Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
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It is difficult to completely escape from something.
Especially if that something is from someone I love or hate.
Giving up wealth and the place where I live wasn’t that hard.
Money was never something that really mattered to me in the first place.
If it was money that changed my mother, if her attitude had become like that because of it, I could give it up without hesitation.
I could have given all my possessions to my mother and asked her to return to the way she was before.
Where I lived didn’t matter either.
What meaning would a place have if it didn’t have someone who loves me, or someone who I love?
That mansion was merely a cage trapping me.
So, I tried to give it up.
I tried to let it all go.
But it didn’t work out well.
I still don’t know why.
Was it because I didn’t take one more pill?
Because the amount didn’t quite reach a lethal dose?
Maybe because the person who gave me the pills took pity on me and didn’t give me enough?
… It didn’t matter.
I had already taken more than half of the pills, and with what was left, I knew there was nothing I could do to die.
Even if I chose to die in the mansion, someone would find me and save me.
Even at school, among the people who had no interest in me, there might be someone who worked for my mother.
If I failed to take my own life and ended up unable to move instead…
That would have been the real end.
… So, I returned to my daily life.
A daily life where nothing changed.
Eating, washing, sleeping, waking up to eat, washing, and sleeping again—
Time felt like it wasn’t moving.
Within that unmoving time, I wanted to give up everything.
*
They were a person whose face shone brightly.
No, their face didn’t shine from the beginning.
At first, they were just like everyone else, someone who passed by without being a help or hindrance in my life.
Someone I had no reason or need to pay attention to.
“Hello.”
When they greeted me like that, I had no special interest.
The people who greeted me eventually distanced themselves once they got to know me.
As soon as they learned about me, they drifted away.
“Hello.”
But they were strangely persistent.
Even though I didn’t return their greeting, every day, they would greet me as they sat next to me.
I ignored them.
“Hello.”
I ignored them again.
“Hello.”
I ignored them once more.
Had they not heard the rumors about me?
Or were they the type that didn’t care about gossip?
Whenever this oddly sincere person greeted me each morning, that thought crossed my mind.
“Hello.”
One day, I ended up turning my gaze toward them.
… It wasn’t because I had anything I wanted to say.
I was simply curious about the face of the person who wasn’t avoiding me like everyone else.
I, who would always lie face down on the desk or look out the window whenever they greeted me, eventually turned my head toward the sound of their greeting.
And I saw it.
Their face, shining dazzlingly.
Just like the father I remember from my childhood.
And like my mother.
*
The people who influenced my life, those who changed it, were usually like that.
If I felt something when I looked at someone, that person usually ended up changing my life.
Whether this was just my instinct or another ability I possessed, I wasn’t sure.
Then again, it was probably the same thing.
In the end, the person whose face shone brightly did change my life.
… It was ruin.
At least, in the eyes of those who knew me.
Yes, I think I know why they judged it that way.
Even though I was the wealthiest teenager in the world, now I had nothing.
I had heard that, if I wanted to, I could still claim what was mine.
According to the banker who brought me the pills, I had hidden assets under my name.
Even if my mother had abandoned me, even if I had been pushed out of the line of succession and disappeared on my own, it wouldn’t have been hard for me to get my hands on some money.
Ruin.
My last remaining family tie had been severed, I was abandoned by my fiancé, and I was stripped of my right to inherit the largest company in the world.
The person who had persistently greeted me came to despise me.
Yes, I ended up with nothing in the end.
But strangely, it felt liberating.
“Ah, miss, you’re heading out early today.”
A small tractor rattled along beside me as I walked.
The person driving it was an elderly woman.
Her face was full of wrinkles, and her neck was bent like a turtle sticking its head out of a shell, but every morning she would steadily drive the tractor to her field.
She had been doing that work her whole life, an amazing display of diligence.
“Yes, I need to go early to finish my work quickly.”
The orchard wasn’t that large.
Compared to what would be considered a full orchard for someone making a living from it, mine was small enough to be called a garden.
I would share some with my neighbors, save some for myself, and there wouldn’t be enough left to sell.
Still, I liked the small orchard.
Because instead of squeezing the life out of something with my hands, I was nurturing it.
“You’re such a diligent young person.”
“Everyone’s diligent these days.”
“Not true~ Even my own grandson…”
I wasn’t walking particularly fast, but neither was the tractor moving quickly.
On a road, cars would have passed us by now.
By the time I reached the orchard, I had nodded my head several times, listening to the elderly woman’s complaints.
*
I had grown a bit taller since then.
It seemed that my body had grown a little.
Of course, I couldn’t say I was tall, but it was fortunate that I was able to grow even in high school and not just in middle school.
If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to reach most of the trees here, and I wouldn’t have built up this much strength.
When I think about how I was when I first came here, I can only laugh.
I came out to work wearing jeans, not knowing how to dig with a shovel, taking all day just to plant one seedling.
Now, I wear work pants that people would mock as country clothes and a big-brimmed hat like the ones grandmothers wear.
With a towel draped around my neck and gloves on my hands, I diligently pick fruit.
No matter how much I cover my arms or apply sunscreen, my skin inevitably gets tanned by the sun.
But I liked it that way.
I didn’t have to worry anymore, didn’t have to fear being cursed, scream until my throat hurt, or throw things in a fit.
… I felt sorry for that person.
Every time I met someone with a shining face, my life would fall apart.
That’s why, this time too, I clung to that person desperately as if grabbing onto straws.
Of course, to them, it must have looked like I despised them with all my heart.
We probably won’t meet again, and even if we do, they have no reason to meet me.
Still, I’m grateful.
I never thought things would work out this well.
To the point where my mother even gave up on me.
… Or perhaps, this is exactly what my mother had wanted all along.
… Until the very end, her face shone brightly.
The only time it wasn’t dazzling was after everything was over.
If it were me, I would have pushed until the other person was utterly destroyed.
The fact that they didn’t was probably because they were too kind.
*
“… Hoo.”
By the time I had picked enough fruit and filled the basket while lost in thought, the sun had started setting.
“Let’s call it a day.”
The peaches I had picked weren’t good enough to sell.
I hadn’t pruned the branches properly, and even though I managed it every day, there were limits to what I could do on my own.
Some were too overripe from hanging too long, while others hadn’t ripened enough, hidden under leaves or other fruit.
They weren’t something I could sell, but they were still edible.
“Ugh.”
I picked up the basket full of fruit.
It was too heavy to carry all at once.
I would probably have to stop and rest several times along the way.
On the way, I would pick out the good ones to give to my neighbors.
*
… When I returned home, there was a car parked in front of the house.
A blue luxury car, seemingly only able to fit two people.
It didn’t match the crumbling old house at all.
“…”
And leaning against the car was a woman.
She too didn’t fit the surroundings, dressed in very modern clothes.
A white blouse, and a blue miniskirt the same color as the car.
Her long legs, considering her age, were unnaturally beautiful.
Even after all these years.
It looked like she had dressed up deliberately, as if visiting someone she loved.
Thud.
There was a sound.
Looking down, I realized the basket I was holding was gone.
It seemed I had unconsciously let it slip from my hand.
One of the peaches rolled over and bumped into the heel of her deep blue high heel.
“…”
The woman turned her head toward me.
I was sure her blue eyes were looking at me.
But I couldn’t be certain.
Because,
From her face, a light I had never seen before was pouring out.
“… Finally, we meet.”
The woman opened her mouth.
“At last.”
The woman, who had been leaning against the car, took a step toward me.
I need to run.
But where to?
Maybe I could hide at the grandmother’s house.
But she would probably find me quickly.
Just as she had found me after searching for years.
Before I could do anything, her hand reached my cheek.
“Ahh…”
Looking at my face, she spoke.
“It’s the same.”
What was the same?
What was she talking about?
I was clearly someone she already knew.
“… Finally, we meet like this.”
She chuckled softly.
“———.”
Her lips moved.
She called out someone’s name.
But it wasn’t my name.
Ah, I see.
So that’s how it was.
This woman…
I had misunderstood her.
What she had been after wasn’t my money.
That’s why, even after I gave up everything—
She couldn’t give up.
“I’ll never let you go now.”
Maybe, I was already walking into her arms.
Her face was getting closer and closer.
The dazzling light filled my vision.
But I couldn’t run away.
Soon, I’ll probably be able to see her face again.
And from now on, it will never shine again.