TL/Editor: Butter Cat
Status: 4/week mon-thurs
Illustrations: none
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〈 Chapter 107 〉 Side Story: Escape
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"—You, how dare you crawl back here with that shaless face!! Get out right now, I said get out!!!"
"....I ca because I have sothing to say to Aris, Remi."
"We have nothing to say to you!!"
The never-ending fight between Remi Akaia and Anna Akaia, repeated day after day without fail.
On top of that, recently, even Saelli, whom they had at least sowhat trusted, had begun to openly show her displeasure toward them from ti to ti.
Of course, it was only natural for those who had beco the target of that distrustful gaze to be wary of the suspicious woman, whose identity they didn't even know, trying to forcefully take their little sister away, even if she *had* helped Alice.
Essentially, a three-way standoff had ford.
"......."
And on Alice’s face, who could only watch all of this unfold right before her eyes, increasingly deeper shadows were being cast with each passing day.
Today, too, was no different from the rest.
Inside the dorm room, which was presumably assigned to , now filled with loud shouts.
I wasn’t even sure if this was my room anymore, but there, the three of them were engaging in yet another round of their endless nerve war.
...This is my room, though.
It’s too much.
—Tap.
"—Alice, there you are."
"....Ah, Sis Sia."
I opened the balcony door and approached Alice, who was quietly gazing down at the street below.
Had she co out here to escape the tense atmosphere inside for a while.
Or maybe they had sent Alice out briefly because they didn’t want her to see them fighting.
Alice, noticing my arrival, greeted with a small smile, but the anxiety and darkness contained within that trembling voice couldn't be completely masked.
The child has ended up in such a state, and yet, what on earth are those people doing.
I pictured their pathetic figures, only shaking my head.
Why was it that Alice, the innocent one caught in the middle, had to suffer because *they* didn't get along.
Frustrated with those so-called adults who did nothing but fight next to a child, I let out a sigh and stood beside Alice, looking out at the street together.
To be frank, I felt suffocated by the current situation.
To the extent that I seriously wanted to drop everything and run away sowhere. Their confrontation was exhausting for everyone involved.
Of course, running away wouldn't change the reality of this place. But sotis, even I wanted to turn my eyes away from reality for a bit.
The phrase, ‘There’s no paradise where you run to,’ which I must have heard from sowhere, briefly ca to mind, but I imdiately shook my head.
After all, wasn’t the very reason we even thought about running away was because reality was hell, not paradise, in the first place.
If there was a paradise in our current world, we wouldn't even think about escaping.
No matter how much I thought about it, their broken relationship seed utterly impossible to resolve.
Overwheld by that hopelessness, I jokingly said to Alice.
"───Shall we run away sowhere together?"
It was a slip of the tongue.
The mont those thoughtless words left my mouth, I cursed my own loose lips.
To **, they were nothing more than troublemakers, but to Alice, wasn’t Saelli the one who had saved her when she was drifting away, deeply wounded and having even lost her mories.
And Remi Akaia and Anna Akaia, too, were her two real older sisters who had been with her since childhood.
To suggest that the two of us run away together, leaving them behind, was sowhat rude coming from , soone who couldn’t claim to have built as long a bond with her as they had.
Because if I wasn’t careful, it could co across as a remark that belittled them.
No, it wouldn’t be entirely true to say that I didn’t feel that way at all, either.
At this rate, didn’t it completely make seem like a bad person urging Alice toward rebellion.
And so, I turned my head toward Alice to apologize───
"Let's do that."
"—!"
I found myself looking at Alice, who spoke those words with an expression I’d never seen before in my life, one that seed to mock herself.
Alice, staring into the distance, spoke in a voice so frail that it sounded like she would vanish at any mont.
My heart crumbled at that fragility.
When I ca to my senses, I was rushing out of the dormitory, clutching Alice’s one remaining hand.
Ironically, the punishnt or repercussions I would face because of this didn't even cross my mind.
All I could think about was that I had to take this child sowhere peaceful, anywhere but here.
That day.
I, we.
Ran away.
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Well, to tell you the conclusion first, I was caught not long after.
Against the combined forces of Anna Akaia and Remi Akaia, backed by the authority of the empire, and Saelli's almost unfair abilities, perhaps the end of our escape drama was predetermined from the start.
Even knowing that full well, the reason I planned this escape... well?
I don’t really know.
—Swish.
"Haha. Uh, Remi... could you put the sword down──"
"—──Shut up, Han Sia. Just because I liked you a little and treated you well, you dare kidnap Alice? Do you think what you did can be forgiven?"
".......Tch."
With a sword fiercely aid at my nape, I quietly let the blade I’d been holding drop to the ground.
Beyond Remi’s shoulder as she held the sword to , I could see Alice struggling as if trying to reach , and Saelli holding her tightly to keep her from moving.
It wasn’t that I lacked the strength to fight, but with Alice taken from , it was fair to say the outco had already been decided.
They were the victors.
And I, the loser.
Well, it was just too bad that I was caught.
"Considering our past, I'll at least hear out your last words."
"...Last words, huh, that’s an interesting way to put it."
"—Sis, ───Sis Sia!!!"
From a distance, I could hear Alice calling out my na.
Since she said she would hear my last words, if I asked her to spare my life, would she really do it?
The image of Remi Akaia swinging her sword at my head while saying, "I heard you well, and since I listened, now it's over," naturally ca to mind, and I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh even in this situation.
"........"
I saw Remi’s face twist slightly as she witnessed my laughter.
"...What's, so, funny?"
"Nothing. It's just that this is my second ti dying. Ah, my first ti being killed by a sword, though."
"....Spouting nonsense again."
Was she a little angry, perhaps.
Remi pressed the sword she was holding even closer to my neck.
As it made a slight cutting sound, I could feel hot droplets of blood forming on my neck from the shallow wound.
The cries Alice let out as she watched from afar grew a little louder.
One month. That's how long I had been on the run with Alice.
Unlike my initial expectation that I’d be caught within a few days, I managed to slip through their pursuit ti and again, perhaps because, surprisingly, I had a knack for escaping.
To be honest, it had started as an impulsive act, almost like a prank, but sowhere along the way, I think I beca quite serious about it.
That was probably because the relationship between Remi Akaia and Anna Akaia, which I’d glimpsed a few tis from afar, still didn’t seem to have been resolved.
I hadn’t expected their relationship to magically improve overnight, but it was still disappointing.
Well, in the end, we were caught like this.
To be honest, it was all just my own doing from start to finish, so I didn’t even have any so-called last words I wanted to leave behind.
Still.
If there was sothing I regretted, even just a little──
"—It would be that I should have run away a little better?"
"You.... Han Sia, really, until the very end!!!"
In front of Remi's face twisted with rage, I slowly closed my eyes.
Honestly, keeping eye contact like this was a bit frightening, you see.
The ti I’d tasted death before, everything in the world had felt sorrowful and unfair, nothing but pure pain.
But the end of this life was, surprisingly, sothing I could accept.
Perhaps it was because, although it was only for a short ti, but during that ti at least, I had been true to myself.
It would be a lie to say I didn’t have any lingering feelings, but there wasn’t a single thing I truly regretted.
Even if I could go back in ti, even knowing how it would end, I would probably do the sa thing and et the sa end.
Whether it was money, studies, my parents’ expectations, or relationships with friend.
In my past life, I could only live by deceiving myself, because I was too afraid to break free from those intangible things shackling .
I deceived and deceived until I even deceived myself in the end.
All because of things that, looking back, weren’t even a big deal.
To strive for what I truly wanted, sothing I’d give my entire life to achieve, enduring any hardship and enjoying every step of the journey.
I acted on that single belief,
And I’ve lived a life without regrets.
Yes.
I, at least, didn’t run away from myself until the very end
Soon, the blade would fall upon my neck.
Or perhaps I’ll be captured and thrown into prison, or maybe end up a slave or sothing else along those lines.
Honestly, facing death over an impulsive, prank-like act wasn’t exactly what you’d call a great ending, but I hope this might make those *adults* pay a little more attention to Alice.
With my eyes closed, I waited for the judgnt that would fall upon ──
—Thwack!
"—Sis Sia!!"
"......!?"
But before that.
A small figure squeezed through the narrow space between and Remi.
When I opened my eyes in surprise, there was Alice, who had suddenly charged in, knocking Remi Akaia to the ground.
Leaving behind Remi Akaia's shocked, wide-eyed face, Alice ran straight to , grabbed my hand, and started sprinting at full speed.
With the shouts of those calling to us as our background music, Alice and my light footsteps echoed through the forest.
"......."
Glancing back.
There was Saelli, wearing a bittersweet smile, seeing off our retreating figures as we ran.
…It seems my escape drama hasn’t quite reached its conclusion yet.
Well, if that’s the case, I’ll simply run again.
Even if I get caught again, I won’t stop.
"Co on, let’s go! Sis Sia!"
"....Okay! Let's try going to the sea this ti, Alice!"
All because of that one really clichéd reason. I simply wanted to.
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"No matter how much you run, you can't run away from yourself."
Therefore, perhaps running away is just a brief rest one passes through to look back at oneself.
Han Sia Route.
Escape (??) : Longing for a deceased wife.
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