I am a love interest in a harem novel!?

Dreams Come True (3)

The image faded yet again as I stood there paralyzed.

A dream when I was Leila Cato..? I dreamt that I was Rui Hughes... "How could a dream be real..?"

"Oh? I see you've returned." A familiar feminine voice called out to me.

When I looked up, I saw the mysterious woman sipping tea in the outdoor furniture of the garden. Her veil was folded back a bit so that only her mouth is exposed.

"Why do you still look so befuddled? I've already shown you everything." She sighed, helplessly. But even that exuded elegance.

"I don't understand... Rui Hughes... Uziel... They were all just a dream... How-"

"After saying they were all just characters in a book, now you're going to say everything is just a mere figment of your imagination?" She interrupted me. A crescent bow was raised above her eye behind the translucent veil and I pursed my lips.

"Then how do you expect me to take all of this in..?" In the end, I couldn't help but voice out my thoughts. "That I dreamed my existence into some sort of a parallel world or something?" 

She calmly stared at me, and replied with a stern voice. "Dreams aren't merely dreams..."

I stared at her and wondered what she meant.

"...The world isn't just made of reality and facts. This is your belief but that's simply being narrow-minded... Fate, fortune and enigma plays a big part in human lives. It comes to you whether you like it or not. It's only a matter of choice... and you accepted yours, Rui Hughes. No... You've transcended it quite astoundingly."

"What..?"

"Have you heard of the man who dreamed that he was a butterfly? That is how it is for you. When you allowed your soul to be carried over, that dream became your reality and the fate of that man and yours had been tied."

"But... the book..."

"Ah, yes... That book should not have existed. This little one had intervened, as usual." She sighed, rubbing her temples while muttering the words.

I frowned as I stared at the fluttering wings of the butterfly. I remember I'd seen it with Uziel when he was in that graveyard... Could it have been a mere coincidence..?

"Rui Hughes... The world you are in is as real as the world you were born from. Make no mistake about this..." The woman stared at me with a serious demeanor.

"Come, sit with me."

I hesitantly went and plopped down on the chair across her, surprised to find a teacup already placed in front of me. But I didn't drink it. I was too agitated and I felt like whatever I'd swallow would come right out after what I had seen.

"Once in a while, different worlds collide, causing a rip in reality. There are various consequences of this... One of which are temporary peregrinations of souls to other spheres. Sometimes, it's a mere plant, an animal... a place... and sometimes and it rarely ever happens- a human soul... A human soul is the hardest anomaly for the universe to rectify. Afterall, if a plant suddenly appeared where there had been none at all, wouldn't you say you might have seen it wrong? If a place suddenly appeared in a map, you'd say you must have not noticed it until now... But if a human were to suddenly appear out of nowhere? What happens? No one would suddenly say that person is a family that had gone missing, would they? They are an existence that would never have connections. They come and go like a passing wind." She paused and sipped a bit of her tea before continuing. 

"That was why you were an orphan there, as well. Your existence should not have lasted long because your soul originally didn't belong there..." 

"But I didn't die...?" I looked at her then. 

"Indeed..." She nodded after gulping a bit of her tea. "Isn't it because I allowed you to remember your life as Leila Cato so you have managed to persevere until now... I told you, didn't I? That I would give you freedom to pave a path of your own. And to do that, you need to be equipped with the knowledge of the future." She smiled at me. 

"I've given you something to start with but you have barely scraped past the surface. Even so, no one will blame you and I'm saying that sincerely. I truly am... But now that I've laid everything bare for you... I hope that you will not regret anything... After all, you still remember what you saw, don't you..?"

The grotesque rotting woman that resembled both of my faces (Leila and Rui) flashed back in my mind hauntingly. That and the way he stood there with a face of resignation after saying words that continued to echo in my head even until now. Had he been holding on to his guilt like that all these years..?    

My vision started to blur as soon as she concluded our conversation with a sympathetic look on her face. The last thing I saw was her, talking to the butterfly before I opened my eyes to my quiet and peaceful living room. 

"Are you contented now? You've done everything to help your son that you've degraded yourself to such a state..." 

I felt so ashamed with what I heard... 

Even more so when I saw the familiar Lilacs laid right in front of my line of sight. It was as if she sent them here as proof that everything I've dreamed of was all true. 

I sat up slowly and stared down at them, awakening fresh new tears that soaked my desk. I inhaled a deep breath, my heart softening with every passing second.

Alright... 

I was wrong... And he was right when he said I was wrong.

He was right and I didn't listen to him... After all I wouldn't be able to cry this much after all this time. I shouldn't be hurt. I shouldn't feel worried. I shouldn't feel anxious. 

But I feel it all in my chest. And each and everyone of them are mocking me loudly. 

What am I going to do now..?  

My unfinished work was glaring at me from the monitor. The sun was going down. And I was crying profusely without pause. 

***

A/N: *woe is me music 

           Life is short, act quickly! It's okay to be impulsive once in a while... I think...?