Only the sound of the wind and the distant voices from the ballroom could be heard as Selen sat beside Arie on a bench in the garden. Neither of them knew where to begin, and the longer the silence stretched, the more suffocating Selen found it.
"Since when did you recover your memories?" Selen finally asked.
She saw Arie turn toward her.
"The day you left… after leaving that letter behind," she replied, lowering her gaze. "At first, it was just small fragments coming back, then as the days and weeks passed, more and more memories returned."
She gave a faint, joyless smile.
"I thought I was going mad. I couldn't believe something like that was possible. Even with my ability, I found it impossible to go back in time, and yet…"
It was now Selen who looked away. She stared at the full moon that night—a night she had certainly lived before, under different circumstances, with different thoughts in mind.
"If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't have believed it either," Selen replied.
"When you left like that, I thought you would never come back. It would have been normal, after everything that happened to you. I was surprised to hear about your return," Arie said.
Selen sighed. It was true that a normal person would run away from those who had hurt them, but she did not really have a choice. Between her desire for revenge and the death that awaited her if she gave up, there was no real choice.
"Running away wouldn't be a decision that suits me," Selen replied.
"Yet no one would have blamed you. Aren't you afraid… afraid of reliving what happened to you… afraid of dying?" Arie asked, her eyes glistening.
A bird cried out in the distance, and the wind lifted their hair, briefly covering their faces.
"Yes… but fear is a poison I have no intention of consuming," Selen replied.
"It's true you've always been different from me… After all, the only time I gathered the courage to do something, I failed miserably."
Arie's words shook Selen. What exactly was she blaming herself for? If there was someone to blame in all of this, it certainly wasn't her.
"I should be the one saying that. I'm the one who ruined your life in the past. Don't you see? You should never have done that for me," Selen said, almost shouting.
She saw the surprised look on Arie's face and realized she might have gone too far. And yet she wanted to continue, to say everything that had been buried inside her.
"The worst part is that I'm glad you came that day, despite the horrible death you suffered, because without it, I wouldn't be here today," Selen continued. "You see… this is the kind of monster you came to save that day."
A minute passed in silence, and it was only when Arie wiped her eyes that Selen realized she had been crying.
"You're wrong," Arie said, turning to face her. "I didn't choose to save you that day—I chose to save myself. If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to keep living as if nothing had happened. So…"
A sob escaped her.
"I'm the more selfish one between the two of us," Arie continued, her eyes filled with tears.
"Whatever reason guided you… I'm glad you came," Selen said, a little awkwardly.
"Me too," Arie replied with a soft smile.
A good five minutes passed, during which they both enjoyed the calm and felt the tension leave their bodies. Selen felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"I don't really know what you have in mind, but I'll help you as much as I can," Arie finally said.
Selen sighed.
"I don't want to involve you in all of this. You've already done enough in the past," she replied.
"I understand," Arie said, lowering her gaze to her leg. "Someone like me would only be a burden to you."
"Stop," Selen said as she stood up. "All I want is for you to live longer this time, and to live for yourself."
Arie leaned on her cane to stand.
"When everything is over, I'll heal you," Selen said, helping her up.
"As you said, I should live for myself. This leg is my past, my story, and my regrets. Last time, when it was healed at the temple, I thought I could get rid of it—and you saw how that ended."
Selen saw her take a breath.
"No one should forget their past. We live with it, that's all. But thank you anyway," Arie said, glancing at her cane.
Selen heard someone approaching, and Liam, who had sensed it as well, moved closer to them.
"What an unusual gathering," Damian said as he walked toward them. "I was looking for you everywhere, but I didn't expect to find you with the cripple."
He noticed Arie's red eyes and seemed to smirk with disdain.
"Move," he said, shoving Arie with his elbow as he passed.
Fortunately, Liam managed to steady her.
Selen faced her brother with a smile, even as she burned with rage.
"I see you're in good shape, Damian," she said.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. He stared into her eyes for a long moment before bursting into laughter.
A real psychopath, Selen thought.
"So it was you," he finally said. "When we received your letter this afternoon, I didn't believe it. How could you do something like that?"
She could see both anger and relief on his face. He then turned toward Liam, who was holding Arie.
"You come back with a nobody as your knight and make your bastard sister cry on the same night," Damian said. "The second part I understand, but this idiot… is he really the knight you were talking about?"
Selen saw Arie slip away as Liam stepped forward.
"Insulting me is insulting my lady. Take back your words, or you will pay for them," Liam said, his eyes gleaming with something dangerous.
Selen quickly stepped between them. If Liam so much as touched Damian, it would give him the perfect excuse to get rid of him.
"He's my brother, Liam. I'll handle him," she said, giving him a look that clearly told him to calm down.
"You heard the commoner. I'm her brother, while you're nothing but her little dog," Damian continued.
It was obvious he was trying to provoke Liam.
"Can you stop these childish provocations? If you want to talk to me, then just do it," Selen said.
He gave a smile she couldn't quite read before violently grabbing her arm.
"You disappear for so long with that idiot, then come back as if nothing happened, and you expect me to just talk? I want to kill this fool—that's what I want," he said through clenched teeth.
Liam stepped in and freed her, placing himself in front of Damian.
"If you want to kill me, then do it. But do not touch my lady like that."
"Liam, I told you to stop," Selen almost shouted.
Everything happened very quickly. Damian punched Liam once, then again, and again.
"You dare act arrogant, you filthy vermin," Damian said, kicking him.
Selen stepped in once more and received a blow to the face. Damian stopped abruptly and reached toward her.
"Don't touch me," Selen said, pushing his hand away.
"You would go so far as to step in to save that bastard," Damian said, visibly shaken.
What kind of woman in love would stand there and watch her supposed lover get beaten like that, Selen thought.
"And do you even realize what you're doing? I introduced Liam as the knight our father assigned to me. What would people think if they saw you beating him?"
"Now you care about what people think?" Damian asked. "After everything you've done? Bringing this trash here."
"You can insult him as much as you want. It won't change the fact that he will stay with me."
"We'll see about that," Damian replied, his face twisted with anger.
Selen turned to help Liam up. When she thought about it, this whole situation had escalated because he hadn't obeyed her. She had thought she had understood him, shaped him properly. Clearly, she would have to start all over again.
"What is going on here?" a new voice said.
Selen almost cried out in frustration. Would this night never end? she thought as she stood up to face the newcomer. The garden was small and secluded, so how were people finding her so easily? And of all people, why did it have to be him?
"I greet the future sun of the Empire," Selen said, bowing.