It Seems Like The Infamous Trash Can is Right Here! - Chapter 187
On the day he lost both his parents and was thoroughly betrayed by the relatives he had trusted, Luanax was left as nothing but a hollow shell. And Lionel stood at the edge of death.
He could only watch, helpless, paralyzed, as the murderers sneered that his death would be recorded as an “accident,” just like his father’s. Just like his mother’s. He closed his eyes.
Misery. Resentment. Rage. Resignation. Grief.
All those emotions began to drift away, like someone else’s memories fading in the distance, until death itself felt like something he could quietly accept.
And then, Lionel met Serenia.
‘No… please. Don’t die.’
Something wet struck his cheek, one drop, then another, enough to drag open heavy eyelids.
Through blurred vision, he saw the face of a stranger. A young girl, crying.
‘I’m sorry I was late…’
Sorry? For what?
Lionel knew well that there were many who should have apologized to him.
Many who should have knelt in guilt, but he knew that none of them would.
They would live on without a flicker of remorse, and his death would please them, rather than cause them grief.
So why was this girl crying? Why did she look so stricken, apologizing through her tears? He had thought there was no one left for him in this world.
He thought that he was truly, perfectly alone.
But she was crying, and he thought that she might cry harder if he died here. That was enough.
That was the moment Lionel decided to live.
From that day on, he stayed by her side. Sometimes as a friend, sometimes as an older brother. When she laughed, he laughed. When she rejoiced, so did he.
At their first meeting she’d cried so much he’d been frightened for her and yet she was a girl who smiled far more than she wept. Each time she smiled so radiantly, it felt as if the entire world brightened with her.
There were even moments Lionel forgot about his parents’ deaths, his enemies, his ruined house.
He wanted to live shamelessly happy, right there beside her, even if it meant staying in this wretched state where he possessed nothing of his own.
He loved her so deeply that this became his only wish.
And by some rare grace, she loved Lionel too. The face that had always been so guileless began, from time to time, to flush pink and before long, her gaze carried the same unspoken feeling as his own.
As the precious youngest daughter of the Solen family, she could have chosen anyone.
Lionel was hardly a suitable match, and yet Count Solen and Vaikal never opposed their bond.
He sometimes suspected their “sparring sessions” were merely excuses to torment him, but even that, Lionel welcomed because it meant they had accepted him as family.
Their hands had always been intertwined, swinging side by side, so he could not say when they had first held hands.
But he remembered the day they first kissed. How light it was, a brief brush that left them both embarrassed and trembling. How lovely she had looked, flustered and radiant all at once.
He had memorized it all. Her restless shifting, the quiver of her lashes, the strands of hair brushing her cheek. He wanted to remember every detail.
In truth, Lionel vividly remembered that moment for a very long time, recalling it often.
Even after Serenia was no longer by his side, when he could no longer look at her, or touch her, or hold her.
“Lionel…”
Serenia stirred faintly, then turned into his arms.
“When did you come?”
Her voice was drowsy, her eyes still closed.
“Just now. Not long ago.”
“Mm, I see…”
She murmured, stretching out the words. Then she wrinkled her nose, perhaps catching the scent of the world outside still clinging to him.
“I’m hungry.”
…Or perhaps not.
“You’ve been sleeping all this time? Without eating anything?”
“Yes…”
That explained the way her lips had moved in her sleep.
He wanted to stay like this a little longer, taking his time to hold her soft, warm body close and let time stand still. But she was hungry, and there was nothing he could do about that.
“It’s a little early, but we should have a proper lunch.”
She nodded at his words, shifting as though to rise from his arms. But of course, Lionel wasn’t about to let her go so easily.
“You still look sleepy. I’ll help you wash.”
