Chapter 316: What has been lost and what he might lose...
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"Unexpectedly... You are quite good at gardening and stuff..."
Lia looked quite impressed watching Rio, who was working in the garden, with a rare serious look on his face.
"Well, I used to have several flower pots at home; there were roses, sunflowers, and some herbal nts too... I kind of learned it while messing around in dirt..."
"Hmm,e to think of it, Mom used to scold me for getting my clothes dirty... I was quite the troublesome kid, actually..."
Rio has mixed-up memories; the part where he used to take care of flowers was from his past life, and the part where he used to get scolded for ying in dirt is from his present life.
But he''s telling them both at the same time so as to avoid revealing about his previous life.
"Wow... It''s quite shocking, actually. I didn''t expect someone as cool-minded as you... used to be a total brat in your younger days..."
Seeing the shocked look on Lia''s face, Rio shook his head and said,
"I was not always that cool-minded... Your parents grow you up with love and care, so you get spoiled, but when the world shows you reality, you adapt ordingly...."
"Those who can''t adapt to the fast-changing world can''t live a happy life... That''s the way the world is..."
Rio gently grasped a flower and spoke.
"My dream is to live a happy life... To be happy is to adapt to the way of the world and live in coexistence..."
Lia smiled and said,
"So... will you be satisfied with the bare minimum and wouldn''t even want money, power, or fame?"
Rio smiled at that question and replied in a calm voice,
"As long as you are with me, I don''t care about the world..."
Lia blushed a bit at those words and nodded her head, "Yeah, me too..."
...
Although Rio did say that he was quite a troublesome kid, Lia refused to believe those words.
She can instinctively feel that Rio is lying about something, but she didn''t point it out because she thought it would be rude.
She already knows about Rio''s past and how his parents died and he lived in an orphanage, so she didn''t ask much about those days, so he doesn''t have to remember that time.
But she couldn''t stop her curiosity either, so she asked,
"By the way... What kind of person was your mother?... You don''t seem to talk much about your past..."
Seeing the nervous look on her face, Rio smiled a bit and then said,
"No need to be that tense... well... It was quite a long time ago, and I was still a kid, so my memories are hazy..."
"But from what I remember... she was the type to always smile; her smile was like a radiant sun and....... well..."
''Hmm?...''
Suddenly, the look on Rio''s face turned solemn all of a sudden, and sweat started to appear on his forehead.
''I-I can''t remember her face.... W-wait....''
He got up from the ground, and a rare look of panic appeared on his face. He rubbed his temples and tried to remember it again, but there was still nothing.
Rio couldn''t remember his mother''s voice or her face; he seems to have lost that memory and the emotions that the original Rio felt in those days.
''Sigh...''
When Rio first came to this world, he had the memories and emotions of the original Rio.
But now, he''s starting to lose them along with his past life emotions.
Everything has be a lot hazy, and he''s already forgotten his previous life''s name too.
Rio calmed down his mind and stopped thinking about this matter; the more he thought, the more he would get concerned.
"What happened?"
Lia nced at Rio with a confused look on her face as Rio''s stopped talking mid-sentence.
Rio shook his head and replied,
"Nothing... forget it... It''s not that big of a deal anyway... I should get back to work..."
Before Rio could get back to work, Lia caught his hand and asked with a concerned look on her face.
"You know... Recently, you have be more unexpressive... as if you are suppressing your emotions or something like that..."
"Tell me the truth. What''s going on? Is something on your mind?"
"Ever since you got that blessing from the world tree, it''s be more difficult for me to read your emotions... It used to be much easier before... Now it''s difficult..."
"There''s definitely something going on..."
Hearing Lia''s words, Rio hesitated a bit, but then, seeing the concerned look on her face, he decided to tell her the truth.
"Well... it''s quite hard to exin, but.... You see, ever since I have awakened... I have been losing my emotions and feelings..."
"It''s quite a weird phenomenon... I have no curses on me or anything, but I am just losing my feeling for everything altogether..."
"I am bing an emotionless existence... and I am afraid that I will lose my love for you, Lia... I certainly don''t want that to happen..."
"I want to smile but can''t; I want to be happy but can''t; I can''t feel pain, remorse, sympathy,
or anything at all..."
Rio looked into Lia''s eyes and said,
"The truth is, when Zach Senpai died, I felt nothing... I felt nothing for his death; I am
bing a heartless monster that only knows the cold path of sword..."
Even while expressing his heartfelt feelings, Rio''s face remained expressionless, and his voice
remained as emotionless as that of a robot.
He nced at the evening sky and said,
"I used to have light in my eyes; now they look simr to dead body... There''s no light, no
emotion in them..."
Lia held Rio''s hand tightly and said,
"Please... Don''t lose feelings for me; i-I can''t lose you..."
Even Lia was helpless against such a strange phenomenon; she had no idea what''s wrong with
Rio, but she doesn''t want him to forget about their mutual feelings.
Then suddenly, an idea came to her mind, and she said,
"Wait, we will be going to the Dragon Valley soon, so how about you get yourself checked by the SS-rank Healer... She might be able to tell us something about it..."
Rio nodded his head at those words and said,
"Well... we can give it a try, I guess..."
''Although I know it''s useless... But I guess trying is also a way of clinging to hope... and the
world works on hope...''
Rio tightly held Lia''s small hand and said it with a smile on his face.
"Although I may lose my ''self'', I will try my best to be the same Rio for you..."
Hearing those words, Lia immediately hugged Rio tightly in her arms.
Her eyes became a bit teary, but she ignored those tears.
She was afraid that Rio would leave her behind, and she has already set a goal to stand side by
side with Rio and go on many adventures.
She doesn''t want to be left behind in dust, and if something happens to Rio, she won''t be able
to live happily either.
This is the tragedy of those who love and want to be loved. The one who is the most loyal
suffers the most.
After the work in the garden was done, Rio and Lia went home together while holding hands.
Today, Rio told Lia one of his deepest secrets that he never wanted to mention to anyone.
Although there are no direct methods to cure it, now that Lia knows about it, things may change for the better.... Perhaps...
Love may bring happiness, but it is also one of the greatest sources of pain, misery, and regret... It doesn''t take much to change that feeling of happiness into suffering. Holding your love firm is the only way to keep it safe, but would a love ced in a cage still be
considered ''free''?
Riya''s room.
Unlike Rio and the others, who were punished with cleaning the pool or taking care of the
garden, Riya was banned from eating candy.
So she has been sitting in front of the TV the entire day, staring at the door with an expectant
look on her face.
She asked Link to bring her some, but Raji caught him and kicked him away, so now she''s
staring at the door, waiting for Raji toe back to return her space ring as the day ends.
"Ugh... How do normal people live! I can''t live a second without my candies! This is so
unfair!"
After not eating candy for nearly a month aftering back from Oaklum, Riya trained and
became stronger.
But now that she can eat the candies again, her candy addiction has be even stronger
than it was before. "Sigh... She really isn''ting... Did she eat my candy herself? Tch! how rude!"
"I will definitely tell mom about how she bullied me today!! Hmph!" Riya had no choice but to go back to watching boring TV serials with no candies or snacks.
''Oh, god of candies... Give me strength to survive this day...''
Riya prayed to her great god of candies to ask for the endurance to survive a day without
candies.
But then her stomach started to grumble, and her expression turned angry.
''Stupid sister! Just you wait, I will tell mom that you are a chain smoker, you do weird drugs,
and you drink 3 tons of alcohol every day!!!
(She''s exaggerating; Raji doesn''t smoke or use drugs...)
...
...
Author''s Notes.
Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Rio told Lia about his situation! It''s a good thing!
Question of the day.
What do you think is the reason for Rio''s loss of emotion?
(Tell me your theories in thements.)
By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.
Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.