‘He’s just being kind because he’s a good person, and he’s showing me consideration because he feels sorry for me.’
Suddenly, a laugh escaped her.
Right now, she is “Laila Hildegarde.”
She met Sion for the first time.
Yet she can catch glimpses of Sion’s kindness and receive his consideration.
She can spend time like this beside Sion…
‘It’s nice.’
Sion, who hasn’t lost the person he loves, seemed strong and at peace. Laila thought of Sion’s face over and over until, at some point, she lay down and fell asleep.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Several seasons passed.
Laila continued to work as a library assistant and occasionally ran into Sion.
Sitting in the library, Laila traced her fragmented memories.
Memories of accidentally encountering Sion and talking, memories of Sion visiting the library to chat, memories of having meals together with Sion…
‘It’s nice, but…’
Laila’s gaze turned toward the window in the library.
‘…When will I be able to return to reality?’
Reality. The place where the people Laila loves are. In other words…
“I want to go home.”
Laila muttered absentmindedly. At that moment, she sensed a presence.
Turning her gaze away from the window, Laila saw Sion. She didn’t know when he had entered the library, but Sion was frozen, looking at her.
Laila briefly pondered why he was acting like that and soon realized one thing.
‘He heard me.’
He must have heard her muttering that she wanted to go home.
Sion silently stared at Laila before turning away. Watching Sion’s back as he left the library, Laila felt certain.
‘He misunderstood!’
If there’s a misunderstanding, it needs to be cleared up. The sound of a chair scraping against the floor echoed as Laila jumped up from her seat, but then she hesitated.
‘Why should I clear up the misunderstanding…?’
As she thought about it, she realized. In this dream, Sion and Laila had no relationship.
If she had to define it, it would be a poor noble lady who ran away to escape the threat to her life and a hero who didn’t ignore the troubles of that noble lady. That would be about it.
Laila smoothly sat back down in the pushed-back chair.
‘Even if I say it’s a misunderstanding, well, nothing will change.’
Sion might try to send Laila back to her “home” in Hildegarde from here. If that happens, she could just say she didn’t want to go then.
Laila looked down at her hands folded on her lap.
“…I miss you.”
She was looking at Sion, but she missed him.
Laila closed her eyes to think of her family.
That evening.
Laila welcomed an unexpected visitor to her bedroom. It was Sion.
“…May I come in?”
“Ah, yes. Please come in.”
After letting Sion into the bedroom without thinking, Laila blinked in surprise.
Sion came to her bedroom at this hour when the sun had set…
Had this happened before? Laila shook her head inwardly. No, it hadn’t. At least not in this dream.
Feeling puzzled, Laila first sat down, facing Sion in a suitable spot.
Sion sat on the sofa, looking at Laila’s face in front of him, then glancing at his intertwined fingers, acting somewhat fidgety for some reason before finally speaking.
“Are you going to leave?”
Laila thought. Ah, he came to talk about that.
He must have come to ask if she wanted to go back to Hildegarde.
As expected, he came to inquire about her intentions before sending her off.
Laila intended to answer no. But Sion was a bit quicker.
“If you don’t leave, will that be okay?”
“…Yes?”
Caught off guard by his unexpected words, she reflexively replied. Interpreting the slightly raised tone of her voice and Laila’s surprised expression, Sion looked down.
“I know. It must sound absurd.”
“No…”
It’s not absurd…
“I also know that I don’t have the right to say such things to you.”
No, that’s not it. Why wouldn’t he have the right?
Sion had taken in Laila, who was hiding her identity and working as a maid, without turning her in or sending her away, providing her with easy tasks, food, and shelter. After such consideration, shouldn’t he have a say?
While Laila was lost in confusion, Sion continued speaking.
“I hope you can listen to me without misunderstanding. Henry Hildegarde… is not a good person.”
“I know.”
How could she not know? She had nearly died because of Henry; no, she had died once and escaped.
Sion seemed somewhat relieved by Laila’s immediate response. However, it didn’t seem like he was completely at ease.
Sion tightened his grip on his intertwined fingers and spoke.
“I understand your desire to go home. However, that place is not safe for you, milady.”
The bond of his intertwined fingers became even stronger.
“It’s been quite a while since you left that place. But Henry Hildegarde hasn’t changed his mind yet. So if you were to return to Hildegarde, you…”
“I think you’re misunderstanding.”
As Laila said this, she stood up. Her gaze was fixed on Sion’s hands.
What is he doing? Really. Just as that thought crossed her mind, Laila found herself placing her hand on Sion’s tightly clenched knuckles.
The moment her hand touched his, the tension in Sion’s hand eased. Laila smiled contentedly as she watched his overworked fingers relax.
Then, feeling his gaze, she looked up at Sion’s face, and their eyes met.
…So close. Laila stepped back slightly and spoke.
“It’s true that I want to go home, but that home is not Hildegarde.”
“Then…”
“…Well, actually, I had a dream.”
To be honest, this is the dream, but saying that to a character in the dream feels a bit…
Ah.
Maybe.
Telling someone in a dream that this is a dream might be a way to wake up from it.
Laila hesitated, not finishing her thought. Should I test it…?
At that moment, Sion took Laila’s hand. Her gaze instinctively shifted to their joined hands. The voice she had long come to like penetrated her ears.
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“…”
“…Please, go on.”
Sion and Laila’s eyes met again. Laila began to speak.
“I had a home in my dream. It was such a nice place that I kept thinking about it even after I woke up.”
“……”
“That’s why I said I wanted to go back.”
Sion’s eyes widened slightly before narrowing. Laila watched the change in his expression and thought. He’s smiling.
It’s beautiful.
“…I have a question.”
“Yes.”
“When we first ran into each other in the hallway…”
“We.” It was a pleasantly comforting word. As Laila thought this, Sion continued.
“You had a certain expression when you looked at me…”
“An expression?”
Sion then described Laila’s expression from that day.
“…It was like you had met someone you had missed.”
“……”
“Of course, I could have misinterpreted it.”
However, contrary to his words, Sion didn’t think for a moment that he had been mistaken.
When their eyes met across the long hallway, Laila had looked as if she had finally met someone she had desperately wanted to see.
Sion remembered Laila’s face from that moment very clearly. If someone prepared a canvas, he could immediately paint the image of Laila that was in his mind.
“I’ll be honest. There are many days when I recall the expression you had back then.”
Sion often thought about Laila. At first, only the expression he saw in the hallway came to mind.
Then…
“Recently…”
“……”
“I’ve just been thinking about you more often.”
“……”
“…This might be a late question, but I want to know why you had that expression when you looked at me.”
Laila raised her hand. Unconsciously lowering his gaze, she reached out and touched his golden eyelashes.
As the eyelashes lifted, his dark pupils were revealed. Laila looked into those eyes and began to speak.
“I mentioned that I had a dream. In that dream, I had a home.”
“……”
“It’s a dream I’ve had for a long time… and in that home, there was always one person.”
