A moment has gone by.
A water drop dripped from the ceiling to Lila's delicate face. In her life, as far as she remembered, only tears moisturized her face.
But today was different for her.A rain drop, a one single rain drop.
That single rain drop changed everything; she took it as a sign. She remembered that moment, cruel but to her, it was fated. In that dark alley. When she regained her consciousness, she saw him.
Only she and him. And that rain drop accompanied them both on that day.
"Of course I had to say yes, it wasn't me who nodded. It was my heart." Lila fought with her heart but ultimately came lost. But did she regret that loss?
No.
She wanted to lose from the beginning. She wanted to let go of her manners and make that decision.
She wanted to make him hers.All to herself.
So she let go of her manners, shamelessly to take him. Snatched him away.
Her self fought her, saying, "He saved your life. And he didn't even know you. And you don't even know how he feels. But you trapped him."
Yes. She trapped him. She trapped him by this marriage proposal, and agreeing to it.
In her heart, she knew she was taking advantage of this situation. She laid this trap just for him.
Marriage.
What if Damien rejected it? She didn't care. This boy, who she had never seen in her life, made her heart flutter. "It was fated, that rain drop, it was a sign. It was our sign, of love." She convinced herself.
Lila's intense stare made Damien's heart chill for a while. She was like a predator who was looking for his hunt. "How could a pretty girl like this have a gaze of a hunter?"
He was a hunter from birth, but how could she make him feel like a mouse that was trapped in a cat's claw?
Lila was innocent, yes. But after losing her father, and even her mother being sick, she lost the will to live. Only to make her mother live as long as possible.
So she wore a mask, a living mask. Smiling in front of everyone. Being the sweet little apple girl that the village adored.
But underneath that mask she was truly hollow.An empty shell, just trying to keep her mother alive and happy.
Only a will just to survive. Lila didn't want anything after her father's incident. Neither did she have any possession in this world.
Until him.
Her heart spoke to her, saying, "He's mine." This was the only possession her heart desired. And she acted not out of curiosity, but out of pure obsession.
In her hollow life her heart never ached for anything, but in front of him it cried, screaming.
Her mask shattered, revealing that cruel and dangerous side of her.
And now she was the one hunting him.She craved him.She needed him.
She needed that one rain drop that could make her heart feel this way.
Damien never even had a girlfriend in his life, but now marriage. He remembered that day he was blaming the heaven itself for not having one.
But now had lady luck finally looked at him?
"No," he thought, suddenly changing again. His heart ached for something more. Even he himself didn't know what that was.
Dark forest.
Yes, he didn't want to admit it but he was drawn to it. Everyone in the whole Kingdom wouldn't even dare to say the name of that cursed place. But he was attached to it.
He felt it. Damien knew something was calling for him in that forest. He needed to find out why.
His heart's flame ignited again.
Katharin and Lila were still on their seats. The candle light still lit the whole room with ease. With that he could easily read their faces.
It was full of hope.
Damien's memories flashed. When he was crying, Lila on her way home, still holding him tightly, her face pressing against his chest.
She muttered even in her sleep in a low voice: "Mother, I'm sorry. I know you're sick but I couldn't sell any apples today. Mother..."
He clearly understood the life of them. And when her mother tried to give him the ring he saw through her eyes.
It was hopeless.
But now their eyes were full of hope.
His heart didn't agree to break this fragile hope. But he couldn't abandon his purpose either.
"Your daughter is very beautiful and it would be a blessing to marry a girl like her." Damien finally raised his voice, looking at Lila's mother's eyes.
And then he turned to Lila. "But I'm really sorry. But right now I can't marry you."
Lila, blushing, hid her face by looking down. She bit her lip slowly to calm herself down, she could feel her heartbeat rising.
"He said I'm beautiful." She only heard his praises and that alone made her heart nervous.
"Lila, what do you think about this?"
She heard her mother's voice and raised her head. And then she realized his final sentence was—
Damien saw Lila's reddened soft face slowly turning gloomy and tearing up, even her mother was looking away trying to hide the pain in her face.
He had to do something. But what? He thought hard as he could but it had no effect.
His final option was to tell the truth.
"It's not because of you. I even came to the south gate to find a way to enter the dark forest."
Lila and Katherine froze after hearing this. They both looked at each other, shocked and terrified.
"Dark forest? Why would you ever think about going to that horrible place?" Lila's mother stood up and got closer to Damien. Even Lila stood up from her chair.
He could see the scared and terrified expressions on both of their faces.
Damien tried to step back as he tried to explain to them. "I'm going there for a reason. I know something is up with that place. So I'm going to find out what's hidden there… and please calm down."
Damien tried to calm them down but it had no effect at first. But after a while, they both calmed down, sitting on their chairs again.
Katharine looked deep and slowly raised her voice:
"Damien, do you want to know what happened to my husband who went to that dark forest?"