Only Realized After Losing You

26. This Is Not A Dream

“… That hurts.”

It was a flat voice.

There was no irritation, anger, or any emotion in it.

But the stranger seemed to have decided who to help.

The stranger’s legs took a couple of quick steps forward.

They quickly closed the distance between me and my father and hit my father’s arm that was grabbing my hair hard.

Reflexively, my father let go of my hair.

“Ugh.”

My father even let out a faint groan.

His arm wasn’t the only place the stranger struck.

They mercilessly kicked my father’s stomach.

It was a martial arts technique that seemed natural for their body.

“Ugh!”

My father stumbled out of the alleyway and landed on the ground.

Perhaps because he was properly kicked, but my father was unable to get up on his own easily.

I let out a long breath filled with relief. I didn’t feel any pain from my head being pulled.

My legs felt weak. I swayed a little, unintentionally.

The person who caught me was that stranger.

The same hand that had been so mercilessly violent to my father a moment ago was now gently wrapped around my shoulder.

It was a stark difference.

“Let’s go.”

The robed stranger hid me behind their back and started walking a few steps ahead of me.

As we passed the entrance to the alley, I heard my father’s voice, groaning.

“This… Ellie … my baby… Your father will forgive everything, so just return home… Ugh!”

My father couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because the stranger kicked my father hard one more time.

My father let out a long groan with his face contorted in a disgusting way.

I felt no sympathy whatsoever for his suffering.

On the contrary, I felt a sense of exhilaration for no reason…

Was that the right feeling?

* * *

The place where the robed stranger stopped was not far from the alley.

There was a luxurious carriage with the emblem of a certain family parked there, not a common carriage.

This person helped me.

They must have been a nobleman.

“What do you say, if you have nowhere else to go, why don’t you follow me?”

“… … .”

I hesitated.

It was the least I should do with a stranger.

Even if they saved me, it was natural to be wary of someone I just met for the first time.

But maybe because my mind and body were exhausted.

If not, maybe it was because this person had beaten my father.

I was weakly tempted to do whatever this person told me to do.

The stranger seemed to have read my hesitation.

“Let’s get in the carriage first. Your father might come after you again.”

The words sent chills down my spine.

“I won’t do anything bad to you. I promise you, on my family and honor.”

What could he possibly want with me that he would risk his family name and honor?

Was this person also expecting me to do something?

Of course, this person didn’t know that I listened to other people’s secrets.

They wouldn’t know that I used to believe that a life of sacrifice was the only life worth living.

But still, I couldn’t make a decision.

“Ah… Are you hesitating because I look suspicious? Alright then.”

After saying that, they took off the hood they were wearing without hesitation.

The hood slid neatly back, revealing the long silver hair they had been hiding under the hood.

Their long, fine silver hair fluttered softly every time they moved their head slightly.

I had thought their gender was ambiguous, but I realized that it was actually a woman.

She raised her head and looked straight at me.

It was a gaze so fierce that it gave me goosebumps all over my body.

When I saw her face, I was a little surprised.

“… … !”

Silver hair, and brown eyes that were almost amber-colored.

She looked like…

Strangely enough, she had facial features that were quite similar to mine.

But there was an air about her that I, a lowly commoner, did not have.

An atmosphere that was elegant and noble, as if she was born with grace.

“Now that I’ve shown my face, I guess I seem less suspicious.”

She raised the corners of her mouth up and smiled charmingly.

I had a strange feeling, as if I was looking into a mirror.

“… And you, you’re looking pretty hurt right now, aren’t you?”

“… … .”

“You don’t have to answer that.”

It was then that the nameless woman’s upper body tilted towards me.

Her face came closer to mine in an instant.

Brown eyes, lightly colored lashes draped over them, an arrogant bridge of a nose, white skin, red lips.

The face of the woman who saved me.

She stared at me so intently that it felt uncomfortable.

“Sometimes everything is explained with just one look.”

“… … .”

“You look hurt right now. To the point where I really want to help.”

It seemed like she read the despair, regret, and fear in my eyes.

“Apart from that fact, you also have pretty good eyes. I like them.”

Deja vu.

The woman’s words felt familiar.

‘Ellie. You have good eyes.’

Those words were the same words that Lennon said.

What did other people see in my eyes?

I locked eyes with her in silence.

There was no cloudiness in her eyes at all.

They were clear and clean.

If I looked into it, I could almost see my reflection in it.

“… … .”

You know what?

You have good eyes too.

I have never seen anyone with eyes as clear and beautiful as yours.

The hesitation was meaningless.

My decision was made as soon as I saw her face.

I wanted to follow this woman.

An irresistible force.

I felt something like that.

* * *

I leaned my head against the carriage window frame and looked at the view outside the window.

The familiar road was slowly disappearing.

I didn’t know the destination.

However, I could guess that I was going somewhere far away from where I lived.

“Would you like me to guess what happened to you?”

The woman’s voice, which had been quiet for a while since getting on the carriage, broke the silence.

I twisted my gaze from the view outside the window.

Her words continued.

“Something terrible. Something unbearable… something like that has happened to you, right?”

Her guess was right.

I went through something terrible and unbearable.

I found out about my father’s plan to cripple his child.

If that wasn’t horrible, I didn’t know what was.

I thought it was a cruel, unrealistic reality.

Was that why?

I felt like I was having a terrible nightmare.

The line between dream and reality had become blurred.

I wanted to wake up.

I wanted to get out of this nightmare and be happy.

I parted my lips slightly to answer.

But all that came out between my lips was silence. As if what happened a moment ago was a miracle.

I couldn’t help but nod.

I saw her hand raise and lower slightly in the air.

She wanted to comfort me, but she didn’t seem to know how to comfort me.

Instead, she said,

“Then just cry. Don’t hold back. If you let it out, you’ll feel a lot more relieved.”

“… … .”

“I’ll lend you my arm if you need it. It’s not hard.”

The last words, spoken as if to herself, had a pitiful tone.

She, who was sitting across from me, got up and sat next to me.

She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into her arms.

I melted into her embrace.

Our bodies became so close together.

Her arms were very warm.

It was a realistic body temperature.

It was a warmth that made me realize that all the terrible things that had happened to me were real.

The tears suddenly poured out without any warning.

The nameless woman gently stroked my back.

Her touch was so gentle that I cried.

I cried endlessly.

The tears flowing down my cheeks were hot.

The tips of her fingers wandering over my back were also hot.

At that moment, I felt like I knew for sure.

This is not a dream.

I was freed from the embrace of my father, who had held me captive for the past seventeen years.

“I thought,” she continued, “that our meeting was fate.”

She trailed off.

However, she didn’t stop patting my back.

It was the first proper comfort I received in my life.

Did those three men receive this kind of comfort from me?

If I had known that comfort was such a heart-warming thing, I would have longed for someone to comfort me as well.

She added.

“Because, for the past few years, I’ve been looking for someone who looks like me.”

Why are you looking for someone who looks like you?

What story do you have?

There were so many things I wanted to ask.

However, I was Ellie, a mute who could not speak.

At least that was the case so far.

“I’m sorry we’re late introducing ourselves, but my name is Hannah Phever.”

Hannah Phever.

Even through my crying, the name stuck in my ears.

I engraved her name in my heart.