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This light novel is inspired by the beautiful landscapes and cultures of Bolivia and South Korea. However, the characters, events, and situations portrayed are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is purely coincidental. This content does not intend to represent or reflect the historical, social, or cultural reality of either country. The author disclaims any legal liability arising from the interpretation of these elements.
Content Warning: This chapter contains sensitive and potentially disturbing themes. Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter 52 – Among Silent Thorns
52.1 Thorns in Bloom.
Zayra led him almost in silence.
She wasn't dragging him, but her step was firm,
her fingers gripping Ryu's hand with a tension he hadn't felt before.
Ryu felt his palm tremble between her fingers.
It wasn't fear.
It was a live, electric tension.
He contained a smile.
"I shouldn't enjoy this, but... is she jealous?"
Ryu looked at her and couldn't help but smile.
His shoulder barely relaxed, and her fingers, still gripping his palm, loosened for an instant.
He had never seen her jealous, and that mix of anger and care made him feel strange and delighted at the same time.
"So... I really matter to her."
***
As they walked, amusement mixed with a shiver the intensity of Zayra's gaze, the firmness of her hand,
Made him think…
"Wow... I'll try never to make her angry."
When they reached the path that separated the central houses from the resting area, she stopped.
Released him gently and looked at him with a mix of weariness and something harder to read.
"I told you that woman only brought trouble."
She said, without anger in her voice, but with fury alive in her eyes.
Ryu parted his lips, but she raised her hand and kept talking.
"I know you sent her away.
It's not about you… but.
I need a moment."
She left the spot without further explanation.
Ryu's fingers twitched for an instant, wanting to reach for her, but he forced himself to stop.
His fingers clenched for a moment, but he released them into the air, like one accepting the inevitable.
In Korea, he would have tried to reason.
Here, he was learning to wait.
Ryu did not follow her.
But as he watched her walk away, he frowned slightly, looked down at the ground, and nervously rubbed his palms.
There was no anger in him, but a buzzing restlessness under his skin.
He knew he shouldn't chase her.
He sighed and said to himself.
"Sometimes, all one can do is wait."
***
Zayra walked quickly, crossing the central patio, skirting the well area.
Until she disappeared among the trees that shaded the crops.
There, where only the crickets and fireflies could hear her, she stopped.
She took a breath, clenched her fists, and exploded.
"Cunumi!"
She burst out with contained rage.
"How brazen! And with Ryu, of all people!
That Aguililla... doesn't know what decency is!"
She walked in circles, raising her arms.
Trying to release all the contained rage she had felt since dinner.
"And on top of that, she looks at him as if he were a plate of Keperi"
Cunumi, your shameless woman, oh, what nerve!"
She stopped.
Her chest rose and fell heavily.
She gripped her head, then hugged herself, and then... laughed.
A dry laugh.
She remembered Salome's scared face and thought.
"Well, at least that Aguililla got a fright. I don't think she'll bother him again."
She felt calmer.
Little by little, the heat dissipated.
The trembling in her hands lessened.
Her rebellious heart found its rhythm again.
She smoothed her hair, wiped away a tear with her palm.
She wasn't sure if it was from anger or exhaustion and started back.
When she arrived, Ryu was sitting on the steps of his room, his elbows resting on his knees.
He didn't say anything. He just looked at her.
Zayra sat beside him, silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry."
She finally said.
"It wasn't about you.
It's just that some people make my blood boil faster than the Chaco sun."
They both smiled.
Then, she gently rested her head on his shoulder, and he, in silence, stroked her knuckles with his thumb.
A subtle, yet constant gesture.
As if telling her, "I'm still here."
They needed no further explanations.
Sometimes, love also requires learning to give space to the beloved.
Since thorns are part of the flower.
52.2 What is Not Said Out Loud
The morning had woken up with a clean sky and a breeze that smelled of dry wood and crushed leaves.
The two trucks set off down the dusty road toward the territorial conflict zone.
In the first were Chief Pedro, Zayra, and one of his assistants.
In the second, Antonio drove with a calm that seemed almost professional,
accompanied by Ryu in the passenger seat and an advisor, dozing in the back.
***
After a good stretch of silence, Antonio broke the calm with a sidelong smile.
"Young man, tell me, how does it feel to date the daughter of an indigenous priestess?"
Ryu turned his face slightly, not yet answering.
Antonio continued, this time with a more admiring tone.
"You know that Siraya, Zayra's mother, is the priestess of our community.
That's no small thing here."
Antonio kept driving the truck, which swayed from side to side.
Ryu didn't quite understand Antonio's intention in telling him this.
Nevertheless, he kept listening without judgment.
Antonio laughed as if he had noticed Ryu's doubt and added.
"Siraya predicts rains, harvests, and dangers, her voice seems to come from the spirit of the forest.
When she arrives, the entire village stops to listen to her."
He paused, like someone releasing something heavy with respect.
Without warning, Antonio quietly added.
"Whoever offends Siraya or her family, Chief Pedro will expel them at her request… and no one dares question it."
Ryu looked down for a moment, thoughtful.
His expression was neutral, but his mind was constantly connecting the dots.
"That's where the calm Zayra commands with respect comes from."
He thought about her strength and her balance.
Now he understood where that natural authority she carried, even in silence, came from.
"I know."
He simply replied.
Antonio nodded, satisfied.
And then, lowering his voice to a whisper, he commented.
"By the way... I heard you had an unexpected visitor last night."
Ryu didn't answer immediately.
He breathed slowly, keeping his tone polite.
"She was not welcome."
Antonio laughed nervously, gripping the steering wheel.
Ryu acted as if he didn't see him.
Somewhat uncomfortable, Antonio took a deep breath and spoke.
"I get it. Just… don't judge her too harshly, okay?
That girl, Salomé, has been through very difficult things."
Ryu glanced at him, but this time not with discomfort, but with contained interest.
Antonio kept looking ahead at the cloud of dust surrounding the vehicle and commented in a delicate tone.
"She was abused in her community, and her own father, the chief, negotiated the whole thing.
There was never any justice for her."
Silence fell like a stone between them.
Ryu blinked slowly.
His jaw barely tensed, and his pulse quickened for an instant.
It was his way of absorbing the unbearable.
"Can something like that even be negotiated?"
In his country, something like that would end in prison.
Here, parents could bury it.
He reflected on such information, with a knot in his throat.
He found it difficult to assimilate how something so serious could be buried among customs and fear.
Antonio swallowed before continuing, with the same respect one would use to speak of pain that is not their own.
"That's why she came to our community, where the chief took her in.
But many women reject her for being pretty, solitary, for being an 'Aguililla.'
Although deep down, that girl is only afraid."
Ryu didn't speak.
An uncomfortable pause flooded the vehicle.
Antonio looked at him sadly, as he himself had asked that same question many times.
Suddenly, he continued.
"Chief Pedro already told her that if she gets involved in anything improper, she'll have to leave.
And last night…"
He hesitated to tell what was coming.
"Last night, she was terrified.
She thought Zayra would tell her mother everything, and if that happens,
Siraya can request her exile."
Antonio looked at him directly for a moment.
His tone was soft, almost as if he were asking for a personal favor.
"If you can prevent that from happening…
I would be grateful. I'm not justifying her, but that girl has no one else."
A few seconds passed in silence.
Then Ryu sighed and replied in a clear, respectful tone.
"Don't worry.
Zayra would never use her power to cause harm."
He lowered his gaze and barely nodded in that silence.
He understood that true power is not in commanding, but in restraining.
He remained analyzing Antonio's words and the events of the day before.
"Zayra could have exiled her with a single word, but she didn't."
The truck moved forward among the trees swaying in the morning breeze.
And as the road dust silently rose behind them.
Zayra's figure shone in Ryu's mind like a light that didn't need to impose itself to shine.
But even the most serene lights cast a shadow.
And while Ryu imagined her wrapped in calm, far away, something was starting to break that peace.