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I never wanted to be the one to clip her wings, but what if the cage was the safest place for her to be in?
Wouldn’t the lack of freedom make up for it then?
We would take care of her, make it so that she wouldn’t want for anything, keep her safe and loved. Wouldn’t that be enough?
It was evident that my answer and Ludovica’s didn’t align.
The distinct sound of footsteps echoed from behind me, and I immediately knew who they belonged to. Ace moved closer until he was standing right beside me, shoulder to shoulder. We stood there for a long time, watching in silence the delicate flowers that swayed in the wind. Ace released a sigh that conveyed a unique blend of unhappiness and resignation.
“She’s going to leave, isn’t she?” he quietly spoke, the words almost getting lost in the wind.
I didn’t need to ask him about who he was referring to.
“Yes. I believe that she will.”
Ace directed his eyes towards me and I felt a momentary sense of surprise at what I saw in them. I hadn’t seen him looking this lost since our younger days.
“I just don’t understand. Why?” he asked me like a child might ask a more knowledgeable grown-up. He looked at me like he believed that I held all the answers.
Deep down, I suspected that he knew why, too.
But perhaps hearing it from someone else would just be easier.
“You can’t protect everyone.” I turned my head to stare down at the grave in front of us. “Especially if they don’t want to be protected.”
That was the gist of it, wasn’t it?
It didn’t matter what we thought would be the best for her; it was her wants that mattered the most.
Wasn’t it ironic that I’d been able to sympathize more with Ludovica in the past than I did now? That I managed to understand what she was going through and even felt sorry for her when I thought about her future.
But I couldn’t bring myself to sympathize with her now. I felt too much bitterness for that.
Why couldn’t she just stay here with us, where she was safe and protected and where no one could hurt her?
Why did she want to leave?
Why weren’t we enough to make her want to stay?
How were we supposed to keep her safe now?
Was there anything that we could do to change her mind?
Why did she want to leave?
The irony lay in the fact that I’d understood her better when she was still a stranger compared to now.
Or maybe I was just like Ace.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know why; I just didn’twantto understand it.
Ace turned away from me to look back at the grave. The lost expression he wore earlier had vanished, replaced with something even more heavier.
Resignation.
It put decades on his youthful face, making him appear much older.
“I think that I can understand it, a little.” Ace’s voice barely carried over the gusts of wind.
