May Every Wound Be Fatal - vanish into fiction

Having memories of her seventeen-year-old self, she was as pure as she had been when they first met six years ago, and she seemed unable to even imagine what the man before her had done to her.

She had to know.

Elizer moved his lips slightly.

“…Reyna, I am.”

The person who made you this way is me.

You threw yourself into the sea because I was so terrible.

So, you must run away.

However, Elizer could not make a sound. The truth merely lingered in his mouth. The moment he let the truth out of his mouth, he would no longer be able to stay by Reyna’s side.

His lips closed tightly.

Elizer suddenly recalled Reyna’s face from last night, as she smiled faintly while telling him her name.

“I am Reyna.”

It was truly a miraculous moment.

Elizer did not clearly remember where this place was or why he was sitting beside her; he felt as though he had returned to those days when he could see only her and hear only her.

Thus, he spoke in an involuntary whisper.

“I am Elizer. Just… Elizer.”

Then, a faint smile spread across her lips.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, Elizer admitted it.

He hoped her memories would never return. He wanted to approach her while she knew nothing and start everything over from the beginning. That was his ugly, true intention.

Elizer whispered softly while pressing his lips to her fingertips.

“…I, Reyna. I wish time would just stop like this.”

***

Allin glanced at Reyna with a rather tense expression.

By now, she should have received a narrow-eyed look asking what she was doing in such a distracted manner, but Reyna seemed to notice nothing, as if she were lost in deep thought.

Allin felt an intuition that something unusual had occurred, though she didn’t know what it was. For instance, that Reyna had remembered something…

It was then that Reyna suddenly called Allin.

“Hey, Allin.”

Allin reflexively stepped forward and bowed her head.

“…Yes, Your Queen.”

Then, swallowing hard, she quickly scanned Reyna’s mood.

“By any chance…”

Frowning slightly, Reyna moved her lips as if to say something. In that split second, ten thousand thoughts flashed through Allin’s mind.

‘…If the Queen’s memories have truly returned, what do I do now?’

A while ago, when she learned that the King was Elizer rather than Prince Tiberian, Reyna seemed to fall into great confusion. Allin was afraid that Reyna might remember something because of her.

Fortunately, what she feared did not happen, and instead, Reyna seemed to be making an effort to accept her new environment afterward.

While Allin felt relieved, it became harder to shake off the guilt of deceiving the one she served every time she faced Reyna.

However, there was no one who could tell Reyna what had happened to her. It was because it felt as if Reyna would want death once again the moment she learned the truth.

As the strange peace continued, Allin became increasingly afraid of Reyna regaining her memories.

Thus, it was the moment she involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut.

“Have you ever seen His Majesty smile?”

Since it was a question that drained all the tension away compared to how nervous she had been, Allin ended up responding blankly.

“…His Majesty, pardon?”

“…”

Reyna looked back at Allin with a narrow-eyed gaze. Snapping out of it at that lingering look, Allin hurried to scan her memories.

“Ah, yes. Smiling. Well, that is…”

Soon, she realized anew that she had never seen the King smile. And for her part, it was difficult to discern what kind of answer Reyna wanted.

“…I, as for me, to dare look upon the King’s face, I…”

As she stammered out an ambiguous answer, Reyna eventually frowned as if frustrated.

“You certainly make it difficult just to say ‘no’.”

“…I am sorry, Your Queen.”

Seeing the strangely blunt reaction, it seemed it wasn’t the answer she wanted. Although Allin had no way of guessing how she had suddenly become curious about the King’s smiling face. Unable to suppress her subtle anxiety, Allin asked.

“Um, Your Queen. Why were you suddenly curious about that?”

“…Just, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile.”

Reyna responded as if talking to herself, and then she recalled the dream from last night.

Morning dreams, as they always do, faded quickly. Clearly, the feeling remained that she had been shocked to see him smiling brightly at her, but she could no longer remember what that face looked like. As time passed, she was reaching a point where she was confused if it had even been such a dream.