Nea

The loud chirping of crickets gave notice of the deep night as the full moon shone valiantly in the starless sky. The floor got colder with the drifting breeze pervading the small room. I wanted to close the window, but couldn't move.

The Illychs and Orina had already slept. There was no need to keep watch after such a large incident. I leaned back on the legs of the couch and rested my eyes when a rustle resounded in the small room. Nea breathed deeply while opening and closing her mouth. I stayed still, not wanting to rush her.

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"You... awake?" After a brief silence, she spoke up.

"Uh-hm."

"Wh... why did you... ask me to wait, back there?"

"My back itched..." I replied.

"I see... Of course..."

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"Are you scared?" I asked.

"No," she replied without hesitation.

"I see..."

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"I was born in Dalmore."

"... I'm listening."

"You know how the land of darkness is. A lawless wasteland, even the remaining 6 lands do not acknowledge it..."

"Uh-hm"

"Eat or be eaten... The strong ruled over the weak... There was nothing in that place..." Nea said, her voice cold.

Instead of saying anything, I placed my hand over the one she was holding me with.

"My mother didn't really know who my father was... The weak had to offer something to the strong, so she offered herself..."

"She loved me, though. She showered me with all the love she had... Very pretty, she was. many tried to go after her... They gave us food, clothes, even a place to live in..."

"I see..."

"But then, the dark king took over... The strongest of Dalmore. Hundreds tried to topple him only to meet their end... No one remained 'unchained' in that lawless world anymore... People were too focused on saving themselves before worrying about my mother..."

"It was very sudden, you know... No one came to our home anymore... I was thrilled. I thought my mother was free now... Our food would've barely lasted a few days... Still, I never went hungry..."

So that's her story... The dark king, he who owns the whole of Dalmore... Not a single person who sees him lives. I wonder what drives that man to terrorize the largest of the 7 lands, to the point that not a single would walk on its lands.

"A whore walking around in Dalmore... No one would have let that happen... I should have realized that there was no way for her to get any food... Yet, she let me have meat every day..."

"Haha, she literally loved me to pieces, you know… When she couldn't cut herself up anymore; she wrote me a letter, asked me to eat her... She even wrote how I could make her last longer!!" Nea's heated voice rang all over the room.

I was about to speak up when the air around her cooled down.

"But that doesn't affect me much. Her fate didn't hurt me..." In an icy tone, she continued. What disgusts me is myself… I was barely five. A damned five-year-old felt relieved, Ivan. Relieved that it wasn't her who died. Relieved that she wasn't the one who fed herself to her damned kid that she doesn't even know the father of. Relieved that she escaped. And today, the same kid felt relieved that she wasn't on that train."

Is that so... Nea Alba, a girl who hates herself. A girl who selfishly helps others to find worth in herself. How truly foolish...

I stood up. Nea finally left the embrace of her knees as she looked towards me, devastated. Her grip on the hem of my shirt tightened, but I shook her off. She tried to grasp it again, her eyes desperate.

I placed one hand on her cheek and pulled her to my chest with the other. Bringing my face close to her ear, I slowly, softly, whispered.

"Nea Alba... I am relieved you weren't on that train..." I could feel her shock through my embrace. "I am relieved that you escaped..." She started shivering.

"I am relieved you are alive..."