[✓]My Fiancé is in Love with My Little Sister

Chapter 57

8 – The End of The End – 3

At first, I thought it was a shabby carriage, but as I got used to it, the nice view I had from there improved my mood a little. The chill I felt just a while ago seemed like a lie, and now my cheeks were hot enough for me to notice their warmth.

Various colors such as scarlet and dark blue, purple and light crimson, were blending together, faintly coloring the clouds that were floating in the sunrise. It was simple and so beautiful, and it made me realize something. Surely, this was suggesting our future path, and at that thought, unknowingly, the corners of my lips rose up in a half smile. This was what it meant “to look forward.” It is because you believe there is hope at your destination that you can raise your face. And it was so dazzling.

The relentless light shining down from the sky brightly dyed the whole city. As if that was a sort of signal, the windows of houses here and there were opened vigorously. Some residents stuck their heads out of the windows. When they met eyes with others, they seemed to exchange a few words or nodded in greeting. It looked like they planned to interact while ventilating their room. As the carriage proceeded forward, my gaze followed the changing scenery, seeing it without really paying attention to it. We soon approached the market. Merchants busy selling fruit, vegetables and everyday goods seemed to be moving around restlessly, laughing out loud from time to time when something happened.

Before I knew it, the whole city was awake, welcoming the morning.

It became a bustling and clamorous place, overflowing with vigor and a lively atmosphere. I was taken aback by the difference with the earl’s estate, which was always quiet. In your daily life, it was good manners to not make noise and it was a rule to not laugh and raise your voice. You had to walk without making sounds, your movements had to be as slow as possible and perfect down to your fingertips to maintain a thoroughly dignified attitude. That’s how I lived. But that being said, I had no intention of judging which one was better. In the first place, it was unnecessary to compare them. Because they are simply “different.” Everyone is frantically living in their own world. In my life of anxiety and pain as if I was carrying all the tragedies of the world on my back, it was the very first time I had such a thought.

That night when I escaped in a downpour, that day when I was caught by a human trafficker. When I was sold, locked in a place the sun didn’t reach, struggling, until the instant I realized there was nothing I could do about it. I was always prepared to die, yet I was never able to end my life easily. “Why is it only me?” ... ... It’s a sentence that went through my head over and over again. Those days seemed very distant now.

“... Ilya?”

When I raised my head after hearing this gentle voice, Crow lightly squeezed my hand. Knowing that I had made him worry, I shook my head and told him it was nothing.

“Do you realize that’s not convincing at all when you make this kind of expression”? With an ironic and bittersweet smile on his lips, he caressed my face with his slender fingers. After he touched me to check I was fine, he told me that I seemed to be in a better mood than before. I felt I couldn’t hide anything from Crow.

“Well, it’s fine. We have time. We’ll spend more than enough time together to get to understand each other.”

As I watched him laugh happily, I felt something even stronger than a sense of déjà-vu. Was it because his joyful appearance overlapped with a version of Crow I met in the past?

“Ha ha! Again... you’re making this expression again...”

It was probably the same for this person who looked into my eyes at a distance close enough that the tips of our noses could touch. The corners of his eyes narrowed, creating a gentle atmosphere, but also revealing a sorrow that couldn’t be expressed with words. He was looking at a version of me I didn’t know. This feeling was something only the two of us could share, and we would always continue to be burdened by it in the future. There is absolutely no way to regain the time that has passed nor the things we have lost. That’s why, I have no choice but to live with these unshakable emotions, even if I don’t know how to control them.