My Not-so-Forged Wedding

Episode 10

Yamato’s True Feelings

            After reminiscing of the day she and Mashiro met, Sophie’s eyes remained closed for some time. The next thing she knew, she opened her eyes, and told of her most inner feelings of her best friend. “My first chance meeting with Mashiro was unlike any other I had experienced concerning all of my platonic relationships. It was like a warm light had begun to penetrate the darkness within my heart which was once colorless from what happened in my past, and I have never once forgotten that emanating light of purity. Yet before ever getting to introduce myself to Mashiro, my mind was already set on alternating from literature to manga thanks to the diversity of the creative and artistic careers I could choose from. It never truly mattered what path I would take in life, but my decision to convert myself into another person, someone unfamiliar while being the same identity from a few seconds ago. I was prepared to leap into a whole new mirror that hid one personality from the other, and because Mashiro stumbled upon my surroundings full of nature, I could finally become the person you see today in shining view. If not for her, I may not have been able to fall in love with Ren after our engagement was declared by both of our families. Unfortunately, nothing has been completely resolved as of this moment. Furthermore, I do not know what I should do about my own situation, but…” She sighed, closed her eyes, and her posture seemed off a bit. It was like she didn’t have any energy left within her body as her shoulders collapsed in a state brimming with fatigue—even the look on her face exposed her exhaustion. Sophie began to breathe as though she had a fever running, in which her normally sophisticated self was no longer there, drained of her vitality. “Ha… nnn… ugh…”

            This caught Ren’s instantaneous attention as his eyes widened from his fiancée’s ill state. “…! Sophie!” He was about to stand up but at the same time, he felt as if he needed to restrain himself from overdoing anything. Then, he said, “You don’t look well. Are you okay?”

            The turquoise-haired girl opened her eyes and let off a strained smiled as she glanced at the blond. “I’m fine, really. I was just a little tired from everything today. That’s all. You do need to worry about me, Ren.”

            Ren found himself frowning. “But I do worry about you. You’re my fiancée, and evidently the woman I’m going to marry without any regrets, because…” His eyes were filled with pain as he gazed at betrothed, but he had to urge himself forward. “Because I love you more than anyone else in the world, Sophie. You mean more to me than any flower and plant I’ve ever seen. Without a second thought, I would also throw away my life long research if you weren’t in my life. I wouldn’t have any other reason to be alive if it meant you were pushing yourself too much.” If Ren could conjure up the power to cry, he may have done it without any limitations on himself. But he didn’t due to his docile qualities. “All I really want… is to be with you—to be by your side for as long as I can, Sophie.” He shook his head. “No. What I want more than that is to embrace everything I can for both our sakes, and to overcome our struggles together, in order for the two of us to live the lives we desire. With you, I believe there is still hope to resolve your familial conflicts, and change the impossible.”

            As Sophie’s eyes slightly widened, she understood Ren’s words of enlightenment. She, too, felt they could prevail against the obstacles standing in their way [of happiness]. Shortly afterward, he placed her curled hand over her chest and stared back at her fiancé. “Ren…” She was deeply affected as well, as she loved the only man who was hers and hers to be with for infinity. “I…” She stood up from her seat, dropping her notebook on the floor when a huge pain in her chest started to torment her. She immediately clutched her fist towards her bust, leaving the sketchbook’s pages flying over one another as she writhed in a resistance that sent her nerves flaring with pressure. Sophie could sense herself succumbing to her illness but was still putting her own effort into her body to keep from falling to her knees. “…!!!”