Chapter 15: You will know the deepest secret i’d kept,,

Two weeks had passed since that night. The world around them had returned to its usual rhythm, the routine of daily life almost mocking the ache that lingered beneath the surface. Yet, for Alice, nothing felt normal. She never got the chance to see Lily again. The memory of that night—the one where Lily and her mother vanished—haunted her every waking moment.

Alice had never imagined such a loss, especially not after everything they'd been through. She couldn't help but blame herself. If she had been there—if she hadn't been so consumed by her own struggles—maybe, just maybe, Lily wouldn't have disappeared into the night. Her heart ached with the thought that, had she been able to stop them, perhaps this torment wouldn't be her reality.

But now, she had to face the truth: the void they left behind could never be filled, and it was her fault they’d slipped away. Yet that was not the only problem she had to face. Arthur discovered something crucial—something that she had kept hidden from everyone else. She was carrying a deadly disease that could end her life if she wasn’t careful. When Arthur brought her to the clinic, the doctor examined her condition, and that was when they found out she had leukemia. After knowing she had leukemia, she wasn’t surprised all along because she already knew she had that disease with her in the first place.

In the middle of the afternoon, Alice stood at the kitchen counter, washing vegetables and preparing meat for lunch. Yet, her body betrayed her. Her breaths came in shallow gasps, and her once steady hands trembled as they struggled to hold the knife. The effort felt monumental, her vision blurring as she fought to maintain focus. Despite having moved for only a few minutes, exhaustion drained her, sapping the strength she had once taken for granted.

But she pushed herself, forcing her body to comply. This simple act of cooking, something she had always excelled at, now felt like an insurmountable task slipping further and further from her grasp. The air inside the house grew thick, pressing against her chest, making it harder to breathe.

The door creaked open, and Arthur stepped inside, his arms laden with a pile of medicines from the clinic. He paused in the doorway, his eyes immediately catching the paleness of her face and the forced brightness of her smile.

“Welcome back, Arthur!” she said, her voice light but strained with effort.

He frowned, biting his lip to hold back the wave of worry that threatened to surface. Forcing a smile, he replied, “I’m home.”

Without hesitation, he strode to her side. Gently, he placed a hand at her waist to steady her and covered her trembling hand with his. His gaze locked onto hers, intense and filled with concern.

Her eyes widened at the sudden intimacy. He had not done this to her like this in months, and the proximity left her flustered. A faint blush warmed her pale cheeks.

“Let me handle this. You need to rest,” he said, his voice calm but edged with unmistakable worry.

She shook her head, a determined yet fragile smile on her lips. “It’s my job to cook for you, isn’t it?” she replied softly, easing her hand from his grip to resume slicing the vegetables.

But Arthur wasn’t having it. He caught her hand again, stilling her movements. “Now is not the time for that. You’re pushing yourself too hard,” he said, his hand trembling slightly as his gaze bore into hers.

Her expression faltered, her eyes lowering slightly as she whispered, “Am I not needed anymore?”

Her words cut through the room like a blade, the tension thickening in an instant. Arthur’s eyes widened, his breath hitching as disbelief washed over him. His lips pressed into a tight line before he stepped closer, resting his forehead against her shoulder. His arms wrapped around her in a desperate embrace.

“Don’t say that,” he murmured, his voice low and trembling. “It hurts me when you think that way.” He paused, tightening his hold as if afraid she might slip away. “I don’t want you to go somewhere I can’t follow. Somewhere I can’t reach you.”

Alice blinked, her heart squeezing at the raw emotion in his voice. Slowly, she raised a hand to his head, brushing her fingers through his hair. She pressed a soft kiss to the crown of his head and whispered, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay with you for as long as I can.”

Her voice was steady, filled with warmth and sincerity, and Arthur seemed to ease, though the tension in his body didn’t fully dissipate.

Later, Alice sat on the sofa, her legs tucked beneath her as she watched Arthur bustling around the kitchen. The clatter of pots and the sizzle of food filled the space, but it felt surreal. Their roles had reversed, and she couldn’t help but smile faintly at the sight.

It was a strange but comforting moment—a small pocket of normalcy amidst the storm that loomed over them both.

When they finished eating lunch, Alice noticed Arthur’s gaze lingering on her, intense and thoughtful. She could feel his curiosity, sharp and probing, like a thread winding through her. Though he didn’t say a word, the question was written in his furrowed brow, in the way he sat straighter than usual.

She set down her cup, meeting his gaze with her own—a flicker of light danced in her tired eyes. “Are you wondering about my past, Arthur?” she asked softly, her voice steady but tinged with an unspoken weight.

Arthur’s expression shifted. He hesitated, lowering his eyes and pressing his lips together, his hands clasped tightly on the table. “If it’s not hard for you to share, I’ll listen,” he said, his voice measured but uneven. “But if it hurts you... you don’t have to.”

Alice studied him for a moment. His words were kind, but the stiffness in his jaw betrayed his true feelings. She let out a faint smile, one that barely reached her lips. “Do you remember why the war between the great nations started?”

Arthur blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in the conversation. He nodded, though his curiosity deepened.

Alice clasped her hands in her lap, her expression darkening. “It happened so quickly,” she began, her voice distant, as though the memory came from another life. “The sky was clear that day, a perfect shade of blue. My younger siblings were laughing, chasing each other through the fields, their voices like music. The scent of wildflowers filled the air. For a moment, it felt like the world couldn’t be more perfect.”

She paused, her gaze dropping to the table. “And then, it changed. The explosion... it was blinding. A massive atomic bomb hit near our house. The shockwave obliterated everything.” Her voice faltered, trembling as the words fought their way out. “My parents were gone in an instant. My siblings—” She stopped, biting her lip hard enough. “They didn’t survive either, they were blown away by it. The house was gone. My family... gone. The fire started to claw from house to house.”

Arthur’s hands tightened into fists, his knuckles white. He wanted to speak, to tell her she didn’t need to continue, but the words stuck in his throat.

Alice took a trembling breath, forcing herself to go on. “Foreign soldiers came next, their faces obscured by the mist. They raided what was left of my country, turning it into a battlefield. Smoke and blood filled the air, and my people—my friends and neighbors—died without mercy. It was as if hell itself had descended upon the earth.”

Arthur’s eyes widened, his expression frozen in disbelief.

“Hatred burned in my heart,” Alice admitted, her voice hardening. “I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I volunteered to help our soldiers, to fight in any way I could. Years passed, but no matter what we did, the enemy always had the upper hand. They dropped another atomic bomb on our military base, and everything was destroyed in an instant.”

She stopped, her breath catching as her hands trembled in her lap. “The ashes, the smoke... It covered everything. There was no escape from it. I remember breathing it in, choking on it, trying to survive. I kept going until one day, I collapsed. When I woke up, the doctor told me...” Her voice cracked, but she forced herself to continue. “He told me I had leukemia. From the radiation. From the smoke. From surviving not one, but two bombs. My body couldn’t take it anymore.”

Arthur’s lips parted, but no sound came out. His hands gripped the table’s edge, his knuckles trembling.

Alice wiped away a single tear that escaped her eye, her voice softening. “That was when I realized... all I had ever seen was cruelty. Pain. The worst of humanity. So I made a choice. If my time was limited, I wouldn’t spend it consumed by hatred. I would try to see the beauty in the world instead.”

She looked at him then, a genuine smile spreading across her face, warm and radiant. “And I did. I saw people laughing, smiling, helping one another. I realized how beautiful this world could be, despite everything.”

Arthur’s expression softened, the heaviness in his eyes lifting as he watched her. Her smile was contagious, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he smiled back. “That sounds just like you,” he said, his voice low but warm, carrying a quiet admiration that lingered in the air between them.

After Alice fell asleep on the sofa, Arthur frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on her pale face. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, as if in silent prayer.

"I'm sorry, Alice," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I was the one who ordered the bombing of your country. And I was the one who led the soldiers who raided it."

His words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. His hands shook as he clenched them together, tears slipping silently down his cheeks. He made sure his sobs were quiet, careful not to disturb her rest. The guilt inside him clawed at his chest, growing with every passing second.