Chapter 67 – Much Hope Regained
Tiana flinched and tensed up at the onslaught of emotions. After she missed the opportunity to stop the horse by the reins, it ran wild and lost its balance as it tripped on a stone. A shock went through her body, jostling her enough to send her flying off of the horse.
Lennox watched helplessly as her body went limp after having fallen to the ground and hitting her head. She lost consciousness instantly. His last image of her was her on the ground with a bloodied head. After her accident, he quietly stayed in the annex at his father’s order of probation. What had suddenly happened that day made him feel frustrated, not knowing what to do. All through probation, the final image of his sister never left his mind.
It had already been two weeks. She hadn’t woken up once since the accident.
‘Is this my fault? It’s all my fault. It’s because of what I said.’
‘Be gone, never show your face again.’
As the younger brother, how could he say such a thing to his one and only sister? No matter how strange she’d become, he regretted talking to her like that. Would she ever forgive him? Lennox wanted to apologize, but something, along with her final image, weighed heavy on his mind.
A scornful look that seemed to say, ‘You’re nobody to me. You’re not my brother’
For two years, Lennox had ignored her as if she were a prisoner.
The strained relationship had become even more strained. It was unbelievable that they had now become strangers, with no way to rebuild their relationship. Because of that look in her eyes, Lennox hadn’t been able to grab the reins in time, and the guilt continued to press down on his chest. The last image of her bloodied and fainted and her scornful eyes glaring at him remained mixed up like an afterimage.
He would be able to leave in two months after the probation was lifted, but he couldn’t go see his sister right away. While pondering about the strange atmosphere in the family, Lennox received a call from Edwin to visit his office.
Edwin, looked at Lennox with a serious face, carefully continued.
“Prepare yourself properly if you’re about to go see Tiana.”
“Excuse me?”
“Our girl, she… still hasn’t gotten her memory back.”
“Father…”
Lennox was speechless at the shocking truth. How could she lose her memory again? It was a big accident, and she hadn’t woken for two weeks, so he thought there might be a problem, but this wasn’t what he had thought. He’d never thought this would happen again.
‘If she still isn’t herself then I’ll have to keep seeing that look in her eyes’
Fear overshadowed the hopes he had in an instant.
Edwin stared at Lennox who couldn’t speak and, with a grim look on his face, sighed deeply. It was already the second week since she lost her memory. That was enough to shock both of them. The accident had been unexpected, but Lennox was deeply involved. Had he, who had been with Tiana at that time, only grabbed the reins, the accident might not have happened somehow.
However, it wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t been able to stop it. Knowing that he had been ashamed at that time, he was not sure if he could have caught the reins and prevented the accident even if he had been by her side. It was because of Lennox’s unstable mind that the probation had been given to him. He had intentionally remained far away from his sister because he thought she would blame him more if he saw her condition.
It wasn’t easy for Edwin to conclude whether he had done a good job or not by ordering Lennox to stay away and clear up his complicated mind and control his heart. Fortunately, Tiana recovered safely after two months and was about to get married soon. So, he thought it would be okay to let Tiana meet her brother now, but was it too late?
When Edwin saw Lennox staring blankly in the distance, he tried to put him at ease.
“But she’s well and healthy, so you need not worry. She’s not the young girl you used to know.”
“What do you…”
“Not even I know how this will pan out… but she’s trying to get the old Tiana’s memories back, to be how she used to be.”
Lennox’s eyes widened in a curious mixture of shock, fear and hope.
“You mean…my Sis…really?”
Lennox, who felt the expectation that had worn off wiggle back to life again, placed a hand over his overwhelmed heart. It thumped wildly against his hand to let him know how excited he was right now. Edwin, who smiled faintly when he saw the incredulous smile on his face, spoke again.
“I wanted to make you meet her sooner, but I’ve been busy with some things. The wedding that was almost canceled will proceed smoothly now, thanks to Tiana, and the ceremony will be happening soon.”
“Oh, her marriage to the grand duke will finally take place. When is the ceremony?”
“One week from today.”
“So soon?”
“She has not fully recovered, but because of that important event, I didn’t let her know about you, out of fear of putting a burden on her. But I think it’s a little late. It would have been nice for you two to meet much earlier. I’m sorry about that.”
“There is no need to apologize.” Lennox shook his head at Edwin’s words. “It’s not like we don’t have time, just because she is moving doesn’t mean we wouldn’t see each other forever.”
There was still a week left in her wedding. And even after that, there were plenty of chances and times to visit his sister, if not every day. He had desperately waited for two years to have his sister back. He endured the impatience with the hope of seeing her again. He could surely endure the distance if he had her back in his life.
Edwin, watched life return to his eyes and nodded resolutely.
“Alright. Let’s take it slow, since there’s plenty of time ahead of us.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you thinking of going to see Tiana now? I think someone told me she’s in the garden, go take a look.”
“Thank you, sir.” He bowed and rushed out.
Edwin tried to hide it but couldn’t after seeing Lennox bolt out of the office, he gave a light smile and murmured to himself.
“That boy. He’d do anything for his sister.”
Since their childhood, they have had a good relationship. Though there wasn’t a huge age difference, Lennox followed his sister in everything she did and admired her very much.
I should have let them meet much sooner, Edwin thought.
Busy with this and that, he hadn’t had much time to focus on it. Therefore, he couldn’t shake the regret from his mind.
“Being a father… It’s tough. Just like the emperor used to say.” He spoke in a small voice, sighing deeply with a bitter feeling in his heart.
The late emperor’s resemblance, who used to grumble with a bitter smile that nothing went his way as a ‘father’, was especially visible around Edwin’s eyes today.