Chapter 187

Chapter 187

Adela wrapped her arms around her body.

Swoosh-

The snowstorm chilled her to the bone, and a snowfield lay in front of her.

Adela remembered the hell she'd gone through when she was five years old.

[Adela, well be back soon. Alright?]

Adelas father smiled while patting her head.

[You just have to wait by yourself for three days. Three days, okay?]

She remembered how her mother had hugged her before parting, but those memories had become blurry.

'I'

A day later, she'd eaten cold soup. Two days later, she was waiting while hugging her teddy bear. Her parents didn't return even after the promised time had passed. Soon enough, it was day four.

A week went by

A month went by

Things began changing inside her when she couldn't remember her voice anymore.

And then a month had passed.

Adela didn't miss her parents anymore at that point. She didn't even remember the taste of the soup she'd eaten during the first four days she spent waiting for them.

She couldn't remember the faces of her parents or much about them at all.

[I'm sorry, Adela If I'd stayed in Italy, this wouldn't have happened.]

Was it because of that?

When her grandfather cried and kneeled before her, Adela replied with such a cold look in her eyes that she didnt seem to be only five years old.

[Grandfather, it's okay.]

After that incident, Adela went quiet, and she didn't smile anymore. When she turned 10, she put a flower vase in the window on her parents death anniversary.

[Grandfather] Adela slowly talked to him in a weak voice. [I'm not sad. Even if I look at photos, I don't feel anything.]

She began playing with an old teddy bear.

[That's why I hate myself.]

As Ardens last remaining treasure, the way Adela said that with a blank expression on her face was too depressing for him.

[Adela]

Despite Arden's sad expression, Adela kept talking without a hint of emotion appearing on her face.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

[Grandfather what does it mean to be alive? Am I alive?]

Arden silently walked toward Adela and grabbed her hands.

[Adela, I swear that you're alive. You're eventually going to go out into a wider world. You're going to meet many people and experience exciting things.]

His hands were warm.

Adela felt that her frozen hands melted in the warmth of his palms.

Adela frowned and looked at her trembling right hand.

YuSung chose that moment to say, "This is normal, Adela."

She couldn't understand the emotions she was feeling, but YuSung was already well aware of them.

The emotions Adela was feeling weren't weirdthey were natural emotions. That's why he grabbed her hands.

"They're normal?"

The warmth from his hands reminded her of the warmth shed felt the day Arden had grabbed her hands.

YuSung smiled at Adela. "Yes. In situations like this, it's normal for you to feel sad and want to cry"

Adela looked at the sculptures with a blank expression. Although it'd been 10 years, the sculptures looked like they hadnt aged a day.

She looked into the eyes of her father within the ice.

[Adela, your mother and I are hunters.]

She faintly heard his voice, which shed forgotten.

[Hunters are people who fight for the world's well-being.]

Her father had said that, even if he ended up dying as a result, he wouldn't regret anything.

[Father, don't you miss me? If you die, you won't be able to see me anymore.]

Her father smiled at the 4-year-old Adela after that and said, [I'm fighting because I want to see you]

She finally remembered.

It wasn't that she'd forgotten. There's no way she'd be able to forget those memories.

Adela had been deceiving herself all that time. If she admitted that she loved her parents, then she would have to come to terms with the fact that she couldnt see them anymore. Such a thing would be too painful to endure.

Shed been deceiving herself to stop such a thing from happening, but that only messed her up more.

She let go of the sculptures frozen hands. There's no way she'd be able to feel warmth from a frozen sculpture, and there's no way a frozen sculpture could feel her warmth.

Even though it was dumb, Adela was trying to do just that.

"I" She opened her mouth as she looked at the sculpture.

"I wish neither of you had left"

Tears dripped from Adela's eyes.

"I just wish you could've stayed by my side"

Her house was too big and cold for her to stay there alone, which was why she

"I miss you both"

She missed them too much.

It wasn't that she'd forgotten about them. She didn't hate the choice they'd made. It wasn't that she wasn't happy about the times they'd spent together. She'd just given up because she knew she couldn't go back in time.

She was able to face the truth only after 10 years had passed and she encountered her parents' frozen forms.

"I want to go back"

Just like Arden wanted, YuSung silently stayed by Adela's side and lowered his head.