Chapter 87

 

***

 

As time passed, Mrs. Higgins set aside her knitting and started to gaze intently at Melody. Though her expression was stern, it seemed filled with worry.

Noticing the genuine concern, Melody couldn’t help but laugh.

“Uh, I’m okay. Watching grandma knit is fun, too.”

Mrs. Higgins’s brow furrowed deeply at the cheerful response. It seemed Melody was indeed brooding over something on her own.

She didn’t seem inclined to open up about it to anyone else.

Mrs. Higgins casually lifted the unfinished knitting over Melody’s head to gauge the size. Despite the hat being far from complete, it looked like it would soon be finished given the small size of the child’s head.

“This little head of yours must be spinning non-stop. I’ll have to make sure it’s well covered with a fine hat.”

“Are you saying you’ll make me a hat?”

“Yes. If you wear a nice wool hat, perhaps your busy mind will take a short rest.”

Melody thought, ‘If my mind takes a rest, that would be quite a problem.’

But fearing she might not get the hat if she voiced this, she simply smiled.

Mrs. Higgins looked deeply at the child who only offered a smile in return, then sighed heavily.

The time that followed was peaceful. Melody quietly listened to the sound of the needle and yarn brushing against each other. The yarn resting on her palm gently spun, tickling her.

Additionally, the nearby fireplace crackled with the burning of wood, spreading warmth.

Melody soon began to doze off pleasantly, nodding off.

“…It seems you’ve been worrying yourself into sleeplessness. Who do I need to ask to get you to talk, huh?”

Mrs. Higgins clicked her tongue and let Melody’s head rest near her knees.

Even in a half-asleep state, the child clung to one of Mrs. Higgins’s legs with both hands, rubbing her head against it with a blissful expression.

“Such a troublesome little lamb.”

Mrs. Higgins snorted and then refocused on her knitting. With the weather quickly turning colder, she needed to finish Melody’s hat soon.

 

***

 

Melody woke up after about an hour.

“Is your winter sleep already over?”

At Mrs. Higgins’s remark, Melody smiled and quickly picked up the yarn she had dropped in her sleep.

“Give it here, I can’t do any more with my eyes being so blurry.”

Mrs. Higgins took off her glasses, her face clearly showing signs of fatigue.

“I’m sorry for causing you inconvenience…”

Melody quickly apologized. It seemed to her that the grandmother had stayed in place all this time so as not to wake Melody.

“It’s just that you were sleeping in such a strange posture, I left you be. Doesn’t your neck hurt?”

“Sleeping against grandma is very comfortable. And it smells nice too!”

“You troublesome thing, using an old woman as a pillow.”

Mrs. Higgins then pulled a finished wool hat over Melody’s head. It stretched down on both sides, warmly covering her small ears.

“Wow.”

Melody ran to a mirror in the corner of the room to immediately check her reflection.

The white wool hat with pom-poms looked extremely cute.

“It’s beautiful! So beautiful! I really love it!”

Unlike the excitedly shouting Melody, Mrs. Higgins merely nodded her head as if it were a matter of course.

“Of course, it is.”

“Most importantly, with this hat, I won’t be cold no matter where I am! That’s really wonderful!”

As the girl’s enthusiastic response continued, even the often grumpy Mrs. Higgins couldn’t help but wear a proud smile.

“…Well, that’s obvious. Hmph.”

Though her words were still grumbly.

“Can I go out with this hat right now? Is it okay if I go for a walk now?”

Seeing the light in Melody’s eyes, it seemed her sleepiness had completely vanished.

“Do as you wish. But remember, if you don’t dress warmly enough, I’ll take the hat back.”

Melody, very fond of the cute hat, pressed it down with both hands in shock, as if she didn’t want it taken away.

“I’ll dress very warmly.”

“Make sure you dress cleverly so that not a single cold breeze can get through.”

“Yes, I won’t leave any  gap!”

Melody hurriedly left Mrs. Higgins’s room, eager to go outside.

“Making such a fuss over a mere hat.”

Mrs. Higgins murmured to herself, glancing down at the scarf she had just begun to knit.

“If she gets a scarf too, she might even dance. Tsk.”

Around the time she said this, the sound of Melody’s footsteps could be heard fading down the hallway, only to quickly return, thundering towards her.

“Grandma!”

The child burst through the door without knocking and hastily bowed.

“…?”

Mrs. Higgins looked at her with a puzzled expression, wondering what this was all about when Melody raised her head and smiled brightly.

“Thank you for making the hat!”

“That’s something your feet already announced with their clomping down the hallway! How on earth am I supposed to teach those feet to be silent?!”

“Ah.”

Melody glanced down at her feet, realizing how recklessly she had run.

“I’ll teach them from now on. Very strictly!”

“We’ll see.”

Since Mrs. Higgins had said so, Melody made sure to walk on tiptoes very carefully on her way back to her room, making absolutely no noise. Silently, stealthily.

 

***

 

Dressed in several layers of thick clothing, Melody was somewhat pleased to see her body appeared twice its usual size.

She wished her height could increase like this, but wearing winter clothes wouldn’t make her grow taller, unfortunately.

Stepping out into the garden, the cold winter air immediately nipped at her nose.

But that was all.

Melody slightly touched her hat and lifted her chin high. Except for a part of her face, she didn’t feel cold at all.

Especially her ears, which always turned red and froze, felt warm, even cozy, thanks to her grandmother’s hat.

‘I can do winter errands as much as I want now.’

Melody briskly moved her somewhat sluggish legs.

Walking along the wide garden path for a while, she heard a loud call, “Mel!” from afar.

“…Isaiah?”

Surprised, she ran towards the voice and found him standing outside the garden fence, looking in.

“Hi, Mel!”

He greeted her warmly through the bars of the fence, but his face seemed awkward, likely frozen stiff by the cold wind.

“I can’t believe it! What’s this, Isaiah!”

Melody reached her gloved hand through the bars to pinch his cheek.

“Your ears are red too. What are you doing here?”

Despite her reprimanding tone, he kept smiling joyfully.

“Yeah, just taking a walk.”

“Why take a walk here? What about work?”

“It’s my day off. But Mel, didn’t you say you were going somewhere today?”

“Ah.”

Melody quickly released his cheek and started fiddling with a nearby bar for no particular reason.

It then occurred to her that Isaiah had sent a message saying, ‘Since it’s my day off, it would be nice to meet.’ That day happened to be today, and Melody had declined, citing a prior engagement.

What to do now? She worried this might make it look like she lied to avoid meeting Isaiah.

“Well, I did have plans for today.”

“And?”

“I decided not to go… Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

“Uh? That’s because…”

“It’s actually good for me since we got to meet like this.”

He rubbed his cheek for a moment and murmured in a soft voice, “Because I kind of wanted to see you.” Unfortunately, Melody didn’t catch that.

“I’m happy to meet you too, but why were you standing here?”

“I wasn’t just standing. I was just passing by.”

“But…”

It seemed like he had been here for a while. The area where Isaiah stood was covered in footprints, and the fallen leaves were all flattened.

‘Could it be, Isaiah came because he knew I was in trouble?’

He had always had a knack for showing up to comfort Melody whenever something unpleasant happened to her.

Of course, his way of offering comfort was somewhat rough, usually involving beating up the village kids who upset Melody.

“Mel.”

Lost in thought, Isaiah then grasped Melody’s cheek. His hand, not wearing gloves, was very cold. Startled by the touch, Melody flinched, prompting him to quickly retract his hand.

“Oops, sorry.”

“Why aren’t you wearing gloves?”

Melody quickly grabbed his hand and pressed it against her warm cheek.

She disliked the cold wind brought by winter, but she enjoyed warming up a friend’s frozen hand.

“Your hand is really cold. The doctor would be upset if he knew.”

“It was… impulsive to come out like this.”

“In such cold weather. Isaiah, you’re silly.”

“Sorry, I won’t forget next time.”

Saying this, he briefly pulled Melody’s face toward him.

“…?”

Melody looked up at him with a ‘why?’ expression on her face. After a moment,

“I see.”

Isaiah bent down to Melody’s level and asked her seriously,

“What’s happened to you again?”

“Is it written on my face?”

“Yes. Clearly. In a script only I can read in this world.”