Chapter 450

Chapter 450

The sun was setting. Nimburton had turned as rugged as a mountain in the fall foliage, and the open skies and the constant chirping of cicadas hinted at the arrival of summer.
Looking up at the sky, Iril said to himself.
“Nice weather.”
She loved the sky this time of year the most because, while sunsets are beautiful in any season, the early summer evening sky was the closest in color to her sister’s eyes.
Like the other houses in Nimburton, Irene’s cottage was filled with autumn leaves. She pushed the door open with her foot and set the basket down.
“Whoa, that’s it for today!”
Iril smiled in satisfaction and wiped the sweat from his brow.
It was a bumper crop this year, so it took longer to harvest. The cedar basket, big enough to carry a man, was filled with mushy sun potatoes. It was a heavy load, even for two men, but she didn’t mind.
She picked out a few of the best potatoes and started cooking.
“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh”
He hums and his hands never stop. She’s very good at it because she does it all the time.
Peel a well-washed potato and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Eating just potatoes is not good for you, so add some meat and other vegetables.
Today I had some rabbit meat from my neighbor. I put all the ingredients in the crock pot and simmered it with milk, and a mouth-watering smell wafted through the house.
“Here’s your special potato stew!”
Soon afterward, Iril finished cooking and set the crockpot down on the table.
The sound of bubbling water was pleasing to the ear. The breeze streaming in through the half-open window cooled her hot face. She clapped her hands as she prepared the utensils.
“Oh, look at me.”
I got drunk and made a mistake. When she woke up, there were two wooden bowls on the table. She made this mistake about once every three days.
Iriel stared at the bowl, then smiled bitterly.
“Still like this. Oh.”
It’s been three years since Ronan ran away from home.
Despite telling myself not to do it every time, the habit was hard to break.
She was still saving money for Ronan, who would return someday. The jar by the fireplace had filled up over the last year, and she was now using the glass jar she pickled pickles in as a piggy bank.
Iril muttered.
“I miss you–everyone.”
The silence of the empty house was heavy today.
She was now the only one left in the cottage where her family of four had lived together as a close-knit unit. Her father had left home, and her mother had fallen ill and died. Her younger brother, whom she had raised like a child, had run away without telling her.
Suddenly, a vision of a girl and her baby appeared in front of Iril as she patted Ronan’s chair.
– Come on, Ronan! Let’s eat!
– Kieh-eh-eh! Caesar!
A gray-haired silver-haired girl was struggling to feed her baby baby food. The baby, who was not yet able to speak, was fiercely resisting the baby food as if it were poison.
Iril realized the hard way that the two men were her childhood self and her brother.
– Ahhh, the Dragon Rises! Shhhhh~!
– Kahahahaha—oops?!
But the girl didn’t give up. Moving the spoon around like an acrobatic dragon, she managed to sneak a spoonful in while the baby was distracted.
The baby, who had been licking his lips, swallowed the baby food with some trepidation, and the girl breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her sister’s cheek.
“Ehhhh.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a hallucination from my childhood that still comes back now and then. I wanted to see more.
But when Iril rubbed his damp eyes and opened them, the girl and the baby were nowhere to be found.
“Ah—.”
Iril bit her lower lip.
The kitchen was a mass of empty chairs and bowls. A sense of loss washed over her like a tidal wave. Her breathing was getting harder.
“Ugh—ah—.”
She fumbled in the pockets of her skirt, her hands shaking like a patient searching for medicine. A finely folded note slipped out. It read, “I’m sorry I left without telling you, and I’ll be back soon.
“Haaaaah—.”
It was unmistakably Ronan’s handwriting. Her breathing regained its rhythm. Iriel brushed a hand across his chest.
“—Yes. She’s fine.”
It was a note she’d found on her doorstep three days ago. Now it’s her most prized possession.
Whenever she felt depressed, as she did now, she would pull out the note and read it. Iriel folded the paper neatly again and put it in her pocket. Then she recited it again.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
This note was all I needed to get through the grief that seemed to turn my heart blue. It was this that made me hope for Cain’s survival, which I had almost given up on.
If Ronan is safe, his dad is still alive somewhere.
“So everyone should be—okay.”
Iril bowed his head deeply.
I wanted to leave to find it right away, but I couldn’t.
I don’t want the house to be empty when Ronan or Dad get back, and besides, Ronan promised he’d be back soon this time.
She raised her eyebrows again.
“Eek, that’s going to get cold.”
She sat down at the table impatiently. It was her rule not to skip meals. She had to go back to work tomorrow, and she needed to be healthy for the day she would see her family again.
Today’s stew looked unusually tasty and hearty, perhaps because of the variety of ingredients.
After trying to shake off thoughts of her family, Iril kneaded her first spoonful.
“Erai, you can’t even use that as a cow trough. How long have you been a runaway, do you forget that? She likes yellow.”
“You’re the stupid one, asshole. Yellow is Nimi, the piss I took last night must be yellow. White, no matter what. White. Am I right, asshole?”
“I think I was—orange.”
A chattering voice echoed from outside the hut.
They were all men. The vulgarity of their speech was somehow familiar.
Iril stood up from his seat.
****
Ronan3 chuckled at Cain’s words.
“Ugh, orange isn’t real. Doesn’t she have dementia? How can she not remember the color of her favorite flower?”
He was clutching a bunch of pure white daffodils, like the ones in his head. The color contrasted with the yellow daffodils in my hand.
Cain sighed.
“I’m ashamed of myself, I’ve lived so long that my memory is confused—more than that, Ronan.”
“What, which one did you call?”
“You. Why don’t you just call me by my proper name? You’re a bit of a prick, don’t you think?”
“Damn it, I can’t get my dad to put his foot in his mouth, but I’m trying.”
Ronan3 averted his gaze, still uncomfortable with Cain. It wasn’t unreasonable, considering he hadn’t seen him until he was an adult and then he popped up out of nowhere.
Cain didn’t say whether he was aware of it or not.
“Okay. As long as you’re trying. I honestly have a hard time believing you’re my son.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were defecating on the desk in the Akalusian parlor when I walked through the door. I’m telling you now, the shock of it was hard to compare to the time I stabbed my brother in the back.”
“Holy shit, would I have wanted to do that? That little dwarf has such a ridiculous view of people’s time, and how much can you get done in thirty minutes—surely it would have been cheaper if it was him.”
“I’m not packing, asshole.”
I stopped Ronan3 in his tracks. He spat at me like he didn’t care, and then went back to talking about his sister’s favorite flowers.
We arrived in Nimbuton after a day in Acalucia. It was a beautiful sunset. My sister’s cabin was almost within sight.
Smoke from the chimney reminded me of home.
“Have you decided what you’re going to say to your sister?”
“Of course, I memorized it.”
Ronan3 thumps himself in the chest.
He bragged that I had memorized what I was going to say to his sister while I slept in Acalusia’s luxurious bed. The white daffodils were unforgiving, but I liked this thoroughness.
“Okay. I look forward to it.”
“Don’t worry. I have a memory like no other. You’ll probably cry tears of joy when you hear it. It’s the least I can do for you after all these years—”
“Who are you?”
Ronan3’s favorite car.
Suddenly, the door to the hut flew open and a white-haired woman walked out.
“Uh.”
The three of us were stuffed at the same time.
She was unmistakable. She was as dazzlingly beautiful as the rest of the world. Her silver hair, like starlight, blew in the wind.
“Eek.”
I covered my face with the hood I had prepared in advance. I knew my sister would be shocked to see two Ronans at the reunion. It was better late than never to reveal my identity.
My sister stared at the three of us, not saying a word.
“Hey, baby. Say something.”
Unable to resist, I stabbed Ronan3 in the side. But he didn’t even blink, despite his ramblings.
What the fuck is wrong with your memory?
In the end, it was my sister who spoke up first.
“—— Ronan? Ronan?”
She started walking slowly toward us. The door was wide open, but no one was paying attention enough to point it out.
The rich man’s breathing became increasingly labored.
As they closed the distance to within five paces, Ronan3’s lips parted for the first time.
“Hey, I’m home, sis.”
“Ronan.”
“Sister–that, this.”
He shuffled over and held out a daffodil. Ronan3 took a deep breath and spoke.
“Your favorite—white, right?”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t even take the daffodils. She just stared at her sister’s face like someone mesmerized by something. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“—Don’t disappear.”
“Huh?”
Ronan3 snorted. Instead of answering, she clenched her callused fists. It took all her willpower not to blink.
“Please. Just a little more—.”
This is a dream. It can’t be real.
If he closed his eyes for even a moment, it would all be gone. His sister, her arms flailing, was about to slap Ronan3 across the face.
“Iril.”
“——?”
Cain called to her. She turned her head to follow his voice and froze once more. It was a reunion after decades. With slow steps, Cain turned to face her.
“I’ve missed you, I’ve sinned so much against you, I’ve—”
“Stay away!”
Suddenly, my sister screamed and stumbled backward. She had an indescribably complicated expression on her face, like she was crying and laughing at the same time.
Cain hesitated.
“—What’s wrong?”
“I know, it’ll disappear if you touch it—please don’t come near me.”
My sister’s voice was hollow.
“Man, this can’t be real, Ronan and Dad suddenly coming back at the same time–this can’t be real.”
“Iril.”
“The more pleasant the dream, the more painful it is when I wake up–I’m lonely, I’m scared of the empty house, and I can’t stand it. So please, stay with me for one more second. Please?”
Every word was a stab to the heart.
Cain squeezed his eyes shut. An agonized groan escaped his parched lips.
I dare not fathom his feelings. No one but he could know what it was like to leave the first family he’d ever had in his immeasurably long life, and to do so under a terrible curse.
“I’m sorry.”
Cain opened his eyes and strode away.
“But this isn’t a dream.”
“Ah—.”
There was no time to say anything. Cain pulled his sister into a hug. It seemed bold, but it was a careful gesture, like handling a treasure that would crumble in his grasp. Warmth radiated from their touch. His sister’s eyes widened.
“Wildflowers.”
My eyes narrowed. Suddenly, I remembered what my sister had told me in the original world.
Before I was born, my father would take his family for a walk around Nimburton, my mother at his side, her arm around him, and Nimburton shining, not unlike today.
“A story I don’t know.
Still young, it was common for her to collapse before the walk was over. Whenever she fell asleep without realizing it, her father would always pick her up. She loved it, she said, his broad back, the smell of wildflowers wafting from his clothes.
“—Dad?”
My sister’s sunset-colored eyes rolled like waves.
“Yes, Iril. It’s me.”
Cain nodded. Breathing hard, Iril buried her face in his shoulder.
“Is that really your dad?”
“I was right. I’m sorry. I’m too late.”
“Dad, Dad. Daddy—.”
Her slender shoulders were shaking.
Her voice was gentle and strong, a return to the girl she’d been as an only child, not the head of the household. Suddenly, she lifted her face and tugged at Ronan3, who was standing right next to her.
“Nu, sister?”
“Don’t disappear. Please don’t disappear.”
She hugged them both and started crying again.
Contrary to Iril’s fears, Cain did not disappear. Neither did Ronan3.
“Of course not. I’m not going anywhere.”
Voices, body temperature, even tears that flow without resistance.
Everything they saw and touched was unmistakably real.
I walked behind a tree in the distance and put the cigarette in my mouth.
“Hmm.”
It was not my place to intervene. I exhaled, and white smoke dispersed.
I watched the family reunion without saying a word. My father’s wish was fulfilled only after I reached the third parallel world.
For once, I didn’t hate the existence of parallel worlds.
I flicked my hair out of my face and smiled up at the sunset sky.
“Hey, are you seeing this?”