Sorry 21

Chapter 21

    ***

    "Are you angry?"

    He asked, affectionately brushing back a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His desaturated brown hair caught the light of the hearth and looked a little red.

    It made his face look even redder as he looked down at her worriedly.

    Euris liked his gentle touch. His deep voice was nice to hear. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

    "Tell me all about it."

    He was slightly relieved to see the laughter, clasped her hands in his, and began to calmly explain.

    "I was worried, because I knew that Euris had been friends with Kylan Hebron for a long time...... I was jealous, so I acted out, even though I knew it wasn't right."

    "..."

    "..."

    "Is that all?"

    Something was wrong, she thought. In her last life, he wasn’t the kind of man to hide letters for just that reason.

    Euris instinctively knew he was hiding something.

    But he merely nodded, his face serious in response to her question. But Euris saw his blue eyes flicker.

    "You're not hiding anything from me......?"

    The uneasiness in her voice deepened at her repetition, but he still nodded. His hands seemed to sweat slightly as they clasped together.

    "So, can I come and meet Kylan?"

    "......Why?"

    At the slightest hint of provocation in her voice, Chaint's brow narrowed slightly before answering. His voice was a little less gentle than before. Euris decided to be honest.

    "I've read his letter, and there's something he wants to tell me, and he has questions, and I have no feelings for him, but he's so desperate, and as an old friend, if there's anything I can do to help, I'd like to."

    "I read the whole letter......."

    ⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯I told him to throw it away. Chaint thought about how the poor deliveryman's mistake had had devastating consequences.

    He was a perfectionist by nature, but this time he let his emotions get the better of him, and the fact that Euris had read the letter was completely unexpected.

    His heart began to race uneasily as his plan went awry.

    "So, you don't know what Kylan wants to tell you?"

    He tried to keep his face as calm as possible.

    Euris thought his question was a bit odd, but for now, she said no.

    But even that didn't calm the man's anxiety.

    In a subtle shift from the past, Chaint seemed to know what Kylan wanted to talk to Euris about.

    And that if Euris knew, she might leave him (Chaint).

    "Euris."

    The man's voice dropped even lower as he let go of his grip and pulled at her waist.

    He buried his head in the nape of her neck and exhaled deeply. Euris stiffened, startled by the suddenness of his embrace.

    "Chaint?"

    She called out, but he didn't hear her, just wrapped his arms around her waist with more force. The sound of his heavy heartbeat was clear in Yuris' ears.

    "The love I have for you is never light."

    "What's that suddenly......."

    On the face of it, it was a sweet confession of love, but his voice was dark and sullen.

    Euris kept trying to pull away from his embrace, to look at his face, but he didn’t relax. He kept talking.

    "It may seem like I asked you to marry me easily, but I didn't say it easily at all. I...... I love you enough to trade my life for you."

    As he continued with his unintelligible declaration of love, Euris gave up trying to push him away. Instead, she asked.

    "Why?"

    "...."

    "Why do you love me so much?"

    She asked, and he had no answer. She could feel his hair on her bare shoulders.

    After a moment of silence, Euris carefully reached out her arm and pushed him away slightly. He slowly stepped back without much resistance. The distance between them had dropped some.

    Euris looked at him. Chaint couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. His lips were pressed tightly together.

    "Chaint."

    Euris called out to him one more time, cautiously. Chaint was still avoiding her gaze.

    "Tell me."

    "I don't want you to think I...... I'm afraid you'll think I'm crazy."

    After a long silence, he finally spoke. She listened, feeling nervous for some reason.

    "Euris...... I died once."

    Euris' eyes widened at his words, and she doubted her ears. As if anticipating her reaction, Chaint squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again before continuing.

    "I'm beginning to wonder if I've had a dream that's too unreal, but Euris⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯ it's not a dream. I die seven years from now in a war started by the Lepallon Empire, and when I wake up, I'm back in the present."

    Euris’s mouth dropped open at this completely unexpected story.

    "I was married to you in my last life, Euris, and you were------. You were very hurt by Kylan Hebron, and while I don't know the details of your affairs, you always seemed to be in another world, even after we were married."

    He paused, swallowing hard, his throat lumpy. As if he were holding back a sorrow, a bad memory.

    The room was silent, with only the occasional crackle of a fire in the hearth. Outside, the sun had long since set. The sun's red rays streamed into the mansion.

    The light touched the woman's hands and his face. It made his expression look even more forlorn.

    ‘You're back in the past, too.’

    Ever since she had been resurrected from the past, Euris had wondered if she had been dreaming. Sometimes she wondered if she'd gone mad, thinking things had happened when they hadn't.

    Going through the future and coming back to it alone was a very unpleasant realization. It was a lonely thing to have memories and feelings alone.

    Pushing Kylan away and getting angry at him when he didn't know anything about it was also emotionally difficult for Euris, and it bothered her to see him hurt. So she wished someone would share the memories with her. She wanted someone to tell her she wasn't crazy.

    "I did, but...... you're back, too.”

    He said, studying her blank expression.

    "I was the closest thing to you, and you seemed so far away. But I never gave up loving you, Euris."

    The hurt in his voice was palpable.

    'These must be the wounds I gave you......'

    She thought of Kylan, and how she hadn't been able to give him any warmth during those long years. She thought of Chaint, who, at the end of his life, had died as soon as she realized how she felt.

    "We were married for five years, and finally------ finally, I thought you were opening up to me, but."

    He swallowed once more. She couldn't look him in the eye, knowing full well what was coming next. But he persisted, locking eyes with Euris.

     "I died, because there was a war."

    With those words, a small stream of tears fell from his eyes. The man took her hand in his. He lifted it to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand.

    "You don't know the future, but I'm sorry------. I'm so sorry I left you like that."

    He repeated the words, as if he'd been meaning to say them all along.

    ‘You went to the end of your life thinking that, and that's what you wanted to say to me.’

    Euris' emotions surged.

    "I'm sorry, I just wanted to tell you, I missed you so much."

    His brown lashes became moist with tears.

     "I know it sounds crazy, but I wanted to tell you, I'm sorry I left you alone like that."

    ***

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