Misfortune 51

Chapter 51

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Clasping her hands together in prayer, Delnia called out the name that would always hurt.

Delnia had never forgotten Lena's anniversary. Each time, she'd honored her with a penitential visit to the chapel.

This year was no different. Even if her circumstances were different now, different enough to make heaven and earth turn upside down.

She had refrained from going out, not wanting to say a word of disappointment to Roan, but today she could not.

This was not a day to forget.

"So, I met the brother you've been looking for so long."

Delnia muttered with a newfound sense of pride.

It had become so ingrained in her to always honor Lena alone that it had become second nature to realize that Lena was Roan's family.

And that the man who hated her so much was also her family.

"I wish you could have met him instead of me."

You, me, and him.

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Delnia's mouth as she swallowed the words back down.

She knew in her heart that she was the one who had prevented her from doing so.

She swept a hand across her chest. The last image of Lena, desperately searching for her brother, had always haunted her.

If Lena had lived, she could have lived happily with her brother. Roan wouldn't be a broken man.

And me...................

"If it was you, not me, who was alive..................."

Delnia was mumbling in a daze.

Suddenly, behind her back, she heard the loud noise of a door opening, and the solemn chapel was flooded with light.

Delnia turned around, her hands clasped together, and was shocked to see a man standing there.

"Here, how.................."

Roan approached as Delnia stumbled over her words. The closer he got, the more an indescribable feeling of intimidation gripped her throat.

As she stumbled to her feet, the man finally stood before her. Like a lion that had come to collect his punishment.

"In honor of Lena's memory."

Delnia froze, unable to breathe at the gravelly voice that seemed to have been dragged up from the underground.

"How dare you."

Roan's blue eyes narrowed as he shut her up with a simple word. The hatred and contempt that had been bubbling up inside of him spilled out in a torrent.

Delnia unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself as he stared at her as if he were looking at the most abhorrent thing in the world.

The look in his eyes alone was enough to kill her. The pain was so vivid, like a knife slicing through flesh.

"To the person you killed...............!"

Roan's voice, which had been low and subdued, began to rise in intensity. It was unbearable.

Roan didn't even know the exact date of Lena's death. She was his sister, the only family he had.

So at this time of year, all he could do was beat himself up for not knowing when she died.

But the one who killed her was the one who kept remembering Lena's anniversary.

Suddenly, his feet buckled beneath him and his vision swam dizzily, just as it had in the middle of the stormy sea when he'd told himself he'd never die until he'd seen the end of this woman.

How he'd tolerated her all this time, he couldn't understand.

How could he have allowed himself to fall into such a trap.

"That poor girl never made it out of the fire, and she died because of you...!"

"No!"

Delnia, who had been frozen in place the entire time, shuddered and denied his words. Then she began to gasp and choke, as if she were going to die at any moment.

"That's not true. Lena wasn't in that cabin at that time......! I was trying to protect her, the child............"

She hadn't realized it, but began telling him the story.

It was as if she had gone back to that time when she couldn't bear not to like him.

And then she blurted out what she should have said then, but never did.

"I don't know why, but they said they were going to sell her.............. So I kept her away, and then I set the place on fire to fool people, and then I told her to hide in this cave we found together..............and I told her to stay there for a while..............."

It was a mistake she'd never forgotten, and reliving that moment, that feeling, that despair, was a painful task because she couldn’t forget it even for a moment.

Still, Delnia had to do it.

"But I was too late, and..... Lena, in the ravine......"

The words that had been festering inside her all her life with regret had to come out now. Even if it was painful, like cutting away rotten flesh.

"You expect me to believe that?"

The eerie voice clawed ferociously at her eardrums. Blue eyes, red-rimmed with fire, burned as if they would consume her at a moment's notice.

Delnia could have surrendered herself to the flames at any moment.

But she wanted to let him know that she meant to keep her promise to him.

She didn't mean to abandon his sister.

"I know you don't believe me, but that’s the truth…”

She waited for him, and tried to keep Lena safe, and then ran away together…

They promised to do that.

She never forgot it, and she waited for him based on that one promise. She wanted to protect Lena, too, and she wanted to be with him when he finally came back......

But Delnia could never bring up the promise she had failed to keep at that time.

"Cut the bullshit!"

Roan cut her off with a harsh yell, as if he had heard something terrible.

What the hell kind of person was she to talk such nonsense now?

She had turned her back on him then without regret, and she walked away without looking back.

She didn't even try to find him again after she left.

She couldn't stand the thought of her coming back to him and whispering that she didn't mean it.

"Ugh!"

Roan roughly grabbed her by both arms and dragged her to him, the black veil she wore falling to the floor in his merciless grip.

Her unobstructed, sharpened vision took in the man. A man long broken and shattered, no longer able to return to his original form.

"So, if I believe you, I'm supposed to thank you for drowning her instead of burning her, or something like that?"

"That's..................."

Delnia bit her lip, unable to continue.

He was right. No matter what reason she had, no matter what story she told, it wouldn't change anything.

Lena was dead because of her.

No words would matter in the face of that absolute original sin. Even if she had wanted to protect Lena somehow, even if she had been wracked with longing and anguish for not being able to.

For in the end, all of it was nothing more than Delnia's self-satisfaction.

Words spoken too late meant nothing.

None of her sincerity was worth anything to him.

Delnia shook her head helplessly at the simple truth. A faint voice echoed through the air.

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

She knew she didn't deserve to cry.

But she couldn't help the tears that burned in her eyes. She chewed on the inside of her already tattered mouth again.

She finally lowered her eyes to the water dripping heavily onto the floor. A hot stream of water ran down her cheek.

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

She whispered a soft apology in a wet voice, unable to look up as if she was a sinner.

Of course, to Roan, even that was an abomination.

There was no point in apologizing after the fact, when nothing could be undone.

If she still believed that this would earn her forgiveness, he couldn't wait to shatter that great illusion himself.

"You killed my entire family and you're sorry."

He chewed on his words, choking on his rising contempt.

"..................what?"

Delnia lifted her head stiffly, like a broken toy. An opaque swirl of light smeared like watercolor over her tear-soaked face.

In the center of it all, the apricot-colored eyes that bore the clearest light flickered unfocused and wildly.

That alone was enough for Roan to know. That this woman knew nothing.

No, actually, he'd known from the beginning.

From the first time he'd seen her in the strange castle, when she'd approached him as if she'd been waiting for him.

That this noble young lady was determinedly ignorant.

"How did Lena and I end up in that damned Belfort in the first place?"

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