Chapter 39 (2/2)
“So goodbye, my friend.”
*
“Sister Anna, are you scared?” Nana, who was lying on Anna’s bed, asked her this.
“Afraid of what?”
“The devil’s bite we have to face this winter. I became a witch during the autumn of this year, so it will be the first time I have to face it…”
“Well, the first time,” Anna thought, “will be very painful, and sometimes you think that you can’t wait any longer and wish that you could finally die.”
“Ah!” Nana began to shout out of shock, but she immediately covered her mouth.
“But you will survive, just like me.”
“I do not know…” whispered Nana, “I’m not like you, so strong, and afraid of nothing.”
“I’m not really that strong,” said Anna as she closed her eyes. The scene when she met Roland for the first time emerged in her mind. Down there in the cold and dark dungeon, Roland’s clothes were draped over her body. He softly said that he would hire her – until now, she still got goosebumps when remembering this. “Sometimes you will encounter situations or things that will give you the will to live on, even if you need to struggle hard to survive.”
“Such as…?”
“For example,meat marinated in soy paste,” Anna sighed, “How should I know what you dream of? – Ah”
Seeing that Nana was entirely staring at her, Anna wiped her face with her hand, “What are you looking at? Is there some dirt on my face?”
“No …” Nana shook her head, “I’m just a bit surprised, you’ve never talked to me so much … Sister Anna, the appearance you had when you just closed your eyes and thought about the past, you were so beautiful.”
Anna rolled her eyes, jumped out of the bed, and went to the window.
Nana followed directly behind her, “What are you looking at, do you want to flee into the forest?”
“The forest is in the West,” answered Anna snappily, “Here you can only see the Shishui River.”
“Sister Anna, look!” The little girl pointed at the sky.
Anna was startled, then opened her window. A surge of wind mixed with little snowflakes came into the room.
She held out her hand, catching the flower-like sparkling snow. She could feel a chill coming from her fingers.
“It’s snowing.”
*
“……”
After long silence, Nightingale opened her mouth and began to speak once more, “You actually didn’t lie.”
“Of course,” Roland laughed, “I had very little reason to lie.”
Nightingale said nothing. She only tilted her head, and an unknown look emerged in her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt something cold on her neck, and she couldn’t help herself from shrinking away. She looked up only to find that unbeknownst to her, the snow had begun to fall on the walls. Under the gray sky, there seemed to be an uncountable number of snowflakes. They danced in the wind, flying all over the place, accompanied by the shouts of the militia.
…The Months of the Demons had begun.