Novel Bin Chapter 16: “Don’t worry.”
Before Edmund could nag her any more, Clette quickly sent him to the village. She hummed to herself as he vanished from the room. She walked back to the castle merrily, pleased to have a day without Edmund nagging her.
She headed straight to her workshop, as she’d decided she would create every dangerous, bizarre magical item she could possibly devise. Today, she’d make every item she couldn’t while Edmund was around.
She excitedly began to take out her ingredients, but Edmund’s words kept echoing through her mind. He’d told her that you should never take your eyes off a child since children tend to be so careless that they might get into an accident or hurt themselves. Ignoring his words would be her loss since Tita might break one of her precious belongings.
Her earlier excitement dissipated. She began to lecture herself on how bothersome children were, and why she’d even taken Tita in the first place.
Tita walked past her in the hallway. When he saw her, he hesitated, then spoke.
“Um, your grace. Did you happen to know where Mr. Edmund is? I haven’t seen him for a while.”
“I’ve sent him somewhere for an errand. He’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Is that so?”
Tita turned away from her and murmured to Snow in a low voice. “I guess it’ll just be the two of us for lunch today…”
“Wait.”
Tita stopped and turned to look at her.
“Let’s get lunch together. I’ve also got something to do in the dining room. ”
Clette and Tita headed to the dining hall. The food that Edmund had prepared earlier that day was on the table.
“Eat.”
“Thank you for the meal,” Tita whispered, before beginning to eat. He was wolfing down his food so quickly that Clette thought he must have been starving. He took a huge bite of bread and cheese, and drank a bowl of soup in one big gulp. Snow sat curled at his feet. Clette, who was sitting opposite him, watched him, pleased at his appetite.
“If I didn’t know any better, I might’ve thought you hadn’t eaten for three days.”
Tita, who was about to take another bite of bread, snapped his mouth shut as soon as Clette spoke.
“I’m sorry! I woke up late, so I didn’t get the chance to eat breakfast earlier.”
“Why are you always apologizing? Just finish your meal.”
“Um, your grace, why are you not eating?. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat anything.”
“Witches don’t need to eat.”
“Ah……”
“What are you doing? Why are you not eating your meal like before?”
Tita ripped off a piece of bread and put it in his mouth. Clette frowned as she looked at him.
“Eat like you were doing before.”
“Um, your grace. Didn’t you say you have something to do here?”
“I’m doing it now.”
She wanted to add that taking care of him was what she needed to do. Tita watched her silently as he nibbled on his bread. After finishing his meal, he stood up from his chair, glanced at her one last time, and slipped out of the dining room.
Clette got up out of her chair and followed him. Tita was a step ahead of her, and turned his head to look at her once she caught up with him. He had a hesitant look on his face. He stopped walking and looked at Clette.
“Are you following me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you might get into an accident.”
Only
“I promise I won’t get into any trouble-”
“We still need to keep an eye on you.”
They reached his room, and Tita walked in without asking any more questions. Clette walked in behind him. She’d assumed that he would start playing with his toys now, but instead, he took out a wool doll and a pair of needles and plunked himself on the rug. He glanced at Clette, who was sitting on the corner of his bed.
“Just ignore me, and play like you normally do. What do you usually play?”
“I like to play house a lot.”
“Go ahead. I won’t bother you.”
He hesitated at first, but after a few minutes, he started playing on his own.
“Come here.”