How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 69
“Doesn’t Marquis Flaubert know about what Lady Flaubert has been doing?”
“Hmm, you could say that.”
Angelina found herself glancing at Laura. Laura would have surely reported everything by now.
Even if Laura hadn’t reported directly, her brother himself was involved under the name of Magic Tower Master.
Either way, ‘Marquis Flaubert’ could be said to not know.
“But I’ve been wondering for days why you didn’t inform Marquis Flaubert about these matters and instead gave me the chance to help.”
“You think I’m giving you an opportunity?”
“In the Dark Forest, you advised me not to be blinded by the Order’s light, and through Mason, you conveyed the truth to me.”
“Ah… When you put it that way, it does seem like I chose you.”
Angelina let out a laugh. His interpretation was far from the truth.
“When I brought Lord Mason into the Grand Temple, I definitely hoped it would reach you. But meeting you in the Dark Forest was purely coincidental, you know?”
“The meeting might have been coincidental, but you didn’t let it pass by meaninglessly.”
“Isn’t that similar to how you didn’t let our chance encounter in the marquisate’s alley go to waste?”
“My reasons were purely selfish.”
“So were mine.”
“…Could you explain which part was selfish?”
“Well…”
The part where she hoped her brother’s future would change because he got along well with him and the Magic Tower Master?
The part where she pretended to be friendly and tried to get close to him with ulterior motives to save her brother?
The part where she tried to attach her brother to him because he was the male lead of the original story, hoping misfortune wouldn’t come near him?
“It’s difficult to explain in words.”
Since she couldn’t reveal everything, Angelina shrugged and evaded the question.
However, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under Blake’s steady gaze, she softly added:
“A dying wish… think of it as something like that.”
At this, Blake’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Do you have any? Something you absolutely want to do before dying?”
Angelina asked, trying to change the atmosphere, worried he might find it strange.
It seemed successful, as his furrowed brow smoothed out. He looked down at the grass, appearing lost in thought.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it.”
He didn’t voice the latter part, but Angelina felt like she heard it. She knew well through the original story how difficult his life had been.
“That’s right. Everyone makes plans for next week, next month, next year, but it’s rare for people to set specific ‘lifetime’ goals.”
Angelina empathized with him completely, knowing she wouldn’t have thought about it either if she hadn’t learned about her time limit.
“A goal before death…”
He muttered quietly, then his eyes darkened as if something occurred to him. He spoke in a deeper voice.
“Long ago, I made one resolution.”
“A resolution?”
“To live each day to the fullest. To never forget that this day given to me might be someone else’s desperately wished-for but unattainable tomorrow.”
“……”
“I made that resolution over and over… but it seems everything fades before time.”
Blake laughed self-deprecatingly.
There was a time when he couldn’t survive a single day without repeating that resolution.
However, while trying to erase the guilt about that child, naturally, that resolution too had sunk into the abyss.
“I had completely forgotten it as time passed.”
He only recalled it now because of Angelina’s question.
He thought he had buried everything about that child, but since returning from the Dark Forest, forgotten memories kept resurfacing.
As if they had never disappeared, as if they had been hiding carefully from Blake’s unconscious attempt to erase them, and now, feeling safe, they were slowly revealing themselves.
“It’s not your fault that you forgot. They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness.”
Knowing his trauma, Angelina carefully spoke, understanding when and why he might have made such a resolution.
“They say our unconscious mind erases painful memories. Because it’s harder to reach happiness while carrying such heavy burdens.”
“……”
“Even if we try to remember by replaying it in our minds countless times, in the end, it gets beautified and altered until only longing remains.”
Angelina lifted her gaze to the sky. She smiled while looking at the beautifully puffy clouds.
And Blake watched her. His deep sunken eyes held various mixed emotions.
A ticklish silence passed for a moment.
Finally, Blake spoke.
“Does Lady Flaubert also have painful memories she wishes to erase?”
At this quietly posed question, Angelina lowered her head from looking at the sky. Their eyes met.
Beautiful colored eyes, but emotionless in a way that made her thoughts unreadable.
Yet if asked whether they were cold, that wasn’t it either. They were warm eyes, but so deep that when you looked into them, you felt like you could be pulled in completely.
Blake found that gaze strangely familiar.
Looking at it reminded him of that child. The image kept overlapping repeatedly.
Even though they shared no similarities.
Unlike that timid child who feared the world, the woman before him had high self-esteem and was bold enough to challenge the Sun God’s Order.
Though the memories had faded and he couldn’t clearly picture the appearance… he remembered thinking it resembled a barley field in autumn. If anything, it was closer to Catherine’s hair color he saw yesterday.
Moreover, that child’s eyes were clouded gray due to poison. Not this vivid pink.
Above all, that child was dead.
“Painful memories I want to erase…”
Yet whenever he met Angelina Flaubert’s languid gaze, he was reminded of that child’s unfocused gray eyes that would wander in space while never losing sight of him.
“I must have erased them all already. Seeing as I can’t remember.”
She said with a slight smile.
Though she smiled, her gaze turned to empty space with such profound wistfulness that he couldn’t tell if she was joking or serious.
Perhaps that’s why.
“…When I was young.”
What complex emotions was he feeling?
Blake brought up an old story he thought he’d never share with anyone.
“I was once trapped in the Dark Forest due to someone’s scheme.”
Angelina’s eyes grew round with surprise. She never expected him to share this story with her.
Her reaction strangely satisfied Blake. It was fascinating to cause such a strong reaction in someone who remained calm in any situation.
So he continued his story.
“One day, while fending off monsters with just a sword… I met a child.”
***
The Dark Forest was thick with trees that blocked the sunlight, exuding a gloomy atmosphere.
Though it was daytime, in that place where cool winds cut sharply through the air, a black-haired boy was trudging along.
“Still not enough to face a Mammoth Wolf…”
He muttered quietly to himself.
In his hand was a sword stained with monster blood, and his body was drenched in sweat. His clothes were completely torn, with sleeves and knees in tatters.
He went to the lake he had spotted days ago. While staying alert to his surroundings, he cleaned his sword and splashed the cold lake water on his face. He also washed his hair, which was stained with monster blood.
He considered whether to wash his clothes and take a quick bath. He needed to be cautious, as there was a risk of encountering monsters mid-bath.
However, his deliberation didn’t last long.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
A piercing scream interrupted his thoughts.
Blake jumped to his feet, sword in hand.
‘A person?’
How could there be a person here?
Nobody in their right mind would enter the Dark Forest. It was practically suicide. Yet that scream was definitely human.
Whatever the reason, Blake was already running toward the source of the sound.
If it was someone who had recently entered, they might know the way out, or perhaps it meant he was closer to the outside.
Running at full speed, he found a girl. Probably around his age.
“Kyaaah!”
She was being chased by a baby Forest Ox. Well, honestly, “being chased” wasn’t quite the right description.
The girl was crawling desperately on the ground, while the baby Forest Ox waddled behind her.
Occasionally, it would bump its body against her back with a thud, and each time, she would curl up and scream.
To the Forest Ox, she was merely a toy. How insignificant she must have seemed to not even be considered prey.
“Hey!”
Blake shouted, throwing a stone at the Forest Ox.
“Pick on someone your own size!”
“Kueeee-!”
The baby monster, hit by the stone, snorted and charged at Blake. Unlike with her, it seemed to recognize him as a threat.
However, it was no match for him.
