956: Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

It was now three months after Rowena woke up... with Raphael by her side. Even when she had guilt-tripped him hard and mentioned his family, the man didn't bat an eye and said that they would be alright.0

"I have several more brothers, and so they won't miss me that much," Raphael replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, that sounds fun," she said, feeling jealous that she had no siblings to share. "How many brothers do you have?"

"Six," Raphael said with a smile. "That's why my parents wouldn't worry about me too much."

Rowena couldn't believe that kind of excuse at first, but then she temporarily gave up on trying to convince him to leave. If a person wanted to go, then they would leave her.

"So... that means, you don't need t go home soon?" she asked him again. "Are you sure?"

"I am sure," Raphael shrugged. "I like it here."

With that, he shot down the question of why he stayed. Rowena finally stopped trying to ask him to leave because the man had helped her a lot and she didn't want to be rude and seen as ungrateful by asking him to leave when he clearly said he liked it there.

***

One day, Rowena woke up to the sound of someone knocking at their main door. Raphael wasn't around and the man got so used to staying that he didn't even knock, so surreptitiously, Rowena went to the main door to check herself.

What surprised her when she pulled the door open was the sight of the same mischievous grin on Julian's face.

Rowena's lips parted open in absolute surprise, and yet before she could say anything, Julian beat her to it.

"Happy birthday, Rowena. You've grown even more beautiful this year, huh?"

"My birthday?"

"Yeah, it's your birthday, silly. Don't tell me that you've forgotten about it?" A carefree laugh escaped from Julian as he stepped inside the hut. "So what are your plans today?"

Rowena's gaze was fixated on Julian, she followed him walk around the house and then couldn't help but tighten her hand and her chest.

"Julian..." She felt her heart drop to the floor. Shouldn't Julian be dead? Why was he here?

Was she imagining things again?

"We used to always go to that town nearby, there always happens to be a festival around the corner." Julian's lips twitched into a smile. "But no parlor tricks for us two, just us having fun."

The past two and a half years of her life were spent with Julian, and they celebrated her birthday together... just enough to leave a hollow feeling in her chest.

The two of them gave up on the life of stealing from the rich and doing performances when they stayed in the valley, so when they visited the nearby city, there would be no problems.

"Julian!" Rowena clutched her chest and looked at him desperately.

"Woah, no need to scream. What's the matter?" Julian glanced over at her. "You have been pretty silent too, even more so than usual."

Rowena stared at her friend and wondered if she told him, then he would disappear—Julian was in front of her right now, so colorful, so bright, and as lively as he used to be.

How could Rowena ever tell him the truth? If this was some sort of happy dream for her, wouldn't it be better to cherish this?

"I missed you." Rowena broke out with a sad smile. "I missed you so much, Julian."

"Oh not the tears, not the tears—don't cry when it's your special day," Julian stepped towards her, trying to pass her a handkerchief. "Don't you know that I will always be with you?"

"Always?" Rowena blinked back her tears and looked at him.

"Always."

Rowena's smile didn't quite disappear, it was relieving to hear him say that. "I... Thank you. I'd like that."

"Rowena?" A voice suddenly interrupted her musing.

Raphael who came in after gathering firewood was suddenly given the sight of Rowena in their main room. She had been walking around, talking, and looked completely lost in her thoughts.

"What?" Rowena quickly turned around to see Raphael.

"Are you... are you speaking with a guest?" Raphael gently asked.

His questions sent a shock to her system, and she immediately glanced back to see Julian still standing where he was, even throwing looks in Raphael's direction.

Rowena bit her lip, a thunderous feeling in her chest before she asked. "Do you not see Julian, Raphael?"

"What? That's crazy! I'm just right here," Julian said.

"...I'm afraid not." Raphael gently shook his head.

Rowena's expression broke down a little, and she looked up at Raphael, feeling betrayed—the enchantment of being with Julian broke as the lingering feeling that continued to linger in her head became more obvious.

"Of course," she bitterly said.

Raphael watched her sway a little unevenly, before Rowena suddenly leaned against the table and let out a pained laugh.

"Of course, how could I see him if he was—"

"Rowena?" Julian's voice whispered from behind her.

"If he was already gone." Rowena's hoarse voice escaped and she looked back behind her to see Julian gone. "Am I delusional? Am I going mad or crazy? What's wrong with me—"

Raphael's eyes widened and he immediately stepped closer.

Before the two of them knew it, Rowena was already in Raphael's chest as his arms wrapped around her comfortingly.

"There's nothing wrong with you. You might just be missing Julian so much that you wished that he was at your side right now, that your own mind brought him back to life and if that's the case... it's alright to miss them. You're not hurting anybody, please don't think that there's something wrong or you've gone mad."

Rowena bit on her lip as her head rested against Raphael's chest. She was surprised by the sudden hug but didn't flinch or move away from it, instead, his words brought her some relief.

It gave her the chance to become a little more honest with herself.

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