caged robin

"Black is hidden in red, strings are broken in water, and crowns are born in thorns." The fire priest hid under the red cloak, stroking the hand of Duke Rota Margery with a pair of dry hands, with long nails on the back of the hand Make a mark.

The Duke withdrew his hand impatiently and asked, "What do you mean?"

"My lord, the Duchess has passed away." The voice of the fire priest said calmly.

"Damn, what nonsense are you talking about!" The Duke grabbed the collar of the priest's cloak, and his hands trembled due to the unrecognizable face.

Immediately behind him came the cry of a baby and the messy footsteps of a maid.

He turned around and asked happily, "How is it?"

"Madam gave birth to a young master, but..." the maid stammered, "I'm afraid Madam will die."

The Duke's eyes went dark, and he was spinning.

This year, Sean was born and his father died.

"Hell! Rota! Rota! You stop!"

The cries of young children filled the silver pagoda, and there was not a single bird on the tall laurel trees outside the pagoda.A tall and thin man pushed away from the room where the crying came from, and saw his younger brother, Duke Rota Margery, beating his son angrily. Poor young master Sean Margery was crawling all over the table, His body was flushed red, whether it was from his father's beating or from the wine.

Rota didn't pay attention to his brother's warning, seeing his skinny son dodging his fist pitifully, like a poor worm, he became even more angry.He grabbed Xiao En by the neck, "Damn, you coward, your mother lost her life to give birth to you, and now she can't walk steadily, and she can only cry all day long, and can't say a word ! If you were not born in a noble family, you would have been kicked into the cesspit long ago!"

"Enough!" The man slapped Rota, snatched Sean from his hand, and quickly wiped off the wine on the child with a handkerchief, exposing the red and swollen skin, "If Nadisha is alive, she will I will curse you, you bastard, to hell!"

"Natisha..." Rota seemed to be lost, and sat down on the high chair, "Natisha..."

"Nero, have you seen Natissa? Natissa!" Suddenly Rota jumped up from his chair and looked around for his dead wife.

Suddenly he saw Sean in Nero's arms, and he rushed forward to snatch it, "Yes! This bad thing killed my Natisa! I want to hand him over to the Fire Priest, and the Fire Priest will find a solution. In exchange for my Nadisha...give it to me, that little thing is a man-eating demon!"

When the child heard this, he was so frightened that he grabbed Nero's coat and screamed heart-piercingly.

Nero's heart twitched, and he hugged Sean tightly, "Enough! Rota, just go on with your madness!"

Nero turned around to take Sean away, but Rota suddenly jumped up, stopped at the door, and stretched out his hand to snatch the child, "No, no, Nero, he is my child, you can't take him away!"

Nero pushed him a few feet away, and he staggered and sat on the ground. Nero roared: "Now you remember that he is your child?! You should reflect on it here! If you can't figure it out, don't even try to take him with you." Go Sean!"

Rota stared blankly at Nero and the child.

Nero took Sean away. Sean was trembling all the way, his face was pale, and his body was cold. Nero kissed Sean's forehead, "Good baby, it's okay."

Sean's trembling little hand reached out to Nero's face, and Nero poked Sean's tender hand with a stubble of beard. Sean's tear-stained smiling face forced a little smile, but the wound on the corner of his mouth was pulled , Nero wiped away the tears on his face distressedly.

Sean, his nephew, was born without a mother, and the only father who loved his wife far more than his son, immersed himself in the ghost rituals of the priest of the fire spirit all day long, and tried many times to hand Sean to the priest in exchange for his son. back to his wife.Perhaps Sean's father had ignited paternal love several times, but he just wanted to find the shadow of his dead wife in Sean.Sean was born weak and sickly, and his body was much thinner than ordinary children. He could barely walk when he was two years old, while Master Abner, who was the same age as him, ran all over the place when he was less than one year old. At this time, he could clearly call "Father!" ", and occasionally sing a nursery rhyme or two.Sean is almost three now and hasn't said a single complete word.

"My baby Sean, we are not in a hurry, the big deal is that uncle will take care of you in the future." Nero kissed Sean's little cheek again, and there was still the salty taste of tears on his face.

"Uncle...Father..." Sean called vaguely.

Nero trembled and grabbed Sean's little hand, "Sean, say it again?"

"Uncle..." Sean called, his little face turning red.

"I'm here, I'm here, my baby Sean." Nero kissed Sean's hand excitedly.

"uncle……"

This year, Sean was three years old and spoke for the first time.

"Sean, your father told you to go back." A pretty vulgar woman rubbed Sean's head.

"No! I'm not going back! I'm not—" Sean screamed like crazy.

"Then... Sean, how about sleeping alone today?"

Sean frowned. This woman was his aunt. Although she was very kind to him, he didn't like her.Sean couldn't give a reason. If he had to find a reason, Sean felt that this woman's lips were too big and red. He felt scared every time he talked to him. Also, this woman always tried to rob him of his uncle. Although... it is only natural for uncle and aunt to sleep together.

But... Sean lowered his head, bit his lips, and began to cry again.

"Sean is a good baby, isn't he?" said the aunt in a soft voice.

Shawn sobbed and nodded.

"Sean is already five years old, and he should be sleeping alone. Abner, the young master of the Apocassery family, has been sleeping alone since he was born. Everyone praises Abner for being a good baby. Do Sean want everyone to praise him? Are you a good baby?"

Sean sobbed, "But, but... I... I'm scared."

"It's nothing to be afraid of. I asked the servant to light the candle in your room and keep it on all night." The aunt's tone gradually became impatient.

"That's enough, Karna, didn't you see that Sean was already crying and shaking?" Nero walked over, hugged Sean, and said to the woman.

"Uncle." Sean put his arms around Nero's neck and kissed him on the side of the cheek.

Nero smiled, "I will continue to tell you the story of the robin tonight."

"Sean, Abner has already read stories by himself, Sean can try to read storybooks by himself." Karna still did not give up.

"Kana!" Nero said coldly to Kana, then rubbed Sean's head and said, "We don't need to compare with others."

"Oh, don't compare?" Kana looked at Nero with a cold face, "Only those who were born with a golden key in their mouth can say this."

Nero glared at her and took Sean away.

"Uncle, am I a bad boy?" Sean asked cautiously.

"No," Nero kissed his forehead, "My lords, Sean is a good baby."

Sean smiled and hugged Nero's neck, "Auntie said she would give birth to a cousin for me, who is the cousin?"

Nero paused, and patted Sean on the back, "The one who will never appear."

At night, Sean was rolling on the big bed in a long nightdress. Nero grabbed Sean's ankle and said with a smirk, "I got it!"

"Hee hee..." Sean threw himself on Nero's neck, "I want to hear a story."

"Okay, once upon a time there was a disobedient child who always stayed up, but was dragged away by a big monster and ate it up. After eating, the monster said: It's really bad."

"You liar!" Sean kicked Nero in the face.

Nero smiled and took off his foot, "I didn't lie to you."

Sean climbed onto Nero again, "Is there really such a big monster?"

"Want to know where?"

Sean lay on Nero's pajamas, wanted to nod, but dared not.

"In the northernmost part of Silver Bow City, there is a breathless sea. In the depths of the sea, there is a small island. The name of this small island is Death Island. There is a big monster that eats people living on the island..."

Sean had already started to tremble, and Nero quickly stopped and hugged him into his arms, "Don't be afraid, Sean, as long as you call Uncle, Uncle will save you."

"You lie, that place is so far away, you can't hear me even if I shout."

"That's right, then our little Sean can only be eaten by the big monster." Nero bit Sean's ear and bit it lightly.

"Wow..." Sean burst into tears suddenly.

Nero panicked, coaxed left and right, and finally he touched a small toy in the cabinet next to him.

"Look, look, Xiao En, look, what is this?" It was an exquisite bird whistle, but he bought it at random in the country market, with a smooth and shiny ceramic surface, made into a realistic bird shape.

"What?" Sean stopped crying, and Nero hung the bird whistle around his neck.

"It's a robin whistle. Once you blow it, uncle can hear it everywhere."

Sean blew it dubiously, the sound was clear and sweet, resounding through the night, and finally a smile appeared on the weeping face.

When he was tired of playing, he lay on Nero's body and asked, "Uncle, what kind of bird is a mockingbird?"

"It's a kind of divine bird, and it's also the son of God."

"Oh?" Sean touched the bird whistle.

Nero patted Sean on the back and said: "Before the appearance of human beings, the world was in a state of chaos. For his beloved Son, God split the chaos and let his beloved son live and multiply in it. Human beings are One of God's many beloved sons, but human beings are very jealous of God's other beloved sons, the most jealous is the robin, human beings think that this kind of bird does not need to work, can only sing all day long, and can fly freely, so human beings Try every means to catch and eat this kind of bird.”

"But humans can live in such a big house and eat so many delicious things, but the robin has nothing, why must humans be jealous of it?" Sean asked.

Nero smiled: "Human beings are the most greedy among the sons of God, and they always think that they are the most favored."

Sean nodded half-understood, "Did humans catch the mockingbird in the end?"

"Caught."

Sean pouted.

"But he was also punished by God." Nero rubbed Sean's hair.

"We must take good care of the robin, we cannot catch it, let alone eat it," Sean said.

"Yes, Sean is a sensible and good baby..."

Sean lay on Nero's body, gradually falling asleep, still holding on to the robin whistle.

This year, Sean was five years old and knew the robin for the first time.