My Beloved Oppressor - Chapter 108

At the end of winter, the still cold air swept through the fallen leaves. Santa Molly Market was quieter than usual.

 

A man in a black coat was walking down a deserted street. The man, with his bowler hat pulled deep into his face, entered a small flower shop on the corner of the market.

 

“Welcome.”

 

The owner of the shop, who was tending to the stems, rose from his seat to welcome his first customer in a long time, but was momentarily startled when he saw who it was. He was a very large man with an intimidatingly large build.

 

Because of the small size of the shop, the man had to bend slightly. When the man looked around inside the shop, the owner gently asked him,

 

“Can I help you find what you are looking for?”

 

“I’d like to order a bouquet of flowers.”

 

“Of course. Is there a particular flower you would like?”

 

“Blue hydrangeas and stachys.”

 

“Oh, but the stachys are summer flowers—we have them as dried flowers, and they are very beautiful, too. Would you like to see them?”

 

The man nodded. The owner brought a bunch of stachys wrapped in paper from inside the store.

 

The bluish-purple petals were gorgeous despite the complete absence of freshness.

 

“Usually other flowers discolor or dull a little when dried, but the stachys keep their color. Even after a long time, they are as beautiful as ever.”

 

The owner’s calm explanation continued. The man looked at the stachys carefully, as if observing them.

 

“That’s why stachys also have the flower language of unchanging love.”

 

The man’s gaze never left the flowers. The owner smiled, guessing that he was about to present the flowers to his lover.

 

“Then can I get you this?”

 

***

 

Heiner climbed the hill with the bouquet of flowers. Beyond the low stone walls surrounding the road was a vast expanse of ocean.

 

The petals swayed in the cool sea breeze. He covered the bouquet in his chest with the hem of his coat, fearing that the petals might fall off.

 

Not long ago, Annette’s first song was completed. Although she had not yet officially announced it, she planned to submit it to a composition presentation for new composers.

 

That was the reason he bought the flowers. He wanted to congratulate her new path before the presentation day started.

 

Waves rolled in from afar.

 

Heiner imagined Annette walking down this hillside with a view of the horizon beyond. With her characteristic graceful but light steps.

 

Her golden hair fluttered in the sea breeze, her long eyelashes glistened in the sunlight, and her blue eyes contained the sea in them sank between her eyelids and reappeared.

 

The hem of her fluttering skirt wrapped around her legs as she climbed the path, white ankles exposed, low heels tapped the ground….

 

The series of scenes unfolded like a masterpiece in his mind.

 

Suddenly a strong wind blew.

 

She was climbing the hill and looked back.

 

Her blonde hair fluttered in the air. Annette stared at him breathlessly. Heiner looked up at the woman standing far above his eye level.

 

Whoosh, her image disappeared as if scattered by the wind that blew again. Heiner continued up the hill in pursuit of the vanished form.

 

A house with a sky-blue roof came into view in the immediate distance. His steps quickened slightly.

 

The house was directly connected to the door, unobstructed from the road. Heiner approached the door with the thought that a high fence should be put up around the house.

 

His heart beat like a colt running amok in his chest. Due to the constant strain on her body, he had to struggle not to crush the bouquet.

 

Heiner straightened as he stood in front of the door. After inspecting his clothesr for no apparent reason, he took off his hat and held it in his hand. A quivering breath dissipated from his mouth.

 

Just as he was about to knock on the door with the hand holding the hat.

 

“….”

 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, laughter was heard along with faint voices.

 

Heiner’s hand stopped. It was clearly the voice of a man and a woman. However, he could not distinguish whether the sound was coming from the right or the left.

 

After standing there for a moment, he cautiously removed his feet.

Heiner slowly followed the distant sound and stepped into the backyard of the house.

 

The voices got closer and closer. He approached, killing any signs of his presence. Dry grass trampled under his shoes.

 

The backyard scene that eventually emerged was of the man and the woman. In Heiner’s hazy eyes, the woman sitting on a white chair was the first thing he saw.

 

The woman, with a thick light brown cardigan covering her shoulders, hugged both legs. Her head, tilted at an angle, was turned to the side.

 

Heiner’s gaze shifted sideways along the woman’s head.

 

At the end of the sight was a man. The man with the tools was repairing the fence in the vegetable garden and talking to the woman constantly. Heiner recognized him.

 

Ryan Perom.

 

He was a sergeant of the 62nd Division of the Army who had met with Annette in the rear church building.

 

“Ahaha.”

 

Ryan said something and Annette covered her mouth and laughed out loud. The fresh laugh carried through the cold air to his ears.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Heiner groaned quietly.

 

They looked like …….. newlyweds who were starting a family together. It was an infinitely peaceful and happy scene. So close to perfect.

 

Heiner stared at the scene, feeling like an uninvited guest.

 

His feet could no longer move. He couldn’t say or do anything.

 

Actually, maybe,

 

Maybe, just maybe, he could move on like this.

 

If he gave her the bouquet, showed her his pain, showed her that he was broken again like this and so pitiful and miserable….

 

She might embrace him again. She might feel hurt seeing his wounds, just like she couldn’t bear to pass by the beggars on the street. Like that night when the moonlight enveloped them so beautifully.

 

But he could not do so.

 

Just as he could not hold her hand as she smiled dazzlingly on the beach at Glenford. Like he couldn’t force her to go back to the official residence.

 

He could not do so.

 

Just as he could no longer restrain her in the face of Annette’s thirst for death. Just as he had no choice but to let her go.

 

He could not do so.

 

He wanted her to laugh. He just wanted her to be happy so that she wouldn’t hurt anymore. In fact, it should be like that from the beginning.

 

So……………

 

He could not do so.

 

If he couldn’t bring back what he had ruined, at least he shouldn’t ruin what left of it anymore. Now that was all he had left to do.

 

Heiner backed away slowly. The sound of friendly conversation faded into the distance. The peaceful scene of the couple soon disappeared behind the wall. He turned fully away from the light blue roofed house.

 

Half a day of winter had almost passed, and it seemed as if spring would come.

 

Where someone had left, only a bouquet of flowers remained.

 

***

 

“Annette, it’s done. Would you like to come and check it out?”

 

“Wow, perfect, perfect.”

 

Ryan chuckled at her exclamation. Annette looked apologetic when she saw the sweat beading on his forehead.

 

“I can’t thank you enough. You have taken care of the inside of the house, and now this….”

 

“I’m more grateful to you for taking care of my nephew.”

 

Ryan’s teenage nephew decided to learn the trade for a month at a workshop in a market in Santa Molly, and decided to stay at Annette’s house for a while with her permission.

 

Ryan thanked her and helped her

with all the work of repairing the house and rearranging the furniture. Annette asked anxiously.

 

“You’re not late, are you? I heard you have to go in the evening.”

 

“Ha ha, no problem. I still have some time left.”

 

“Please go inside and have something to drink. You’ve been working hard.”

 

“Okay, then I’d like something cold, please.”

 

Ryan got up from his seat with his toolbox. Annette said she would hold it for him, but he would not budge, and a small tussle ensued all the way to the door.

 

“Huh?”

 

While arguing good-naturedly, they stopped when they saw a bouquet of flowers in front of the front door. It was a bouquet of woven hydrangeas and stachys. The blue petals were swaying gently.

 

“A bouquet of flowers?” Ryan joked.

 

“Someone with a crush on Annette must have secretly left them there. Ha, I don’t know who…….Annette?”

 

Annette, who was staring at the bouquet in a daze, suddenly turned around and ran out onto the street. Ryan didn’t have time to catch her.

 

Her low-heeled shoes followed the gentle descent. Her speed gradually increased. The sea breeze rushing in from the horizon ruffled her hair.

 

It was you.

 

Annette ran frantically down the hill. She was starting to run out of breath. The hem of her skirt wrapped around her legs and prevented her movement. Still, she kept running.

 

It was you.

 

When she was young, she wondered for a very long time. Who was it that left this bouquet by the window? Who listened to her performance like a thief and disappeared?

 

The bouquet, which was similar to the color of her eyes, was given by a gentleman who knew romance.

 

“I—I have been………. for a long time.”

 

“For a very long time —………….”

 

“I’ve been thinking about you for a long time.”

 

The waves crashed into the shore from afar. The deepest part of her chest was repeatedly pushed out with the current and back in place. She closed her eyes and opened them.

 

At the end of the hill, she could see his back.

 

His shoes tread along the path. Being an alert person, she thought he would notice her presence right away, but he simply walked forward.

 

Annette took a deep breath.

 

“Heiner!”

 

Then, between choking breaths, she exhaled his name. The wind that carried her voice trailed downhill.

 

The waves crashed once more.

 

The gentleman in the black coat looked back.

 

***