Ch.66Chapter 66: A Brief Rest (3)

⚜

Before I tell you a story from the past, I should ask you a question.

Have you ever thought about what might be recorded on the very first page of the book called memory?

It may differ from person to person, but in my case, the first page is occupied by memories related to my ability.

What ability, you ask?

It’s a prophetic dream that reveals what will happen to people I care about in the near future.

I first discovered this ability when I dreamed about my mother.

A dream where she was lying in bed, staring out the window with a weak expression.

My mother was a frail person.

After giving birth to me, her already weak body became even weaker, to the point where she spent most of her time confined to bed.

In my dream, I saw her looking powerless and fragile.

I was so startled that I ran to her and told her about my dream. The gentle way she smiled and stroked my hair in response is something I can still picture clearly even with my eyes closed.

“Lily, your concern makes me feel a little better. Thank you.”

I remember it vividly.

The image of my mother stroking my head while maintaining an unwavering smile.

I loved being praised. I loved hearing words of gratitude.

And feeling the slight strength returning to my mother’s touch felt even better.

So whenever I had dreams, I would tell my mother about them.

When I dreamed of her gradually regaining strength and being active, I would wait until the end of the day after she had successfully completed her activities to tell her about such dreams.

When I dreamed of her showing signs of illness, I would rush to her as soon as I woke up to tell her and infuse her with energy.

Every time she saw me doing this, she would always thank me and stroke my head.

It was truly a happy moment—so happy that my heart swells whenever I recall it.

But that happiness didn’t last long.

Because of my childish foolishness.

That day, I had another dream.

A dream where I saw my mother sleeping with an extremely peaceful and happy expression.

Thinking it was nothing serious, I didn’t visit her room that morning.

I planned to see her in the evening before she went to sleep, as usual.

But something felt strange.

The servants, who would normally smile and speak to me whenever they saw me, seemed unusually gloomy that day and hesitated to talk to me.

At that time, I couldn’t understand why they were acting that way.

I found out when evening came.

“Lily… let’s go… to where your mother is…”

My father, who usually wore a happy expression whenever he saw me, approached with a face that seemed to be suppressing immense sorrow.

Following my father to my mother’s bedroom.

Unlike usual, I didn’t hear my mother’s voice welcoming me as soon as I entered.

I thought she must have fallen asleep due to fatigue, as it was late in the evening.

Just like in my dream from that morning.

So I broke free from my father’s hand and rushed to my mother’s bed to wake her up.

“Mother, I’m here.”

I called out in my usual cheerful voice.

I believed she would open her eyes as if she had never been asleep and greet me with a bright expression.

…I believed.

Strangely, my mother didn’t respond to my call and remained lying down with a peaceful expression.

With the same extremely happy expression I had seen in my dream.

“Lily. Your mother has fallen into a deep sleep from which she cannot be awakened…”

Looking at my father, who finally had tears welling up in his eyes after trying to hold them back.

At that time, I had to think very hard to understand what seemed incomprehensible to me.

Looking around at the window, heavy raindrops were beating against it, as thick as the tears my father shed.

As if announcing that dark clouds were gathering over what had always been the clear sky of my life.

⚜

After losing a precious family member.

My vision was always dark.

I couldn’t dream anymore. Or rather, I didn’t want to.

I was afraid of seeing someone get hurt and suffering because of it.

I did have a few dreams after that, but nothing changed despite people hearing about them.

I don’t understand why.

My mother, who always smiled brightly and stroked my head after hearing my dreams, never suffered because of them, except for that one time.

Why couldn’t others do the same?

Perhaps… it was because they didn’t listen properly to my dreams and respond with joy like my mother did?

As I continued to dwell on questions without answers, my prophetic ability eventually stopped manifesting.

The house, which had always been filled with laughter, became heavy with gloom.

And nothing remarkable happened on my face either.

But as nothing stays the same forever, at some point, I started dreaming again.

When did I start having these dreams again?

It feels a bit awkward to shift from a sad story to a brighter one.

But I need to tell this story now, so I’ll push through the awkwardness.

It was when I first met Cal.

It happened when I visited the Ranos estate with my father for a sword exchange.

When I was feeling lost and unfamiliar with everything on my first visit to the Ranos estate, he approached me and greeted me with a somewhat gruff voice.

“Hey, is this your first time here? Well, you look about my age, so I guess it would be.”

But only his voice was gruff.

The expression that appeared as he spoke showed me only his effort to make me feel comfortable, as I was clearly lost and unfamiliar with the place.

What a kind person.

As soon as I recognized this about him, strangely, I saw a future vision—something I hadn’t seen since my mother passed away and I had rejected my ability.

I could have found this sudden reappearance of my ability fascinating, but at that time, I was a bit afraid of its manifestation.

Why, you ask?

I was worried that my vision might show someone getting seriously hurt or falling ill, just like before.

It was something I had been thinking about ever since my mother passed away.

That I never wanted to see someone suffering from being hurt again.

Oh dear… the story has drifted a bit.

I should be talking about what happened between him and me, but I’ve only been talking about myself.

Anyway, do you know what future I saw for him?

Fortunately or unfortunately, it wasn’t a frightening vision.

It was simply a raw egg falling on his head.

Funny, isn’t it? Previously, I had only seen visions of people getting seriously hurt or collapsing.

So I felt somewhat relieved at the time.

It was much better than seeing something I didn’t want to see.

So I approached him with a lighter heart than I had with my mother or others.

“Be careful, a raw egg is going to fall on your head.”

Just like that.

I still remember how his expression subtly contorted as soon as I finished speaking.

It was hard to tell whether he was being mischievous or just confused.

Well, I suppose it would be strange for anyone to calmly listen to a stranger suddenly warning them about eggs falling on their head.

“What are you talking about? Are you sick? You’re saying weird things.”

Anyway, as he said this, he didn’t pay attention to my words.

I had expected that, but at least he wasn’t ignoring a vision of someone collapsing or getting hurt, so I felt a bit at ease.

As I had predicted, not long after, a raw egg fell on his head.

The expression of utter bewilderment on his face after being hit by the raw egg is something I still remember vividly.

Anyway, that was the moment when my memories with Cal began.

After that day, before going to bed, thoughts of Cal-related incidents would always enter my mind.

Like how he would twist his ankle and almost fall while playing in a tree.

Or how a fairly thick branch carried by the wind would hit his head.

Or how he would suddenly be doused with hot water while standing still.

Every morning, I would diligently tell him to be careful and try to suggest ways to avoid these incidents.

But he always pretended not to hear me and wouldn’t listen.

And inevitably, he would experience almost exactly what I had seen.

Like the scenes I had witnessed before, I couldn’t prevent them, but at least they weren’t severe.

His expression after experiencing such incidents consistently showed surprise without any sign of being broken.

So I felt somewhat relieved.

At least this prophetic ability didn’t burden me with unbearable scenes.

But that didn’t last long.

After a few days, I saw a somewhat frightening scene.

Him lying in bed, breathing heavily and suffering.

It was a dream where he was lying down with a much worse complexion than my mother, who had been lying with a peaceful expression and no movement.

Startled, I tried to go to him as soon as morning came to tell him about my dream, but…

“Hey! Do you enjoy seeing me suffer because you tell me things I can’t avoid?!”

I saw him getting angry and serious.

Actually, I had been trying to tell him how to avoid it, but each time, he would turn away before I could finish, so I couldn’t tell him.

But even if he was angry, I felt I needed to tell him how to avoid it.

I didn’t want to see anyone suffering from illness again.

“There is… a way to avoid it.”

So I said this to him in a calm voice as he confronted me.

“It’s… a magic spell.”

I told him the method.

…As I mentioned earlier.

I was young then.

I believed that if I just told him this, he would surely follow my instructions and avoid getting hurt or collapsing.

But at that time, I lacked the ability to understand others’ hearts.

“Hey!”

So I had to face Cal’s angry reaction as soon as he heard my words.

It was a first for me.

Facing someone who was so angrily upset with me.

For someone like me, who had grown up hearing only affectionate words from my parents and those around me.

His reaction felt very frightening.

“If such wordplay could help avoid the future you claim to see, wouldn’t someone have done it already? Tell me if there is. Oh, there isn’t, right? I won’t fall for your obvious trick…”

Strangely, every word he spoke felt so hurtful.

“Hic… hic…”

I burst into tears without realizing it.

And I hastily left the place.

I don’t know how long I walked.

I only stopped when the tears stopped falling from my eyes.

When I came to my senses, oh my, I had unknowingly entered the cozy forest where he had once led me by hand.

The cozy place with the big tree that I had once warned him about…

Rumble rumble

Not anymore.

It’s raining.

Heavily at that.

I need to go back quickly.

Not to my home, but to the big house of the Ranos people, where there are many who worry about me.

Thinking that, I tried to move, but I severely twisted my ankle.

I slipped while passing through grass wet with rain.

Hehe, nothing’s going right.

With no other choice, I barely managed to move to the big tree to shelter from the rain.

Leaning against the trunk of the big tree, I gazed at the endlessly falling rain.

Just like the day my mother passed away…

CRASH-!!

Lightning struck with a sound so loud it was almost frightening.

It was scary, but I waited for the rain to stop.

Walking with an injured ankle in the rain could lead to catching a cold, which would be terrible.

While waiting, I thought about it.

Recalling the boy who had gotten angry at my words.

“I need to… apologize.”

At that time, I definitely said this.

That I should apologize to the boy who got angry because of my incoherent words.

But no matter how much I racked my brain while sitting at the base of the tree, I couldn’t think of what to say, and as I was about to continue my contemplation…

CRASH-!!

I saw lightning strike not far from where I was leaning.

“Ahhh!!”

I was so startled that I involuntarily cried out.

The situation became too frightening to even think about.

When will the rain stop? Even if it does, can I get out of here? What should I do?

…What if I can’t apologize to him?

Amusingly.

Truly amusingly.

Despite the lightning and the throbbing pain in my twisted ankle and throughout my body.

At that time, my mind was filled not with physical pain, but with the heartache of not being able to apologize to him.

I felt sorry for having left without properly speaking, only thinking of my own hurt feelings.

As my worries extended that far, I began to worry about what if he no longer treated me warmly.

He was the first friend I had spoken to and spent time with outside the Proxian estate…

Even though he misunderstood what I said, he easily approached me when we first met.

He tried to make me feel comfortable when everything was unfamiliar to me on my first visit.

As soon as I realized I might not be able to apologize to him…

Drip, drip

Suddenly, tears began to fall from my eyes.

Like raindrops occasionally falling through the dense foliage.

At this rate, even if people set out to look for me, they would find it difficult to come outside.

Rumble-!!

See?

With lightning striking so severely, who would risk danger to come looking for me…

“Huff…!! Huff…!! Found you.”

…Huh?

I was truly surprised then.

A boy not much bigger than me.

Relying only on a raincoat, he had frantically run to find me.

While adults much bigger than him had yet to find me, he somehow managed to locate me.

With his face soaked, whether from rain or sweat, it was hard to tell.

Unlike the serious expression he had when he got angry at me earlier.

“Thank goodness…”

He was looking at me with an extremely relieved expression.

That expression was so different from his usual stoic one that I could only stare blankly.

“…You’re hurt.”

And when he looked at my severely twisted ankle with an expression filled with guilt, I was even more confused.

It was strange.

Even though he had been angry at me, I had spoken without considering his feelings and said things that he might reasonably find odd.

Why was he looking at my injured ankle with such a guilty expression?

At that time, I didn’t understand his expression, but.

“I can’t take you back like this.”

Saying this, he put his raincoat on me.

“It might be a bit difficult, but staying here is more dangerous, so I’ll carry you.”

When he said this and piggy-backed me.

I didn’t have time to understand the complex expression he had worn.

I only remembered…

The warm feeling from his back as he carried me.

“Let’s talk once we get to the estate.”

And his voice, which was a bit gentler than when we usually talked.

Just like the warm voice that calls me when I’m lost in thought, remembering the past, like now.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking about when Cal carried me on his back long ago.”

So I answered honestly, and.

“…R-really?”

Cal must remember that time clearly too.

I can tell because his face turned noticeably red as he became flustered.

Why is it so cute when he, who usually wears an expression that makes it hard for others to approach, blushes with a slightly dazed look?

Ah, I’ve drifted off topic again while telling my story.

Anyway, as I leaned on his back heading towards the estate, I kept thinking.

About how to apologize to him.

Unfortunately, as soon as he brought me to the estate, he collapsed from exhaustion, so I couldn’t speak to him.

The sight of him lying in bed, suffering, was exactly as I had seen in my dream.

That’s when I realized.

Because I had run out on my own, he ended up lying in bed suffering like this.

I had so many things I wanted to apologize for.

But once he was in bed with a fever, his eyes showed no signs of opening.

It was a moment of heart-wrenching anxiety that continued, almost as intense as when my mother passed away.

When he finally opened his eyes, I was crying profusely and apologizing to him.

“Th… Thank you for telling me.”

He unexpectedly said this, leaving me puzzled.

“All this time… thank you for warning me about each dream where I got hurt… thank you for everything.”

When I saw him expressing guilt while saying this.

“Yes!”

Instead of the apology I had prepared, I just sent him a bright smile.

I could see his expression, which had been contorted with high fever, becoming much lighter.

That’s when it began.

Every time I saw him, something would always warm up in my heart.

It continued without interruption.

“Carrying you is no big deal. If you need it, I’ll carry you right now.”

He now approaches me without hesitation and says such things.

…It’s a bit embarrassing now, but I think I’ll have to ask him to do it again sometime when no one else is around.

As I walk through the bustling streets, chatting with him about various things, I finally have some time to think at length by myself.

How was my story?

Did you understand how I came to like him?

There are many more stories I could tell… Eek!

My foot slipped again. Why do I seem to be making so many small mistakes lately?

But it’s okay. This time I can regain my balance and stand up…

“Are you okay?”

….

Once again, I received Cal’s help.

He’s always there to help me when he’s by my side.

Unlike those who unilaterally praise me as a genius who has awakened the qualities of a great hero.

He’s someone I want to do things for when we’re together, someone I’m grateful for.

Yet here I am, continuing to receive his help today.

I really…

I cannot dislike him.