WTBFCY Chapter 1

Prologue

Moving even a single finger was a struggle. This wasn't figurative—the bones in both his arms, including his hands, had been completely crushed. But he knew these too would heal with time, so he didn't think much of it. The problem was that right now, he lacked the strength to even lift himself off the ground.

Plink. Plop.

Fine droplets of rain began to fall, one or two at a time. He stared blankly upward, watching the rain create white afterimages as it passed through the streetlamp's glow. A thought drifted through his mind: lately, it seemed like he'd been brushing with death far too often.

Noah slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. He turned his head toward where Regina had been standing. Even though he'd confirmed her safety until the very last moment, he couldn't help but check once more.

"...?"

But Regina was nowhere to be seen. She'd been standing right there, clutching that black cat in her arms, watching him with anxious eyes. Where could she have gone? Confused, he shifted his gaze to search for her—and caught sight of her retreating figure beyond the streetlamp, running away.

"......"

She was fleeing with desperate urgency, as if trying to escape. He blinked slowly.

'Next time, just go.'

He'd definitely told her that before.

'...If I get hurt like this and lose consciousness, just run away.'

He had said that. But he never actually thought she'd take the first opportunity to flee without so much as a backward glance.

Momentarily flustered, Noah tried to push himself up, but when he pressed his crushed forearm against the ground, the pain overwhelmed him and he collapsed again.

"Ugh!"

Thud.

Lying sprawled at an awkward angle, his face pressed ignominiously against the ground, Noah let out a hollow laugh.

'...Ah, right.'

Come to think of it, she had repeated—enough times to burst his eardrums—that she would absolutely run away if given the chance. So this departure wasn't surprising at all.

Her escape was only natural. Running from a natural predator to survive was instinct, and Noah understood that. Hadn't he himself mocked Regina for giving up on escape before?

Still, understanding and feeling disappointed were two different things. He wanted to at least see her retreating back.

Noah barely managed to prop himself up and lean against the streetlamp behind him. Even that brief movement left him breathless, his vision spinning. He forced his eyes to stay open when they threatened to close, watching Regina's long black hair whip behind her as she ran farther and farther away.

"......"

She was too far for his voice calling her name—Regina—to reach. Yet still, just in case his voice might somehow carry, he traced her shrinking silhouette with his motionless fingers instead of calling out.

If she heard his voice, she would stop.

She'd turn back to look at his injured form, hesitate uncertainly about what to do, then come back to him crying, just like before. Knowing this, he didn't call out to her. Perhaps the one who truly wanted her to escape had been Noah himself all along.

As his strength failed and his eyes closed, pitch-black darkness flooded in.

Even in that darkness, he could still picture her running form, so he watched it endlessly.

Regina.

Regina.

He called her name over and over in his mind.

"Noah! Pull yourself together, Noah!"

Urgent hands patted his cheeks weakly. His eyes, which had closed without him realizing, opened to narrow slits. Regina was looking down at him. Her face was a mess of tears as she called to him desperately. Soaked through from the rain, she looked even paler than him, shaking his body.

"Noah! Can you hear me?"

Why did you come back? He thought he'd asked the question, but no voice came out. As he struggled to blink his blurry eyes, she looked down at him and spoke.

"Noah, I called for help. They'll be here soon, so please, please stay conscious!"

The purple eyes looking at him were filled with fear, and her hands trembled finely. Tears running down Regina's cheeks mixed with the cold rain and fell endlessly onto his face. Each time her tears touched him, Noah felt as if he'd been burned.

"Hic, sob, please... You can't die, Noah...!"

The rain had grown heavier.

Noah's body temperature was dropping rapidly. Realizing this, Regina desperately pulled his head into her embrace.

But she too was drenched and deathly pale, so it didn't help much. Growing even more distressed, Regina's hands shook with anxiety as she kept wiping his face, clearing away the cold moisture.

"Sob! What do I do? Your body is so cold."

Noah looked up at Regina as she held him tightly, then slowly raised his hand toward her. His fingertips touched Regina's black hair, wet from the rain. Even though his eyes burned as if on fire from fever, he didn't close them. Instead, he quietly watched her trembling shoulders as she cried.

Then suddenly the falling rain rippled and twisted around Regina's hair along with his fingers. At the same moment, everything in his field of vision swelled and shrank, endlessly changing shape.

In a world spinning round and round, only she and he remained vividly clear.

At that impossible spiraling movement, he finally understood.

Ah, this is a dream.

He must be dreaming that she'd come back. It was absurd that he'd dream something like this, but the feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant.

Well, if it's a dream anyway—

Noah raised his hand and gently cupped the back of her head. At his sudden touch, Regina's wet hair slipped from her shoulder to Noah's ear as she leaned forward.

Watching her purple eyes waver as they drew closer, he brushed his lips against the red lips before him, light as a touch.

If it's a dream anyway—

The lips that met trembled. Staring at them intently, Noah slowly closed his eyes.

Regina.

WTBFCY Chapter 1

"Gasp—!!"

Air rushed into her airway like she'd been submerged underwater, and her breath broke free all at once. Regina inhaled with all her might and snapped her eyes open.

"Cough... gasp! Cough, cough!"

It was agonizing enough to taste blood on her tongue, but breathing mattered more than the pain. As she gasped roughly and dry-coughed, her throat felt like it was tearing apart. She clutched her neck with both hands.

"Hic, gasp."

Once she'd calmed down somewhat and blinked, tears that had been pooling fell with a soft plop. When she wiped her face, her palm came away drenched in cold sweat.

"Cough... Where am I?"

She coughed and looked around. Her hazy vision gradually cleared. A broken window, a tilted carriage door, and inside, her own body folded in half, crumpled as she lay.

Only then did Regina remember that on the way back, one of the carriage's rear wheels had suddenly come off, causing it to overturn.

Boom—the ground had dropped with tremendous impact, and she must have knocked her head on the window and passed out.

She winced sharply at the throbbing pain throughout her body.

"Ow, ow, everything hurts."

She lifted her arms and examined her body, but nothing was cut or injured. In contrast, her clothes were severely torn—but that wasn't what mattered right now.

She braced herself against the half-shattered carriage door and rose awkwardly, trying to climb out of the tilted carriage.

Only after standing did she realize she was barefoot. She turned her head and saw her shoes rolling around in the corner of the carriage.

"Why is it so quiet? Hans, Lily?"

After putting on her shoes and stepping down to the ground, the heels sank deep into the gravel and dirt. She steadied her swaying body and called for the coachman and maid, but there was no response.

Even the horses that had pulled the carriage were gone. Whether it was early dawn or not, thin fog hung over the surrounding forest.

"Hans! Lily! Is anyone there?"

She called their names again, louder this time, but still no answer came.

"That's strange. Did they go for help?"

Anxiety crept up her spine, but Regina forced herself to look around calmly.

This place, clearly deep in a forest, was a small clearing surrounded by hundreds of coniferous trees standing as straight and dense as upright spears. It was hard to imagine how the carriage had even gotten through.

She stared into the depths of the forest, where dawn fog blurred even the trees' outlines, and a shiver of unease ran through her at the eerie silence. She quickly turned her head away.

No matter how long she looked, there was no sign of anyone. Regina swallowed dryly without realizing it.

There truly was nothing here but the wrecked carriage and herself, completely alone.

"Good grief, this is maddening."

To avoid being crushed by the desolate atmosphere, she deliberately spoke her thoughts aloud and climbed awkwardly back into the tilted carriage.

She rubbed her arms against the cool air, searching the broken carriage for anything she could use.

"It'd be nice if there was something useful."

She hadn't noticed earlier in her dazed state, but inside the carriage, several empty boxes were rolling around.

"...?"

No way. Panicked, she hurriedly opened every box she could see or turned them upside down and shook them out. But the boxes that had held expensive teacups, dresses, shoes, and jewelry were all completely empty.

"...Ha, have they lost their minds?"

The coachman and maid had stolen the money and valuables and fled. She could barely believe it. Staring down at the boxes, a hollow laugh escaped her.

"They really stole the valuables and ran away? Leaving me here unconscious?"

Then a sudden thought struck her. She bolted upright and opened the compartment under the carriage seat. She frantically felt around the empty space, but her hands grasped nothing.

"No, no! Not the necklace!"

She stuck her head all the way in, searching every inch underneath, but her palms only collected dust. Unable to accept this reality, Regina trembled violently before collapsing with a thud and screaming.

"My necklace!"

What kind of necklace was that? She'd pestered her father for three months straight to finally get it. And it had a huge sapphire on it, too.

To get that necklace, she'd read books she never normally touched and embroidered until all ten fingers were bloody. And that wasn't all. She'd acted cute despite her personality, whined endlessly, and even gone on a hunger strike.

After all that tearful struggle, she'd finally obtained that expensive necklace—and now it had been stolen completely before she'd even worn it once.

"...How dare they steal even my necklace!"

Regina ground her teeth and glared. They hadn't even cared whether she lived or died.

Remembering herself crumpled in the corner of the carriage like a piece of paper, rage surged to the top of her head. How could they do this to me?

As anger flared, strength she didn't have before suddenly appeared. Regina wiped her tear-filled eyes roughly, seething.

"I can't waste time here. I need to get back quickly and tell Father to catch those bastards immediately."

Regina picked up a worn coat from the corner and draped it roughly over her shoulders before climbing out of the carriage.

Whether this was a forest or a swamp didn't matter. She'd crawl back if she had to and drag those two into hell.

"I'll make sure you're caught!"

Her resentment-filled shout suddenly echoed through the silent forest, startling several birds perched on branches. They flew away with flutter-flutter sounds.

The Evelyn Barony was in complete chaos.

Their only daughter Regina, who'd left for town early in the morning, hadn't returned even after nightfall.

When the servants sent to find her came back empty-handed, Baron Evelyn, who'd been waiting anxiously in his study, finally couldn't stand it anymore and rose from his seat.

Outside the study window, dawn was breaking in pale gray light.

"This won't do. I need to report this to the Security Force immediately."

"I'll send someone right away."

The butler's words made the Baron shake his head.

"No, if we want them to organize a search party, sending only servants won't be fast enough. I'll go myself."

The Baron set down the cigar he'd been smoking in the ashtray, then put on the coat the butler held out.

"I'll prepare your horse."

"Yes."

His eyes dark from staying up all night, the Baron nodded with a grim expression.

"I'll be back. If my daughter returns while I'm gone, please take care of her."

"Yes, I understand."

After entrusting his daughter to the butler, he left the manor, mounted the horse a servant brought, and headed for town.

"Hyah!"

The morning wind struck his face sharply as the horse galloped urgently.

On the left side of the remote road from the manor to town stretched a dense forest.

The Baron kept urging his horse faster, careful not to let branches scrape his face.

'...I shouldn't have let her go herself.'

When she'd pestered him for months to buy that necklace and he'd finally agreed, unable to refuse, Regina had climbed into the carriage before dawn even broke. That memory surfaced.

He'd told her to send a servant, but she'd insisted on buying it herself, smiling brightly as she left. He should have stopped her. The Baron bitterly regretted his complacency in thinking his daughter couldn't possibly be in danger within his own small domain.

'Please be safe, Regina!'

She was a treasure obtained with difficulty in his old age, raised with nothing but love. If anything happened to her, neither he nor his wife could bear it.

Unable to contain his mounting anxiety, he struck the horse with his whip.

As the horse galloped at a frightening speed, he saw a young woman walking out of the forest, startled and shrinking back—but Baron Evelyn ignored her and passed by.

Then he heard a desperate voice calling him from behind.

"Fa-Father! Father, over here! Wait!"

Shocked by that voice, the Baron urgently pulled the reins.

—Neigh!

The horse, running frantically with muscles tensed, twisted its head at the strong pull on the reins, reared up on its front legs, then set them down.

"Easy, easy. It's all right. Calm down."

The Baron patted the foaming horse's neck to soothe it before turning around. The horse, which had been breathing roughly, soon returned to docility and walked in place.

"Father!"

Regina, who'd just barely emerged from the forest, burst into tears at the Baron's sudden appearance and came running desperately.

For a moment, the Baron looked down at her from horseback with furrowed brows, then belatedly recognized his daughter and dismounted in shock.

"Regina! Good heavens, are you all right?"

Running to his daughter and checking her for injuries, he confirmed Regina was unharmed and pulled her shoulders into a tight embrace.

"Oh, thank God! Thank you for returning my daughter safely to my arms."

"Father!"

As Regina fell into her father's arms, all the misery she'd been holding back came flooding out.

The forest had been so dark that every tree looked the same, every place looked identical. She'd thought she might wander there forever.

Her legs ached as if they'd break, and her cheeks stung where tears had dried. She'd been so exhausted that she'd crouched on the ground—and then, quite by chance, discovered traces of a road.

She'd run there immediately, and how shocked she'd been to see her father riding past on horseback.

"Wahhh!"

"Regina, are you hurt anywhere?"

When Regina couldn't contain the misery washing over her all at once and wailed loudly in the Baron's arms, he awkwardly patted her back.

For some reason, though they'd only been separated for half a day, he strangely felt as if he'd been apart from his daughter for a very long time.

"It's all right. Everything's fine now, so don't cry."

"I was so scared, Father!"

Holding his daughter, the Baron's eyes reddened with overwhelming emotion.

"Yes, yes. It's all right. Don't cry anymore, Regina."

The Baron pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his daughter's tear-stained face.

"You're cold. Wear this too."

Regina draped the coat her father removed over her shoulders and took his hand. The Baron lifted his daughter, who could only nod instead of answering because of her hiccups, onto the horse and climbed up behind her.

"Let's go home."

As he spoke these words, the Baron barely held back his tears. Perhaps he'd grown emotional in his old age.

"Yes, Father. Let's go home quickly."

But seeing his daughter smile happily through her swollen, half-closed eyes, he finally let his own eyes grow wet.