She had an older brother.
Jamie, who looked like a child and loved her more than anyone else, was smiling.
Sarah just stared blankly at Jamie’s face, and his hands moved on their own and caressed both of her cheeks.
As Sarah felt her soft skin being touched, it made her weep again.
“S-Sarah? Why are you crying again?”
Shocked by his younger sister suddenly crying, the older brother looked at his mother behind.
Their mother laughed while watching the interaction of the cute siblings.
“Mom, stop laughing and do something now!”
Jamie was calling for Sears, who only watched the two with a smile on her face. Of course, Sears couldn’t help it.
“Oh my? Look at you, calling for me when you made your younger sister cry. Jamie, comfort Sarah a little.”
Jamie’s face turned pale at the sight of Sears refusing to help him. Since he had already found it difficult to make Sarah like him, this was too much.
Looking back, it was always like this.
When Sarah cried or was exhausted, her brother would have a very worried face and try so hard to make her feel better.
It never felt awkward because it was all too natural. Maybe that was why she was crying so much.
It is only when you lose someone that you would realize how precious they are. And now she realized why she was in so much pain.
‘I do not want to lose you.’
She didn’t want to go through it twice. Sarah grabbed her brother’s clothes while thinking about that.
“Do not go anywhere….”
“S-Sarah?’
“Please….”
Jamie looked at his younger sister, unable to understand her.
When Sarah finally stopped, Jamie could breathe.
One wouldn’t know how embarrassed he was at how his young sister suddenly cried when she saw him.
She was a child who always smiled, but she had been crying all day today, even though she didn’t fall down.
“Are you fine now?”
“Yes.”
Sarah gave a short answer.
She was still panting a little, but it was because she had cried too much. Jamie gently rubbed her back.
Although it was called a folk remedy, he heard from somewhere that patting someone’s back had a calming effect.
“I am fine now.”
“Thank goodness.”
Confirming that her voice didn’t tremble anymore, Jamie removed his hand from her back, but a question arose.
“How is it that my Sarah can speak so well? I think your pronunciation has improved.”
“I wasn’t the only one, then?”
Sears, who was watching this, responded as she sat down next to Jamie.
Sarah felt bad.
She was currently speaking the same way as when she was a child, and her tone then was a little sloppy, making odd sounds.
Sarah was also shocked, as she didn’t realize it, and looked at Sears with wide eyes and laughed.
“Looks like she is getting the hang of it! My daughter, you learn so quickly.”
She put her hands around her stomach and held Sarah high. And then the background changed, with images of her mother and brother and the garden all coming into view at once.
“Woahhhhhh!”
In the past, this didn’t impress her, but when she floated in the air for the first time in a long time, her heart pounded.
She felt like her eyes were spinning because it was a completely different feeling from when she would jump herself.
Sara was feeling dizzy and was shaking her head from side to side, and Sears reached out to Jamie as she held her daughter.
“Let us go now. It is mealtime soon.”
“D-Do we have to hold hands? I am feeling a bit hot.”
“Tsk! Hold my hand now.”
“Yes….”
As always, Jamie couldn’t say no to Sears and held his mother’s hand with teary eyes.
She had thought about it since she was little, but her brother had always found it hard to express his affection toward their mother.
So sometimes she couldn’t understand it.
‘It makes sense now.’
Although it was a short moment, the way their mother expressed her affection, which she experienced now after a long time, was a bit intense.
How did she endure this in the past?
Looking back, she just got used to it. So what if she didn’t like it? No way.
She missed it.
Happiness and peace.
Warm days with family.
She missed those past memories, which she could never go back to.
‘What do I do?’
Sarah thought that as she tightly held her mother’s arms.
‘I love this too much.’
This moment felt so good.
Three people entered the dining room.
Simple decorations, a long table, white cloth, and candlesticks.
When the meal was ready, the food was served, and it was a meal that would make anyone’s mouth water.
Rich and high-quality ingredients were used. They were something she hadn’t seen for three years. And in the past, it was just normal to her, but now it is precious.
Sarah couldn’t help herself as she felt her mouth salivate.
Just the smell of it was making her lose her thoughts.
‘Did I live eating such huge amounts of food?’
She only realized how great the Welton family was.
Sears put Sarah in a high chair, and Jamie walked to the other side and jumped into his chair.
Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off the food. From the greasy-looking meat dishes to the vegetable ones, they were all high-quality.
Perhaps the difference was in the spices, but it looked like food for the nobles.
“Is my daughter hungry?”
When Sarah was looking at the food as if she would gobble it all up, Sears looked surprised.
“You never had an interest in food before. Is it because you cried earlier?”
“It seems like it. They say crying makes the stomach hurt.”
“My son is so smart. Where did you hear that?”
“I read it in the library. Hehe.”
Jamie had an awkward smile as he scratched his head, feeling embarrassed at the praise.
And looking at the empty chair, he asked,
“But what about Father?”
Sarah, who was preoccupied with the food, looked up at Jamie’s words.
“Daddy?”
“Huh. He hasn’t come home yet. Isn’t he a bit late today?”
Jamie mumbled as he looked at the dining room door, and Sarah couldn’t hear anything more. She just stared there.
She had totally forgotten about it. She wondered how she could have forgotten, but for some reason, she hadn’t thought about it until just now.
But it was because he was dead.
Unlike her mother and brother, who were still alive, her father passed away three years ago.
So she had forgotten about her father.
She should never forget him, but somehow she did, and her little hands trembled. Her heart pounded faster than when she saw her mother and brother.
She could feel the blood running through her body.
“Sarah? Are you sick?”
Sears rubbed her face, worried at her daughter being nervous.
“Why is your body so cold? Someone bring the physician!”
Sears ordered the servants, and Jamie ran to Sarah, worried about her.
But Sarah showed no signs of improving. Jamie checked her condition and put mana on his hand.
“For now, I will calm you down.”
“Is that possible?”
“It will work in halting the condition.”
Her body temperature was dropping rapidly. Jamie couldn’t understand the cause, but he began to push heat into Sarah’s body.
Her pale face recovered, but it wasn’t the exact solution.
If he stopped injecting heat into her body, her temperature would drop again.
“Sarah. Can you try talking?”
Jamie tried to monitor her condition by being calm about it. Sears was worried sick on the side, but she couldn’t show her anxiety with her daughter like this.
Sarah was feeling dizzy and slowly began to see her vision blur until her brother helped her.
“Brother….”
“Right. How are you feeling now?”
“Brother.”
“Uh. Brother is right here.”
Sarah blinked her eyes and asked,
“What about Dad?”
She missed him.
She really wanted to see her dad, whom she would never see again. Since she would not be able to see him again after this, she wanted to see her dead father again.
“I want to see Dad….”
With those words, Sarah’s consciousness was cut off.
Sarah had a long dream.
A dream where her whole family was holding hands and walking through a flower field, smiling.
She wasn’t conscious of anything else since she was happy.
Seeing their faces made her smile, and she felt the warmest touch from her parents. It was a peaceful time that seemed to last forever.
It was at that moment that the world began to turn black. All the flowers withered, and the sun was covered with dark clouds. Thunder roared, and rain poured down terribly.
A huge giant appeared.
The pitch-black giant, which seemed more like a shadow, changed her family with its huge paws.
Her family tried to run, but they couldn’t.
“You need to live.”
First, her father let go of her hand and went to stop the giant.
“Father!!!”
Sarah didn’t want to let go of his hand, but her brother pulled her away.
“Jamie, take care of Sarah.”
And then it was their mother.
Sears blocked the giant and sent her two children away.
“MOM!!!!”
Sarah called her mother, but her brother pulled her away.
“Sarah, run with all your strength.”
And the last was her brother.
Jamie pushed her body up like a balloon in the sky.
“BROTHER!!!”
Her brother stopped the giant one last time. And now Sarah was alone as she punched the barrier, which didn’t seem to break.
Tears dripped down her face. Her nose was runny, and she could only anxiously call out to her family, who sacrificed themselves for her.
She hated the giant who destroyed her family.
She was enraged.
She hated the world.
How many sins did she have to commit for this life to be so cursed?
It wasn’t enough that her mother was now a widow, but she couldn’t even walk?
Why would her brother not visit her?
For what reason did her father give up his life?
“This is bad…! I am angry! What did I do wrong?!!! I just wanted happiness!!”
Sarah screamed her anger out until she could taste the blood in her throat.
In the world where everything vanished, Sarah was howling alone.
At that moment, she felt something warm touch her forehead. Warmth spread throughout her body in an instant, and began to gently soothe her body, which was filled with anger.
As her mind and body, which had been terribly hurt, gradually stabilized, Sarah felt an unbearable drowsiness.
She laid down inside the barrier that her brother had made for her with her eyes closed.
And when she woke up….
“Are you fine, Sarah?”
Count Welton was looking down at her with a worried face. His rough hand on her forehead gave her warmth.
Sarah spoke in a weeping voice to her father,
“This is why it is a trial.”
It was more painful because she was happy for a second. The terrible trial that ran through ‘her life.’
