May Every Wound Be Fatal - vanish into fiction

Recognizing the other, Reyna blankly rose from her seat. She had hoped to meet the child again, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

As Reyna stood up, the child stopped at a certain distance, as if ready to flee at any moment.

A strange standoff continued, with neither side speaking first.

Wary body language, yet curious eyes. It seemed as though the child was waiting for her to say something, but Reyna couldn’t immediately figure out what to do.

Still, she didn’t want to lose the child like this. There was no guarantee that such a chance encounter would come again.

“I…”

Her frozen lips wouldn’t move as she wished. The voice that escaped between them sounded as if she was about to cry.

“Um…”

Startled by her own voice, Reyna hurriedly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand to wipe away the remaining tears. She didn’t want to show the child that she had been shaken by a mere nightmare.

But the child seemed to have already noticed that she had been crying. Flustered by the child’s expression—as if unsure what to do—Reyna thought about saying she hadn’t been crying, but instead decided to offer a greeting first.

“…Hello.”

At the awkward greeting, the child only blinked their round eyes. They seemed tense. Reyna slowly sat back down and whispered toward the child.

“My leg hurts. Would you come to me?”

Despite her careful request, the child didn’t budge. Reyna picked up the cane that had been carelessly left beside the fountain and gave it a small shake toward the child.

“It’s because I hurt my leg.”

Only after that did the child hesitate for a moment before slowly approaching.

And as she examined the child’s face up close, Reyna was overcome with surprise and confusion.

Could this truly be her child?

The more she thought about it, the less far-fetched it seemed.

Hadn’t Thales said that recovering memories wouldn’t help her body heal? Hadn’t Elizer also kept his distance from her at first? It was possible they had hidden the child’s existence from her.

Once her thoughts reached that point, Reyna studied the child even more intently.

The hair revealed in the moonlight was unmistakably Elizer’s color. Though she couldn’t be certain due to the shadows, the eye color also seemed to have a blue hue. She hadn’t yet found any resemblance to herself, but there were certainly many features similar to Elizer.

Just then, the child asked.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Huh?”

“Is that why you were crying?”

So her tears hadn’t been hidden after all.

“Ah… No, this is…”

Denying it when it was so obvious would be ridiculous. Reyna finally answered softly.

“I won’t cry anymore.”

Even so, the child’s worried gaze did not fade.

Reyna felt embarrassed, yet at the same time, something stirred warmly in her chest.

“Really?”

“Yes…”

The child was gentle and kind, as if they had been raised with much love.

Strangely, just having this brief conversation with the child seemed to calm her heart, which had been filled with fear and confusion ever since she heard that Elizer had collapsed. The hope that this child might be her own grew quietly into a breeze within her.

“Um, can you tell me how you got in here?”

Knowing that no one was allowed in without the King’s permission, the child hesitated.

“I’m not going to scold you, I’m just curious.”

The child was cautious, yet innocent enough to reveal the truth simply.

“…I climbed over the wall.”

As she had expected, the child had truly come through the royal garden.

A being who freely roamed the King’s Garden, resembling Elizer. Reyna became convinced that the child was her own. A question filled with involuntary joy slipped out.

“Did you come to see me?”

The child didn’t answer readily, tense as they were, but Reyna could tell from their hesitation that it was a yes.

“Thank you for coming to see me…”

Just then, the fierce wind she had momentarily forgotten swept through. Reyna took off the shawl draped over her shoulders and carefully wrapped it around the child’s. The child flinched for a moment but obediently stayed still.

“…….”

To be honest, Reyna was now afraid of regaining her memories.

But looking at the child, her trembling had subsided, and she no longer felt the cold. Smiling faintly, Reyna slowly withdrew her hands and gazed at the child for a while. It took some time before she could open her mouth, unsure of what to say first.

“What’s… your name?”

The child blinked as if they had heard a strange question. Reyna quickly added.