The tears flowed down her cheeks like the relentless rain that showed no sign of being just a passing shower.
"It's not a forever goodbye. Maybe, just like dad said, we can meet again after just 10 years."
But foolishly, tears fell.
I shouldn't cry like a child, I shouldn't throw a tantrum, but I couldn't help it.
Navia desperately prayed.
"Just one more day, can't we stay together just one more day?"
Just one more day. No more, no less. It seemed bearable that way.
...No, that's a lie. I couldn't bear it. I was not confident. This farewell was more painful than several deaths.
It was more painful than dying drowned, burned, or beaten.
More agonizing than freezing to death or being dissolved by poison.
I could now face death with composure. That was really nothing compared to this time of parting.
I'll just be a fool. A weak, silly child. If that would buy me one more day, I would gladly.
"Nyx!"
Navia called out to her god with a voice choked with tears.
"Just one more day... just one more. Can't I be with dad just one more day?"
It was a tiny, pleading voice. Like the faintly glowing embers amid the grey ashes about to die out.
Nyx remained silent.
'No, how can I leave the family I've found...'
I couldn't breathe easily. I might have died right then, drowned in sorrow.
"I'm scared... so scared..."
A suppressed voice trembled and leaked out.
What if this is the last time?
What if dad doesn't wake up, what will I do?
"I'm scared, dad."
Lark crumbled, embracing Navia tighter as his daughter, who had been saying she was okay and could wait, finally let out her true feelings.
"Navia..."
How could I leave you?
'I'm sorry.'
Too remorseful to say anything to his daughter who had to know such sorrow because of him.
He wanted to fall asleep without showing tears, to not let the child feel uneasy. That was his intention.
But tears flowed. They seemed like they would never stop.
Overwhelmed with guilt for causing such fear and sorrow in Navia, it was unbearable.
Lark tried to sound calm, despite his voice being drenched with tears.
"Let's definitely meet again in 10 years."
They embraced each other, crying ceaselessly.
Promising an uncertain future, they hung onto the hope they had been betrayed by so many times.
"No matter what, I'll definitely wake up."
So please, my god, grant me this one act of mercy.
So that this child won't be afraid because of me.
So that she won't be sad because of me...
Navia tried hard to stop her sobs and said,
"Promise me..."
Then, with trembling hands, she hooked her pinky with her dad's.
"You promised, so you have to wake up."
"I promise."
Eventually, they had to part.
Hoping this wasn't their last time, they made a promise with no fixed date.
As the tears finally started to subside, Navia managed a smile.
'You promised. So I have to believe and wait.'
Lark and Navia eventually sat back against the bed.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed. It was still a grey, rainy day outside.
'It must be around noon.'
- It's time to sleep now.
Navia greeted Lark with swollen, reddened eyes.
"Have sweet dreams, dad."
Lark's place to sleep was the divine realm.
It meant he was leaving the human world, even physically. So this bedroom would soon be empty and ownerless.
Lark kissed his daughter's forehead and said his last goodbye.
"I love you more than anything in the world."
My most precious daughter.
"I love you too…… I love you too."
A smile formed on Lark's lips as the warmth gradually faded.
The scent of winter drifted away.
Finally, Lark disappeared.
The smile she had been forcing quickly vanished. Soon after, her face crumpled, and she burst into tears.
"Hu-huuk, Dad……."
Navia clutched the blanket tightly. She needed to hold onto something, as she struggled not to scream.
Nyx slowly approached Navia and stroked her back.
- You did well, my child.
"Nyx……."
Navia embraced Nyx.
"Please, make dad get better soon. I'll do anything I can……."
- You've done your best.
Nyx comforted the child by patting her on the shoulder.
- You've done better than anyone, Navia.
It was time for Nyx to leave.
Her heart was incredibly heavy. Leaving such a small child alone was so hard……
- Stay strong. We will also do our best.
Navia nodded, continuing to express her gratitude.
- This child…….
She felt proud yet heartbroken.
It must have been unimaginably heart-wrenching for Lark to leave such a child behind.
- Goodbye.
Soon, the sparkling eyes of the stuffed rabbit turned into ordinary gems.
With everyone gone, Navia was left all alone in the vast bedroom.
"Sob..."
Navia collapsed right there.
'I'll only cry today.'
After today, I won't be this weak. I need to get a grip.
Like rain, tears continued to fall.
* * *
Creed, unbeknownst to others, was standing silently at the door of the bedroom Navia was left alone in.
It was the first time Creed saw Navia unable to overcome her devastating sorrow and crying endlessly.
He inadvertently touched his throat.
It felt as if someone was tightly twisting his windpipe.
But no one was strangling him.
Creed realized.
This is sorrow. Navia crying like this is making me this sad.
'...Then, noona must be even sadder.'
I feel suffocated, but what about my noona? ...What can I do to make her stop crying?
Dash!
Creed ran outside in a frenzy.
What should I do? What can I do to make noona stop crying? Creed recalled everything he knew.
Flowers that Navia liked, pretty-shaped pebbles that made her smile, tender leaves that she once casually brushed with her palm.
He gathered them indiscriminately.
Anything that Navia had smiled at, he collected.
Rain kept seeping into his eyes.
'It's annoying.'
No matter how many times he used magic to shake off the rain, it was futile; the rain was too heavy.
The spring rain was not kind at all. It chilled the skin and the cold seeped into the bones.
The blood in his body grew cold. His lips turned blue and trembled.
"Ah..."
His palm was cut by a thorn.
Red blood mixed with the relentless rain and flowed away.
It wasn't just his palm that was the problem.
His hands were battered from the dirt and leaves.
But that didn't matter. He was only worried that the things Navia loved would be tainted with his blood.
"Is this enough...?"
He muttered worriedly and cupped his shirt like a basket, filling it with everything precious and beautiful he had gathered.
'I have to give these to noona.'
So that she might smile, even for just a moment.
Then, I can gather beautiful things every day and make her smile once a day.
Just that made Creed feel the value of his existence.
Squish. Squish.
The sound of his wet footsteps echoed lonely in the 3rd-floor corridor.
Everyone was warned not to come today, so it was quiet.
Creed didn't hear that warning. Or rather, Lark had deliberately not told Creed. It was his arrangement.
"Noona."
With his pale, bloodless cheeks, he went into Lark's bedroom to find Navia.
Navia, burying her face where dad disappeared, was silently sobbing and shuddered.
Without showing her face, Navia hastily wiped her tears and forced a smile.
"Eh, Creed..."
The smile quickly faded.
"You, what happened to you!"
Navia, shocked, hurriedly got off the bed and rushed to Creed.
Creed, soaking wet and shivering, still smiled broadly.
"Look, noona."
He gently tugged at his shirt and said.
"These are the things you like."
A rose that bloomed early in the thorny bush.
The most red-ripened unripe cherry he must have carefully selected.
Pretty-shaped pebbles, a four-leaf clover he miraculously found.
"But it didn't snow, so I couldn't bring a snowman..."
Creed, shivering like this, apologized for not having a snowman with his hands in a mess.
"But don't cry, noona. I'll make a snowman when it snows."
His kindness choked me up. The tears, barely stopped, wet my cheeks again.
'What am I doing.'
Just telling her not to cry, not to be sad, he faced the cold rain and got hurt like this...
"You're hurt...!"
Navia eventually couldn't hold back and cried even more.
"No, noona..."
Creed was terribly confused.
What should I do in such a situation? Should I gather more beautiful things?
How can I make noona stop crying? Then Navia suddenly embraced Creed.
Whoosh!
All the beautiful things Creed had gathered fell to the floor and rolled around.
The coldness in his body was instantly replaced by Navia's warmth, along with the gentle energy of White Moon.
Creed's wounds healed instantly, and new flesh grew.
Navia, sobbing, said to Creed.
"Having you is enough, Creed."
Thump. Thump.
'Huh...?'
Creed opened his eyes wide.
'Why am I acting like this?'
He raised his hand to embrace Navia but hesitated, unable to go through with it.
Strangely, his hand trembled.
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