Who Do You Like More, Mom or Dad?

front of her, the man that saved her.

 

“T-thank you for s-saving me.”

 

“….”

 

The man looked at the girl silently.

 

When Diana began to panic again, the man opened his mouth.

 

“By any chance, are you….”

 

The man paused for a moment.
Then, looking down at her, he continued to speak again.

 

“Do you know a person called Philippa?”

 

‘Who is Philippa? If I say that I don’t know, will I be k-killed?’ Diana’s frightened eyes shook once again.

 

“You should just tell me the truth.”

 

Diana looked at him and shook her head.

 

“You don’t know?”

 

This time, she nodded her head.

 

“Then, by chance, can I know your mother’s name?”

 

“…My mother’s name?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

It was a random question.
Diana doubted for a second but quickly answered, afraid that it would offend the man.

 

“Her name is April.”

 

Disappointment immediately covered the man’s face.

 

“No, but still….
Is this a coincidence? There’s no way.”

 

The man started mumbling to himself in agony.
Unconsciously, Diana groped at her chest, looking for her mother’s relic that made her feel safe…

 

“…!”

 

It wasn’t there.
Diana hurriedly groped the back of her neck but she didn’t feel anything other than her own skin. 

 

“Huh?! Where is it?”

 

“What’s wrong? Did anything happen?”

 

Diana hurriedly crouched down onto her stomach, as if her previous trembling appearance was just an illusion.
She groped the ground and desperately searched even though she couldn’t see anything.

 

“What are you doing so suddenly?”

 

“Give me a moment.
I-I have to find… there is something that I must find.”

 

“What are you looking for? Ah! Don’t tell me…? But, she said her name was April…”

 

However, Diana did not hear one thing.
She was too muddle-headed to even stop and think about what the man had just said.

 

‘Where did it drop?’

 

She tried to remember, but she simply couldn’t.

 

‘I definitely touched it while I was coming here… please, please.’

 

It would be fortunate if it simply fell on the road but, if it fell while she was running in the forest, that was a different story.
She couldn’t even tell which direction she was running because she wasn’t thinking at all when she fled.

 

“Are you looking for this?”

 

The man took the pendant out of his pocket.

 

“…!”

 

Diana’s eyes opened widely.

 

“Th-that’s right!”

 

The man’s face hardened but Diana, who was still not in the right state of mind, didn’t notice it.
The fact that it was found was the only thing she focused on.

 

“Ah, thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
It’s something that I lost.
Thank you.”

 

Diana reached out her hand to thank him.

 

But, the man avoided Diana’s hand and retracted the pendant back into his hands.

 

“You said… this is yours?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“This belongs to a person that I know.
Is this really yours?”

 

The man spoke with a straight face.
The threatening voice made Diana pale.

 

“….”

 

“Why aren’t you answering? Is this really yours?”

 

“….”

 

The frightened Diana began to stutter again.

 

“I-I, s-so, m-my….”

 

The man breathed out a deep sigh.
Hanging his head down he took off his hood.
He revealed his thin face, the type that belonged to an intellectual, and oddly enough, this relieved Diana.

 

“Don’t be afraid.
Is this really yours?”

 

Hup. Diana breathed in and said in a tightening voice.

 

“…Yes, it’s mine.”

 

“….”

 

This time, it was the man who fell quiet.

 

“I-is there any problem?”

 

Diana asked with trembling lips, breaking the silence.

 

The man alternately looked at the pendant and Diana.
He then opened the pendant, seemingly very familiar with it.
He showed Diana the picture inside it.
The moment she saw her mother’s face, tears pooled in her eyes.

 

“What’s your relationship with this woman?”

 

“…Yes?”

 

“I asked what’s your relationship?”

 

She couldn’t understand why the man would ask such a thing.

 

‘Why should I be interrogated like this?’

 

Diana felt like a victim.
She just went through a terrible ordeal, yet here was this man continuously bothering her.
Then, while holding back her tears, Diana spoke.

 

“If I answer… will you give it back?”

 

The man slowly nodded.

 

Diana was exhausted.
There was nothing more she wanted to do than to quickly get the pendant and head back.
So she answered.

 

“My mom.
The person in the photo… She’s my mother.”

 

The man sighed.

 

“Don’t tell me your father is another… ah, no, that’s not the important thing.
Where is your mother?”

 

“….”

 

“I’ll ask if the woman inside the pendant is really her and give it back.”

 

“….”

 

Diana was speechless.

 

The moment the man mentioned her mother, her emotions burst.
Sadness poured in like a wave and squeezed out every single one of her tears.

 

“Hic, hicc.”

 

“What? Why? Why are you crying?”

 

“W-why, are you, hicc, hic, doing this to m-me?”

 

“No.
What? What do you mean why? Why are you crying? Stop crying for a moment.”

 

“M-mom has….
My mother has….”

 

Diana tried to stop her tears by biting her lips several times.
However, the outburst of emotion was too hard to control. 

 

“Don’t tell me… No, it can’t be that right?”

 

Looking at Diana’s crying appearance, the man stepped back.
It was as if her expression already told him everything.
The man shook his head violently.
He looked very scared.

 

“No.
It’s not what I think it is, right? It shouldn’t be.
It’s impossible.
Please.”

 

After a few more breaths, Diana completed her words. 

 

“…passed away.”