ODD 3

Chapter 3

To Aidan, who was looking down at me while sweeping back his neatly groomed red hair, I bowed my head once more.

“……Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Is ‘I’m sorry’ the only thing you can say?”

“…….”

“Tsk, now you’re just keeping your mouth shut entirely.”

He clicked his tongue and turned away just like that. Only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding. Right, I couldn’t keep causing trouble for others like this. The moment I got off work, I headed to the hospital.

The doctor, whose hair was speckled with gray, only twirled the pen in his hand while listening to my story.

“You think I’m crazy too, don’t you, doctor?”

At my self-mocking question, the doctor didn’t give a particular answer. Instead, he showed a benevolent smile.

“Don’t worry too much. Still, patients who acknowledge their symptoms like this tend to have a good prognosis.”

“……Is that so.”

As expected, even in the doctor’s eyes, I must look like a delusional patient. I fidgeted with my fingers resting on my knees and bowed my head deeply.

“Occasionally, there are people like you, miss.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Not long ago, a lady who desperately wanted a child insisted that she’d had a child who was kidnapped, and she came in with her husband.”

The doctor said while scribbling out a prescription.

“Perhaps you wanted parents so badly too? You said you attended the academy, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Were there perhaps classmates around you who were especially close with their families? You must have envied seeing those friends. Thinking, ‘I wish I had a family too, then they’d treat me this well.’ There are people who fantasize especially vividly like that. As they keep imagining, they come to believe in that fantasy.”

The doctor held out the prescription to me.

“Let’s start with the medications listed here. I’ve set the dosage at a minimum, so there shouldn’t be major side effects in daily life, but if you feel too drowsy or see hallucinations, please come to the hospital immediately.”

Right, even the expert says I’m a delusional disorder patient. Father never existed.

After picking up the medicine, I immediately tore open one packet and took it right there before heading out.

I wanted to get some air. These past few days, I’d only been running around frantically searching for Father.

“Ha… haha.”

Laughter escaped me.

I had been the top student at the academy, and my professor had wanted me to continue my studies.

But the reason I gave up research and chose the job of royal palace civil servant was for quick employment.

I had wanted to take out a stable royal palace loan to support Father — but to think that such a father never existed in the first place, it was laughable.

“Ah, I’ve walked all the way to the academy.”

It seemed I’d just walked straight without realizing it. To get home, I needed to walk in the opposite direction.

When would I ever get back? Nothing was going right.

Ever since Father disappeared, it’s been like this every day. It was also a natural result of not being in my right mind.

“Oh, isn’t that Cynthia?”

Someone called out to me warmly as I turned to head back.

“Sir, have you been well?”

It was the bakery owner I’d often bought snacks from at the academy. As I entered the bakery, the smell of freshly baked bread tickled my nose.

“I heard you became a royal palace civil servant — what brings you all the way here?”

“I just ended up walking this way without thinking.”

“You really are something, haha. Don’t just stand there, take one of these.”

It was a sandwich filled with the potato salad I used to buy often.

“It’s 5 silver, right?”

“Forget it. How often did you come to my shop while attending the academy? It’s nothing much, but consider it my employment gift.”

“Sir…….”

Still, I felt bad just taking it. I looked around and pointed at the chocolates.

“Then let me buy these. Give me all the ones you have left.”

“You don’t like sweet things like this, do you?”

“I don’t, but I want to give them as gifts to my colleagues.”

Since they must have suffered a lot because of me all this time.

“Kid, already knowing how to navigate workplace life. You’ve really grown up.”

The owner smiled and put the prettily packaged chocolates into a paper bag as well.

“The royal palace is in the opposite direction from here, but still, come visit often.”

“Of course. I think I’ll come often just because I miss your bread, sir.”

“Kid, with those words.”

It was about the time the hearty laughter was dying down.

Rumble—.

“Oh no, it looks like it’s going to pour?”

A loud clap of thunder sounded, and raindrops began to plop, plop onto the ground.

“Oh dear. This looks like it’ll be quite a downpour?”

“Indeed.”

Judging by the way it was coming down, it wasn’t a rain that would stop soon. Just as I was looking up at the sky with a troubled expression, an arrogant voice struck my ear.

“If you block the entrance, customers can’t get in.”

An irritable tone. When I looked ahead, there stood Aidan holding a black umbrella, looking exactly like himself.

“Oh, Young Master Aidan! You’ve come to buy this again today, right? The cute animal farm cookie set!”

Cute animal farm cookie set? The cookie set baked into cute characters just as the adorable name suggests?

The cookie set packed with chocolate chips that looks sweet just by looking at it? That Aidan buys it?

Aidan, who buttons his uniform all the way to the collar even in the sweltering summer?

“W-what on earth are you talking about.”

“Haha, you always buy them. You even came the day before yesterday and bought thirteen sets?”

“Cough cough!”

Aidan cleared his throat and folded his umbrella as he came inside.

“I-I just came to buy a sandwich.”

That didn’t seem to be the case, but I just let it go.

“What are you doing here?”

“As you can see, I’m waiting a bit because of the rain, but it doesn’t look like it’ll stop. I’ll just go get wet.”

As I opened the door to leave, a large hand grabbed my forearm.

“Are you crazy? If you get soaked in this and catch a cold, what are you going to do?”

Aidan grumbled and lifted his umbrella.

“I’ll take you home.”

“What?”

Maybe because I looked too startled. One of his eyebrows furrowed.

“Just try catching a cold. It’ll interfere with work, won’t it? You can’t even focus properly as it is — are you going to sniffle and bother the people around you too?”

I knew it. There’s no way he’d be worried about me. But sharing one umbrella would be uncomfortable.

“You’re still not honest, Young Master.”

The owner said, subtly slipping the animal farm cookie set into the paper bag containing the sandwich.

“Oh right, Cynthia! Come to think of it, there should be an umbrella among the lost and found. Wait just a moment.”

The owner rummaged through a large basket. A coin purse the size of a palm, a pencil case, a textbook. After pulling out all sorts of things, the owner finally pulled out a blue umbrella and shouted.

“Ahhh, here it is!”

That was the moment. My heart pounded at a worn bag strap that came out caught on the umbrella string. On the black bag strap, the initials A.V were crookedly engraved. The initials I had engraved long ago when I’d said the mercenary men’s bags all looked the same and got confusing.

“Where did this bag come from?”

“Hm? Ahh, that one. Why, is it someone you know?”

The owner took out the bag and held it out to me.

“I picked it up on the day of the academy graduation ceremony. It was just lying there and no one was taking it, so I brought it for now.”

“Wait, let me see it for a moment.”

Initials could overlap by coincidence. How many similar names are there in the world?

“Sure, go ahead.”

But on this bag, the traces of Father sewing it with thread several times — even when I told him to just throw it away and buy a new one, saying this one was comfortable and good — were still there.

Could this be a coincidence? Had my delusions gotten worse?

With trembling hands, I opened the bag.

“This is…….”

It was a notebook likewise bearing Father’s initials. As if possessed, I opened the notebook.

[Tomorrow is Cynthia’s graduation ceremony.]

Father’s handwriting. At the familiar handwriting, my vision blurred. In case it might disappear before my eyes, I slowly traced the writing.

[Time passes unbelievably fast. That newborn who used to do nothing but grip my finger tightly has now grown up properly and become a royal palace civil servant. I don’t know how fortunate I am that she grew up well.]

There were traces of ink clumped darkly. As if the pen had been stopped for a while.

[May Cynthia’s life continue to be happy.]

The sentences below were layered over so many times they couldn’t be read properly, but either way, one thing was certain.

Father existed. I was not delusional.