Raiden was slightly startled. His gaze dipped and his lashes, dark as crow feathers, trembled ever so slightly.
It seemed like his mind wandered back to that year, the year his mother passed, his father abandoned them and the weight of tuition had been too heavy to bear, leaving him a shell of himself, drifting without purpose.
“Forget it. You had your reasons.” His voice softened as he gently wiped Norella’s tears away. “Given everything, I can understand.”
Astrella, however, felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness. She glanced at the clock on the wall, slipped on her coat and moved to leave.
“Where are you going now?”
Raiden frowned, his gaze sharp with confusion. This wasn’t like her.
In the past, she always told him where she was going. If he ever said he didn’t like it or didn’t want her to leave, she’d quietly listen and stay without question. But now, it felt like she had turned into someone else entirely.
Norella quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, forcing a gentle smile. “Astrella, I know this talk of the past must be difficult for you. Why don’t we go out and clear our heads a little?”
Astrella made her way to the night market, a determined air about her. She spread an old bedsheet on the ground and boldly scrawled a sign. [2 dollars per item, nothing left behind!]
Raiden’s expression darkened as he watched her set up the makeshift stall. “Astrella, what are you doing? Are you trying to embarrass me? Do you think I can’t afford to take care of you?”
Before Astrella could respond, Norella tugged at Raiden’s arm, her voice calming, “Raiden, don’t be upset. Let’s walk over to the candied hawthorn stand instead.”
The mention of the sweet treat immediately caught Reaghan’s attention. He beamed and eagerly followed Norella, his mood shifting instantly.
Once the trio had walked away, Astrella set to work, pulling out the items she intended to sell. There were fountain pens, a few worn books, plush toys with frayed edges and some handmade trinkets she had crafted herself.
As Reaghan happily licked his candied hawthorn, he suddenly froze mid-bite. His gaze fixed on a child nearby, who was holding a bamboo dragonfly in their hand.
“Dad, that looks like mine,” he murmured, his voice filled with curiosity.
Raiden glanced down at the fountain pen in the father’s hand and a wave of recognition washed over him. The sleek, silver pen was too familiar to be a coincidence.
Raiden quickly pulled Reaghan back, making his way toward Astrella’s stall. A crowd had already begun to gather around it. He shoved his way through the onlookers, only to spot her handing over a small glass horse to a man in exchange for two dollars.
"You’re not selling that!"
"Why not? I paid for it. It's mine now," the burly man said, slipping the glass horse into his pocket with a smug smile, radiating arrogance.
Raiden’s frustration bubbled to the surface. "Because it’s mine!"
The man chuckled. "Yours? Will it answer to your call?"
Laughter rippled through the crowd at the remark and a few eyes turned to Raiden, making snide comments.
"Got a family, yet still spouting nonsense!"
Astrella remained silent, simply tucking the two dollars into her wallet, unbothered by their ridicule.
Raiden, his patience fraying, grabbed her hand, his voice tight with emotion.
"Astrella, have you lost your mind? Why are you suddenly selling our things?"
Our things?
Even Reaghan’s temper flared. "Mom, why’d you give away my bamboo dragonfly too?"
Astrella cast a brief glance at Reaghan, who was still happily munching on his candied hawthorn. Her voice was unshaken, but there was an edge to it.
"Didn’t you say you liked the frisbee Norella gave you more?"
Then, she shifted her gaze to Raiden, her tone hardening, her voice colder.
"And didn’t you say you didn’t want these things and I could give them away to anyone? What’s the problem now? I sold them and that’s suddenly wrong?"
Every item she’d sold today had been carefully chosen, gifts she’d poured love into for the father and son. Yet neither Raiden nor Reaghan had shown any care for them.
And now, when they were sold for barely anything to strangers, they suddenly seemed valuable?
Things that weren’t cherished were simply misplaced treasures.
Raiden’s silence seemed to scream frustration, but Norella’s voice cut through the tension, laced with guilt.
"Forget it, Raiden," she said, her voice filled with remorse. "Astrella’s clearly upset with me. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten so close to you two."
