Chapter: 191
“Uh, Scarlet! What happened?!”
“Why are you crying all of a sudden…! What really happened?! I… Just calm down…!”
As soon as the closet door opened, Scarlet burst into tears.
Seeing her like this, Sylvia couldn’t hide her distress.
She couldn’t remember ever seeing Scarlet cry like that before.
So, she could guess something serious had happened to her.
Looking at how flustered Yoon Si-woo was, it was highly likely that this was related to something that had happened recently.
While she was making these assumptions, she saw Scarlet, frantically wiping her eyes as if confused about why she was crying, yet the tears just wouldn’t stop.
At this sight, Sylvia shook her head and decided to set aside any thoughts about what might have happened.
With Scarlet crying right in front of her, what really mattered was not why she was crying.
“…Scarlet.”
Thinking that she should calm her down, Sylvia called out to her, and Scarlet flinched and looked over.
Her eyes were full of fear.
It was like she was a hurt pet that would run away if someone stretched out a hand, but behind that terrified look, there was a desperate hope that someone would reach out to her.
So, Sylvia cautiously extended her hand towards the curled-up Scarlet and said,
“…I don’t know what happened to you, Scarlet, but we’ll help you. So please, don’t cry alone in such a tight space; come out.”
Even with the extended hand, Scarlet didn’t easily grasp it.
Seeing that, Sylvia let out a wry smile inside.
It seemed it was just her nature; she wasn’t one to easily accept help from others.
However, if she needed help, Sylvia would always reach out to her.
“You’ll be uncomfortable staying there. Come on.”
Thinking that, Sylvia reached out her hand to Scarlet, hoping she wouldn’t refuse her help.
Perhaps her sentiment reached Scarlet, as moments later, Sylvia felt her hand being grasped.
For Sylvia, that alone was incredibly heartwarming.
Where had that bold girl gone? The hand that held onto hers trembled weakly like a baby bird soaked in rain.
Feeling a surge of compassion, Sylvia gently embraced her, and without resistance, Scarlet buried her head in her embrace.
Sylvia slowly patted Scarlet’s back as she cried.
Then, it only made Scarlet sob even harder as if she had been holding it in until now.
As she watched Scarlet, who couldn’t easily stop crying, Sylvia even thought about casting a calming spell, but she figured it was best to wait until Scarlet’s emotions were released.
After a while, Scarlet finally stopped crying.
Seeing that she seemed a little calmer, Sylvia smirked and spoke up.
“Really… are you feeling a little better now? I was really surprised! I came to check on you because I heard you were hurt, but you weren’t in your room and found you in the closet. And then, as soon as I opened the closet door, you just burst out crying… This is the first time I’ve seen you cry so sadly, Scarlet.”
“…I was surprised too. Scarlet, if something happened, please tell me. I’ll do whatever it takes to solve it.”
“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
As she teased, Yoon Si-woo seemed to share the same sentiment and chimed in.
Fully agreeing with his words of solving whatever happened, Sylvia listened to Scarlet, but she still hesitated to speak.
Thinking that leaving her to herself would only make it harder for her to open up, Sylvia tried to change the atmosphere and shot a glare at Yoon Si-woo.
“Did something awful happen because of Yoon Si-woo? If so, I won’t forgive you.”
“Wha… what do you mean by awful! I would never do something like that to Scarlet!”
“It was just a joke. Regardless of anything, I believe Yoon Si-woo wouldn’t do anything like that to Scarlet. Although seeing you react so sensitively raises a bit of suspicion.”
Seeing Yoon Si-woo fidget at her playful jest, Sylvia couldn’t help but chuckle.
Though she expressed some suspicion, she could tell, just from the concern in his eyes for Scarlet, that she didn’t need to worry too much.
There were also parts that weren’t a joke.
If the reason for her crying was indeed Yoon Si-woo, she would find some way to bury him.
No matter how good his image was now, she knew the Astra’s influence could easily tarnish someone’s reputation.
So she threw him a warning look, hoping he would treat Scarlet well, then shifted her gaze back to Scarlet.
“So, Scarlet, can you tell us why you were crying like that?”
With that, she asked.
She thought it would be better to hear whatever had happened after all.
Depending on the case, it might require her to step in and help.
Scarlet took a long time to hesitate before muttering one word.
“…I almost made a huge mistake. And because of that guilt, I started hating myself for almost doing it…”
Sylvia could only tilt her head at her words.
So the reason she was crying was not because she made a mistake but because of guilt for nearly making one?
While it must have been serious for her, Sylvia couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
What an adorable creature she was.
If people suffered because they almost made a mistake like that, then someone like her wouldn’t even be able to live due to guilt.
“Wait a minute. You mean to say you were crying over something you almost did and not actually done? Oh my, how can a person be this kind… It’s okay, Scarlet. Anyone can make mistakes. You really don’t need to feel guilty even for something you didn’t actually do.”
While trying to soothe her, Sylvia naturally also thought that the mistake Scarlet nearly made was not that serious.
Being such a good girl, she probably wasn’t trying to do anything really bad.
So, hoping to lighten the mood, she joked.
“It can’t be that you almost killed someone or something like that, right…?”
But as she spoke, she couldn’t help but notice how dramatically pale Scarlet’s face became.
It was undeniable; she had just poked at a wound Scarlet was hiding.
“…Scarlet, did that really happen?”
Seeing her self-blame reflected in her downcast face, Sylvia understood that this was indeed the story she had struggled to share, but she had to ask.
Murder, even an attempted one, was a serious crime that couldn’t be brushed aside.
She felt she needed to know more to understand how to proceed, even if it meant making her uncomfortable.
When she spoke, Scarlet hesitated for a moment and then began to speak in a tragic voice.
What she disclosed was, without exception, shocking.
She had been hunting demonic beasts to replenish miasma, and when she almost got caught, she attempted to kill Jesse, a classmate, to destroy the evidence.
It was a shocking story.
But what shocked Sylvia most was what Scarlet had said.
“I’ve become a monster that could snap and do such things at any moment. If I screw up, I might burn my precious people with my own hands…”
Finally, Sylvia understood what Scarlet had been so afraid of.
Now she understood why she had cried so sorrowfully.
What she feared was herself.
The existence of herself as a monster that could harm those around her was what made her so loathsome and frightening.
To deny one’s own existence like that, how sad and painful must that be?
Just imagining it felt suffocating, and as she grasped Scarlet’s pain, it only hurt her more.
The sins of Astra had created a being that could only hate herself.
Because of the crimes they committed, she couldn’t help but reject her own existence.
In that case, how could she atone for it, even a little?
Sylvia contemplated this briefly.
Then she recognized what needed to be done and turned her eyes back to Scarlet.
The gaze filled with self-hatred and negation was now upon her.
Despite the struggle of feeling like she was blaming herself for what had been done to her, Sylvia swallowed hard and spoke.
There were words she needed to say.
“…It’s okay.”
Upon saying that, she saw Scarlet looking dazed, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
Watching her, Sylvia continued thinking.
“…You didn’t actually do anything wrong, Scarlet. You’re not a monster. So, it’s okay.”
Even if she denies her own existence, Sylvia promised that she would at least affirm her existence.
That was the role Astra needed to fulfill.
Sylvia hugged her tightly as she was in pain.
Then Scarlet let out a sound as if she was holding something back and eventually burst into sobs in her embrace.
Because she had to hate herself, her desperate wish for someone to tell her it was okay was all the more intense.
It’s okay.
Scarlet, you did nothing wrong.
If there is a mistake, it belongs to Astra.
So don’t suffer.
All mistakes and all pains.
Astra would bear it all.
Hugging the tearful Scarlet, Sylvia secretly recited that in her heart.
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