"Little tiger, do you have secrets?"
I blinked, my heart skipping a beat. I stayed silent. Why did he ask such a question at a ti like this?
"I have already told you all my secrets," Noah said with a solemn tone. "So, I have no worries crossing this valley. But for anyone who has a secret hidden in their heart, this place—the Whispering Valley—will expose them. It does not ask permission. It simply pulls the truth out of your throat."
I looked into the dark forest, my heart thumping heavily, gradually.
What in the world?!
As I looked deeper into the dense forest that tried to swallow my thoughts, I saw a shimring, golden pollen drift between the trunks like a ghost, an illusion.
My throat went dry in an instant.
I have a secret.
Yes, I definitely have a secret. A very big secret that I planned to take to my grave.
I clutched my chest, biting my lips.
Noah looked down at and so did the others. They watched my unease, watched as I stared at the dense forest like it was alive and threatening to eat .
"Little tiger?" Noah asked but I couldn’t respond.
I was lost in my own thoughts, lost in my own. ’what if?’ scenario.
What if the forest doesn’t pull the secret from my soul but from just my body?
No, that doesn’t make sense.
I had a secret that was budding in my heart so much that I feared my husbands would not want again once they heard it.
"Ari," Damar dropped a hand on my shoulder and I jolted out of my thoughts.
I was holding my breath this whole ti and didn’t even know it.
"Are you okay?" Fenric asked and I looked at them, my eyes darting from one to the other.
I don’t want them to judge .
I don’t want them to look at differently.
What do I do?
"Do you want us to find another route?" Noah suddenly asked and I looked up at him, hopeful.
"There’s another route?"
He looked at the desperation in my eyes and knew for sure that sothing was up.
"No," he answered and my hope fell. "Not at the mont, but we can find one. We just need ti."
But ti was sothing we did not have.
I bit my lip.
What do I do? What do we do?
"Little tiger, do you have secrets?" Noah asked once again and I nodded.
"If I didn’t have secrets, would I be acting this way?" I asked. "I’m worried," I clenched the fabric against my chest, feeling my heart drumming so loud that even my own ears could hear it.
"Are you afraid, Arinya?" Fenric asked. "Whatever you’re hiding... it can’t be that bad. You’re our wife and the mother of our cubs. You’re a beast we’ve lived with for a long ti, so I don’t think whatever you’re hiding will hurt us in any way."
I forced a smile, but my heart was doing a frantic rhythm against my ribs. If only you knew.
Yes, it wouldn’t hurt them directly but it would feel like betrayal no matter how I looked at it.
"I have a secret," I said, taking in deep breaths and out. "And it’s a secret that might very well change the way you look at ."
"I don’t believe there’s any secret that can make look at you differently, Ari," Damar said and I looked at him, feeling thankful. But even he doesn’t know that.
There’s no way they could imagine the kind of secret I was going to blurt out.
It was otherworldly... Crazy and impossible.
"Noah," I called.
"Yeah?"
"Will the secret no longer be a secret if I say it now?"
My heart just wouldn’t stop pounding and my limbs felt weak. The reality of what I was going to say was making go limp with tiredness. Just thinking about it made exhausted.
"Yes," he answered, and I clasped my hands together, pressed them to my chin, and thought deeply.
I always thought of this before. I didn’t want anyone to find out I wasn’t the real Arinya and that I was an outsider.
I didn’t want them to know that this world was just a replica of the world I had created with a pen and book during my lonely high school days.
I wanted to take it all to my grave. But at so point, I did wonder. Will they still love if they knew my soul was different from who I claid I was?
Would they still love if they found out I was an outsider?
Of course, I t them all after my transmigration, so I didn’t deceive them too much. The they know and knew is the that possessed this body and not the original Arinya.
My palms were sweaty and my heart was racing
They all looked at , waiting for my confession.
It was hard, making up my mind to confess and actually doing the confession. It was so damn hard.
"Before I say anything, can you promise sothing?" I asked with a silent voice.
"What is it?"
"Promise ," my eyes grew teary. "Promise you will never leave . Promise you’ll keep loving , even though you find out I... I might not be the beast you believe to be?"
They all looked at , speechless.
What could it be? Their expressions read. What could it be that I was about to say that made so worried? So anxious?
"I promise." Damar did not hesitate to lay down his promise. "Like I said before. I do not believe there is anything that will make look at you or love you differently."
I sniffed.
"Thank you."
"I promise as well," Fenric said. "In my eyes you’re you. Even if you’re a villain or a witch, it honestly doesn’t matter to . I’ll still take your side and never look at you differently." I nodded, brushing my palm over my cheek to wipe the tears that were silently rolling down.
Now, it was just Noah left. He stared at with his arms folded and his head tilted.
"I can’t picture it." He said. "I can’t picture getting mad at you, not to ntion hating you. So, I definitely can’t see you any other way."
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