~Special Side Story 10~
Khalid frowned and looked straight ahead. Far away, he could see the twins playing happily with Mother.
“Maybe.”
“……”
“To be exact… parents? Guardians? Something like that. I think I don’t want to become that kind of person.”
Just as expected.
“Why?”
“People usually give back only as much as they received. I…”
His voice sank low.
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“……”
“You need to know how to do it first. Even now, I don’t know how to treat children. All I know is hitting and shouting. What if that kind of behavior comes out without me realizing it?”
“……”
“I never even dreamed of having a family in the first place…”
He glanced at me and bit his lip.
“So.”
His quiet voice drifted with the wind.
“You should think carefully again too. About marrying that guy—no, marrying me.”
“……”
“That might be more unhappy than you think—wait, are you crying?!”
Khalid looked at me with a completely panicked face. He didn’t know what to do, stumbling around, yet he couldn’t even bring himself to touch my face.
I roughly wiped away my tears.
‘So this is it.’
Your fear.
Khalid had no home.
His parents abandoned him in a place no better than a garbage dump when he was still a child.
Because of that, Khalid grew up suffering all kinds of verbal abuse and violence in a mercenary group.
With not a single adult to protect him.
‘Maybe Khalid always thought of parents, of guardians… as something negative.’
And when he realized he might become that kind of parent himself, rejection rose up suddenly.
Thinking about it…
Even as a child, Khalid was mature and didn’t trust people easily. He never let anyone cross his boundaries.
Even when his memories of his past life were sealed as the price of soul work—and when he didn’t remember the abuse he suffered in the mercenary group—he was still like that.
‘Now that he remembers everything from his childhood… maybe this reaction is finally coming.’
Some wounds stay hidden for a long time before they are discovered.
‘But actually…’
I thought it was a good thing.
Because I finally felt like I was seeing Khalid’s weak heart, the one hidden deep inside a cave.
His anxiety about relationships, and his deep self-hatred.
“Why… why are you still crying? Did I say something wrong? Do you want to hit me? If that helps you feel better—”
He was completely at a loss.
“I need to know why you’re crying so I can—damn it, what is someone supposed to do at times like this…”
I rubbed my face hard and grabbed Khalid’s hand tightly.
“Khalid! Let’s go!”
“……Where?”
“Just follow me!”
He opened his eyes wide in surprise.
From far away, Mother seemed to be looking at us with a puzzled expression, but I didn’t care.
“Sorry, but I’m borrowing this!”
“……Ah.”
I pulled his mana sharply.
Soon, a large magic circle formed beneath our feet.
The two of us teleported to a vast field.
“……?”
It was so beautiful it made his eyes widen.
A gentle wind blew softly, birds chirped as they flew through the sky.
From neatly trimmed trees, curious squirrels peeked out, watching the visitors.
Far away, against a sky dotted with small clouds, a little hill could be seen.
On top of it stood a single, picture-perfect mansion. If you followed the small path where wildflowers swayed, you could reach it easily.
But that wasn’t all.
“Why are there… so many flowers?”
Yes. The entire field was filled with countless flowers, like a sea.
It felt like stepping into some kind of land of flowers.
“You gave this to me.”
“……?”
“You said rings have a fixed size, so if you couldn’t give something bigger, you wanted to give the biggest bouquet in the world instead.”
“……?”
“For the proposal!”
Khalid slowly blinked.
The thick scent of flowers made his head feel dizzy.
Surrounded by thousands of flowers, Ruby stood there, smiling more warmly than sunlight.
‘Ah…’
He swallowed a groan.
The headache that had started again was tormenting him.
In truth, ever since Ruby cried earlier, he had wanted to regain his memories.
Because then she would be happy and stop crying immediately.
The headache grew worse.
The heavy fragrance kept stirring something deep inside him.
Suddenly, a scene flashed through his mind.
“What is it, Khalid?”
“Um… the proposal. I was curious how you did it.”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t really have anyone else to ask…”
Leviathan had laughed, ruffling Khalid’s hair like when he was young.
“I gave her a ring and a bouquet.”
“A ring… and a bouquet.”
“You look clueless. Yeah, I struggled too.”
“……”
“Listen, Khalid. It has to be big and bold. No matter what, bigger is better.”
His head throbbed.
The image of the man speaking proudly crossed his mind.
‘A ring and a bouquet…’
There was a limit to how big a ring could be. So he wanted to make the bouquet as big as possible.
‘So that’s why… I think I bought this land…’
“Who makes a proposal bouquet by buying land?”
“You said bigger is better.”
“I meant the ring, the ring.”
“……? I already bought the biggest and most expensive ring, of course.”
“……”
“Ruby can’t walk around wearing something as big as my face. So at least the bouquet should be like this, right?”
“You’re really something else.”
He remembered Leviathan clicking his tongue, saying he had given a rose garden, but never imagined someone would gift land just for a proposal.
It was only a fragment of a memory.
Just then—
Without knowing what Khalid was remembering, Ruby suddenly pulled the ring from his hand.
“……What are you—”
Then she took off her own ring as well.
That alone made Khalid feel desperate.
But only for a moment.
Ruby placed the ring back onto his finger.
“Khalid, marry me.”
“……”
“I love you even without your memories. I love all of you! So marry me. I’ll live with you forever. I’ll stay right by your side. No matter what happens!”
Her blue eyes stared straight at Khalid without even a hint of doubt.
“You said you don’t remember, so I’m proposing again, okay? I’m a little embarrassed that the ring and place are reused, but…”
Ruby suddenly shouted.
“Answer me!”
“……O-okay.”
He answered without thinking.
There was no way he could dislike it.
You were the most precious thing he had.
He was just afraid he might make you unhappy. Afraid he might disappoint you.
But Ruby didn’t look satisfied with his answer.
“Are you really happy?”
“……”
“I really, really like you. I like you so much! You’re my favorite in the whole world! I like you enough to give you everything I have—”
“Stop.”
Khalid covered Ruby’s mouth, his ears burning red.
His hand trembled slightly and couldn’t even press down firmly.
“I get it…”
“Even if you disappoint me, even if you make me a little sad, I’ll keep loving you.”
“……”
For a moment, he wondered if she had read his thoughts.
She smiled softly.
“Of course, that won’t happen.”
Ruby looked around.
“Look. I love you this much, and even I never imagined a proposal like this.”
“……”
“But you did it. And after all this, you’re still sad you couldn’t put all your feelings into it.”
“……”
“Do you still think you’re someone who can’t return love?”
He blinked blankly.
“Don’t you get it yet? You’re the best boyfriend to me!”
She clung tightly to Khalid’s arm.
“And you’ll be the best husband, and my family!”
There was not a single doubt in her eyes. Moisture gathered in her blue gaze.
“So… don’t hate yourself. You’re not lacking or broken, Khalid.”
Khalid blinked slowly.
Was that so?
‘Did I hate myself?’
