Ines smiled and continued reading the next part.
Her throat was so cracked that she had to pause for a moment.
“If you could take revenge, would you have?”
The answer came out easily compared to the difficult question.
“I would have. But I didn’t have the strength back then. Of course, that didn’t change with time. That’s why I learned resignation.”
He slowly approached Ines and took the empty glass of water.
“Now, let go of the past. For your own sake. Now is the time to move forward toward the future.”
He smiled slightly after saying that.
“Of course, it won’t be as easy as it sounds.”
At that moment, the door to Ines’ room opened without warning, ending their conversation. Carson entered the open door.
As if he could see nothing but Ines, he immediately grabbed her face with both hands. Then he carefully examined her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now.”
Hansen immediately bowed and left the room. He wasn’t sure if the lord had received his greeting.
“Are you really okay?”
“Her Highness the Princess?”
“She just said hello and went back to her room with Emma.”
“How did you know?”
Louis appeared in the banquet hall, greeted him, and stayed by his side for a while.
When the child said she wanted to go back to Ines, Carson asked where she was. Since she had already danced once with Noah, it seemed okay to leave for a while.
Carson loosened his neatly tied tie a little and came to the back room with Louis.
However, neither the priest nor Ines were there. As he looked around, a servant approached. And he told him that he saw the priest running away carrying the maid. After understanding the situation, he went straight to Ines’ room.
All the way there, he thought about the situation in which she had not been able to find him, and that it had to be that way. However, the strangely uncontrollable emotions made him ask her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were busy today.”
“You should have told me anyway.”
“I thought I would get better soon.”
However, today’s seizure did not leave Ines with nothing.
She looked at her faith.
Unlike her, who was lying in bed, fainting, Carson was shining like a star even at this moment. Ines hid at the end of the hallway today and watched him go to the banquet hall. It was because she wanted to see him in his fancy attire for the first time in a long time.
Of course, he was dazzling. It was sad that there was no way to preserve that image forever.
However, Ines’s heart felt a little strange as she watched him disappear into the distance. Unable to figure out what kind of emotion she was feeling, she left the place before Carson had even disappeared.
It was only after some time that she realized that what she felt was some kind of anxiety.
She sat on the terrace and encouraged herself as the spring breeze blew by.
Carson wouldn’t throw Ines away. But she knew nonetheless. She couldn’t stay by his side forever. She couldn’t breathe in his arms forever.
The moment she thought about it, ironically, she felt suffocated.
‘You’re so perfect, and I’m falling apart so ugly.’
For the first time, she didn’t want to show herself. It was a thought she hadn’t had even when she was the terrible Ines Swenden, who had tried to commit premeditated murder.
Today, Hansen’s story was a great motivation for Ines. As he had said, she couldn’t be tied to the past anymore. Only then did she realize why her fits were coming.
Ines had made peace with herself, but in the end, she couldn’t forgive herself.
“My lord, I’ll say this to you one last time.”
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ines...”
“I’m really sorry, but I still can’t leave you.”
“There live fairies who lost their wings, fairies who lost their magic wands, fairies who lost their memories, and fairies who lost time.”
Each of the fairies lost something. Among them was a fairy who lost her heart. They could not live in the world of fairies who had lost nothing.
At that moment, Emma came to pick up Louis. The child waved at Ines and Hansen and left for a moment.
Ines and Father Hansen sat side by side on the bench without much conversation. The two had become accustomed to each other and had become comfortable with each other without any conversation. At that moment, the wind blew, tickled Ines’ cheek, and then left.
Every moment when her senses were awakened, Carson came to mind without fail.
Hansen’s hair, which had grown a lot since he left the temple, also blew in the direction of the wind.
The moment she thought that long hair suited him well, she suddenly had a seizure.
Hansen already knew Ines’s condition well. And here, he witnessed a very strange scene. Her seizures and breathing difficulties, which had been resolved after a long period of suffering, stabilized as if by magic the moment Carson touched her hand.
As a mid-level priest in charge of the temple’s affairs, Hansen of course knew how Ines had come to Edmont.
However, he did not ask anything. He simply assumed that there must have been some kind of story between the two.
Hansen knelt before Ines.
As a priest and a healer, he helped Ines breathe better. However, it was not something that would get better easily.
“I will go and bring the lord back.”
He could not be sure whether she heard him. The situation was so urgent that it would not have been strange if she had stopped breathing. However, when Hansen hurriedly tried to get away from Ines, she grabbed his wrist.
“No. No... I can’t.”
Although she was clearly confused, Ines was desperate. Hansen could do nothing but wait for time to pass while she held his wrist.
Her breathing was rasping like someone drowning in water. Ines, who had been holding Hansen’s wrist so tightly that it was almost crushed, eventually fainted.
He carried her back to the room. The cause of the illness for which there was no cure must have been a major wound from the past.
As darkness fell in the room, he turned on the light as best he could.
No matter how much he was a priest, he was alone in the room with a woman.
However, he couldn’t leave her alone, so he took out the Bible that Ines had carefully kept to pass the time. However, he quickly covered it and put it back where it was.
There were things inside that he shouldn’t have seen.
How much time had passed? Ines woke up muttering something he couldn’t understand.
Hansen filled a cup with water and approached her.
“Are you coming to your senses now?”
Ines nodded without being too flustered and got up. Fainting was rare, but it wasn’t completely unheard of.
“I’ve caused trouble for you, priest.”
He approached her without answering and touched her head. Then he prayed quietly for a moment. The comforting sound of the prayer died down and he returned to where he had been sitting.
After a moment of silence, Hansen spoke.
“My mother was truly beautiful.”
“Why are you suddenly speaking so loudly?”
“It was more uncomfortable to talk from the beginning. It was inevitable, but now it’s just the two of us.”
Ines nodded as she drank the water he gave her. She didn’t have the energy to think about it now.
“My mother was also a good singer. I don’t remember the lyrics very well, but she used to sing to me and my brother at our bedsides.”
Ines listened intently to the words that continued like a prayer.
“My father was a knight, so to speak. He had a lot to fight for and was often away from home. But we were happy. There was always a lot of delicious food when he came home.”
“...”
“Then one day, when my father was away from home as usual, armed men suddenly came into the house. And they dragged my mother away. The armored men had designs on their clothes that I had never seen before. They had the faces of lions and the legs of horses.”
His calm recounting of the horrific story was filled with unrefined sadness.
“My mother came back the next day. She had a sad face, but she was safe. That night, my mother repeatedly warned me not to tell my father about what had happened that day.”
But he failed to keep that warning.
A few days later, his father returned, and Hansen, fearing that the assailants would take his mother away again, ended up telling his father.
“My father went somewhere. And a while later, he came back home covered in blood. The first thing he did when he came inside was to grab me by the collar.”
Hansen’s father looked into his eyes for a long time and said,
“You are not my son.”
Then, Hansen was immediately thrown out of the house. While he was crying outside, black smoke began to rise from inside the house. He knocked on the door to be let in, but it was locked from the inside.
Soon, the villagers came rushing in, and he was unable to enter the house, which was completely engulfed in flames.
“I can still hear my mother and brother’s screams when I close my eyes.”
Ines could not bear to say anything and held tightly to the glass of water she was holding. It was a pain that could not be easily measured.
“The saddest thing to this day is that my father did not include me in that death.”
He was twelve years old at the time. Later, he said that he realized that the patterns on the men’s clothes were the emblems of high families that he could not have imagined at the time.
“I hated myself for a very long time. I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t told my father everything.”
“...”
“Some wounds don’t heal no matter how much time passes. So rather than fighting and trying to win, you need to practice accepting them.”
Only then did Ines realize that he had revealed his sad past to comfort her.
“If...”
Each of the fairies lost something. Among them was a fairy who lost her heart. They could not live in the world of fairies who had lost nothing.
At that moment, Emma came to pick up Louis. The child waved at Ines and Hansen and left for a moment.
Ines and Father Hansen sat side by side on the bench without much conversation. The two had become accustomed to each other and had become comfortable with each other without any conversation. At that moment, the wind blew, tickled Ines’ cheek, and then left.
Every moment when her senses were awakened, Carson came to mind without fail.
Hansen’s hair, which had grown a lot since he left the temple, also blew in the direction of the wind.
The moment she thought that long hair suited him well, she suddenly had a seizure.
Hansen already knew Ines’s condition well. And here, he witnessed a very strange scene. Her seizures and breathing difficulties, which had been resolved after a long period of suffering, stabilized as if by magic the moment Carson touched her hand.
As a mid-level priest in charge of the temple’s affairs, Hansen of course knew how Ines had come to Edmont.
However, he did not ask anything. He simply assumed that there must have been some kind of story between the two.
Hansen knelt before Ines.
As a priest and a healer, he helped Ines breathe better. However, it was not something that would get better easily.
“I will go and bring the lord back.”
He could not be sure whether she heard him. The situation was so urgent that it would not have been strange if she had stopped breathing. However, when Hansen hurriedly tried to get away from Ines, she grabbed his wrist.
“No. No... I can’t.”
Although she was clearly confused, Ines was desperate. Hansen could do nothing but wait for time to pass while she held his wrist.
Her breathing was rasping like someone drowning in water. Ines, who had been holding Hansen’s wrist so tightly that it was almost crushed, eventually fainted.
He carried her back to the room. The cause of the illness for which there was no cure must have been a major wound from the past.
As darkness fell in the room, he turned on the light as best he could.
No matter how much he was a priest, he was alone in the room with a woman.
However, he couldn’t leave her alone, so he took out the Bible that Ines had carefully kept to pass the time. However, he quickly covered it and put it back where it was.
There were things inside that he shouldn’t have seen.
How much time had passed? Ines woke up muttering something he couldn’t understand.
Hansen filled a cup with water and approached her.
“Are you coming to your senses now?”
Ines nodded without being too flustered and got up. Fainting was rare, but it wasn’t completely unheard of.
“I’ve caused trouble for you, priest.”
He approached her without answering and touched her head. Then he prayed quietly for a moment. The comforting sound of the prayer died down and he returned to where he had been sitting.
After a moment of silence, Hansen spoke.
“My mother was truly beautiful.”
“Why are you suddenly speaking so loudly?”
“It was more uncomfortable to talk from the beginning. It was inevitable, but now it’s just the two of us.”
Ines nodded as she drank the water he gave her. She didn’t have the energy to think about it now.
“My mother was also a good singer. I don’t remember the lyrics very well, but she used to sing to me and my brother at our bedsides.”
Ines listened intently to the words that continued like a prayer.
“My father was a knight, so to speak. He had a lot to fight for and was often away from home. But we were happy. There was always a lot of delicious food when he came home.”
“...”
“Then one day, when my father was away from home as usual, armed men suddenly came into the house. And they dragged my mother away. The armored men had designs on their clothes that I had never seen before. They had the faces of lions and the legs of horses.”
His calm recounting of the horrific story was filled with unrefined sadness.
“My mother came back the next day. She had a sad face, but she was safe. That night, my mother repeatedly warned me not to tell my father about what had happened that day.”
But he failed to keep that warning.
A few days later, his father returned, and Hansen, fearing that the assailants would take his mother away again, ended up telling his father.
“My father went somewhere. And a while later, he came back home covered in blood. The first thing he did when he came inside was to grab me by the collar.”
Hansen’s father looked into his eyes for a long time and said,
“You are not my son.”
Then, Hansen was immediately thrown out of the house. While he was crying outside, black smoke began to rise from inside the house. He knocked on the door to be let in, but it was locked from the inside.
Soon, the villagers came rushing in, and he was unable to enter the house, which was completely engulfed in flames.
“I can still hear my mother and brother’s screams when I close my eyes.”
Ines could not bear to say anything and held tightly to the glass of water she was holding. It was a pain that could not be easily measured.
“The saddest thing to this day is that my father did not include me in that death.”
He was twelve years old at the time. Later, he said that he realized that the patterns on the men’s clothes were the emblems of high families that he could not have imagined at the time.
“I hated myself for a very long time. I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t told my father everything.”
“...”
“Some wounds don’t heal no matter how much time passes. So rather than fighting and trying to win, you need to practice accepting them.”
Only then did Ines realize that he had revealed his sad past to comfort her.
“If...”
Her throat was so cracked that she had to pause for a moment.
“If you could take revenge, would you have?”
The answer came out easily compared to the difficult question.
“I would have. But I didn’t have the strength back then. Of course, that didn’t change with time. That’s why I learned resignation.”
He slowly approached Ines and took the empty glass of water.
“Now, let go of the past. For your own sake. Now is the time to move forward toward the future.”
He smiled slightly after saying that.
“Of course, it won’t be as easy as it sounds.”
At that moment, the door to Ines’ room opened without warning, ending their conversation. Carson entered the open door.
As if he could see nothing but Ines, he immediately grabbed her face with both hands. Then he carefully examined her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now.”
Hansen immediately bowed and left the room. He wasn’t sure if the lord had received his greeting.
“Are you really okay?”
“Her Highness the Princess?”
“She just said hello and went back to her room with Emma.”
“How did you know?”
Louis appeared in the banquet hall, greeted him, and stayed by his side for a while.
When the child said she wanted to go back to Ines, Carson asked where she was. Since she had already danced once with Noah, it seemed okay to leave for a while.
Carson loosened his neatly tied tie a little and came to the back room with Louis.
However, neither the priest nor Ines were there. As he looked around, a servant approached. And he told him that he saw the priest running away carrying the maid. After understanding the situation, he went straight to Ines’ room.
All the way there, he thought about the situation in which she had not been able to find him, and that it had to be that way. However, the strangely uncontrollable emotions made him ask her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were busy today.”
“You should have told me anyway.”
“I thought I would get better soon.”
However, today’s seizure did not leave Ines with nothing.
She looked at her faith.
Unlike her, who was lying in bed, fainting, Carson was shining like a star even at this moment. Ines hid at the end of the hallway today and watched him go to the banquet hall. It was because she wanted to see him in his fancy attire for the first time in a long time.
Of course, he was dazzling. It was sad that there was no way to preserve that image forever.
However, Ines’s heart felt a little strange as she watched him disappear into the distance. Unable to figure out what kind of emotion she was feeling, she left the place before Carson had even disappeared.
It was only after some time that she realized that what she felt was some kind of anxiety.
She sat on the terrace and encouraged herself as the spring breeze blew by.
Carson wouldn’t throw Ines away. But she knew nonetheless. She couldn’t stay by his side forever. She couldn’t breathe in his arms forever.
The moment she thought about it, ironically, she felt suffocated.
‘You’re so perfect, and I’m falling apart so ugly.’
For the first time, she didn’t want to show herself. It was a thought she hadn’t had even when she was the terrible Ines Swenden, who had tried to commit premeditated murder.
Today, Hansen’s story was a great motivation for Ines. As he had said, she couldn’t be tied to the past anymore. Only then did she realize why her fits were coming.
Ines had made peace with herself, but in the end, she couldn’t forgive herself.
“My lord, I’ll say this to you one last time.”
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ines...”
“I’m really sorry, but I still can’t leave you.”
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