Chapter 62
Unlike when it had been abandoned, the transparent glass greenhouse had been beautifully restored.
Fresh greenery and colorful flowers flourished within it, as though spring had arrived only inside the greenhouse.
Juliana stood among them.
Kallion strode toward her, but for some reason, he found himself unable to speak and stopped to simply look at her.
In the few days he hadn’t seen her, Juliana had grown noticeably thinner.
Her already pale skin had become so pallid it almost seemed translucent, and her slender body looked as fragile as a bare branch.
The sight made Kallion’s brow furrow for no particular reason.
‘I told the head maid to take good care of her while she was bedridden.’
As he watched her with a frown, Juliana stared blankly at the sky visible through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse.
Standing beneath the beam of light, she looked so fragile and unsteady that she seemed as though she might fly away somewhere at any moment.
Even though Kallion stood outside the greenhouse staring blankly at her, she didn’t notice his presence.
Then Juliana’s lips moved faintly as she continued staring at the sky.
“Deni…”
Kallion frowned because he was too far away to hear clearly.
Then something glittering ran down Juliana’s snow-white cheek.
When Kallion belatedly realized it was a tear, he froze.
Tears, from a woman who had always seemed as rigid and impenetrable as an old tree.
The clear tear slid down her gaunt cheek and dropped softly to the floor.
At that moment, Kallion’s heart seemed to drop with it.
* * *
While I was bedridden with the illness, I dreamed of that child several times.
Denion. My beloved child.
Even though it was only a dream, the sight of that child smiling at me.
That tiny warmth toddling over and falling into my arms.
Those little hands wriggling, and the sensation of a small head burrowing against my neck.
Everything had been so vivid.
I smiled because I was happy, but I cried at the same time.
I had lived through many lives across eleven regressions, but I had never been able to have a child.
Heister’s ability was passed down only through men.
Was the energy of the Fire Spirit within me why an ordinary child couldn’t be conceived?
While I was Silverstel’s wife, I had wondered if things might be different, but perhaps because the energies clashed, that hadn’t been easy either.
The answer I reached after all those regressions was simple.
Even if I had carried another child who wasn’t Denion, would I have been able to forget that child?
No.
That child was my entire world.
I needed that child in order to live.
That was why I sought him out.
So I could live.
Kallion, the heir of Baldomer.
Belatedly realizing that something was running down my cheek, I slowly wiped it away.
Tears…
It was something I had forgotten after my emotions dried up through repeated regressions.
It seemed even the emotions that had withered away while living here were beginning to stir again.
Anger, resentment, hatred, contempt.
And longing…
I could almost hear Denion’s clear, bubbling laughter echoing around me.
Just wait a little longer. Mommy will make sure to bring you back.
Just a little longer…
Suddenly sensing someone’s gaze, I quickly turned my head.
Kallion was standing at the entrance of the transparent greenhouse, staring silently at me.
My eyes met his amethyst ones. His purple eyes took on a mysterious glow beneath the sunlight.
When he merely continued staring without saying anything, I spoke first.
“Do you need something from me?”
Only then did Kallion seem to come to his senses. At my dry question, he cleared his throat and averted his gaze.
“Are you feeling any better…?”
My eyes widened because I wondered if I had misheard him.
Did he really just ask me if I was feeling alright?
Those weren’t the kind of words that should have come from a man who had always looked at me with contempt or worn a cold expression.
Or did he have some other motive?
I looked at him suspiciously and answered coldly.
“I’m much better now. What did you need?”
At the implication that he should get straight to the point, Kallion’s expression stiffened.
Then he let out a deep sigh before continuing.
“If you’re well enough to eat normally, let’s have dinner together later.”
It wasn’t yet one of the days when we regularly ate together.
What was he up to this time?
I frowned, then remembered that there wasn’t much time left until our designated night together and reluctantly nodded.
There was no need to create unnecessary friction right before we slept together.
“Alright. Then I’ll see you later.”
Even after I said that and turned away, he remained standing there blankly for quite some time.
Puzzled, I turned my head and asked with a frown.
“Do you have something else to say?”
At my question, he clenched and unclenched his fist as though hesitating.
Then he continued with a faint sigh.
“…No. Nothing.”
With those words, Kallion quietly left the greenhouse.
I watched his retreating back suspiciously for a moment, then turned my attention back toward the greenhouse.
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