Chapter 126 – Rainy Season (9)
Flash, a flash of light flashes outside the window.
Rumbling boom-
The sound of thunder that rings out soon.
The lightning that struck near the mansion was enough to wake up the people inside the mansion.
Mason, who fell asleep late in the morning, was also startled by the sound of thunder and woke up.
“… !”
Drunk with sleep that she had not yet shaken off, she reflexively raised her heavy body and looked around with her wide-open eyes.
Shoot aaa-
However, it was still dark outside, and the sound of the rain hitting her window in an instant and quietly as if it had never made a loud noise gradually calmed her down.
As Mason came to his senses a little, what naturally occurred to him was yesterday’s dream. Her dream was so quiet that it seemed ordinary compared to the nightmares she usually had.
Even though she woke up startled by thunder, she couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t wake up in a cold sweat, so she was thankful for a dream like yesterday.
Of course, if someone asked if it was a good dream, it would be difficult for her to answer.
Still, it was enough of a dream to divert her tired thoughts elsewhere.
Eerie purple eyes that remain vague. However, unlike that, Isabella says she has failed.
It was just a strange dream, but her final embrace, which somehow reminded her of her childhood, was enough to shake Mason to her core.
Why did I have such a dream?
As much as I hate you, does some part of me still miss the past when we were friendly with you?
She thought for a moment and then shook her head.
She wasn’t stupid enough to pretend that she didn’t see the tragedy that had happened in her dreams.
While Mason was mired alone with unanswered emotions, the darkness outside her window turned gray.
When it became difficult to ignore the change of color coming through the gap in her curtains, the sound of someone lightly knocking on her door woke her from her thoughts.
Squeak-
He must have thought she was still sleeping, but when their eyes met, he paused. At most, he was a worker who was in his late teens and still looked young.
“… Please come in.”
When Mason said that, she bowed her head slightly, then came in and closed the door.
As always around this time, I thought he had stopped by to give me a meal, but then I realized that the servant came in empty-handed and without a small cart.
And before long, Mason, reading the sweat on the girl’s face and her somewhat embarrassed expression, naturally felt uncertain.
“… What’s going on?”
The next words that came out of the mouth of the girl who was hesitating somewhere made her blood run cold.
She turns her head towards the window, to be exact, where there is a small table between the window and the bed.
Flash-
Lightning struck outside, and for a split second, the glass on the table caught the light and sparkled.
Mason got up from the bed and accidentally fell.
It swept across her carpet, leaving red abrasions on her forearms, but Mason didn’t notice. She starts to run, staggering, crossing her hallway with her bare feet.
Sianna’s room was not far from Isabella’s room, and it wasn’t long before she opened the familiar door.
The inside of the room was the same. The room is still empty. Pure white bed. It was just as she had seen it when she carefully cared for Sianna until her very end. Even the storage box where the bandages, scissors, and disinfectant were stored is still there.
But just one thing. The most important thing had changed.
No.
What I’m seeing right now can’t be real.
“…”
Mason’s eyes turn to the empty bed.
It’s definitely just as she remembers. The messy sheets that remain after Siana lies down, and the storage box next to them that contains various treatment tools.
But Siana was not there.
As if it never existed in the first place.
Leave everything else as is.
The moment when heat rushes to your head, and you feel dizzy, as if you’re going to vomit.
The first thing that came out of Mason’s mouth was a bright smile.
Soon her laughter turns into laughter. It was a very bright smile mixed with relief, but at the same time it was so out of touch with the atmosphere.
But Mason didn’t stop her from laughing. This is because she was truly relieved.
Huh. It’s okay.
Actually, I haven’t woken up yet.
The conclusion Mason drew was logical.
Even when she thought about it herself, it was a shockingly ingenious and terrifying situation. Until now, just thinking about Siana dying in that hospital bed gives me chills.
There is a way to completely disappear like that. Same with Isabella.
I’m really stupid.
Mason felt eyes pouring down on her back. She continues to laugh and turns her body.
Smile.
Quickly.
Laugh along.
Mason realizes that she has never looked at something like this before.
Her fingertips and toes began to tingle as her blood rushed,
Now the lungs are panting due to lack of breath,
The corners of their mouths that seem to be torn apart hope that they will join in the laughter.
Let her smile creep from ear to ear, twist her neck, crawl across the ceiling, crawl across the floor, let her sight and ears fill her throat and stomach with hateful screams.
But no one comes to wake her up from her dream.
They cower under her gaze, as if afraid to come any closer. The astonished expression on their faces is enough to make you believe that they are real beings.
Why?
I’m having a hard time now. Smile quickly.
It’s still a dream. Since I feel this much pain, it means I’m about to wake up.
I need to wake up from my dream quickly. I have to get up, wipe my sweaty forehead, and endure the day with the only hope that Grace and Lucia will help me.
Why-
“Smile!”
She couldn’t understand exactly what had happened.
When she came to her senses, the area around her eyes was hot as if on fire.
A croaking voice of unknown origin struck my ears unpleasantly.
On the floor, there was a tin storage box with a dented corner, a foul smell of disinfectant that stung your nose, and bandages that had come loose-
Sharpened bandage scissors thrown in a corner.
A worker holding her by one side of her eye and screaming at her, and other workers rushing in to help her as she fell to the floor.
Bright red drops soaked into the white apron of the worker who was sitting down, but Mason could only mutter in an idiotic, subdued voice.
“… “Why, why aren’t you waking up?”
Why on earth? For what?
Why.
Mason’s uneasy vision moves through the room, scanning the passage.
No. The scissors aren’t deep enough.
But soon she found what she wanted.
A particularly long and sharply broken fragment of a disinfectant bottle.
As she rushes in to pick up the glass shards, the workers run away in panic. I don’t know why she does that, but I’m just thankful to her.
Kkwaak-
Red droplets formed on her hand as she held the piece of glass in her right hand, but Mason smiled.
Look.
It doesn’t hurt.
She quickly raises her left hand. The loose sleeves of the nightgown go down too easily, exposing her wrists.
Ki kick.
“… Now I guess I’ll be just like Siana, right?”
She holds her trembling right-hand high. Height. Higher.
Finally, she raises her head. There were so many people who couldn’t take their eyes off her, as if their eyes were fixed on her.
Loving kindness wells up in her heart. The thought that perhaps she had gone too far pricked her conscience.
So she decided to hand over her apple.
Just as I promised myself.
Huh. Because you’re my sister.
She opened her mouth with the softest and brightest smile she could muster.
“I’m sorry.”
A soft and gentle voice broke the eerie silence.
“Goodbye.”
I hear a strange sound. Thumping sound.
Is it the sound of my heart?
You won’t hear it soon, so remember it well.
“I’m going to wake up from my dream now.”
Wow, did you just split your throat?
What. It was a good thing no matter what.
And the moment she puts her hand down-
Unnaturally interrupted vision.
Tinnitus comes later.
Good. You can wake up now.
Mason opened her eyes, expecting to see her familiar ceiling.
The moment she realized she was lying down, she was truly happy. Now all I have to do is get up.
Today, she trembled and leaned on the bed with her arms, which felt heavy.
The moment she realized that what was supporting her palms was not a soft sheet but a rough carpet.
The pain that she had previously believed to be an illusion enveloped her entire body.
The heat of the abrasion when I fell on the carpet, the pain of the wound on my palm. The pain you feel after your whole body rolls hard on the floor.
I looked up at her, gritting her teeth as she moaned.
Grace was standing there.
And that too while she was wearing her familiar outfit.
Well-maintained armor, ornately decorated seals, and fifteen knights following her through the hallways.
“… Water inspector… ?”
Grace’s golden eyes shone beautifully. Mason thought that the eyes were beautiful because they were heartless, and filled with inhuman mystery.
“… “I’m sorry.”
She said and put the piece of glass away with her foot. The infinitely sharp piece of glass was pushed to the corner without even leaving a trace on her thick boots.
“Are you sorry?”
Mason got up from his seat and approached Grace.
Cheokcheok-
The knights behind her tried to stop her, but Grace raised her hand to stop her, and Mason also had no intention of stopping, even if he was pierced by her sword.
She came in front of her and stabbed Grace’s chest with her finger.
Grace was not pushed away at all.
“I should be sorry. Of course, I should be sorry.”
But Mason continues to stab her, ignoring the pain she feels at the tip of his finger.
As if she believed that if she did this, the remorse would pierce her heart.
“Please at least kneel down and shed tears to apologize.”
But Grace was not pushed away at all.
“Is that all? Kiss her feet and ask for forgiveness. “I apologize for being late. Hurry up!!”
Tuk-
Her fingers, which had been trying to stab her grace, weakly touched the breastplate of her grace. Soon she fell to her knees and muttered.
“Why… “Why?”
A simple question repeated like a parrot.
“I just…” I just wanted to protect Siana…”
But there was no one anywhere who could answer this.
“… “I am.”
Me.
“What.”
You.
Are you dragged into hell from which there is no return?
“… “Did you do that wrong?”
I was breathing so hard that I hyperventilated and looked around with bloodshot eyes, but no one answered.
So Mason screamed.
A scream so loud that not even the sound of thunder could drown it out.
