Episode 18

The dinner continued calm and harmonious. By around ten o'clock at night, Igor still couldn't sleep. It seemed like he still hadn't been able to resolve the issue with the time difference, in addition to being in a relatively strange room.

A lot had happened that day, and he was still processing many of them. He put on his pajama shirt and prepared to take a walk in the garden, hoping to expend some of his energy and finally fall asleep. Igor was surprised when he opened the door and saw little Samuel leaning against the wall.

The child stood there with red eyes, looking lost and hurt. Even though he had tried to act like an adult during the day, deep down he was still just a child and would inevitably behave like one. Igor approached him, trying to figure out what had caused the tears.

"Why are you crying, Samuel?" he asked.

Samuel tried to swallow his tears and shook his head in denial. Despite looking hurt, he still didn't want to speak. Igor, who had little experience with children, asked again.

"Why are you crying, little hamster?" he teased.

"I'm not a hamster, I'm a hamster," Samuel responded to the teasing.

"Alright... hamster. But will you tell me why you're crying?"

Samuel saw the smile on Igor's face and no longer felt upset about the teasing.

"Do you want me to take you to your uncle or to Mrs. Odette?" Igor asked.

"Don't take me to my uncle, he doesn't like it when I cry."

For a moment, Igor wondered if Enrico could be so grumpy as to not allow the child to cry. Although Samuel wanted to keep the reason hidden, he still opened up to Igor.

"I dreamt about my mother."

Upon hearing that response, Igor felt a pang in his heart. He knew exactly how that feeling could be, since when he was a child, he had dreamt about his mother many times. And when he lost her, he was about the same age as Samuel.

Igor bent down and picked up the child, leading him back to his room. Once they entered, he asked Samuel some questions.

"Do you remember what she looked like?"

"Yes, she's in the photo, just like in the dream," Samuel said with a slight sob. "Why do the other children have a mom and dad, and I'm the only one who doesn't?" His voice was filled with hurt.

"Who told you that?" Igor placed him on the bed. "I don't have a mother either."

"So you're like me?" Samuel's eyes blinked with hope.

Igor covered him with the blanket, and without realizing it, his tone was gentle and kind.

"Yes, but I know where your parents are."

"Where?" Samuel's eyes seemed to sparkle in that moment.

Igor remembered how his mother used to do it, gently caressing the child's forehead. Nostalgia filled his eyes as he tried to calm Samuel, reminding him of his own younger self.

"They're in heaven. They turned into stars, and you can see them every time you look up at the night sky."

"My uncle said the same thing," Samuel seemed grumpy. He grabbed onto Igor's clothes. "Are you really going to live here, as a family?" There was excitement in his voice.

"Yes, and I'm going to steal your fish," Igor teased.

"You don't need to steal it, I'll share it with you."

Igor felt his heart warm and didn't know what to say in that moment. He simply agreed and tucked Samuel back into bed. A child's emotions were like a roller coaster ride, and after a few minutes of talking, Samuel fell asleep once again. Igor quietly left the room to find Enrico standing in the hallway near the door.

Their eyes met for a few moments, and Igor changed his nostalgic expression to a teasing one.

"You've already blocked me at the door twice in one day. Wouldn't it be better to just come inside next time?" he leaned against the wall.

"I saw that you did a good job calming the child," Enrico spoke softly, afraid of waking the little one inside the room. "He's still young, so it's understandable for him to wake up crying sometimes. I apologize for the disturbance."

"It wasn't a disturbance," Igor moved his body, looking into the room again, then looked back at Enrico. "Is that one of the reasons you asked me to stay with you? Because of him?"

Igor had already realized that, after the question, Enrico did not deny, he simply tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair a few times before responding.

"One of the reasons would be to prevent certain unreliable suitors who hover over me, the other one is really him," he said.

Igor felt flattered by the trustworthy part, but he still paid attention to the expressions of the man in front of him. Enrico looked down at his legs and a hint of darkness appeared in his eyes before he continued.

"I can't move around easily to accompany him in some activities in the park, Mrs. Odette is not that young anymore, so a father in a legitimate way would be ideal. Finding someone of the opposite sex would be inconvenient, Samuel does not feel comfortable and the divorce after the agreement ends could end up affecting a woman's reputation."

Everything Enrico said made sense and was quite precise, so that no one would question his motives. Igor curved his lips slightly and narrowed his eyes towards him, feeling that there was something else in that story.