NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50 - A Letter to the Future - 02
Even if it were words of resentment…
But the words she heard were the complete opposite. They were loving words, spent in the last moments for her sake.
Reina bowed her head.
Kenya embraced her.
The only thing he could do was wipe her tears.
The night wore on.
Time passed without any conversation.
…
“I was loved…”
“Yes.”
“I wasn’t resented…”
“Yes.”
“Is it okay for me to be happy…”
Reina, now calm, slowly opened her mouth. Her voice trembled but was not mechanical; it was full of her soul. It was no longer the distant way she had spoken before.
“I actually wanted to die.”
…
Kenya was speechless at the girl’s statement.
The words from the girl he admired.
“I thought I had to die for killing my parents. But I didn’t have the courage to end it myself… so I went into the dungeon.”
The reason she had gone into the dungeon. The fierce battles were not because she was fearless of death but because she wanted to accept it.
Kenya, who had heard the reason at the time and had been left silent, never thought she wanted to die and was left speechless.
“But I was half-heartedly afraid and ended up living all this time… living as told. Like a doll.”
Her modeling activities, everything was done according to Sato’s parents’ instructions. Her expressionless, cool beauty was the appearance of a girl who couldn’t maintain her self without suppressing her emotions.
“There is no one who shouldn’t be happy. Besides, your parents wanted you to be happy.”
“Yes… they wanted me to be happy… I always dreamed the same dream every day.”
The dreams Reina had seen. The repeated “I’m sorry” in her sleep were words directed at her parents. Apologies for believing her parents resented her. In her dreams, the two always blamed her.
Reina’s illusions… the delusions born from self-blame.
“But they didn’t resent me. They wanted me to be happy…”
“Yes…”
“I wanted to talk more… I wanted to be with them more!”
“Yes…”
“Ahhhh! Papa! Mama!”
Reina cried out loud. As if releasing everything she had been holding back. As if her frozen heart was melting and flowing out.
After crying for a long time, ten years’ worth of tears.
Crying and crying until the tears stopped.
When the tears fell, the next was clear skies.
“Thank you, Kenya. For listening with me.”
Reina had calmed down, though how much she had cried was unknown.
“Yes.”
“When you said you would never die, it was such a relief.”
That one word she wanted, she had shouted for many times, and although she couldn’t hear it from her parents, she got it from Kenya.
“I will say it as many times as needed: I won’t die.”
Thus, they could face it once more.
“Yes, thank you.”
Then the two huddled together and talked for hours. Reassuring each other, confirming things over and over.
The night deepened, and dawn came. Gradually, sleepiness overcame them, and before long, they both fell asleep.
…
(Hmm, when did I fall asleep…)
The morning sun rose, and the sky was clear.
The light woke Kenya up.
Next to him, Reina was sleeping. It seemed they had been holding hands while sleeping, and she tightly grasped his hand, not letting go.
And…
“I love you too…”
Reina’s eyes were red but not streaming with tears. The girl who had been apologizing in her sleep was no longer there. The girl who had kept apologizing in her sleep was gone.
He gently brushed the hair from her face.
Noticing this, Reina woke up.
“Good morning, Reina.”
Morning had come for the girl trapped in the past. Her frozen heart had thawed, and emotions were now present in her voice.
Kenya was convinced.
Reina would be okay now.
She had overcome a painful past beyond imagination.
For the first time since that day.
“Good morning, Kenya.”
She welcomed the morning with a smile.