Chapter 66: Selena Marlion Final Part
They ran.
Ivan's long legs ate up the ground, and Francesca tried her absolute best to keep up, her cane thumping frantically against the gravel path. But she was too slow. She was always too slow.
“Ivan-!” Francesca called out, her voice raspy from sheer exhaustion.
“Just a little further!” he shouted back, not slowing his pace. “Come on, Francesca!”
Her weak leg suddenly gave out entirely. She stumbled forward, barely catching herself against a stone wall as her breath came in ragged, painful gasps.
“Go...” she gasped, clutching her chest. “Go on without me!”
Ivan skidded to a halt. He looked back at her, then up the winding path toward the eastern garden, and then back at her again.
For one terrible, terrifying moment, she genuinely thought he would leave her behind.
Then, Ivan turned right around. “I can't,” he said, his voice breaking with desperation. “I can't leave you here!”
Swooping down, he swept her up into his arms, cradling her tightly against his chest, and sprinted forward.
“Ivan, no...!”
“Shut up!” he yelled, his lungs burning with sharp gasps. “Just... just let me do this!”
They finally reached the eastern garden. The Silver Flowers were blooming by the thousands, glowing softly like fallen moonlight across the dark soil.
Ivan fell to his knees in the dirt, still holding her close, and both of them reached out with trembling hands to gather as many blooms as they could hold.
They were breathtaking, exactly as Selena had always imagined. Without wasting a single second, Ivan, still tightly cradling Francesca in one arm and the gathered flowers in the other, pushed himself back up and sprinted all the way back toward the estate.
Huff... Huff...
Breathing heavily, Ivan used every last ounce of his strength to run while his mind raced frantically. I know this is way too slow... carrying Francesca... but I just can’t leave my sister alone out there to get bullied by the staff or our eldest brother...
When they finally arrived outside Selena's quarters, Ivan stood frozen, his arms trembling violently from sheer exhaustion. Francesca slid down from his hold, her feet touching the stone floor just as they looked up to see Lady Marlion standing in the open doorway.
Her face was ghost-pale, her dark hair disheveled, and the front of her dress was heavily stained with fallen tears.
“She... she asked for the two of you,” Lady Marlion said, her voice hollow and broken. “She asked if you were coming back...”
The Silver Flowers slipped right out of Francesca’s hands. They scattered across the floorboards like fallen stars.
“No...” Ivan whispered, his voice rising in panic. “No. We weren't gone that long! We-!”
He shoved past Lady Marlion and burst into the bedroom.
Selena lay completely still on the bed. Her dark hair was spread neatly across the white pillow, her eyes softly closed. She looked profoundly peaceful, as if she were simply resting after a long day.
The only thing missing was her vibrant smile.
Ivan stood frozen in the middle of the room. His hands were still trembling violently from carrying Francesca all that way. His chest heaved up and down in desperate gasps. He opened his mouth to call her name, but no sound came out.
Francesca collapsed heavily against the doorframe, her wooden cane clattering uselessly to the floor.
“Selena...” she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. “Selena, we're so sorry... We're so, so sorry... We..!”
She couldn't finish her sentence. She couldn't even draw a full breath.
Ivan didn't say a single word. He simply stood there in dead silence, staring down at Selena's still face, his expression completely blank.
Knock... Knock...
On the fourth day following Selena’s death, Francesca knocked softly on Ivan’s bedroom door.
When he finally pulled it open, his eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, his face ghost-pale. He stared down at her as if she were a complete stranger.
“What do you want?” he asked in a cold, exhausted voice.
Swallowing a heavy lump of sorrow in her throat, Francesca replied quietly, “I... I... the funeral is about to begin. Please, at least come down for it. You've been locked in your room ever since...”
“What difference does it make?” he sneered with a bitter scoff. “I never even got to say a proper goodbye to her anyway.”
Clenching his trembling hands into tight fists, his voice cracked with raw, sudden venom. “I... I couldn’t even show her a single stupid silver flower before she... before she...!”
He glared down at her with pure resentment.
“It should have been you,” he said, the words cutting straight into her heart. “If I hadn't stopped to carry you on that path, I would have made it back in time.”
Francesca felt the air completely leave her lungs. “Ivan-”
“They were right about you, Francesca,” he cut her off ruthlessly, his eyes burning. “You are nothing but a crippled curse who exists only to make everyone around you completely miserable. Get lost...”
He turned on his heel and slammed the door violently in her face. A loud thud resounded from inside as if he had collapsed against the floor, but Francesca was far too broken and shaken to even register it.
She simply stood frozen in the cold hallway, staring blankly at the wooden door as the howling wind outside roared through her silver hair.