One night, Poppy sent me a photo of Caius. He was working out, shirtless and there was a faded mark on his chest where a tattoo had been removed. That tattoo had once been of the character "Deer," because he said he wanted to keep me close to his heart forever.
["I will erase every trace of you from his life. Next time, he’ll have the character for ‘Rose’ tattooed there. And don’t worry—when they send out the wedding invitations, you’ll definitely get yours."]
Now, that bright red invitation had been delivered to me. I held it in my hand and said, "I’ll be there at their wedding."
Seeing my determination, the system finally panicked.
["Tiara, you’re dying. Are you really going to ruin Caius’s chance at happiness? Have you thought about what would happen if he remembered you?"]
I froze, clutching the dress in my hands.
["Look at yourself in the mirror. The day you passed by him, did he even recognize you?"]
Because of the chemotherapy, I had wasted away. My once full, round cheeks were now hollow, dark circles etched deep beneath my eyes. My once proud, long hair had all fallen out, shaved off because of the treatment. Every day, I had to wear different hats just to cover it. I looked into the mirror at my gaunt, exhausted face and realized that even I could barely recognize myself.
["If you confront him and he remembers you, he’ll feel obligated to take care of you. But what then? You’ll die and he’ll live the rest of his life in misery. Is that what you want, Tiara? You want Caius to suffer because of you? You selfish fool!"]
Tears finally streamed down my face.
I couldn’t bear the thought of Caius suffering because of me.
I missed him so much. I missed his smile, missed hearing him call my name. I wanted so desperately to be part of his future. But I couldn’t be that selfish.
I asked, "If Caius stays with Poppy, will he really be happy for the rest of his life?"
["Of course! She’s the heroine!"] the system boasted smugly. ["The heroine is nothing like a side character like you. Look at how quickly Caius fell deeply in love with her."]
I closed my eyes, trying to block out the strange details I’d noticed before.
Caius would always touch Poppy’s pinky with a pained expression because I had once burned my finger while cooking for him, leaving a small scar. He used to feel so guilty and would gently trace that scar every time.