Chapter 14:«Would you like to be my friend?»

At the table, the atmosphere was already charged with a certain tension. The servant, with palpable respect, addressed Mr. Seo.

"Sir! Young Mr. and Mrs. are here for breakfast!"

Elsa entered with a radiant smile. "Hello everyone!" she exclaimed, lighting up the room with her good mood.

Elie, sitting next to her, couldn't help but let out a sigh. "You always have to go overboard!" he said with an exasperated look.

"But I know how to behave properly too, unlike some!" Elsa retorted as she settled comfortably into her seat.

Elie merely waved to greet the others at the table. Mr. and Mrs. Seo responded with the same polite nod.

"Oh really? I didn't know that was enough!" Elsa said, amused by the situation.

After serving breakfast, the servant slightly bowed his head and took his leave. "Enjoy your meal, everyone!"

Mr. Seo then turned his attention to his daughter Abygael. "Abygael, I heard your exam is coming up soon."

Abygael lowered her eyes, silent.

"I expect good results from you. Stop disappointing me every time, understood?" her father continued in an authoritative tone.

"Yes, father!" she replied in an almost inaudible voice.

"If you don't get the grade I want, you'll walk home next time."

"Okay!" she agreed, resigned.

Mr. Seo sighed in frustration. "Honestly, what did I do to deserve such children? Always making me ashamed…"

Elsa couldn't help but react. She took a deep breath before addressing Mr. Seo: "But why do you always blame your children? Is it their fault they were born this way? They haven't done anything wrong but are always blamed for everything. May I leave the table? I think I've lost my appetite." She abruptly stood up and left the room.

A heavy silence then settled around the table.

Mr. Seo finally broke the silence by turning to Elie. "Elie, I'd like you to talk about a certain thing with that woman. There are limits to everything; otherwise, I will throw her out."

"Yes, father!" Elie agreed, his worried gaze betraying his thoughts.

In her room, Elsa remained frozen, lost in painful thoughts that resurfaced like unwanted memories. The echoes of the past assailed her:

"What have I done to deserve such a family?" her father had shouted in a fit of rage. "Do you think you're the only one bearing everything here?"

Her mother tried to calm the conflict: "My love, not in front of the children please!"

But her father continued: "And so what? What do I care about them? They are all as useless as you anyway! To think that I should bear them too… I always have to carry this shame on my shoulders!"

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she plunged back into those troubling memories.

Knock knock knock...

Elsa quickly composed herself by wiping away her tears. "Ah, it was you!" she murmured upon recognizing Elie who had just entered the room.

"You seem out of it when I walked into the room," he observed while scrutinizing her emotionally marked face.

In an atmosphere filled with tension and reflections, Elsa stood there, hesitant. She took a deep breath before apologizing, her voice barely rising above a whisper. "I... I'm sorry about earlier!" she admitted, the words slowly escaping her lips. "I wanted to try to be a good person, but I think I messed everything up... Again!" Her eyes dropped, betraying the shame that overwhelmed her. "You might be right; I talk too much and I always have to exaggerate everything. I didn't mean to meddle in what didn't concern me, but that phrase vaguely reminds me of a painful memory that I'd rather forget. And it was wrong!" A small embarrassed smile appeared on her face as she imagined her father's reaction in this delicate moment.

Elie, for his part, had an indifferent look. "In any case, I don't care. You can say whatever you want to whoever you want, except my mother. She's a bit special to me!" He nodded with conviction. "And you're clearly right. It's not like we decided to be born this way!"

Elsa couldn't help but laugh slightly: "Ha! Ha! Didn't he ask you to scold me by any chance?"

"That's true, but I'm not obliged to follow what he tells me to do," he replied with a mischievous smile.

"What a disobedient son!" Elsa exclaimed, pretending to be horrified.

"I learned that from my wife," Elie responded with a falsely serious expression.

"I've never learned such things!" she retorted while laughing.

"Except for the fact of responding to your elders?"

"Ah! I learned that!" she admitted, blushing slightly.

Elie continued: "Actually, I've already found a caregiver for your family. I called her and she'll come see you today."

Elsa's eyes widened: "Today?"

"Yes, I've already explained everything to her, but you take care of the rest," he added nonchalantly.

"Thank you so much!" she said sincerely, a smile lighting up her face.

"It's nothing!" Elie replied with a shrug.

Curiously, Elsa asked an unexpected question: "Actually, are you sure you're not adopted by any chance?"

Elie looked at her in surprise: "Where did that question come from?"

Elsa shrugged: "Or maybe not... It seems like you got everything from your mother. You look too much like her!"

"I get told that often," he admitted with a slight smile.

"So I was right! But despite that, sometimes you seem like your father... a demon disguised as an angel," she added jokingly.

"You know how to talk!" Elie replied with amusement.

"I always talk too much!" she confessed while laughing once more.

"I'm starting to get used to it now," he responded with a knowing wink.

Elsa gathered her courage and proposed: "So can we become friends?"

Elie looked at her before responding in a serious tone: "No!"