Chapter 48

“This time, I’ll be it! Mommy, you hide!”

“All right, I will!”

The child honestly squeezed her eyes shut and crouched right there. She counted out loud, but since she still couldn’t count much past ten, she went from one to ten, then back to five, and finally made it to twelve. Listening to Diana’s jumbled counting, Lisbeth slipped behind some of the taller trees to hide.

She thought Diana would probably find her soon. After all, she wasn’t trying very hard to hide.

After a moment, the child’s voice rang out.

“Are you hidden?”

Lisbeth stifled a giggle but didn’t reply. Diana’s voice grew even louder.

“Are you hidden?”

Still hearing no answer from her mother, Diana seemed to start searching. There were sounds of grass being trodden, sighs, and muttering. The closer the sounds got, the brighter Lisbeth’s smile became. And just as Diana seemed to be almost upon her—

“Huh?”

The child let out a puzzled little sound. And then, right after—

“That man from yesterday…”

The moment she heard those words, Lisbeth felt as if all the blood in her body had turned cold. She burst out from behind the tree and ran toward Diana. Diana was standing quietly, looking beyond the fence.

“Diana!”

Lisbeth pulled Diana into a tight embrace and turned her head in the direction the child had been looking.

And then all sound, all time, simply stopped.

What am I seeing right now? 

For a moment, Lisbeth wondered if she was dreaming. But the warmth of the child in her arms reminded her she was very much awake. Lisbeth’s hands began to tremble.

How? Why? 

She couldn’t bring herself to speak. Her voice caught in her throat and wouldn’t come out.

Sensing something was wrong, Diana tried to push away slightly to look up and meet her mother’s eyes.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?”

And then, a voice came from the other side.

“…Miss.”

Lisbeth collapsed right where she stood. Because she was holding Diana, the child tumbled down with her, landing on top of Lisbeth. Diana whimpered about being hurt, but Lisbeth didn’t even have the presence of mind to comfort her. She barely managed to speak.

“…How, Dion, how did you…?”

“It’s been a long time, Miss.”

“Mommy, mommy…” 

The child’s whimpering sounded faint and far away.

Standing before her was Dion.

Dion, thinner and more mature than before.

* * *

Becky was a perceptive maid. She might have been expected to question the sudden appearance of a strange man, but she said nothing and simply coaxed Diana upstairs to the second-floor room. Thanks to her, Lisbeth and Dion were left alone together in the first-floor parlor. Yet neither of them could bring themselves to speak first.

If anyone was going to speak, Lisbeth thought it should be her. So, just as she was about to open her mouth—

“I’m glad… to see you’re doing well.”

Dion’s low voice made it achingly clear to Lisbeth that he was really in front of her. She lowered her eyes, bit her trembling lips, and answered.

“How did you come all the way here? What about the temple…?”

“It took me a very long time to find you, Miss. I never thought it would take over three years…”

“…I told you not to look for me. So why…”

“Miss, why did you lie to me?”

At those words, Lisbeth looked up at Dion. Was he blaming her? But there was not a trace of resentment in Dion’s eyes. If anything, he looked calmer than before.

“A lie? What do you mean…?”

“Did you really leave because you didn’t love me?”

She should have answered, “Yes,” but Lisbeth couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Of course she couldn’t. From the moment she left him until now, there had never been a moment she didn’t love him. Besides, she was raising the fruit of their love, wasn’t she?

When she didn’t answer, Dion let out a soft sigh.

“Later… I found out. The rumors that spread through the capital, the things the temple did to you.”

“That’s all in the past. Now, it’s…”

“I shouldn’t have just waited helplessly, locked away in the temple. I should have done something to be with you back then…”

Dion gave a bitter smile and bowed his head deeply.

“It was all my fault.”

“There’s no fault. It was just my choice.”

“To meet you again, to see you again…”

Dion’s voice trembled, as if he was choking up.

“I thought I had to beg for forgiveness. So I searched, and searched again. But I never thought you would have crossed into another country…”

“Why did you come here?”

Lisbeth’s voice was sharp. He was someone who shouldn’t be here. She had left him so he could forget her and walk the path of a High Priest. So why had he come before her, looking so shabby and thin?

Come to think of it, Dion’s appearance was nothing like a priest from the Temple. His worn clothes looked like something a commoner would wear.

“You were supposed to become High Priest. I left, so why… why do you show up like this? You should be at the temple.”

“I told you, Miss. My God is you.”

Dion’s chin quivered as if it would crumble. He looked like he might burst into tears at the slightest touch.

“What meaning does it have for me to remain at the temple? For me, it’s only you, Miss. I promised to stay by your side. The only thing I want is you, and you alone.”

“Then what is all this? Did you… did you really quit being a priest…?”

At that, Dion broke into a wide smile. At the same time, tears streamed down his face.

“That means nothing to me.”

“Why…! Do you know what it was like for me, when I… when I left you behind!”

“Miss, please… Don’t cry…”

Only then did Lisbeth realize she was crying. She quickly wiped away the tears running down her cheeks with her palm, but Dion got up and knelt before her. He gently took her hand and asked,

“Even now, if you tell me you don’t need me anymore… that you don’t love me… I’ll go. I just wanted to know if you were living happily. No, I wanted to be with you, but even so…”

“…How could I…?”

Lisbeth choked up, unable to finish her sentence.

“How could I forget you? How could I not love you…?”

“Miss…”

“For over three years… without you, I…”

Dion looked at Lisbeth, who had begun to sob in earnest, then got up on his knees and met her eyes.

Slowly, his lips drew near and settled on hers. There was the taste of salty tears. The two of them stayed like that, lips pressed together, unable to do anything else. It felt as if their hearts were beating right at their lips.