19 What Matters

As they were approaching the exit to the library, Austin was slouching in a tired walk. He had not gotten any sleep the night before to compensate for lost time with Elena. He was feverish with anticipation for a warm, cozy bed, but knew there was an urgent business that needed to be taken care of beforehand.

Not paying attention, he suddenly crashed into a pair of legs and nearly stumbled over. Meters away from their destination, Elena had stopped walking. Because of the darkness in the library, the view outside was shrouded by the bright light of day.

"You better properly make it up to her. She cares about you more than you think." Elena motivated Austin by patting his head, but her touch was more one of reproach rather than encouragement. Austin nodded, acknowledging his mother's words. 'How could I not know... I fear she will be even worse than what you were like... Goodness gracious, I really am an inconsiderate person.'

Inhaling and exhaling a fresh breath of air, Austin walked forwards with more energy in his stride, stepping into the outside world after a long month of absence. Before his eyes had the chance to adapt to the sharp assault of light, another attack made itself onto him.

"Austin!"

Crashing onto the ground, Austin let himself fall under the pounce of a little girl.

With a relieved smile, Elizabeth watched her daughter from behind gushing out tears and hugging Austin with her life on the line.

In the whole time Austin was missing, Laura did not respond to anything she said no matter how long she spent consoling her. If she had not come at all, Elizabeth was afraid Laura would not pick up any food to eat and starve herself to death. Elizabeth had to constantly remind her she would never get to see Austin again if she kept mistreating her body. And this was the only line able to incite a reaction.

~The day before~

Upon Austin coming back, Elizabeth went to Laura's room to inform her of the good news. As always, she was holed up in her bed, gazing blankly out the window. The pillow she was holding onto tightly had a foul stench and long become stained. Her bedsheets and clothes were replaced every day by the maids, but Laura would not let them get anywhere near the pillow. Whenever Elizabeth tried taking it out of her hands, she looked ready to fight a battle for survival.

Elizabeth came in her room and let a few seconds pass before saying solemnly, "I'm here Laura."

Before, Laura would always squeal with joy when hearing her greetings. But now, she showed no reaction at all and remained expressionless. Despite getting used to this response, Elizabeth still felt a stabbing pain in her heart as wetness found itself into her eyes. How could any parent handle being completely ignored by their child?

Letting time sink in for a moment, Elizabeth's mood uplifted from expectance of Laura's next reaction. She made sure her voice would be clear. "Austin's back. He's in the library right now with Elena, but we shouldn't disturb them for now so you will be able to see him again tomorrow."

!!!

Sure enough, Laura's next actions were devoid of all lifelessness. She struggled to get out of the bed she had not moved from for the past month. Standing on her feet again, Laura tripped over more than once as she tried running away, unfamiliar with the feeling in her legs.

"I... I want t-to... I want to see him now... Austin..." Her voice that had not been used this entire time was doing its best to make its yearning desires known.

Elizabeth was prepared to deny Laura's wish having expected her response. But seeing her pitiful state, she was unable to resist the temptation of giving her some form of comfort. Somberly, she told Laura, "We can go to the Library, but you cannot disrupt Austin for now. He is helping Elena who is in terrible condition right now. What will you do?"

With teary eyes, Laura was hugging onto Elizabeth's leg and did not take more than a second to reply. "I will wait! Please, bring me over there Mother!" She could not imagine not being allowed to see Austin when he had finally come back, but she had no other choice. Anything that would bring her closer to him...

Thus, Laura had been waiting outside the Library throughout the entire night. Elizabeth carried her in her arms as otherwise, she would have long run in. Every now and then, they would struggle in a meaningless contest as Laura tried escaping. Seeing the fire in her eyes, unrepressed agitation and wild exhilaration, Elizabeth did not bother speaking to Laura knowing there was only one thing on her mind.

There was movement inside, and only then did Elizabeth let go of Laura with a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long daughter, you can go see him now."

Without caring to reply, Laura jumped out of Elizabeth's hold and unreservedly ran towards the library.

Inside her, a chaotic musical was performing. She did not know what to feel. Happy? Longing? Relieved? Angry? Sad? They were all intertwining within, and she was an entangled mess. She did not even know why she was feeling such complex emotions and was too young to understand any of it. But the one thing she had to do right now was see him, that was all that mattered.

"Laura..."

Her petite body was even smaller than normal. In the span of a month, visible bones protruded on her once plump cheeks.

Laura had a healthy amount of fat that made her feel as soft as a marshmallow when he hugged her before. But now, she had become much scrawnier and was bony all over. Laying on top of him, her arms and legs pierced into Austin's body. The physical pain was not much, but mentally, it felt like sharp daggers impaling into his heart.

"I'm sorry Laura. I'm here now... I'm here now." Caressing Laura's head and hugging her tightly, Austin repeated the same words he said to her previously. But this time, he had made her nightmare real. He could not forgive himself for hurting his precious sister so much...

By the side, Elena and Elizabeth exchanged a glance, acknowledging each other.

Elizabeth was pleased when she saw Elena's healthy complexion. With peace returned, they smiled at each other. Elizabeth made a slight incline with her head, sending a signal to Elena. Elena nodded in compliance, and the two of them left the scene, leaving Austin and Laura alone.

First Elena needed some time with Austin to calm herself down. Now it was Laura's turn. The both of them were on the brink of breaking down after Austin disappeared for so long.

"Are you okay Laura?" Austin beckoned with all the gentleness he could muster.

Laura wailed hard and was unable to speak through the constant choking of cries. Her tears were falling like a river onto her porcelain face, dripping onto Austin's torso and producing heavy wet spots.

Moving her into a more comfortable position, Austin sat up and held Laura between his legs. Laura wrapped her arms around him so they would never separate again, and Austin responded by doing the same. He stroked her back with a pained look in his eyes, carefully tidying up Laura's messy hair. Laura continued crying, not stopping once since seeing Austin.

Her emotions had been bottled-up and could finally be poured out all at this moment.

When Austin left, Laura felt like she had fallen into a pit of only despair. She did not feel any happiness or joy in life. All the food that entered her mouth was tasteless. Hot? Cold? She became detached from feeling any sensations. The longing in her mind was too strong.

After an hour of staying in each other's embrace, Laura had no more tears to weep. Austin's clothes were drenched and his skin was dampened.

He took his hand off Laura's back and she quivered, hugging tighter into his body.

Gripping Laura's shoulder, Austin moved her face out of his chest in a fluid motion. Gently clasping both of her shoulders, he brought her face to in front of his.

"Are you okay now?" Austin softly whispered, his brows were wrinkled and his creasing eyes were full of concern.

The soothing of Austin's countenance and warmth in his voice was able to pacify Laura. With moist eyes and tears trickling down her cheeks, Laura put her head down while talking. "I waited for you for so long..." She mumbled in a dry voice.

"...I know. I'm sorry."

"And then - you still didn't come..."

"I know."

"I was so scared..."

"I know."

"Waited more... said you came back... but I couldn't see you..."

Laura began sniffling and was about to start crying again.

Austin inwardly sighed. Her dependence on him is too great. How would she react when he has to leave for good?

With a wry smile, he placed a finger on Laura's chin and lifted it up so her eyes could meet his. Wiping the tears on her face, Austin lamented, "You're a Princess Laura. In the future, you will have to be strong, how could you turn so timid over this small matter?

You cannot continue acting this way."

Rather than consoling her, Austin gave Laura a light scolding. Laura's only fault was she had grown far too dependent on him. This may be fine now while she is still a child, but it will be bad for her if she grows up and remains this way.

Austin cared a lot for Laura, so although it hurt him tremendously, he would choose to be harsh towards her now. He still hadn't forgiven himself for leaving her alone, but this was a good opportunity to teach her a lesson.

Laura's eyes turned red at Austin's words. She did not care about being a Princess, she only wanted Austin to be by her side.

She retorted with a stronger tone in her voice, "why does that matter? If that's the case then I -"

Austin calmly interjected. "Because I won't be by your side forever... will you keep behaving like you are when that happens?"

Laura's arms were removed from Austin's back. She was small enough to fit on his lap and the two of them were separated by a very close distance.

She emptily staring at Austin with blinking eyes, not understanding what he just said. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.