115. The day the first snow fell (2)

Christine carefully held Maxime’s sleeve. The dandelion field in front of the orphanage turned bright yellow and fell asleep in preparation for the winter. Smoke was rising from the chimney of the orphanage in the distance. Christine was looking at the scene of the orphanage with longing eyes. A light breeze blew Christine’s blonde hair a little.

“In the winter, I liked sitting in front of the fireplace at the orphanage and listening to the old stories read to me by the director.”

Christine was smiling.

“Everyone wrapped themselves in old blankets and fell asleep while listening to the teacher’s story. The fire in the fireplace was too warm. The teacher didn’t tell us, but by the time everyone was asleep, he took us one by one and put us to bed.”

Maxim looked at Christine’s expression. When she told the story of the orphanage she lived in as a child, Christine would make a face like that.

“… I knew it, but you are a good teacher.”

“Yes?”

The wind started getting colder. Maxim asked Christine as she adjusted the hem of her coat.

“Are you not going in?”

“I’ll see you face to face for a while.”

Christine stepped forward and the orphanage’s front door opened at the same time. Seeing Christine standing in the distance, the head nun approached with a bright expression on her face. Maxim gently pushed Christine’s back, smiling faintly.

“Christine!”

“teacher.”

The headmaster gave her a hug, not caring about Christine’s approaching attitude. Christine melted her frozen expression and accepted the mother abbot’s warm embrace.

“long time no see. He said he won’t have time to come back this year.”

In the summer, before the Battle of No Man’s Land, Christine, who visited the orphanage with Maxim for the last time, surely said so. Christine let out a bitter laugh as she recalled that time. I can’t tell you what happened in the meantime. When Sister Abbot released the hug, Christine finally smiled as usual.

“Somehow, I found time. How have you been?”

“Yeah, of course. All of the children are doing well and in good health. But, that person behind… ?”

The head nun’s gaze turned to Maxim. When Christine remembered Maxim’s changed face, she put on an oops expression. Christine looked at Maxim as if insisting, ‘Let’s try something around!’, but the abbot’s thoughts were spinning much faster. As if coming to a conclusion, the head nun tilted her head and asked Christine.

“Did you break up with Maxim, who was always with you?”

One word could possibly contain so many questions. Christine and Maxim both twisted their faces in embarrassment at the same time. Christine quickly threw her hand away and tried to explain the situation to the abbot. The fingertips, which were not able to grasp the direction, pointed to Maxim.

“No, that person isn’t like that… .”

“not?”

“It’s just a senior at the same job. Senior Maxim couldn’t come with me today because he had work… No, and in the first place, Maxim and I weren’t even dating? It’s just that I brought you here a few times on my own.”

Christine sweated as she answered the question. However, Christine’s explanation was colorless, and the head nun let out a small sigh and shook her head as if she was sorry.

“Maxim is a very nice person, Christine. It’s a pity that the two of you couldn’t come together today. I am hoping that you and Maxim are doing well. You two look really good together.”

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No, I’ve never been in a relationship before. Christine shouted that inwardly, but another self seduced Christine, asking if there was no need to deny and make excuses. The word that it suits her must have made her ears flutter. When Christine’s cheeks turned red, the head nun let out a small knowing smile.

“… Yes, anyway, that person is Arsene Bern. Senior, you are the nun who is the director of the orphanage I took care of when I was young.”

It was a strange feeling to treat someone I already knew as if I was being introduced to them. Maxim greeted the head nun with a slightly blunt attitude.

“My name is Arsene Bern. I heard a lot about you from Christine.”

The abbess nun smiled at Maxim. Christine looked at the scene and put on a subtle expression. It was probably no different from the expression Maxim gave to the abbess.

“The weather is very cold. Would you like to go in first?”

The head nun pointed her hand toward the orphanage. The wind was blowing the dormant grass in the fields. Maxim nodded stiffly, and Christine let out a sigh behind their backs.

“Since the senior is injured, I don’t think he will be able to stay for long. I’ll just talk for a while.”

The abbess turned her gaze to Maxim at Christine’s words. The nun, as if recognizing the crutches stuck in Maxim’s left arm, said, “Oh my,” apologetically.

“I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Christine…, I’ve lost my mind. Can I help you?”

Maxim laughed bitterly and shook his head.

“It’s okay. It’s not a serious injury, so go in and talk slowly between the two of you.”

Christine raised her eyebrows at Maxim’s words.

“Again, pretend it’s not a serious injury. Teacher, ignore that person pretending to be fine. He always says that and says he’s not fine.”

“Then, should I say, ‘I’m not fine in front of the nun, so hurry up and come out?’”

Overhearing the conversation between Christine and Maxim, the head nun opened her eyes wide and soon changed to a smile.

“Then, let’s have a cup of tea and go.”

—

While the head nun and Christine were away for a while, Maxim was resting, holding a cup of tea and gently closing his eyes. Amidst the crackling sound of the burning fireplace with bright orange flames, Maxim suddenly noticed that several signs were looking at him.

‘Well?’

When I turned my gaze to the wall of the hallway where I could feel the presence, I could see three or four small shadows disappearing. When Maxim took his gaze away, it caught Maxim again. At the children’s caution and curiosity-filled gaze, Maxim smiled a little.

How many times do you hope that the kids and Maxim’s eyeball fight will last? Finally, over the wall, the sound of children arguing with each other was heard, and at Maxim’s gaze, a child timidly walked out from behind the wall. two girls and two boys. Maxim noticed at once that they were children who followed him well whenever he visited this place.

“Oh, hello.”

The children greeted Maxim with eyes as if they were holding back their fears for some reason. Maxim looked at the children who were embarrassed by his own appearance, and slightly frowned, thinking that Arsene’s appearance was so vicious.

“… Oh, I’m sorry.”

As he frowned, Maxim quickly apologized to the children who looked like they would run away. As Maxim’s expression softened, the children huddled together around Maxim, looking a little relieved.

“Hey, who is your brother?”

A boy mustered up the courage to ask Maxim. As the eyes of the other children gathered on him, Maxim was embarrassed inside and cleared his throat.

“Christine’s friend.”

“Do you know where Maxim’s brother is?”

Oh, you were looking for me.

Maxim somehow managed not to reveal his happy feelings on his face, and answered in a deliberately gentle voice.

“Maxim can’t come today because he has work, so I came instead.”

“So, isn’t Maxim hyung coming anymore?”

The children’s eyes were stained with concern as they looked at Maxim. If I had known you liked it this much, I would have come more often. Maxim smiled a little.

“No, I will come next time. I’m coming only today specially.”

The children’s faces brightened noticeably. The children nodded as if they had solved the first task, and then asked questions to Jung-gu Heating.

“Brother, what is your name?”

“Are you friends with Christine?”

“You are really getting married to Maxim, right?”

Just like last time, all of them pick and choose questions that are difficult to answer except for their names. Maxim sweated inwardly and began to answer all the questions one by one.

On the other hand, the chapel beyond one column. Christine was reclining in an elongated pew in the church, gazing at the statue of a saint cast in the shadow of the plaid in the window. It was a fact that you could tell without seeing that Maxim was in quite a bit of trouble, from the chattering noises of the children next to him.

“You have a new expression that I haven’t seen before, Christine.”

The abbess nun approached and sat next to Christine and said that. Christine nodded slowly, agreeing with the nun.

“A lot has happened. Until I find the teacher again.”

“It wasn’t a short time.”

The head nun answered and looked at the relief that Christine was looking at. Adults always had their eyes closed. Christine stared blankly at the nun who was praying with those eyes that would not open.

“Christine, until you came here today, your expression was no different from that winter.”

A winter night when the cold wind blew. Christine recalled the day she came to the head nun with a gold bar. I remembered the days when I was overcome with guilt and self-disillusionment, seeking only atonement. The nun looked into Christine’s green eyes, which were no longer shaken.

“You’re not lost, now.”

“I do not know.”

Christine touched her chest. He remembered the feeling of a traitor stabbing himself. And he remembered the look on Maxim’s face when the sword pierced him. The fact that he breathed mana into him who cried out that he did not care what he had done. Finally pouring out all my heart.

“I think he was just going blindly.”

“Everyone needs a guide, Christine. For me, that guidance is only in the form of faith. From my point of view, it seems that something has appeared that points the way to you who are lost.”

“I wanted to be a guide to that person.”

It couldn’t have been. said Christine bitterly. When I turned my head to the place where I heard the children’s commotion, I saw that Maxim was confused.

“I need someone to walk the road with.”

The nun said that and smiled. Christine closed her eyes at those words and laughed together. Yes, in the end, all he wants is to walk down the same path, neither more nor less. No, actually, it’s not just walking out together.

“Actually, I want to be a little more greedy there.”

The abbot’s nun burst into laughter at Christine’s bold answer. It was a shameless, cheerful, and very loving reply. That child’s eyes, hardened with a strong determination, won’t waver anymore. The Mother Superior looked at Christine with eyes full of emotions.

“A little greed is not a bad thing, Christine.”

“Sometimes I think it would be okay to be more greedy rather than a little greedy.”

Christine said that and got up from her seat. What caught the head nun’s eyes was a smile that was not made up, neither more bitter nor lonely. That natural, radiant smile was so strong that it erased the appearance of a fake smile.

“I will come back next time. I think we should hurry up and take that stupid senior to the hospital and lay him down.”

The head nun nodded. Her expression was not the expression of looking at a student who grew up as a teacher, nor was it the expression of looking at the sprout she had sprouted as a religious person. The nun looked at Christine with the expression of a single mother in sheer delight at the growth of her child.

“Go in. Next time you come, I hope you bring Maxim with you.”

“… Sure.”

Christine left the chapel and went to Maxim in the next room.

“Senior, you waited a long time, didn’t you?”

When Maxim, surrounded by children, saw Christine, he nodded with an expression as if he had seen a savior. Christine smiled and held out her hand. Perhaps they knew that it was time for Maxim to leave, and the children left one by one with sad expressions on their faces. Whenever they were looking for Maxim, the children were waving to Arsene and promising the next time.

“Senior is still popular with the kids.”

“I don’t know why the hell kids like me. Her face must have turned pretty grim now.”

Maxim shook his head, not knowing whether he was grumbling or liking it. Christine looked closely at Maxim’s face.

“It doesn’t look that bad. It’s just a bit, it’s just a feeling that the impression is sharp.”

“That sharp impression scared the kids at first.”

Maxim muttered as if complaining. The weather seemed to be getting colder, but the air was warmer than when I visited Adeline. As Christine looked up at the sky, something cold dripped down her nose. Christine opened her eyes wide in surprise and murmured softly.

“Oh, it’s snowing.”

Maxim raised his head in tandem. In the windless winter sky, small snowflakes were falling slowly. As if foreshadowing, the sky, which had pushed its gray mug in from the strong wind in the morning, began to drop its heavy body little by little only in the late afternoon.

“It’s real snow.”

When Maxim opened his hand, a small snowflake fell onto the palm of his hand and quickly melted away. Maxim opened and closed the hand where the snowflake had rested, staring blankly at the sparkling capital.

“Isn’t it the first snow?”

To Christine’s question, Maxim nodded slowly.

“yes. It is the first snow.”

This first snow was late. The snow that should have fallen at the end of November did not appear until December. If we wait a bit, the snow will pile up on the streets, on the frozen lakes, and on the branches of the fir trees, and it will turn the world white like that.

Maxim suddenly looked down at Christine. Christine was staring at Maxim. For Maxim, Christine’s eyes were somehow unfamiliar. Christine’s expression as she looked at herself was that of a person who always had something to say, or something playful.

now? Christine’s expression right now is like… .

“senior.”

Christine’s voice woke Maxim. Maxim was in no hurry and nodded.

“yes?”

“Do you remember what I said back then, when the senior was holding me stabbed in the no-man’s-land?”

‘I like.’

Maxim still remembered the words that flowed from Christine’s lips.

“Didn’t you forget about that time?”

Maxim said a little playfully, and Christine answered in a slightly pouting voice.

“I never said anything like that. I still remember it well.”

The snow was slowly accumulating on Christine’s coat. Christine stared straight into Maxim’s dark eyes, the first time Maxim had ever seen them.

“Senior, did you forget?”

Maxim met her eyes and shook his head.

“How could I forget that?”

“That’s all right.”

Christine had a smile on her face. Maxim watched as her arms approached his ears. He didn’t know whether he reacted or not. However, the very next moment was enough to open Maxim’s eyes wide.

Christine’s lips were warm. Maxim, who was frozen by the suddenness, could only realize the sensation after several seconds. Warm, soft, and sad. After such clichés passed, all that remained was the taste of that kiss. Is it sweet? Maxim thought of the taste as a little sweetness after the bitterness had passed. The cautious and small movement that I felt gradually spread the taste.

From Maxim’s mouth, to his throat, and to every part of his body slowly. A feeling of warmth slowly drifted over Maxim’s body as if waking him up. All Maxim could do was close his eyes, not pushing Christine away, not accepting her as she was. The sound of the snow piling up could be heard. The snow, swaying and spreading the scent of winter, carved the memories of the moment into Maxim’s image.

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Not everyone knows how to time a kiss, but Maxim sensed that when Christine’s lips parted, time must have passed. Christine looked straight into Maxim’s eyes with eyes wet with the first winter snow, not trying to dwell on what she had just done. Maxim stood still, captivated by the green eyes of Shinnok, who was trapped in that winter.

“I wanted to do it when I wasn’t like that.”

A trembling voice leaked from Christine’s mouth, drawing a small arc. Maxim didn’t know what to say and just stared at her.

“You said you couldn’t give up, do you know what it is now?”

Maxim nodded slowly. I never thought I would express him in such a direct and strong way.

“I’m just saying this one-sidedly, so, you don’t have to answer.”

It was snowing. Christine was very pretty, wrapped in a mystery like the haze of the first snow. Christine’s smile bloomed beneath him.

“My words, even this moment of the day. I’ll make sure you don’t forget.”

At the wizard’s declaration like a declaration of war, the knight stared blankly at the wizard. The first snow was piling up on their shoulders and heads.