"Ah, I'm-"

"No buts! And we already told you, stop working for this week! We got this, play with the children instead!"

"B-but I am-"

"No sister Lucy! Come and play with us! You rarely play with us! Please play with us!"

The children chirped as they swarmed Lucy from all sides, pinning her down in a great collaborative effort from the little ones. "W-wait children. J-just a moment after I finish my... work..." The children's eyes sparkled in anticipation as they unknowingly subdued her.

Lucy could not even offer any protest as the sisters took every chore from her. Ever since her complete breakdown, everyone poured everything into her recovery.

They did not spare even a drop of their energy as they all poured in for her recovery. From the breakfast they whipped up at dawn, to tuckering her to bed with one or two of the children willingly staying by her side. A reality she never dared imagine so many days ago.

For every dreaded nightmare she suffered from, a child would be by her side as the other ran to the sisters for help. Now every time she woke up, clawing away from the dreaded voices, she was greeted by a large group of sisters and children, ready to coo her from her torment.

"...Ok, what game does my munchkins want to play?" For the first time for as long as Lucy could remember, she smiled. She did not have to plaster in for the sake of appearance, nor did she have to bear in silence from the relentless torment it had caused her. It was simply a smile.

It felt so long to smile so freely. To not care about the worries of the outside world, to finally sleep with both of her eyes closed. Eat and drink as she always wanted to. To finally act like her age and just... smile. A childhood that she had been robbed of was slowly being reclaimed.

"Looks like you guys are busy."

"Ah! It's sir Seth! Hello!" The children quickly abandoned Lucy for the sweet treats Seth always carried.

"Traitors." Lucy chuckled under her breath as she made her way to the poor red-haired being swarmed by small gremlins.

"A-a little help?" Seth shot a pleading glance as Lucy could only smirk in amusement.

"Oh, don't look at me with that, you brought this on yourself."

"Hey!" Lucy laughed as the children finally manages to bring the young man down to their level and begin piling on top of him.

After a few more laughs at the expense of Seth's suffering, Lucy finally grabs gently onto the bag Seth desperately trying to protect from the tiny hungry mouths of locusts as their eyes shifted to her once more. "Now now munchkins, do you remember what we agree upon?"

Lucy expected to see disappointment morphed into their ecstatic faces but was caught off guard as their eyes instead twinkled brighter. "We already ate our veggies!" To her complete shock and dismay, the children happily proclaimed the impossible.