After all this, we, including Satsuki, sat down to eat.
The four of us bowed before the meal and began to eat.

'...... Thank you for the food.

But Satsuki's voice still sounded listless.
She usually talks more than she should, but today, even though it was a feast, she seemed to be in low spirits and carried the food in her mouth in a gloomy mood.

And in fact, it's a party where no conversation can start until Satsuki starts talking.
It may sound like I'm making fun of Satsuki when I say this, but I think that people who talk carelessly without thinking too much are necessary in the field of communication.

However, since Satsuki is not functioning in this respect, an actor is needed to replace her.
I am not good at such things, but I have no choice.

With that in mind, I was about to open my mouth when...

'......, Will'.

Satsuki was the first to speak.
In a low voice, not like her.

'What is it, Satsuki?

'I'm sorry about that .......'

He said this to me with a pout.
After all, it seems that Cyril's 'rough treatment' didn't work so dramatically.

Cyril and Mee also sigh a little when they see this.
Both of them tried to say something, but seemed to have swallowed it.

I, on the other hand, did not feel like doing anything more for Satsuki.
Perhaps Satsuki herself was saying sorry without knowing what she was apologizing for.

People suffer emotional damage when they fail or when something goes wrong.
If this happens in a short period of time, the damage can be enormous.

For example... I have a memory like this.

When I was a child, I carelessly broke an expensive vase at home.

My parents had told me in advance to be careful because it was an expensive item, and I thought I had done something irreversible.

As I was a child, I did not have the cleverness to shift the blame to my parents, saying that it was wrong to leave such an expensive item within the reach of a child, and I was honestly shocked.

But my mother, who had seen the whole thing, did not scold me.
She squatted down in front of me, looked me in the eye, and said, 'When your father comes home, you must be sorry.' When I nodded, she said, 'Yes,' smiled, and patted my head.

That was all I needed to hear.

Shortly after that, after I had cleaned up the broken vase, but before my father came home.
I was so stunned with guilt that I even broke the ceramic cup that I had tried to fill with water.

My mind finally went blank, and my feelings became jumbled.
As a result, I cried and cried, and my mother seemed to be unable to do anything about it.

After that, my father scolded me severely when he came home, but I don't remember the content of the sermon.
All I remember is that it felt like it went on for tens of minutes or even hours, as if he was denying himself and verbally beating me to a pulp.

And even after the sermon time was over, all that day until I went to bed, I felt so sad, so painful, so bitter that all I could think about was how much I wanted to disappear from this world.
All I could think about was how I could escape from that sadness and pain, and I cowered in bed, crying, crying.

But...

But... after a night's sleep, those feelings had largely disappeared by the next morning.
And by then, I was finally able to organize my thoughts.

I said to my father the words of apology that I had been too busy making excuses for the day before.
My father, James Glenford, who was still somewhat younger than I am now, patted me on the head and said, 'Good.
I suppose the man wasn't necessarily a bad father.

Anyway...
In any case... there is an aspect that a heart that has been inexplicably damaged can only be repaired by time.

And the current Satsuki is probably in that state.
She has made many mistakes and doesn't know what to do, she is just sad and in pain.

It must be a kind of ego of mine to want to do something about it instantly.
So I...

'Satsuki...'

When I called out, Satsuki, who had been eating with her head down, trembled.

Her eyes refused to look at me.
She looked like a small animal frightened by something.

I said to her a few simple words.

'Don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow, and I want to see you smile again. I'm pretty sure she likes to see you smile. Also, this soup is pretty good.

'What ...... is ......? ...... Uh, yeah. ...... Oh, really, it's good.'

After that, Satsuki's cheeks turned red and she sipped the soup at my suggestion and gave some positive feedback.