Chapter 531: Time is still, you move forward
Sofia’s thoughts were sluggish.
The person singing had to stop often, she sounded short of breath, always trying to catch more air whenever she could, yet she kept singing while rocking the crib for long minutes as the sun started to come down.
Someone opened a door, interrupting the lullaby. Her voice was kept low so as not to wake the child, but it was cold as an ice bucket, “Merise, leave the child be, we need you in the kitchen. Dessert isn’t going to bake itself.”
“I’ll be here in a minute,” the singing woman replied with no energy in her voice.
The door was closed back up without one more word, and the singing woman stood up, finally entering the baby’s field of view. She was a tall and weak-looking blonde woman with bright blue eyes. Her face was pale, with dark circles under eyes and emaciated cheeks, but her smile was bright nonetheless. Her dull servant clothes and stained apron did nothing to make her look better, the only touches of color left to her were her pale pink lips and the hairpin in the shape of a purple flower she used to hold her bangs away from her face. Even in her current condition, there was an ethereal beauty to her that made it hard to look away.
Supporting herself with a hand on the wall next to the crib, she bent over to kiss the child on the forehead, “Mom will be back as soon as she can. Sleep well, Sofia.”
After spending a few more seconds longingly staring at the child, the woman laboriously straightened up, quickly tidied up her hair then her apron, and left the room.
Sofia tried to move, she tried to speak, but she couldn’t do anything. It was impossible to change the course of history.
Time passed. The sun came down then up again. Someone else came to take care of the crying baby.