Chapter 18: One-meter

The world’s not afraid to shit on you; Colt and Leo know this as a matter of fact. As his tears stopped, Mina gave him solace and peace, he held her hands, and she became a pillar for him.

Sister Mary smiled at the pair; she couldn’t believe that Colt would be able to find someone as good as Mina. It was quite frankly sweet to see.

Sister Mary waited for Colt to calm down before talking about the thing Colt came to do, adoption. Picking up the red folder, Mary looked at Colt and passed it to him as he wiped his tears away.

“Quite frankly, I don’t want to rain down on your parade, but, can I ask you how you’re going to tell Filla about the truth, better yet, how you’ll tell your parents and this young lady’s parents. I believe Filla is going to face pressure once her identity as an Edgeworth is revealed.”

Colt flipped through the red folder’s pages, his hands stopped, and he remembered why Filla was sent here, to begin with. She was sent to the orphanage to avoid criticism and disdain of the people around her.

Sister Mary saw the change in Colt’s expression and shook her head.

“You must be thinking that taking the blame upon yourself will be enough, but taking care of a child is not so simple. To begin with, once she becomes an Edgeworth, she’ll become a noble, and a noble’s life is not exactly all flowers to begin with.

“The child of the infamous wastrel with a commoner; the bastard child of the wastrel; the unneeded child. Do you think such titles will not befall her? Do you?”

Colt’s hands stopped moving. He looked at Sister Mary, whose eyes were full of concern he couldn’t speak. A lump was stuck in his throat, forcing him to stay silent throughout.

However, a word did come out from his side, but it was not Colt who spoke, but Mina.

“Your concerns are warranted, and I do believe that my husband is being hasty. Thus, I wish to say a few things that will clear this whole thing.”

Mary was interested in hearing her words.

“We only need to create a way for Filla to easily transition to becoming a Noble, without being affected by my dear husband’s…not so flowery reputation, correct?”

“Indeed, his not so flowery behavior…hehe.” Sister Mary couldn’t hold it in.

Mina ignored her chuckle, “Then, that only means we just need to improve his reputation, and once that happens, the kid will be accepted easier. Even if there’s a backlash if his lies were to be uncovered, it won’t matter.”

“That makes a lot of sense, but, the single most important question still stands, are we going to let Filla know of the truth?”

No one answered. Mina simply turned to Colt, waiting for an answer. Sister Mary did the same.

“I’ll tell her.” Colt spoke with a solemn tone, “I have led a life that is full of lies for three years already. I am Filla’s father. She is my flesh and blood, and I have seen her cry far too many times, I no longer want to see her suffer more from these insecurities.”

Creeaaakkkk!

Thud!

“Ah, we’re sorry about this, um, we were going to ask Sister Mary for the stool and we, just…um…”

Filla and Hylda looked up with effort. While Hylda was panicking about suddenly opening the door. 

These two came to Sister Mary’s office to ask about the stool they desperately need, but when they were just about to knock, they heard it, Colt’s determined voice from inside.

“I am Filla’s father…” a single line was enough to make Filla’s and Hylda’s young mind go blank.

They didn’t know what to do, and as they panicked, the two lost their balance and fell, accidentally opening the door and letting everyone know of their presence.

Everyone was silent. Even Hylda had stopped speaking. She looked at Colt and to Filla before coming back to Colt.

The two had the same expression on their faces, blank. Filla was surprised to know the truth, and Colt was too stupefied to speak.

The lump on his throat returned. But he summoned his courage, his strength, and pulled everything out to say…

“I’m sorry.”

Once again, his tears welled up as he fell on his knees. Leo did not know what caused him to do this, but he had already accepted that he and “Colt” were one person. The Original’s emotions were genuine, and it was now his. The guilt he felt was not some foreign emotion; it was real.

The two were one meter apart from each other, but it felt like a giant chasm was between the two of them. Colt wished to crawl to cross that one-meter. So he reached out his hand, trying to get to Filla.

However, when he raised his head, he saw Filla’s face. She was still silent, still unable to react in any way.

‘She hates me, but that’s understandable. After all, I was the one who left her.’

This was enough; if he pushes further, she might run away. He could tell, he had read enough novel and watched enough tv to know what would happen next.

Colt’ abandoned’ Filla; at night, Filla cries, thinking about how she was thrown away. 

‘Of course she hates me.’

It was not so surprising she doesn’t want to come near him. 

It would be the perfect reaction of an orphan, but a warm hand clasped his hand.

Colt raised his head and saw a trembling Filla.

She was scared.

Her tears flowed, she moved her other hand and held Colt with everything she had as if telling him to stay.

“Do you…not hate me?” Colt fearfully asked.

Filla vehemently shook her head to show him what she felt as her ability to speak had left her.

“I left you…”

“You didn’t!” Filla raised her head and looked at each other’s eyes, “You didn’t leave Filla…big bro sparkly was always there for me…when I was sick you were there…when I was lonely you were by my side…you never left my side.”

Filla sniffled as she tried to say what she wished to say but failed; she was too overwhelmed by the waves of emotions. Her eyes could no longer see because of her tears. She couldn’t use her hands to wipe her tears, for she feared Colt would leave.

She was scared, scared that the nightmares she had hundreds of times would come true, that she would be truly be abandoned.

So, Filla tried her best to speak with what she had.

“Filla ish the one hu’ sh rong! Filla’ sh fader never aban…doned her, she just never new he was always by her side! Pleash don’t hate Filla!”

“No, no, never…never!”

Colt crossed the chasm and held Filla in his arms. He had done it so many times before, but this time, it was different. Because right now, she knows that her parents didn’t abandon her, and Colt was finally freed of his guilt. Thus, this hug was the most genuine hug of them all.