Chapter 158- Transformation (Part 1)
Emilia rubbed her face as the thought kept twisting and turning inside her head, not intending to leave any time soon. She just found it quite fitting for the hypothetical situation she created.
If her sister truly allowed the demons to control her, then the most simple question to be asked is: Why? Why did she do that?
Thinking about it, there were only two possibilities here. The first one is that Somi was defeated in the fight and could only succumb to the control of the demons. However, Emilia quickly erased that thought from her head, there is simply no way her sister would be defeated by mere demons. Even if she was aware that she was clearly biased here, she didn't care. Emilia had a firm belief that Somi was the strongest person she had ever met in her life.
Her power was crushing, dominating, and highly offense-based. It was a known fact that if Somi went into the attack, no defense can stop her no matter how strong it was.
The second possibility and the one Emilia believed was the more likely case and also the most irritating one is that one or multiple members of the expedition were taken hostages and were threatened to be killed which ended up making Somi give up.
'That could be possible.' Frowning, Emilia thought to herself.
If that was indeed the case then that explains why everyone died except for Letum. It was possible that he found a way to escape or in this case, the other members created an opening for him to run away.
'Is that why he is hiding the truth from me? Because of shame?'
Sighing, she adjusted the glasses on her face and decided to not overthink this matter any further than this. All of this matter was purely a hypothesis-based idea that she came up with that had no bases of truth that she could stand on. That could potentially create huge misunderstandings that Emilia would be totally fine without.
"Sigh, well, it is what it is." Looking down, Emilia saw how agitated Sorophi was because of what she saw. Her small silhouette was shaking visibly and her emotionless eyes were widened to the extreme as if she simply couldn't absorb what she saw.
'For a child like her to see her mother die in front of her and kill her father in the process.' Biting the edges of her lips, Emilia felt her heartache with great pain seeing her niece, the one that her sister cherished greatly look so traumatized and hopeless.
'Even though I promised her that I will take care of Sorophi… I didn't fulfill my promise.'
All these years, Emilia was living in pure sadness and hatred. Her mind was only filled with knowing the truth and nothing else. The grief she went through made her forget her most important duty and which is to take care of the last person that can make her remember her sister.
Yet, because of her stupidity, she abandoned that child and left her to live with the deep scar of a lifetime. Seeing her niece in this state now had opened her mind to the great mistake she committed. She had not lived up to her sister's request.
'I'm a shitty person…' Without sensing it, tears welled up in her eyes and her face contorted visibly.
Then, she bent down and with a hesitant hand, she extended her palm to Sorophi's face.
"I'm sorry…" She murmured.
Her voice wasn't the same confident, strong voice that Rin was accustomed to. Now, it sounded weak, wavering yet also carrying a huge burden on top of it.
"I'm genuinely sorry, Sorophi…" She said again as she rubbed her face ever-so-gently.
The latter didn't react at first but when she felt Emilia's touch, she looked up slowly and hesitantly.
"I didn't understand what you went through… I was… Blinded by anger and frustration. I was occupied by these thoughts and never looked at what matters the most…"
Her hands slid down to her shoulders as she squeezed them lightly and continued.
"I haven't really cared about you for the longest time. I can't imagine the pain you lived through. You had to deal with all of this alone. I… have no right of facing you."
Tears dripped down Emilia's cheeks as she looked down. The shame that broke through her heart like a huge wave filled her mind and drowned her soul.
Waiting for a few seconds in pure silence, Emilia sighed and was ready to lift her hand up and pull away from Sorophi. She assumed that her apology wasn't accepted and that she had already exceeded the forgivable threshold.
'I was too late…' Closing her eyes to try and stop the tears, she moved her hand.
However, before she could do so, two hands grabbed her arm tightly making her flinch and look up surprised. There, Sorophi was looking at her, tears still welling up in her eyes.
'her hands… they are shaking.' Emilia felt the subtle movement when she touched her.
"I… don't hate Emi… Emi is a nice person. I like Emi. Emi doesn't need to apologize. I know that Emi also feels sad about mother's death. I understand that Emi is sad too." She said.
"..." Emilia's eyes widened in shock at her words. Her mouth opened and closed trying to say something but could only end up silent again and again.
"Mother's death is something I want to know too. Emi doesn't need to feel scared. You have helped Sorophi grow up. You took care of Sorophi when she was sick. You read Sorophi stories when she's about to fall asleep. You have given Sorophi your time and effort when she still can't rely on herself."
Each word was like a shock to Emilia's heart. Her mind was in shambles and her heartrate increased to an unimaginable amount.
"Sorophi is grateful for Emi. Sor- No, I am deeply grateful for you. I don't know what could've happened to me if I didn't have you as the mother that I lost."
Then, Sorophi's hands moved toward Emilia's back before she hugged her tightly and buried her face in her chest.
"So…rophi?" Emilia uttered as she looked down.
In all these years, this was the first time she was hugged by Sorophi like this. No, in fact, everything that happened today was a first for her.
Emilia knew that Sorophi was an odd child, a person that can't be evaluated by normal standards. So, when she saw that she didn't express emotion at all, she thought that it was merely her personality. But, she couldn't be any farther from wrong. It wasn't something inherited by Sorophi but something she created herself to be able to cope with her trauma.
Yet, now, here she is, hugging Emilia and telling her that she doesn't hate her and that she has always been grateful for her. What bigger of a shock could Emilia get?
"I-I'm genuinely sorry… Sorophi."
Finally, giving up all resistance, she hugged her back tightly.
"I promise I won't do such a mistake ever again. I understand now. Somi relied on me to be there when she can't. I will definitely make it right now."
"Mmm… I understand… Emi is truly… a nice person." Sorophi murmured as a small smile bloomed on her adorable face.
The two sat down there for a long time hugging, not saying anything. As for Rin and Elise, the two merely smiled lightly at the beautiful moment and didn't try to say anything to ruin it.
'For such a bad situation to have a wholesome moment like this. Maybe fate ain't bad all the time.' He could only think so.
[Fate isn't always bad, host.]
'Hm? What do you mean?' Rin asked, clearly surprised by the sudden message from the system.
[Fate is not something that can be controlled. It moves in organized chaos. Something that is messy and in order at the same time. That's why you might find good in the bad and bad in the good. It's all meant to be like that.]
'That's… well, it's understandable. But, since when did you become a profound speaker, system?'
[I have always been that, host.]
'Yeah sure. I believe you.' Rolling his eyes, Rin didn't try to speak about the matter any further and merely looked at the window. The sun was nearing its horizon, ready to vanish and the last few strands of golden light were slowly disappearing.
'This matter… It's going to end up in our hands, huh. That guy… his name was Letum, right? Well, I have no choice but to meet him. I must get the truth no matter what and he is the only one that has it in this world.'
For a moment, Rin's eyes turned sharp as he set his goal on something. For him to be able to meet someone like Letum, he needed to do one thing… to become a top 10 ranker.
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