Nessa ran.
Branches scraped past her as she pushed through the woods, her vision blurring with tears.
"Why…?"
An uneven word broke out of her.
When the hut finally came into view, she didn't slow down—if anything, she ran faster.
She reached the door, yanking the curtain aside.
Inside, Lilia turned, startled.
"Nessa? Why do you look so—"
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
The words exploded out of her.
Lilia froze.
"Nessa… I don't understand what you're—"
"Why didn't you tell me about your past?!" Nessa stepped forward, her voice trembling, barely holding together.
Lilia's expression tightened instantly.
"Nessa… Don't talk about the past."
"W-Why, Mom…?" Nessa's voice cracked. Tears streamed freely down her face as her hand clutched at her chest. "Did I not earn the right to know… where I came from? My origin?"
Lilia went silent.
Completely still.
Nessa's breathing grew more erratic.
Her knees buckled slightly as she looked down, shoulders shaking.
"I'm the reason, aren't I?" she whispered. "I'm the reason you lost everything… your life… your status…"
Her voice rose, breaking apart with every word.
"I-Is that why you never told me?!"
Silence.
"Just say it!" she cried, her voice raw now. "I'm the mistake that ruined your life! I'm the reason you ended up like this! I—"
She stopped.
"…Huh?"
Something felt off.
Nessa blinked, her gaze dropping to the floor. Water was dripping onto it. Not from her.
Slowly, she looked up.
Lilia was smiling.
A small, gentle smile.
Her eyes, however, were burgeoning with tears.
In all her sixteen years, with all the abuse her mother was subjected to… she has never seen her mother cry.
Lilia slowly knelt down, bringing herself level with Nessa.
"Hey… Ness…"
Her voice cracked.
She reached forward, gently pulling Nessa closer until their foreheads touched.
"I know I'm not a good mother."
Nessa's eyes widened.
Lilia closed her own, her smile trembling.
"What kind of mother lets her children—children who aren't even ten—wander the streets alone?" she whispered. "What kind of mother lets her sixteen-year-old daughter work instead of giving her the life she deserves?"
Her voice wavered, but she continued.
"What kind of mother takes away her children's childhood… piece by piece?"
Nessa didn't move.
Didn't speak.
She just listened.
"I know all my mistakes, Nessa," Lilia said softly. "I know I'm far from perfect."
She paused, sniffing slightly as she wiped a tear from her cheek.
"But…"
Her voice steadied.
"I am not cruel enough to tell my child that I hate her."
She let go of Nessa, who looked at Lilia with a blank expression. "Nessa, I never once regretted giving birth to you." Her smile softened. "I am proud of you."
A pause.
"And I always will be."
Nessa's expression broke.
Her lips trembled as she shut her eyes tightly, tears spilling uncontrollably.
A sob escaped her.
Then another.
It wasn't quiet.
It wasn't restrained either.
It was unfiltered.
She cried.
Lilia chuckled between the tears as she pulled Nessa into her arms, holding her close.
"Nessa…" she whispered.
"I love you."
They stayed like that, holding onto each other.
***
"Why aren't you going in?" Tristan finally whispered, looking at Aric stood by the curtain, leaning against the wooden frame with his arms crossed, listening to the muffled silence inside.
"Weren't you going to ask her?" Tristan continued. "About why she didn't choose someone else?"
Aric glanced at him.
For a moment, he didn't answer.
Then a small smile formed on his lips as he shook his head.
"I don't need to anymore."
He had already gotten his answer.
Lilia wasn't someone who would bend just to make her life easier. Even when everything was taken from her—status, comfort, dignity—she held onto herself.
Her pride.
Her identity.
She was also extremely dogmatic to her family principles, hence not running away after her marriage with Resol.
She was… a fool.
Aric slipped his hands into his pockets as he stepped away from the hut, walking back toward the woods.
Aric wasn't someone that could agree with his mom's principles, however, he respected it. He respected his mom's decision.
He respected Lilia.
As someone that never grew up with a mom, the only parent figure Aric or rather Ethan had was his Grandpa. But, now they are two.
"I don't get you."
Tristan's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Aric glanced sideways. "What do you mean?"
Tristan walked backward along the path, facing him, arms loosely crossed.
"You're always calm. Like… nothing gets to you," he said. "But at the same time, you're the first to snap when something does."
He tilted his head slightly.
"How are you so mature and immature at the same time?"
Aric chuckled softly.
"Maybe I just can't control anger as well as I can everything else."
Tristan narrowed his eyes, studying him.
"Hmmm…"
Aric pointed at him in return.
"I don't get you either."
Tristan blinked. "What?"
"How are you the most emotionally aware out of all of us," Aric asked, "when you're the youngest?"
Tristan didn't even hesitate.
"That's what reading romance novels since you were born does to a person."
Aric's expression went completely flat.
"…I regret asking."
Tristan grinned.
Then his expression softened slightly, his gaze drifting ahead.
"Also…" he added quietly, "when you grow up with a brother everyone calls a genius… you kind of end up following him without realizing it."
Aric smiled faintly.
That answer… he liked. In fact, It was true!
Tristan had followed him everywhere. Training, reading, even the way he carried himself.
"…It's almost like you're reincarnated or something," Tristan joked, letting out a laugh.
Aric stumbled slightly.
"…Haha. Yeah. I wish."
The laugh that followed was just a bit too stiff.
Tristan only smiled.
"I wouldn't even be surprised."