chapter: 0.59 come to me

Sunset was slowly falling behind the palace walls, the horizon saturated with warm hues of orange and red, as if the sky shared Rena's turmoil. The gentle breeze carried the scent of the arena's dust and the traces of mana left over from the clash, as Rena stood with a fragile steadfastness, as if trying to appear strong while crumbling from within.

Leona turned to her. She didn't need to ask. She read everything in Rena's golden eyes—anger, disappointment, and brokenness.

Then came Gene.

His voice was calm, steady, and carried an undeniable gentleness.

"Miss Leona, could you leave me with Miss Rena for a while?"

His voice was polite but serious. There was no room for evasion or joking. His tone was like someone who understood the gravity of the moment and had no intention of diminishing it.

Leona looked at him, then at Rena, and hesitated for a moment. But Rena nodded silently, a weak but sufficient nod. Leona turned and left with quiet steps, but stayed close enough to return if Rena called her.

Jane took two steps towards her, keeping a safe distance between them, not making her feel threatened or too close.

His black hair glistened in the fading sunlight, falling lightly over his face, his crimson red eyes staring at her with a firmness that didn't frighten, but comforted. On his left wrist swung a reddish-black ribbon of hair, a relic of his past, a memory of his deceased sister.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a gentle, low voice, "Why are you sad, Miss Reina? Tell me…"

She didn't answer him immediately.

Her eyes, eyes that usually shone with life, were blank now, as if something inside her had gone out. She couldn't lift her head at first. Her lips were trembling, her fingers fisting her skirt as if trying to hold herself together. But he waited. He didn't interrupt, he didn't insist. He just stayed there, silent, respecting her silence.

Then, she started to speak. In a low… broken voice.

"I was listening to them…my mom and…your mom."

She finally looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I thought I was used to this… being a bargaining chip, a tool, something to be moved on the chessboard between families… but no. I'm not used to it. And I never will."

She took a shuddering breath, then continued:

"My mother speaks of me as if I were her trained animal. She plans, she decides, she passes judgment, she judges me before I make a mistake. And I am… nothing more than a title… just 'Daughter of Amelia Amberhart', heir to the White Flame."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Then your mother comes along… and suddenly decides that I must be strong, that I am only worthy of you if I become a weapon. She plans to train me… not for me, but because I am her 'daughter-in-law'."

She slapped her chest with her palm in a moment of anger, then gasped.

"Do you know how terrifying it is to lose your voice? To live feeling like everything in you… isn't yours? Your abilities? Your decisions? Even your heart? Everyone has a right to you… except you."

Her tears streamed down her face, and she turned red as she continued:

"I'm not a machine. I'm not a weapon. I'm not a failed project you need to reshape. I'm… I'm Rena. I want to be me, just… I just want to live with some freedom… to choose… to love who I want… to be… who I am."

She looked at him, with some hope in her eyes, as if she was searching for human recognition in the face of all that she had been deprived of.

"And I'm… scared, Jane. Scared that if I listen to them, I'll lose me. That I'll turn into one of those people we see as big, strong… but inside, they're just a shell. Empty."

Then she choked with emotion and cried, as she had never cried before.

She was standing, but her body was shaking from the collapse. She didn't need comfort, but someone to hear her, really hear her.

And Jin... didn't say anything.

He stood there, contemplating her face, the tears that wouldn't stop, and the eyes that were shining despite everything.

His smile remained steady… gentle, warm, not mocking or pitying. Understanding.

Then quietly, in a voice almost like a whisper, he said:

"I'm here."

Only two words, but the impact was like the earth returning to its surroundings. "I'm here."

Then, without touching her, he sat down in front of her, cross-legged on the ground, as if offering her a safe place, a space resembling peace, where there was no judgment or command.

He said calmly, looking at the horizon:

"I was never the perfect son. My mother made me into something I wasn't… or maybe, something I was running away from. But I know all too well what it feels like to be used. To be forced to be something, just because they decided you should be."

Then he turned towards her, his gaze light but deep.

"Rena, if you want to cry, cry. If you want to get angry, scream. Don't be afraid to be you. Because in this world… many people are trying to kill you before you die."

You didn't expect this. You didn't expect to see this calm, this depth in him.

She had associated his name with power and mystery, and perhaps even a bit of cruelty. But

now… she saw in him a human being, perhaps more like her than she had thought.

She took a few steps closer to him, then sat down next to him, still wiping her tears, but her breathing began to calm down.

"I feel guilty… that I can't be what my mother wants. That I don't want to be what your mother wants. That I just… don't want either of them."

Jin said in a light tone:

"And I don't want you to be either of them. I want you to be Rena… just Rena."

She raised her head and stared at him. He was silent for a moment, then she laughed through her tears, a small, pale, but sincere laugh.

"You're… weird."

He said with a gentle smile:

"Strange... but I'm listening closely."

Then he reached out his hand toward her, not to hold her, but just to be close to her. A choice, not an obligation.

"When you want to run away from all this... you can run to me."

She didn't say anything, just looked at his hand, then at his eyes... then she nodded slowly. For the first time since the beginning of this day, she felt that there was something... or someone... standing with her, not above her.

Maybe her problems weren't resolved. Maybe everything was still complicated. But, right now, right now... she wasn't alone.