The Gap Between You and Me - Chapter 79

Time passed. When the sun rises and morning comes, after a while the moon rises and night comes. For some, the days seemed as short as a fleeting moment, but for others, those days felt like an eternity.

Herietta suffered a lot for a very long time due to mental stress. She suffered from the same nightmare every night, and sometimes ran rampant, unable to distinguish between reality and dreams. She also often made a fuss, often wept bitterly and fainted at the smallest things.

Herietta stared blankly out of the window all day long. A skinny body with two hazy eyes, a bluish complexion. She was breathing, but she was more like a dead person than a living one.

The doctor saw her and described her as a flower wilting, and said that no potion in the world would be able to save her.

And Jonathan asks, ‘Why do you have to pay so much attention to her when she’s only a sinner guilty of lying to Velicia?’

Everyone gave a pessimistic answer, saying that she would eventually collapse. Herietta herself acted as if she had let go of her will to her own life.

Still, Bernard did not make a hasty decision. He just kept his silence. Bernard didn’t even know who he was doing this for.

Those were the days when everything seemed to slowly sink. A sudden turning point came to his life, which seemed like an endless downhill road.

After a day’s work, Bernard, as usual, stopped by Herietta’s room to check on her condition. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. There was nothing strange about it, as she had been quiet and helpless.

He carefully opened the door and stepped in, finding the bed Herietta was supposed to be lying on empty. Besides, the air in the room was much cooler than in the hallway. He was startled as he glanced at the window, perhaps the maid had accidentally left it open.

A figure was sitting on the wide open window sill. She had both legs out the window. It looked like she was going to jump forward.

“…… What are you doing there now?”

Bernard asked. His heart raced with the fear that if he made a mistake, something irreversible could happen right in front of his eyes. Herietta slowly turned her head to look at him. Blurry eyes. Closed lips. Emotionless doll-like face met him.

“There must be many ways to get some night air without having to sit in such a place.”

“…….”

“That’s enough for now, so let’s get down. If you accidentally fall, it will be quite painful.”

Bernard knew well why Herietta was sitting on the window sill, but he deliberately acted like he didn’t know. Her eyes narrowed a little at his pointless remarks that didn’t fit the situation. He didn’t even know why he was behaving like that either.

“But just in case, I’ll go to you. Don’t be hasty and stay still.”

Bernard warned her as he walked very carefully towards Herietta. Then she leaned her torso forward, tightening her hands on the window sill. Her thin body staggered precariously. If she lowered her upper body a little more, she would dive forward.

When the situation deteriorated sharply, Bernard had to stop. No matter how swiftly he moved, she would fall onto the ground first before he could reach her. He put both hands in front of his chest.

“Stop. I get it. I won’t move a single step until you say yes, so don’t try to do anything reckless.”

Seeing his gesture of surrender, Herietta stopped tilting her body. But she had only released the strength temporarily on her arm, and she still seemed unwilling to come down from the window sill.

After confirming that Bernard had come to a complete stop, Herietta turned her head again and looked up at the night sky. Every time she exhaled, white breath spurted between her tiny lips, and her long hair fluttered freely with every gust of wind.

Watching her, Bernard held his breath unknowingly. It was a brief moment, but Herietta’s appearance in the moonlight looked like a painting. The figure of a woman who had lost her enthusiasm and purpose for life looked so dry and pitiful that words could not describe it.

Such a creepy yet captivating atmosphere.

Bernard opened his mouth slowly.

“Herietta Mackenzie.”

“!”

“I feel sorry for what happened to the Mackenzie people, to your family.”

Herietta responded to Bernard’s words first. She looked only at the distant emptiness, then turned her head to look at him. The lifeless face stiffened in an instant. Two puffy eyes. Lips tightly shut.

“How did you get that name…… ?”

Herietta asked with a trembling voice. She looked suspiciously at him, wondering if she had heard him wrong.

Bernard thought it was a good sign that she reacted to what he said. He spoke calmly.

“No matter what I say now, it will not comfort you. Because only you can understand the magnitude of the sadness you are going through.”

“…….”

“But just for a moment, think rationally. If you threw yourself out the window like this, what would you gain? Just because you die doesn’t mean the dead will come back alive.”

“You know nothing. Nothing…….”

Herietta glared at Bernard and replied coldly. Her mouth was dry and a hoarse voice came out.

“Tell me. Why the hell do I have to live?”

Herietta asked.

“People I love have died. Because of me, not for any other reason. Yet, did you think that I would be able to live in this world casually? You thought I would be able to live so shamelessly, as if nothing had happened, with the weight of their death on my back.”

“Did they die because of you? Why? Did you stick a knife in their back? Or did you hand them a poisoned chalice?”

Bernard raised an eyebrow in response. Herietta opened her mouth with a rage at the very direct question. But she couldn’t think of anything to refute, and she ended up saying nothing.

Of course, she didn’t put a knife on their backs. She never handed them a poisoned chalice. If it was to be taken seriously, it was probably because she brought the wrong relationship into their lives.

She mumbled several times, but in the end she shut her mouth without uttering a word. Then Bernard made an expression for her to realize.

“It was an accident that they died, and it was their choice. Herietta, it’s not because of you.”

“…… no. It was never an accident.”

Herietta, who muttered softly, grinded her teeth.

“Everything was planned in advance. No doubt.”

“What do you mean? Planned in advance?”

Bernard asked, narrowing his brow.

“Then you mean they were killed by someone?”

“…….”

As Bernard asked again, Herietta shut her mouth again and remained silent. Although she did not answer him, her eyes gleamed with intense anger. He knew without even having to listen. She was now burning silently.

Bernard’s eyes narrowed.

Come to think of it, he remembered that when Herietta had a high fever, she said something similar to that.

“If what you say is true, I can’t understand your decision even more.”

Bernard crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.

“If there is someone behind your family’s death, and you know who it is, why would you throw your life away so easily?”

“That …… What do you mean?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t try to die in vain like this. Rather, I will do whatever it takes to survive and take revenge on them.”

Bernard replied. Unwavering eyes. A voice without hesitation. Dignified attitude.

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