Chapter 242
The physician promised to keep the matter completely confidential. Sarubia repeatedly thanked her and gave her a reward.
After the physician left, an eerie silence fell over the room.
“Well?”
Sarubia turned her body lightly toward Rufus.
“I didn’t think I was really pregnant. I did think it was a little strange when my monthly cycle didn’t come last month… Rufus?”
“……”
Without saying a word, Rufus gently touched Sarubia’s cheek. Looking up at him, Sarubia smiled softly.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“……”
Rufus still said nothing. His hand began to tremble slightly.
He couldn’t believe it.
That he and Sarubia had lit a small candle together.
That another possibility had opened for his own existence.
Everything was so unbelievably perfect, beautiful, and peaceful that he could hardly accept it properly.
Sarubia.
If there was only one thing I could leave behind in this filthy and chaotic world, I always wished it would be a child that resembled half of you.
If that happened.
If that happened, perhaps I could leave behind proof that I loved you so desperately.
If that happened, perhaps this filthy and chaotic world would become a little more lovable.
So.
Without realizing it, he had harbored such a selfish thought.
Because when it comes to you, I have always been selfish.
Rufus’s vision began to blur like the surface of water struck by heavy raindrops. The next moment, the face that rarely showed even simple emotions collapsed instantly.
Drip.
Like a stretched thread snapping, the droplet of emotion he had hidden for so long finally fell.
“Rufus? Why are you suddenly like this?”
Seeing Rufus suddenly start to cry, Sarubia hurriedly grabbed both of his cheeks and turned his face toward her.
Held in her hands, Rufus clenched his teeth and lowered his head. He didn’t want to show her such weakness. How foolish must he look?
“Don’t… look.”
“At what? What shouldn’t I look at?”
“……”
“Ah, you mean crying? It’s fine. People are born crying anyway.”
Sarubia chuckled softly as she wrapped her arms around Rufus’s shoulders.
“You’re like a baby.”
“…I’m not.”
“What do you mean you’re not? Being like a baby isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually a compliment.”
Her warm voice continued to brush against Rufus’s ears.
“Do you know why babies cry when they’re born? It’s because they’re so happy.”
“…I thought it was because they were scared.”
Rufus muttered without thinking.
“Scared?”
“Well, from the baby’s perspective, they were inside a warm belly and then suddenly grabbed by the hair and pulled outside… wouldn’t that be frightening…”
Unlike his usual self, Rufus rambled awkwardly.
In truth, even he didn’t know what he was saying. He simply spoke whatever came to mind, hoping the intense emotions filling his heart would settle down.
Hearing him, Sarubia laughed softly.
“You’re not planning to pull our baby out like that, are you?”
Our baby.
The moment he heard those words.
His heart began to pound.
“No, now that I think about it, babies don’t even have hair to grab. Come to think of it, everyone is bald when they’re born.”
“Sarubia…”
“Yes, Rufus.”
Wiping away his tears with one finger, Sarubia answered gently.
Hearing that calm voice, he could no longer endure it.
Like melted candle wax collapsing, Rufus leaned forward and tightly wrapped his arms around Sarubia’s waist. Hiding his face against her lap, he bit his lip.
He couldn’t say it.
Sarubia.
I… I have finally made it this far.
To a future where you do not die.
To a future where I do not merely long for you.
To a future where I do not stand before your grave and abandon my life.
To that kind of future… I have finally made it here.
I have come to a moment where I can imagine a future moving forward together with you.
So.
Please stay with me and go further into that future together.
The man who held the woman cried uncontrollably. The woman looked down at him blankly for a moment, then smiled gently.
Her warm hand slowly brushed through the broken man’s hair. Feeling as though he had been saved by that touch, the man quietly closed his eyes.
He decided not to think about anything.
Just like this.
Remembering this moment, he allowed himself to be completely swept away by the emotions surging within him, without restraint.
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