The Solitude of an Emperor [TO BE UNPUBLISHED]

SIDE STORY 3

Darya expected it from the beginning. She woke from a cold breeze of the wind and felt the light of the sun touching her skin as she heard someone move the curtains. When she opened her eyes, a young man greeted her with a bright smile.

“Good morning, Sally!”

It was a young boy with a pretty face and his smile lit up the day. Who could have expected that such a young boy had no idea that the original owner of the body is dead? Would he still smile as bright as that after knowing about it?

The young boy wondered why Sally was looking at him with such an expression. He felt a sting in his chest and somehow managed to let his smile stay because it is what Sally likes about him.

“Your mother baked potatoes! Get up! Come on!” The young boy dragged her to get up from bed and now they are at the dining table, eating together. 

“You know, I want to become a doctor someday.”

Sally looked at him. Her eyes were not lively but she was willing to listen.

“I want to grow up faster so I can go to the city and become a doctor. I want to treat the sick people.” The young boy continued. “If I get a lot of money from treating the sick, I will build a ballet school so you could go there for free.”

Sally was silenced there. According to this body’s memories, Sally is a sweet girl who likes dancing ballet. She envied the kid in the large house in the next neighbourhood. Sally grew up in a poor family and a poor neighbourhood in the countryside. She went to school late which is why she had a lower level than most of her age like Kael, the young boy and Sally’s friend before kindergarten. After finishing elementary school, Sally had to stop going to school because of her terminal lung disease. She relies on Kael’s teachings now since she could not go to school anymore.

Darya wondered what happened to the life she left previously. What could have happened to Renald after finding out about the airplane crash? She is hoping that she could have at least said something to him before she is gone. This continuous life in different worlds… is getting tiring. It’s her twelfth life and soon she will die again due to disease.

This time, she is in a world where people believe that “walls” protect them. From the memories of Sally, the massive walls have already been built hundred years ago to protect themselves from monsters. In this world, the only safe place is behind the walls. Although Darya is curious about what kind of monsters lurking outside these walls, she does not have a time to appease her curiosity as she had possessed a weak girl. All she needs to do is just quietly live in this countryside.

Upon deciding what to do in this life, Sally had become strangely quiet since that day. She would eat whatever was served to her. She would take all her medicines without complaints. She would never leave the house unlike before. Kael had gotten worried about this because she had no interest in learning from him since that day. 

One time, Sally was suffering from a painful cough in the middle of the night. She only had her mother by her side but because she would not stop coughing, her mother had to ask for help from her neighbours. Kael awakened from the uproar in their village. When he realized that some people were coming to Sally’s house, he went flying from his bed to run to Sally and squeezed in to get inside.

Seeing her suffering from great pain, he could not stop his tears and burst out crying as he ran to hug Sally. If only he could do something to stop it. If only he could make a miracle. If only…

“Oh, god, please save my Sally this once…” He cried in silence as he prayed. “It’s fine even if you give me her illness…”

Miraculously, Sally stopped crying after a while. She started breathing normally as she fell asleep in Kael’s arms. Kael did not leave Sally’s side until the morning. When he woke up, Sally was sitting on the bed while she was combing his hair.