Silvia woke up before the two children did. She looked at them sleeping soundly, hugging tightly onto their stuffed animal. Lorelei had within her arms a big teddy bear, while Maria had a bunny that she was drooling over, smiling dumbly. She must be having beautiful dreams, Silvia thought. When she looked over at Lorelei, she noticed her expression was stiff, and she looked in pain. The way she was clinging to her stuffed animal was more of a way to not let it escape, as if it were trying to run away from her. Despite that, she gently patted their heads.
''How cute they both are.''
She carefully got off the bed without making a noise to avoid waking them. Then, she went downstairs to the storage room. Silvia walked in it seemingly searching for something. She crouched near the baskets and moved them away. Underneath them, there was a hatch that she lifted over. It contained a family picture stored in a frame. In the picture, Maria was sitting on a man's lap and Silvia on the side of his left shoulder. Silvia was dressed in a broad orange dress that matched well with her body structure, while Maria was wearing a pair of blue overalls that seemed a bit too big for her. As for the man, he was dressed in a proper white suit, and he was also wearing glasses that he seemed to be adjusting over his nose in the picture. They all looked happy, but something was odd about it. The man's face in the picture looked blurry as if it were slowly being erased. She gently placed her hand over the frame. Tears started piling up in her eyes until they rolled down her cheek. At first, it was a single one followed by another and another as she broke down on the picture, holding it tightly against her chest.
''You'll come back, won't you? You promised you would come back. I'm still waiting for you, so please just come back safely.''
At that moment, she turned around after hearing the door creak behind her. It was Lorelei. She was standing at the door frame, still clinging to the teddy bear, watching Silvia from a distance. Lorelei gently whispered.
''Are YoU sAd?''
Silvia did not respond; instead, she dried the tears on her face, carefully placed the picture back in its original place, and closed the hatch. She slowly approached Lorelei, who backed away, seeing Silvia's eyes looking down. She didn't seem like how she usually was. Silvia was still not saying anything, but still kept approaching Lorelei. She kept backing away from her until she was met with the wall. Before she could speak, Silvia leaned in to hug her.
''I'm sorry, I must've scared you. It's not like me to act like that. Please do not tell Maria what you saw. She will get worried. Come, sit im going to explain everything.''
She made sure the storage room door was closed and went back over to the hatch to take the picture with her. Afterwards, Silvia sat next to Lorelei and asked her.
''Say, are you able to see this man's face?''
''YEs.''
Silvia looked at her in confusion, for her, the man's face in the picture was still blurry, and the only thing that she could see above his neck was his glasses.
''Please, Lorelei. Tell me. How does he look?''
''He hAs bIg bRowN eyEs, And HiS fAce Is liKe A tRiANgle.''
''Ah, I see, please... Tell me more.''
Lorelei looked over at Silvia. Tears kept going down her cheeks, no matter how many times she dried them with her hands. Lorelei saw in her eyes, she was doing her best to maintain a proper expression despite it all.
''I'm sorry... Please, go on.''
''He has thIn EyEbROws and LiPs lIke yOu.''
''Could you-''
It seemed like she was crying even more than she ever was.
''Could u tell me what he's doing?''
''He's sMiling.''
Silvia couldn't take it anymore. She covered her face with her hands and cried. Her mask had finally cracked, revealing beneath it her innocent eyes. She didn't want to hide it anymore. For the sake of Maria, she had to put on the brave mother act, but all this time, she was in pain. She had to constantly smile to keep her sanity intact and protect Maria from discovering the truth. Silvia clung to the fact that somewhere out there, her husband was still alive and that he would be coming back soon. She knew that it would never happen, but still clung to those lies. To maintain herself, not only did she have to lie to Maria, but also trick herself into believing her own lies. That her husband would be coming back one day.
''Of course- Of course, he's smiling. He's always smiling. Thank you, Lorelei... Thank you.''
Silvia turned to Lorelei and embraced her with all her might until she stopped crying. She then got up and took one last look at the picture before placing it back in the hatch. She wiped the tears off her face and turned around swiftly, making her dress spin as well. She was smiling again, but this time she seemed even more radiant than she had ever been. It seemed just as if a halo of light had been placed over her hand, brightening up the darkness in the room.
''Lorelei, please keep this between us. I know it's selfish of me to keep this from her, but I don't want to see her cry anymore. I'm the one who needs to... Never mind, I must be dragging it, aren't I? I'm sorry, Lorelei, but please don't tell her anything about this.''
Lorelei answered with a nod, and Silvia smiled. Lorelei had seen this man before; it was the same merchant who had taken care of her before back in town, the one who had held her hand and died. She wanted to tell Silvia, but she felt something swelling up within her throat, blocking her voice from speaking further. She felt guilty, but at the same time, she didn't. The only thing she was able to ask was for his name.
''WhAt Is HiS nAme?''
''I don't know... I must look stupid, don't I? First, I can't see or remember his face; now, I don't even know his name. Sorry to bother you like that.''
She smiled at Lorelei again and left the storage room, leaving Lorelei alone.
''You killed him, didn't you?''
Lorelei swiftly turned around, searching for where the voice came from. She looked everywhere within the darkness, yet could not find a thing. She kept looking around and eventually brushed it off, thinking it must've only been her imagination, and trotted out of the storage room, closing the door behind her.
Afterwards, Silvia brought her to the kitchen, where they started making food for breakfast. There were so many things that were new to Lorelei in the kitchen, so many things she had never seen before. Silvia taught her as much as she could. The herbs that could be used for cooking, and those that must be avoided. Soon after, Maria woke up running downstairs as energetic as she had always been while Lorelei was helping Silvia set the table. Once they were done, they all sat around it and started to eat. Lorelei, still ignorant of how to eat with a fork, stared at it. Silvia noticed that and remembered what she told Lorelei the first night she ate with them, so she asked her.
''Sorry, dear, I wasn't able to teach you yesterday. Do you want me to teach you now?''
Lorelei shook her head, and Silvia went behind her, grabbing her hand and showing her how she was supposed to hold it. It took a while for Lorelei to learn how to hold it, but everything afterwards became easier. While eating, Maria asked her mother if she would be going to the capital today to buy groceries.
''Yes, Maria, yes you are.''
Maria jumped in excitement.
''Can Lorelei also tag along?''
''CapiTal? WhAt Is CapItAl?''
Maria asked Lorelei.
''Have you never been to the capital?''
Lorelei answered that she hadn't. Maria's eyes seemed to be ignited with a spark as she excitedly talked about the capital.
''It's a big place with so many people, and it's so beautiful there, everyone is so nice and kind to me when I go there to buy mom groceries. There are so many things to say about it. You'll see when we get there!''
Lorelei seemed to be startled by hearing that there were a lot of people. She was still scared, scared of what could happen; she did not want to meet more humans, at least not yet, but Silvia insisted that she should go and that it would be a nice experience for her.
A while after they were done eating, Silvia told Maria to get dressed, and she pulled Lorelei upstairs with her into her room. She then opened a drawer and told Lorelei to wear the clothes. It was a blue, flowy dress made out of silk. Since she came to their house, she was wearing the same tattered clothes. Silvia offered to keep the ones she was wearing, but Lorelei insisted on keeping them.
After Lorelei wore them, Silvia told her to sit down on the bed, and she took from the drawer combs and a string with those she started combing Lorelei's hair. After she was done, she braided them in a twin tail and showed it to Lorelei through the mirror. Lorelei became really happy seeing herself in that blue dress and thanked her. Silvia then went outside, and soon after, Maria and Lorelei followed her. They saw her talking to a man next to a carriage. At the sight of the two, Silvia called them. Maria came running while Lorelei was still hesitant, hiding behind Maria. Silvia told them to greet the man since he would be the one to bring them to the capital. Maria enthusiastically greeted him, but Lorelei didn't; she stayed quiet, cowering behind Maria. Before they went in the carriage, Silvia gave Lorelei a long gray cloak that she told her to wear if she ever felt uncomfortable in the capital. Lorelei thanked her and hopped right in the carriage following Maria. Silvia waved them goodbye as the carriage slowly drifted away in the distance.