Chapter 286: Reiner – Is Someone There?
“Is something the matter, Miss?” Laura asked.
“No...the cake tastes ok...” I replied before I turned to where I thought she was standing and smiled a little at her.
“Should I continue to serve these for other days as well then?” Laura asked and I could hear the hope and joy in her voice.
“...Yes. Thank you, Laura,” I replied, trying to make my voice sound warm.
In the end, I noticed that Laura never got around to telling me where she got the cake from. However, that didn’t matter anymore...
...
That night, I couldn’t sleep at all and whenever I drifted off into sleep, I would dream. The dream was one that I’ve had countless times before since Reiner left the mansion. I was somewhere that I didn’t know, and the sun was setting. Everything around me was dyed in a warm orange light from the setting sun. In my dream, I would feel like I was desperately searching for him.
Then, I would catch a glimpse of his back but when I followed him, he would get further and further away. No matter what I did or how fast I ran, I couldn’t catch up to him. I called out his name, but he didn’t hear me and not once did he ever turn around. The dream always ended the same way with him finally disappearing from my sight completely. I have lost him.
I wouldn’t call it a straight-out nightmare, but it clearly wasn’t a pleasant dream for me to be having on repeat. As time went by, that dream appeared less and less frequently so it came as a bit of a surprise for me to have that dream now. Perhaps the cake and its familiar taste triggered some more memories that I shared with Reiner and caused me to dream that dream.