Reina of Hanneau (English)

WE ARE A TEAM

“Umm, Mr. Sou? Can I talk to you about something?”

Mitsuei’s brows raise as he glances at the seemingly reluctant girl by his office door. 

Hanneau had resumed operations and has been receiving a steady stream of visitors for more than a week. Everyone is busy. Kayomi, too, has committed to assisting around the lodge whenever she returns home from school or on holiday.

Still, the number of staff they have doesn’t seem enough to cater to everyone. 

And now that the peak hours are done, a very unusual guest arrives in his solitary confinement. 

He wished he could go home right now. He desperately wanted to stay with Reina and the baby. He is not content with the hours he gets from when he returns home to when he goes to work the next morning. He feels compelled to be around them all of the time.

“What seems to be the problem, Rio?”

Mitsuei puts away the documents he has been reading for hours now since he came in for work. He didn’t like seeing this many numbers and words in a day. He also needed a break. Or a distraction.

And Rio’s probable concern is highly welcomed. 

Even with visible hesitation, Rio braves herself to come in and close the doors behind her. She is anxious because of what she might consult about. Either the owner will take it positively or negatively. And she hates the idea of making him upset when she might be overstepping her boundaries. 

“Something wrong with work? Or anything wrong with the baby?” 

Mitsuei straightens his back as the young lady sits on the chair across from him. 

Rio seems fidgety as she kept playing with her fingers while she continuously look around like she wants to distract herself. And this seriously is making him worry.

“You need to tell me if something went wrong in my house.”

Mitsuei couldn’t stop himself from raising his voice. He was getting nervous by the minute, and the young woman still refuses to talk. 

“Nothing wrong with the baby and Mrs. Sou. I --umm- I just want to talk about something,” Rio stutters in panic. 

She senses Mr. Sou's frown the moment she walks in. It terrified her, so she began to worry, although she had said nothing inappropriate in the first place.

Mitsuei takes a deep breath. He is somehow relieved that nothing terrible happened to his wife and baby without him knowing. 

“Alright. Then, what problem do you want to talk about? Is it about work? I know we are really busy right now because of the sudden surge of visitors but ---,”

“No! No, it is not that,” Rio gasps when she realized what she did. 

She yelled at the owner. Whether it was unconsciously or not, it is still unforgivable. 

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. I just -- I just don’t want you to misunderstand what I am about to ask.”

The furrow on Mitsuei’s face deepens as he looks back at Rio. She seems agitated and concerned. He is getting more and more confused by the minute.

“Alright. Ask away.”

“Umm, owner. Have you noticed something wrong with Mrs. Sou?” Rio asks, biting her lips.

More than anything else, she did not want to cause problems to the couple. Especially now that they just welcomed a son. 

But if she continues to ignore such alarming behavior, this might cause greater problems than it should be. 

"What do you mean?" Mitsuei asks in confusion. He is clueless as to where this conversation leads to.

"Umm, you see. Don't you think Mrs. Sou is getting thinner? And her eyes. The bags under her eyes are also darker than last time and she looks way more tired every day."

Mitsuei remains quiet, trying to recall the days when he needed to leave the house for work.

Reina seemed like the usual. He does see some changes in her physique, but he thinks it is normal since she is recuperating. However, since Rio mentioned it, it must be something not to be ignored. 

"Did something happen today?" Mitsuei asks, looking dead serious.

"Well... I promised her not to tell." Rio whispers as she lowers her head. 

"Rio, you came here in my office determined to question my wife's well-being. But now that you are here, you tell me that you promised to keep it a secret."

Rio stares at the now annoyed owner through her lashes. She should not have come here in the first place, especially when her resolve isn't as solid as it should be.

Still, there is no turning back. 

“When Mrs. Sou is alone in the house, she often cries. I've caught her silently sobbing in her bedroom for the past few days. However, she advised me not to inform you because you are so preoccupied with your work. and ----.”

“How long?”

“Pardon me, Mr. Sou?” Rio blinks in surprise. Mr. Sou suddenly raising his voice sent chills through the back of her neck.

“How long has she been behaving like that?”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Sou. Please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to cause any disturbance and ---.”

Again, Rio didn’t finish her statement. 

Not wanting to hear more from Rio, Mitsuei stands from his seat and leaves his office. He leaves Rio almost in tears as she continuously pleads for him not to get angry. 

Rio tried to keep up with him, but she quickly realized she couldn't. As a result, she remained motionless in one corner. A part of her is terrified of what will happen next. Reina isn't in the best of health, and she's causing problems for the pair. 

Mitsuei runs into Kiyoko in the corridor and tells her that he'll be putting Hanneau in her care. There is no explanation. There are no needless words.

He just went and left. 

Meanwhile…

Reina sits on the corner of the bed when Ritsu finally stopped crying. She was done feeding him and so as changing his nappy. 

She has been sitting on the bed for quite some time when she notices something odd. Her nose scrunches when she realizes that she hasn’t taken a bath yet. The last time she did was probably yesterday morning. She was too tired last night to even care. 

And since Helen hasn’t returned yet, she barely notices things about herself. 

The storm appears to have caused significant damage to the fields. And the inhabitants of Haran have been working furiously to salvage whatever is still usable.

That aside, the damages made in Jones H. School also needed some attention. Helen called her the day she was supposed to return, softly sobbing as she told her about the situation in the school. 

The structure was fine, but the high winds blew away the wooden windows and doors. The chairs and tables were scattered around like breadcrumbs, and the books she had worked so hard to collect and acquire were either torn or damp.

And so, Reina had no choice but to deal with her son alone. She couldn’t let Mitsuei handle Ritsu after a hard day’s work. He had done so much by bringing her baby back, so the least she could do is lighten his workload. 

“My goodness. What is there to cry about, Reina?” 

Reina brushes away a single tear from her face. Ritsu was too much for her to handle on her own. Every day, she is in a terrible mood. She couldn't remember the last time she had a good night's sleep. And she is so upset that she can't even hold back her emotions right now.

To regain control, she takes a big breath. At the very least, she is grateful for Rio's assistance. But she couldn't trust the young girl to watch her baby alone for some reason. It didn't sit right for her, even though she recognizes Rio's abilities.

Amid the chaos in her head, Reina hears footsteps walking in the hallway. She thought it was Rio at first. But judging at the heavy steps, it isn’t a woman. 

“Reina, why have you been crying?”

Mitsuei stops in his tracks before he can even step inside the room. Reina is pooling with tears as she stares back at him with wide eyes. 

Finally realizing she isn’t alone in the room, Reina instantly brushes off the tears on her face. Despite erasing the evidence, she knew it was too late to hide it from her husband. 

And considering he was asking her about her emotional breakdown, he must know something. Rio probably told him despite her begging her not to do so. 

Mitsuei raises his head to the ceiling, his hands covering his face. He inhales deeply and looks back at her with sad eyes.

“Why aren’t you telling me anything?” Mitsuei mutters as he takes Reina’s hands in a tight grasp.

“Mitsuei. I didn’t expect you to be back so early,” Reina plainly ignores Mitsuei’s statements.

Mitsuei takes an exasperated breath as he lays himself on the bed, carrying Reina along as he falls. 

He traps her in an embrace, seemingly afraid of letting her go. She pulls her closer, not wanting to leave any space for air to pass through them. 

“Mitsuei, I don’t understand.”

Reina squeezes herself out. She wants to set herself free, hoping she can find a way out without explaining herself. 

She realizes that even the tiniest problem has the potential to break her. So, she wants to avoid anything sentimental that can make her emotional in his presence.

“Reina, I am not happy. This, this thing that you are doing is amazing as it is. But if you hit the wall, you need to tell me. Because I feel much worse for not having the slightest idea of what you are going through,” MItsuei mumbles under his breath. 

While his arms are still wrapped around her, he places his head on top of hers. It hurt him to see her break down in tears while he went about his daily routine.

“Aren’t we supposed to be a family? This family is a team. And that team has each other's backs.”