Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 157: Sherry’s Past (4)

Sebastian gently tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. His eyes, usually so full of gentle deference, now held an iron resolve.

"The point, my lady," he said, his voice firm but kind, "is that you are alive. Your parents fought for that. They accepted their fate so that you could escape it. For you to give up now would render their sacrifice meaningless."

He squeezed her shoulder gently. "As long as we live, there is hope. That is what your mother and father would have wished for you above all else. We must honor that wish."

He helped her to her feet. "We have to have faith, my lady. We are alive. That is the only victory that matters today."

After their exile, they started moving.

They walked for what felt like days. Their dark, formal attire, suited for the cool, shadowed halls of Nocturne, was heavy and impractical under the foreign sun. They finally stumbled upon a small town, but it was a place of quiet desperation.

The streets were dusty, the buildings weathered. Gaunt-faced townsfolk eyed them with suspicion. A long queue of people waited near a nearly dry well, arguing over the last dregs of muddy water.

Sebastian approached a baker’s stall. The baker was a thin, wiry man, his face grim. The few loaves of flat, hard-looking bread he had for sale were clearly precious.

"Sir," Sebastian said politely, holding out a gold coin. "We are weary travelers. May we purchase some food?"

The baker’s eyes widened at the sight of the gold, but his suspicion only deepened. He looked at their strange, dark clothes. "Outsiders," he spat, his voice a low growl. "Where did you come from?"

Before Sebastian could answer, a woman in the water queue pointed a trembling finger at them. "Dark Mages.....Them! It’s them! Strangers! They are the ones bringing us misfortune!"

A murmur of fear and anger rippled through the forming crowd. "What? Dark mages?" "They cursed our wells!" "Witches!" "The famine is their fault!"

The baker snatched a heavy rolling pin from his stall. "Get out of our town, you black-robed ghouls! Before we give you to the crows!"

They fled, the angry shouts of the starving townsfolk chasing them into the wilderness.

They found no welcome in the next city. The City Guard, their faces hard and unsympathetic, took one look at their foreign attire and lack of papers and arrested them on the spot.

"More mouths to feed," the guard captain sneered as he slammed the cell door shut. "And dark mages, by the look of you. Probably the cause of all our troubles."

They were thrown into a crowded, filthy cell. For weeks, they endured the taunts of the guards and the fear-filled glares of other prisoners. They were given the barest rations of stale bread and brackish water, their presence blamed for every misfortune that befell the city. Sherry grew weaker, the curse in her soul feeding on her despair.

One night, the prison erupted into chaos. A riot broke out, fueled by starvation and desperation. Prisoners overwhelmed the guards, smashing doors and setting fires. In the confusion, Sebastian saw his chance.

He broke their cell’s rusty lock with a well-aimed rock and dragged a weak, disoriented Sherry into the pandemonium. They slipped through the smoke-filled corridors and escaped into the night as the city burned behind them.

Their life became a desperate struggle for survival once more. Sebastian, ever resourceful, used his knowledge to forage for edible roots and hunt small game. Sherry grew weaker with each passing day. The curse was a constant, draining ache, a creeping frost on her soul.

There were nights she would wake up screaming from nightmares of her parents’ chained forms and the Emperor’s cold, purple eyes. Sebastian would hold her, murmuring stories of her childhood, of the home she would never see again, until she drifted back into a fitful sleep.

One evening, as she lay shivering by a small, pathetic fire, her breath shallow, she knew she was dying.

"Sebastian," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I’m sorry. I can’t... go on."

He cradled her in his arms, his own face a mask of grief. "No, my lady. Do not say that." He looked up, and through the trees, he saw a faint, distant glimmer of light. A village.

"Hold on, Lady Sherry," he begged, his voice cracking. "Just a little longer. There is hope."

With a final, desperate surge of strength, he lifted her frail body and began to run. He ran until his lungs burned and his legs gave out, collapsing at the gates of Elowen, his pleas for help the last act of his unwavering loyalty.

End of Flashback

After her story, Sherry fell silent. She kept flying, staring blankly at the distant Frostfang Mountains, but her eyes saw nothing but the ghosts of her past. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Riku watched her, his own heart heavy. He finally understood the depth of her pain, the source of her cynical shell.

"Sherry," he said softly, his voice full of an empathy she hadn’t heard from him before. "Why... why didn’t you tell me any of this?"

She turned to him, her face a mask of forced indifference, but her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "What was the point?" she asked, her voice brittle. "The Dark Emperor is a force of nature. His power is absolute. You don’t fight him. You just... survive him."

"My parents," she continued, her voice cracking, "they made their choices. They played a dangerous game and lost. I accepted that. I found a new life in Elowen. A quiet life. I wasn’t going to throw it away chasing ghosts or impossible revenge."

"It is over. I had made my peace with it."

She looked away, but not before he saw a single tear escape and trace a path down her cheek.

"Sherry, wait a minute."

"Huh?"

Sherry looked towards Riku, only to find him stationary. She stopped flying herself.

Quickly, Riku closed the small distance between them and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"You have suffered a lot."

"You’re not alone in this anymore, Sherry," he whispered into her hair, holding her firmly but gently. "You don’t have to carry this by yourself. We’re here. We’ll face whatever comes, together."

She flinched at the unexpected contact, her body rigid with surprise.

For a moment, she remained stiff. Then, the walls she had so carefully built around her heart for years finally crumbled. A choked sob escaped her, then another. She buried her face in his chest, her small fists clutching his robes, and wept. She cried for her parents, for Sebastian, for the home she had lost, and for the life that had been stolen from her.

"Waaaaa, Riku. I left my parents behind. They... they...Sob."

Riku just held her, patting her back as she vented all of her misgivings.

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