Eira nodded.
Then, bringing the scarf closer to her nose, she inhaled deeply. Her lips curled upward in quiet recognition.
"Yes ... it carries Mama’s sll. Eira loves it. She can never mistake it."
Karl didn’t know if it was truly that hard to understand ... or if he simply lacked the ability.
Because he certainly didn’t understand what sll she was talking about.
From what he knew, her mother left shortly after she was born. That ant she shouldn’t have any real mory of her at all. And if there were no mories ... how could she rember a scent?
And was that even possible ... to hold on to a fragrance for so long?
He watched the little girl for a long mont, searching her expression ... trying to decipher sothing beyond her words.
But he failed.
Not having anyWother ans, he could only ask her gently. "What sll, princess? Can you let Fourth Uncle sll once?"
The girl studied him carefully, thinking. His gaze dropped to the scarf before lifting back to him. After a pause, she nodded.
Carefully, she lifted the scarf toward him, offering it.
Karl smiled warmly and reached forward to take it —
But just before his fingers could touch the silk, Eira pulled it back again.
He blinked, dumbfounded.
"Fourth Uncle," she said with her brows drawn together in concern, "don’t touch it. You will dirty it."
Karl froze, utterly dumbfounded. He pointed at himself.
"I will dirty it? How? My hands are very clean. Or, you can even call it super clean."
He even held them up for inspection, but the girl still looked very reluctant to believe.
In the end, he could only sigh in defeat and agree to her.
"Fine! Alright ... I won’t touch it," he said, raising both of his hands in surrender. "I will just sll it from your hands. Is that okay?"
She paused and then nodded to him, bringing the scarf closer once again.
This ti, Karl didn’t dare reach for it. He simply leaned forward ... slowly ... carefully ... and inhaled.
In his first take, he caught nothing distinct. Just a faint, clear scent of silk.
He tried again.
And this ti —
Sothing soft brushed his senses.
A faint fragrance —gentle ... quiet ... almost delicate enough to disappear if breathed too deeply.
It carried a subtle warmth, like sunlight resting on the fresh fabric ... touched with sothing light and airy, like petals that had never fully blood.
There was a trace of sweetness too —not strong, not cloying —just enough to feel comforting.
Karl stilled.
He leaned back slightly, brows knitting in faint puzzlent.
There was a sll. That much he could tell now. But what made it feel like Mama’s sll to Eira —he couldn’t understand.
The scent was distinct —not very familiar ... and yet very calming.
But still, nothing about it reminded him of anyone he knew. Nor did it resemble any scent he would call motherly.
He glanced at Eira again —and for the first ti, he wondered if perhaps she wasn’t simply imagining things.
But then, he shook his head at the thought.
After all, Eira was just a child.
What would she know?
Maybe she simply believed too strongly in whatever story his brother had told her.
"You think that’s you Mama’s sll?" he asked gently.
Eira looked at him and nodded without hesitation. "It is," she said firmly.
She didn’t need to think. She knew.
"Do Eira miss your Mama very much?" he asked, his tone soft ... but his eyes quietly observant, as though testing unseen waters.
She nodded again.
"Then ... do you want her to co back to you?"
Eira paused.
She blinked, trying to understand what he ant.
Will Mama co back to her?
Eira wants that too. But —
"Dada says she won’t co to us," she said innocently rembering Dylan’s words from the other night. Though it hurt her, she still spoke it plainly. "She has forgotten Eira and will never rember her again."
Karl’s brows furrowed slightly. Forgotten? He didn’t quite understand that. But after a mont, he assud it must be the story Dylan told her to help her let go.
"If she has forgotten you," he said slowly, "then we can make her rember you again."
Her eyes lit up instantly.
She shifted on the couch, trying to contain the excitent swelling inside her.
"Can that really happen?" she asked, almost desperately. "Can Mama really rember Eira again ... and co back to her?"
Karl nodded, smiling easily.
"She can," he said with a casual certainty. "After all ... what’s forgotten can always be rembered."
He leaned closer and tapped her nose lightly.
"And Eira is also so pretty and sweet. Who can bear forgetting her forever? I can even go for one day, you know. "
Her little heart thumped wildly at the thought. Hope blood —fragile, glowing, precious.
"How can we do that?" she asked quickly, as though she could wait.
Karl rose and sat beside her on the couch. He pretended to think deeply, simply indulging her.
"Well ... Fourth Uncle has a plan, and I am already working on it. If everything goes right, Eira will have her Mama very soon."
She blinked innocently. "Plan?" she asked, not really understanding.
He nodded and explained a little more so she could grasp sothing of it.
"I have already found soone who will love Eira ... stay with her ... take care of her ...every single day."
Eira listened carefully.
Karl continued gently, "Soone warm ... kind ... soone who will never run away and leave you alone again. Soone who will beco your Mama ... and never forget you."
Eira’s fingers tightened around the scarf.
In her mind —she imagined one face.
The only face that mattered to her.
"Yes ..." she whispered. "Eira wants Mama."
Karl smiled —satisfied, certain she understood him.
But little did he know ... they both understood it very differently.
"Don’t worry," he said softly. "Your Fourth Uncle has already made the arrangents. Once it becos a success, Eira will have her Mama. Maybe after tonight itself."
Eira nodded, hope mixed with excitent shining brightly in her eyes.
Karl watched her for a long mont ... his smile lingering.
Then he whispered to himself,
’Not just you ... even I need her desperately. But it’s fine, since you are young, I will act for both of us ... and make it happen as soon as possible.’
With that, his gaze slowly deepened.
His phone rang. Checking the number, he quickly answered.
"Yes, were you able to get it?" he asked.
The next mont, his lips curled upward in satisfaction.
"Perfect!"
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