Savage Forest - Chapter 124.2
“How could you try to die? How could you do this to me…?”
Before her, Tarhan was falling apart. The father of a dead child, a man who had almost lost his wife multiple times, was crumbling before her. His collapse was a scene of despair in itself.
“How could you think of leaving me….How could you…?”
Tarhan’s body trembled as if he were having convulsions.
His mutterings sounded desolate and miserable, like the winds sweeping through a barren desert. He wept openly, his fingers brushing against her knees in a gesture that was both tender and desperate.
Now, he was fully bowed before her.
Enya froze, unsure of what to do, a profound sense of despair washing over her.
As the man before her clawed at his chest in anguish, she found herself unable to speak. She felt utterly powerless to console him.
In that moment, she realized her mistake.
Back then, she had been too exhausted and distressed to think of anything other than herself. All she had wanted was to give up on everything. She had no idea he was watching her in that moment; it had never even crossed her mind.
It was her failure.
On that day, she should never have turned a blade toward herself. No matter the circumstance, she should have never contemplated giving up on life.
The two remained frozen like statues, locked in place as time seemed to stand still. It was around the time when the wolf, leaning against the entrance, began to breathe more steadily. Though they had endured a painful night, dawn was still far off.
It was the darkest moment of the day, just before the light.
Finally, Tarhan broke the silence.
“…It resembled my mother’s corpse.”
Enya held her breath.
His voice pierced the stillness, sounding anything but alive. Even as Tarhan spoke, she couldn’t believe it was truly his voice.
“The baby. The baby’s corpse. The little body that spilled over my hands. It looked just like how my mother had died.”
Now, the flow of time felt suspended, as if everything around them had halted, leaving only his voice echoing in the silence. His buried confession surfaced abruptly.
“The baby. Our dead baby, Rahil. He was our son.”
Enya lifted her gaze, staring at him in disbelief.
Tarhan began to confess in a resigned tone.
“He was deformed from the amniotic fluid, his skin tissue completely damaged. He was almost at full term. Parts of his skin were falling away, and his skull was completely crushed, warped in every direction. There was fluid leaking from his nose and mouth. The coldness and texture were the most chilling I had ever seen in any corpse.”
Enya let out a sob, feeling as if her heart had frozen, unable to breathe.
“You kept asking how the baby looked, but I couldn’t tell you the truth. I was afraid you would be shocked to hear about the baby’s appearance. While you kept asking, I…”
“Ta, Tarhan. I…”
She tried to say something, but he interrupted her. It was as if he felt no need to be comforted now. His desolate voice began to fill the silence once again.
“When we handled the remains, I had to gather the baby’s broken bones and flesh. Since the head was soft, I had to position the limbs properly so the face wouldn’t get distorted, wrapping it in cloth several times to prevent any fluids from leaking. The process was damn near the same as what I did for my mother’s funeral. No, it might have been better. At least I was able to bury him with the magic stone. I couldn’t even do that for my mother; she was tossed into the river.”
Enya covered her mouth as she wept.
Her body trembled as if it didn’t belong to her. It felt as though her heart were being forcibly ripped out and trampled underfoot.
Tarhan’s voice, recounting a story he had never shared before, was disturbingly calm and composed.
This only added to the horror of it all.
“That’s why I never spoke about the baby. I thought that if you found out… I couldn’t even imagine the shock you would feel. I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle it. If you had to live the rest of your life haunted by the memory of our child, I’d rather…”
Hot tears streamed down Enya’s cheeks uncontrollably. She bit her lip, trying to suppress any sound.
“I would rather you resent me than know the truth.”
It felt like they were both walking through a silence and despair they couldn’t escape, even though they were together.
“So it’s my fault, Enya. Because of me…”
Tarhan delivered his verdict quietly.
Enya felt utterly helpless as if she couldn’t move. She needed to say something to him, though her body wouldn’t respond.
The words she managed to squeeze out were disappointing even to her own ears.
“…No, Tarhan. It wasn’t your fault the baby died.”
Enya slowly reached out her hand to him. She wanted to stop his pain in any way she could. However, Tarhan turned away from her touch.
“No, it was me who let him die.”
He asserted as he rejected her hand.
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