The Eldest Daughter Walks Down The Flower Path - Chapter 264
Chapter 264
Translator: Yonnee
—
He turned and began to walk away.
His steps were so heavy that he looked like a man walking through a deep quagmire.
Watching Olivier’s retreating figure, Radis covered her mouth.
She was afraid that her sobs might reach him and hinder his steps.
She used all her strength to clamp her hands over her mouth.
Words she couldn’t utter swirled inside her mouth.
‘I felt the same. When we first met, I was in such pain that I thought it would be better to die. In fact, every day, without exception, I felt that way. But you told me to be brave, and because of that, I could hold on…’
Tears trickled down through her fingers like raindrops.
‘You suffered like that too. That’s why you could do that. That’s why you could give candy to my twelve-year-old self.’
As Olivier’s figure disappeared completely from view, Radis slowly sank to the ground.
It hurt as if a part of her body had been carved out.
She realized that she had rejected more than just his confession.
Radis felt she understood why they had been so intensely drawn to each other.
They were people who had endlessly traced their own wounds within their misery.
Before becoming familiar with each other’s faces, they would have recognized the shapes of the wounds engraved on their souls.
Their wounds were so similar that, seeing the familiar shapes, they might have hoped each other to be their salvation.
But one deficiency cannot fill another.
Even if they matched their similar wounds, all that would enter would be emptiness.
Radis recalled something Mariel had once said.
“Sometimes, the people closest to you can hurt you the most. It’s heartbreaking, but such wounds would be difficult to heal. It’s not going to be a question of when you’ll get better, but whether you’ll become stronger while continuing to live with those wounds.”
Just as she had said, this was about whether one could continue living with the wound.
She couldn’t comfort him, who was so wounded, with mere pity and sympathy.
He needed someone strong enough to never let go of his hand.
And that person was not her.
.
.
.
31. It’s okay to fail
Radis steadied her breath, gripping a wooden sword carved from a tree.
It had been a few days since she had found Alexis in the abandoned tower of the imperial palace and cruelly pushed Olivier away as he clung to her.
She had fled the palace and found herself at Loire, the marquisate’s estate.
Her mind was a mess.
At times like this, moving her body was the best remedy.
The wooden sword moved like flowing water.
Watching the sword slice through the air without hindrance, Radis felt the things binding her fall away one by one.
Thud, thud!
“Next, ” she said.
The sword began to move again.
As she reacted to her opponent’s movements, her thoughts cleared, and her mind gradually became sharper.
Thud, thud, thud!
“Next, ” she said once more.
With a clearer mind, Radis thought of Alexis.
Thinking of her, who must still be suffering, made her uneasy.
But there was nothing she could do right now.
She placed her hope in her teacher, Daniel Sheldon.
After recuperating in the safe house at Roxburgh, he was to move to the south.
They would meet again soon.
Daniel had said this last,
“Do you want to help that woman? The poor Alexis Tilrod, who is still suffering.”
He certainly knew something about Alexis.
Daniel had also said this,
“Didn’t I tell you? If you need me, I will help you anytime.”
Radis thought that Daniel might have the answer.
If so, there was no use worrying.
It was better to focus on what she could do now.
Thud!
Again, she said,
“Next.”
Radis thought of Olivier.
She wanted to help him.
Perhaps what he needed wasn’t something grand.
Maybe it was something like the hand he extended to her when they first met.
Or like the candy he bought her at Dvirath’s stall.
‘But what can I do for him? Is there even anything I can do?’
Thinking of his face, glistening with tears, her hand trembled.
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