Their little date ended then, and Lyle carried her back home in the afternoon, where Yurirl was waiting for her. The stoic youth stood outside the orphanage with an ironclad expression. As he spotted them, he remained in place until the two landed.
“Yurirl!” shouted Anna as she saw him and skipped toward his side. “You should have come with us; it was amazing! Lyle gave me the best birthday present ever! What are you doing here?”
“I was waiting for my time,” said Yurirl, showing a slight smile that he only gave to Anna. His eyes stared at her shiny blue hair as if he appreciated a painting. “We had the challenge to see who gives you the best gift.”
“Another challenge?” asked Anna with a frown before turning to Lyle. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
“I didn’t lie,” said Lyle with a shrug. “I said we’d give you our gifts at different times, which is the truth, right, Yurirl?” Lyle threw the matter over to the honest man, who nodded. Anna pouted, looking at Lyle and Yurirl with dissatisfaction.
“I wanted to spend this day with the two of you together, not separated,” said Anna while hugging the diary Lyle gave her. Then, hearing her, the two exchanged glances.
“How about we meet here again after it gets dark?” suggested Yurirl, and Lyle agreed. Hearing that, Anna beamed before leaving with Yurirl, and Lyle remained alone.
The rest of his memories were hazy because he never knew what Yurirl had given her. However, after she returned, her smile was from ear to ear. The three walked by the meadow as Lyle and Yurirl fought over who gave the best gift, and Anna followed them.
As the two talked, they suddenly noticed that Anna had stopped walking. Instead, she stood by the stream and gazed at the city lights reflected in them, her blue eyes glistering with tears.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“Did you fall again?”
The two rushed over with confusion, but the girl shook her head. She wiped away the tears before turning toward them with a sweet smile that turned into a grin.
“This has been the happiest day of my life, and I’m so glad I got to spend it with you. I forgive the both of you, so there is no need to hang out with me anymore.”
Lyle will remember her crying, smiling face until the end of his days. It was a bittersweet expression, as if she was her happiest and saddest, making the two unable to wrap their head around it.
“What are you talking about, Anna? There are still a few months until the year ends, and we made a promise,” said Lyle with confusion as he took a step forward. Anna took a step back while shaking her head. “Did we do something wrong?”
“There doesn’t have to be something wrong. I just realized there is no need anymore. So, please, forget about me, and thank you for the happiness you two gave me.”
Anna turned around and started leaving, but Lyle wanted to follow after her. Yurirl, however, held him back while staring at her back for a short while before shaking his head toward Lyle.
“There is something we don’t know about her,” said Yurirl, making the other boy confused. “It might be best to ask her father.”
Thus, the two visited Kain, who was at the orphanage with Zonas. After being interrogated by them, Kain was silent before crying again and telling them the truth.
Anna had a few months left to live, at best. It has been half a year since the doctor gave her an estimated year left. It wasn’t an illness, but merely her constitution being unfit for life. Thus, she wanted to experience things for the first time, so she befriended them.
“Then, she ended our friendship because she knew she would die?”
“It might be her way of making the subject less painful than it is,” Zonas Mantra sighed. “Even the best healers cannot do anything about a congenital condition.”
Yurirl and Lyle were silent as if a bomb had dropped on them. The sweet girl that the two of them cherished was given a death sentence from the day she was born, making them hate the cruel gods of fate.
The next day, Anna was walking in the meadow when Yurirl and Lyle joined her. The two didn’t say a word and simply kept her company. After all, what else could they do?
Lyle opened his eyes from the dream and found himself in the same dim-lit cave beside the old researcher. It took him a while to readjust to reality and the burning of his body.
“You are suffering from spiritual fever,” said the old researcher as he poured something into a vial. “Enlightenment has four stages: fever, hallucination, death, and rebirth. But, unfortunately, most men never overcome the fever and lose their minds.”
“I am losing mine too,” said Lyle while holding his head. It felt as if his blood was boiling. “What is happening to me? What kind of attack did he strike me with?”
“An attack that destroys the human soul and births it anew. This is quite rare because, after careful monitoring, I realized that the damage only affected the anger and resentment inside you.”
“And I have made those two my being, which made the attack fatal,” Lyle said. “I never thought I would fall here, cared for by a man I plan to kill.”
“Whatever you want to do to me is something I deserve,” said the scholar as he gave the vial to Lyle. “However, drink this if you want to live and deliver your revenge. It will strengthen your soul.”
“And how would that help?”
“An enlightenment is akin to soul death and rebirth, bringing higher emotions and states into place. This medicine, however, would strengthen the hate within you, giving your identity a fighting chance.”
“You want to strengthen my hatred?” asked Lyle before he burst out laughing. “You are a suicidal old man, huh? Letting me be reborn as a forgiving man would be wiser.”
“But that’s not who you are,” said the researcher as he grabbed Lyle’s hand and placed the vial in it. “You are the avenger who will kill all of us scum and behead the emperor. I want you to do it and ensure you’ll never forget.”
Lyle stared at him for a few seconds before shaking his hand away and gulping the potion down. It slid down his throat like ice, counteracting the fever and cooling him down. However, the fight between ice and fire brought immense pain to him, making Lyle screech.
“MMMMM!” screamed Lyle into the clothes with which the old researcher used to muffle his sound. After all, the two of them were still on the run from the border patrol. The pain made his voice hoarse, but it did nothing to lessen it.
Lyle dug his nails into the tree, carving the branches with his fingers. His consciousness started fading under extreme pain, but his artifact started ringing at that moment. The old researcher wanted to decline the call, but Lyle grabbed his arm.
“Give it… to me…” said Lyle with bloodshot eyes, and the old researcher was too scared to deny him. Thus, he answered the call, and the sound he missed came from the artifact.
“…who is it?” asked the voice, stoic and atonic. It made Lyle smile and even appreciate the lack of emotions in it.
“You are still the same heartless robot, Yurirl,” said Lyle with a grin as his face contorted in pain. “This is the first time we talk after that day.”
“…it is,” answered Yurirl. “Are you going to die?”
“I might,” said Lyle as he brought the artifact closer to his mouth. “I am still fighting, Yurirl. I never forgot.”
“I see.”
“Did you find the answer?”
“No.”
“Hah,” said Lyle as his other hand grabbed his chest in pain. “I might forget, Yurirl. I might forgive them for what they did and accept what happened.”
“…”
“If I forget, swordsman,” breathed in Lyle as his hands shook, “then kill me. Show no mercy, and kill me. Kill the man you find, regardless of what he says, if he forgets our promise. I will take revenge, and you will bring her back.”
“…I understand.”
“Thank you, Yurirl.”
After that, the call ended, and the old researcher took the artifact with a confused face. He hesitated before deciding to ask Lyle.
“He should have said more,” said the old man, but Lyle shook his head. “Are you satisfied with just that?”
“I am,” said Lyle with a smile as his arms fell to the side. “It means that bastard hasn’t changed one bit. He might be called the Righteous Hero by the world, but no one knows the truth except me.”
“What truth is that?” asked the old researcher, but Lyle could no longer answer him. His consciousness was fading again; this time, he might not wake up as Lyle Mantra.
