Forget Vivian

“Yes?” Daniel asked as Island Guards started to approach him.

“What is a knight doing here? Where do you belong?”

At the question of the knight wearing the guard’s badge, Daniel waved his hands with a desperate look on his face, “I-I am not a suspicious person!”

“Most suspicious people say that.”

“Really! I was just looking for someone. If you take me in, I assure you that you will definitely regret it.”

“All the suspicious people say that too. Come with us.”

Daniel was taken away with a puzzled look painted on his face.

Destiny seems to want him to leave Vivian alone.

Daniel took a deep breath and sighed.

However, today did not seem too bad because he finally confirmed that Vivian is alive, well and living happily.

He began to wonder,

With that in mind, he decided to try and find her again tomorrow. Regardless of whether he will report her or not, he just wanted to see her again and make sure that she was still smiling.

On that he’s decided.

With these final thoughts he scratched his head and obediently walked away.

  ***

At last! They were finally ready for the first day of their business tomorrow.

Earlier while they were at the restaurant, Estella and Arianne had spent the majority of the time quarrelling over each other’s bills, but aside from that interlude, the rest of the shopping trip progressed rather smoothly without the two butting heads.

Probably the peacefulness was due to the fact that Estella and Arianne were so mad at one another that they didn’t say a word to each other during the whole ordeal.

Eve sighed as she served a steaming hot plate of newly baked pizza and laid it in front of her.

As she took a deep breath and marveled at the aroma of good food she could not help but worry for both Estella and Arianne. It was clear that the two were being stubborn, seeing as neither one left their rooms yet even though Eve knew that the scent of the pizza was bound to fill the whole place.

The pizza with rosemary, which is their favorite comfort food that is good to treat fatigue as well as the chicken, smelled great.

Eve took off the oven gloves she was wearing, laid it down on the table, and proceeded to knock on Arianne’s door, “Arianne, let’s have dinner.”

Then she knocked on Estella’s door next to her and said, “Estella, let’s have dinner. Come out alright?”

But no answer came from either room.

Eve tilted her head and opened Arianne’s door hesitantly, “Ah….”

Eve shut her mouth tightly before the sound of surprise could escape her lips. Her rose colored eyes could not help but glisten slightly at the sight before her.

In Arianne’s bed, Estella and Arianne were both sleeping together.

With the former’s arms hugging Estella, who was snoring because she was clearly tired thanks to their trip.

Eve smiled to herself,

She shouldn’t be surprised. The two always fight like mortal enemies but in the end they turn up like this.

Eve pressed the switch on the wall to turn off the light, returned to the kitchen, and covered the pizza on the table with a cloth.

Then she sat down carefully at the table.

Her movements were slow enough for her to notice the slight trembling of her fingers.

She finally had some time alone for herself.

Eve then buried her face into the palm of her hands and hid her distorted face marred by pain from the world, “…Haa.”

A low sigh escaped her lips, but still, somehow those light vibrations scratched her lungs.

The tingling pain travelled up to the tips of her fingers.

Even if she takes painkillers, those barely dulled the pain and only granted her some moments of reprieve. The rest of the time she had to endure. 

Arianne is stubborn, but Eve is confident that she will soon agree with her that Estella’s biological father must be found.

Eve’s condition has noticeably worsened.

Eve’s mental soliloquy is the only way she could soothe herself.

Watching Estella grow kept her preoccupied that she didn’t even know she was sick.

After one day, the next day would come.

Hans in Vibraze island said that this unknown disease was consuming Eve’s life.

And Eve could hear the proper name from Gillian,

She couldn’t help but spat at that bitter thought.

He told her.

Again, a heavy boulder landed on Eve’s chest at that confirmation.

She had no more tears left to shed even after hearing more nails being drilled to her coffin.

Eve let out a deep sigh as she pondered the conversation she had with Gillian.

With trembling hands, she poured the water and swallowed it along with the pills she was given.

She held her breath and waited for the pain to subside.

it’s okay…”

The small voice inside her heart who filled her with anxiety, gradually faded away.

For some time, she stayed there motionless and by herself.

  ***

Each time Samuel remembered that Vivian was not there, the spacious castle felt wider.

Especially on a spring day like today.

He had been married to Vivian for three years and it’s already been seven years since he last saw his wife.

Isn’t it embarrassing to go anywhere and claim that they are a married couple?

Samuel chuckled at how pitiful he seemed.

Vivian was the one who would have become his empress.

Why the hell did she leave? Why didn’t she think of him at all? He thought of her hundreds of times.

Samuel looked for tens of thousands of reasons, but not a single hypothesis could give him the answer.

Perhaps the most likely reason was that he opposed Vivian’s having a child.

Samuel let his arms drop to his side.

Even though he was casually lying on the bed and drinking, Vivian’s image was still clear in his mind.

Child of Vivian and Samuel. Has he never dreamed of it?

Samuel was only five years old when he was kicked out and sent to live on the streets.

If it weren’t for him, he could have survived without the ability of a flame magician.

Samuel never complained. 

He’s already turned into a wild dog scavenging for scraps and is buried in the garbage heap.

Back then Samuel thought that if Vivian gave birth to a child, he could do anything.

Whatever Vivian wants or whatever the child wants, he would have given them everything.

But Samuel was not given such an opportunity.

Tears streamed all the way down to the back of his arms.

The sound of grasshoppers in the spring night was sparsely heard from the distance and broke his painful reverie.

Vivian’s voice, which chatted softly like a bird, wandered in his mind.

A stream of clear tears pooled at Samuel’s eyelids and ran down his cheeks.

Now it’s Samuel’s ears that hear that sound as hello.

Vivian’s last greetings seemed to join in the chorus of the grasshoppers in his mind.

The days of Spring remind him of Vivian, every single day made him think of only her. It was getting harder to breathe as he felt the spring breeze intoxicating him of her memories. His heart tightened with each labored breath he took.

The empty wine bottle fell from the bed, rolled over the thick carpet until it tapped Samuel’s bare feet, causing it to stop.

it seemed to tell him.

How old was Vivian, when she was the happiest person?

Before he became a prince.

At that time, Vivian used a more friendly and gentle tone of voice when she spoke with him.

It was only when she entered the castle with Samuel that she started to use calm respectful words. She was forced to adapt to the ways of the imperial family.

In fact, he recalls it was also the time he got into the habit of drinking alcohol which he did not even like very much while he followed the Duke Endless and met people.

Duke Endless had also strictly controlled Vivian’s outings.

So, during Samuel’s outings, Vivian would spend her nights waiting for him with her feet crossed and her chin tucked between her fingers as she sat on the stairs leading to the second floor after all her work was done.

He liked hearing her babbling and nagging him while she supported his drunken self since he was unable to walk properly.

So he continued drinking.

On the days that Samuel bought a cake for her, even as he lay still in bed, she would always just sit at the table next to him and eat the cake.

“Yes…”

“Okay…”

“I’ll do that… I’ll do anything…”

Samuel’s voice faded.

The arm that was covering Samuel’s eyes slid off.

His white and wet face was paler than the moonlight.

And he could no longer hear Vivian’s voice talking back to him.

How could she not appear in his dream even once for seven years?

Samuel fell into a bitter and painful sleep.

Such was his  daily routine that continued every night.

  ***

A white bird flew down in front of Eve.

The white bird that had been wandering around Eve, who was sleeping on the table, blinked its black eyes.

The bird tilted its head and walked briskly.

It approached Eve and patted Eve’s sleeping head with its small white wings.

The bird stayed beside her for a while before flapping its wings and left.

It slipped through the slightly opened window and flew into the sky.

The bird flew through the night sky, landed on Samuel’s balcony and passed effortlessly through the glass door, with the blue curtains.

It circled over Samuel’s head, opened its beak and let out a long breath, as if sighing.

As if it didn’t like the room filled with the strong smell of alcohol, the bird that had sat at the end of the bed flew up and gently landed next to Samuel’s head.

Then it stared at Samuel’s face for a while.

Without the slightest tremor, it pressed its little head against Samuel’s cheek, spread its wings and flew again.

The white feathers dropped on purpose by the bird fell from the sky above Samuel and gently soaked in.

Without a trace.

Shortly thereafter, the bird also left.

It flew away so quickly that it seemed as though it never came.