Chapter 34

It was a weekday and a busy, rainy day, so it was quite expected to see less people there.

The tourist spot offered an amazing overview from a high place beyond a long and terrifying wooden bridge. They bravely crossed it, having almost withdrawn a quarter of their lives in fear of falling off for a few minutes in the middle between the low land and the high spot.

Underneath the long bridge were unknown spaces between the hills.

It felt similar to a mysterious horizon they're bound to arrive at.

The materials used to create the bridge turned out to be extremely durable, so it assured them as they carefully crossed along with a few people behind them.

As soon as they finally reached the high spot, they rested for a while and enjoyed the overview of that crossing bridge's cost.

As they silently stared at the distance side by side, thoughts finally returned swirling from where they left off. "You probably lived once in the city," The old woman began. "Don't you want to find your origins here?"

Uriel kept quiet for a while before finally pulling out all the courage he had. "Grandma, why are you lying to me?"

The old woman glanced at her side and looked at him with a blank expression, as if waiting for his next remarks.

He didn't want to cut off the momentum when it took a lot in him to ask that single question. "That boy in the picture. That was me and you knew about it, right? Those were my parents behind me. The ones who died in a car accident. Please say something. I don't want this to go all to waste."

"Well, I wasn't planning to hide it for too long, but since you already asked, I guess the cat's out the bag, huh. Yes, it's true that I knew about you. The kid I was talking about, the family that destroyed my peaceful stay in this very city – it was your family, my dear."

"Does that mean you hate me?"

The old woman's eyes softened, as if showing off kindness to him. "Of course, I hated you then. But it has been a long time already. I already moved to the province where the property I was supposed to sell off for myself quietly. I was planning to stay in the city, but decided to have it switched instead. I'll go and sell the property I have here in the city and stay peacefully in the rural area. Even if it wasn't in my plan, I'm glad that it worked out that way. My life has been more fulfilling and peaceful since I moved. I wondered why I didn't think of it before and that's when I understood about the accident I had with your family. And along with that acceptance, I forgave you with all my heart."

Uriel looked down, listening to the old woman patiently, waiting for something to click right.

He understood that everything made sense, but his guts are somehow telling him otherwise.

He didn't know what kind of person he was before his memory loss, but the person he is right now feels better to be on the logical side.

He ignored his instincts and believed whatever she said.

He listened and asked no more questions.

After their long almost one-sided conversation, both of them crossed the bridge once again and returned back to the low land.

This time, no fear lingered across the boy as if he'd been plagued with his own suspicions and own thoughts.

"Come on, boy," Olia Isema beckoned. "Let's go to the mall next. I'm sure you'll love that kind of place since you're young."

Uriel let out a sigh and whispered to himself, "I wanna quit overthinking already. This is making me crazy."