That Lady’s Stalker - Chapter 52 - The End

The voice asking Asher the question was filled with a deep sense of maturity. The lively and playful Olivia had grown calmer and wiser with age.

“Liv, with you by my side, how could I feel lonely?”

At that moment, a soft breeze, as gentle as Olivia’s smile, brushed past them. The sound of white foam crashing against a large rock and the rhythmic splash of the waves brought a comforting calm to their hearts.

Asher and Olivia sat on the bench atop a cliff, gazing at the setting sun and the vast ocean before them.

“Now that the children are gone, the mansion feels so empty.”

“Now that I think about it, our kids were so well-behaved, but who did they inherit all that energy from?”

“Hmm?”

Olivia looked at Asher in surprise, then burst out laughing.

“Ricky and Ririn weren’t any less lively either.”

“……”

Asher fell silent, as though lost in thought.

It had already been over twenty years since he had retired from the front lines. And yet, he still appeared as strong and capable as he had in his prime.

Olivia gently swept up the short strands of hair on his forehead, blown by the sea breeze, and said,

“How do you stay the same?”

“Only because of you.”

Asher and Olivia leaned their foreheads together and chuckled like children. In their eyes, there was still so much trust and love for each other.

Olivia rested her head on Asher’s shoulder and looked out at the evening glow over the horizon.

“Sometimes, no, actually quite often, I think about the past.”

As one grows older, they tend to reflect on the past more than the future. The radiant, brilliant days of youth, when they could barely open our eyes because of how bright everything was.

“Olivia, I feel the same. You were really brave.”

Asher kissed Olivia on the forehead. She smiled as she searched for something far away in her memories.

“Why was I so impatient? After you came back, we got married the very next year. Back then… I remember how Father pounded his chest and complained about the procedures, but now I understand.”

“It’s a little too late for you to understand now, after seeing your grandchildren.”

At Asher’s teasing, Olivia rolled her eyes, but not in annoyance. He chuckled and gently patted her small knee.

“What do you think Father thought when he saw me throwing tantrums back then?”

“It must have been hard for him. Now that I’ve had children, I understand. You can’t just hold on to a child forever, as they want to fly and find their own way. It must have been very sad for him. Olivia, we’ve felt that too.”

“That’s true. But to my father, I’ll always be his child, and sometimes, I forget what it feels like to be a parent.”

Asher wrapped his arms around Olivia’s delicate shoulders. Lately, Olivia had been feeling a lot of loneliness, especially when the children visited the mansion.

“How has so much time passed already? It feels like just yesterday when Ricky and Ririn were babies, and now they’re married with children of their own. I can hardly believe it.”

“When those twins were always up to mischief together, it drove me crazy. And now, look at them.”

Asher and Olivia, as they always did, gazed at the same thing. The light from the sea, tinted with warm hues, flowed across their feet, rising as it followed their path.

Asher quietly comforted Olivia, who was feeling lonely without saying a word.

“Olivia, children have their time, and we have ours. I feel like we’re finally ‘whole’ together, and I’m so happy. I feel like we are more perfect today than we were in our youth, and even more so than yesterday.”

Now, there were no signs of the scars from his younger days on Asher’s face. The small, frightened boy had finally grown and matured.

After hearing his words, Olivia finally felt that her time had found its place again. After the twins were born, her life had always been centered around them. Time had flowed with the children at its core, and her own time seemed to have faded far beyond reach.

But Asher had bridged that gap instantly. He hadn’t forgotten his own time and had helped pull Olivia from the struggle of losing her way.

After the children became independent, a small new sprout began to grow in the corner of Olivia’s heart, where a cold wind had once blown.

Perhaps it would bloom even more brilliantly than before.

Together, they began to match the rhythm of time, as it ticked on once more.

“I always thought only the noon sunset was beautiful, but the sunset at dusk is beautiful too.”

“Sunsets have always been beautiful, Olivia.”

The two of them, looking in the same direction, had peaceful and warm smiles on their faces.

“And they will continue to be beautiful.”