“Life’s tears reflect in the mirror If you still love, you must say it, express your love fully The story of the girl from Dong Thon village The village was set on fire, leaving only her The red flames blazed across the night sky The cries of people echoed even more mournfully A small, frail figure dragged along Embracing pain, she fled from the throes of the dying embers…”
….
The atmosphere inside the wooden house slowly became quiet.
The hanging lamp on the ceiling swayed gently with the night wind.
Outside the window, the sea of clouds drifted silently around the floating island.
No one spoke.
Only the soft crackling of firewood inside the furnace could be heard.
Em Bé Công Nhân sat quietly at the edge of the chair.
Her small hands tightly clutched the corner of her clothes.
It looked like she wanted to say something…
but didn’t know how to begin.
Trụ smiled softly at her.
— You don’t have to rush.
— You can speak whenever you’re ready.
Hearing that, the little girl slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were still swollen from crying too much.
After a long silence…
a tiny trembling voice finally echoed through the room.
— Back then…
— everyone treated me very kindly…
The room became completely silent.
Even Bướm, who had been leaning against the wall the whole time, quietly looked over.
The little girl lowered her head again.
— East Village… was where I was born…
— It wasn’t very big…
— but everyone knew each other.
Her voice trembled slightly.
But she still forced herself to continue.
— My family was poor…
— and I didn’t have any special powers…
— but nobody ever hated me.
A faint smile slowly appeared on her face, as if she was remembering a distant memory.
— The bread seller always gave me warm bread every morning…
— The old lady at the village entrance often invited me to eat with her…
— The farmers sometimes gave me fruit to take home…
Trụ listened quietly.
She could almost picture it.
A small village.
Nothing luxurious.
But warm.
Comfortable.
Like home.
The little girl continued softly:
— Even though I didn’t have a family…
— everyone said East Village itself was my home…
As she said that, her eyes slowly turned red again.
Ki, sitting beside her, gently handed her a cloth.
She accepted it with both hands.
— I thought…
— life would stay like that forever…
Outside the window, the wind blew harder.
The atmosphere in the room slowly became heavier.
Then her voice grew quieter.
— But that night…
— everything burned…
Trụ unconsciously tightened her fists.
The little girl lowered her head deeply.
— That night was very dark… This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
— I was sleeping when I heard screaming…
— When I opened my eyes…
— flames were already everywhere…
Her voice began shaking harder.
As if simply remembering it was painful enough.
— Houses were burning…
— people were running everywhere…
— some were trapped…
— some were calling for their families…
— everyone was terrified…
Tears slowly dripped onto the wooden floor.
Tap.
Tap.
Nobody interrupted her.
The little girl forced herself to continue.
— Then…
— I saw it…
The temperature in the room suddenly felt colder.
Even Bướm’s eyes narrowed slightly.
— A monster…
— really huge…
— its whole body was black like charcoal…
— and its eyes glowed red like fire…
Her shoulders trembled violently.
— It laughed…
— while spreading flames everywhere…
— the houses kept burning down…
Trụ clenched her hands tighter.
She could already imagine the despair of that moment.
A normal village…
had no chance against a monster like that.
The little girl suddenly broke down crying again.
— I wanted to help everyone…
— but…
— they pushed me away…
Trụ’s eyes widened slightly.
The girl sobbed uncontrollably.
— The bread seller carried me and ran…
— the blacksmith stayed behind…
— everyone told me to survive…
— they told me to keep running…
Tears streamed endlessly down her face.
— I didn’t want to leave them behind…
— but they kept forcing me to go…
Her voice became fragmented.
— Someone burned alive right in front of me…
— some people turned back to stop the monster…
— but none of them ever came back…
Ki slowly lowered his head.
Even he hadn’t expected the story to be this painful.
The little girl hugged her knees tightly.
— I was the last person to leave East Village…
— when I looked back…
— the whole village had already turned into fire…
Silence filled the room.
Even Trụ didn’t know what to say anymore.
— I could still hear everyone telling me to run…
— but I couldn’t save anyone…
— not a single person…
Finally— she completely broke down.
Her crying was small…
but heartbreakingly painful.
Trụ immediately stood up and walked toward her.
Then gently hugged the little girl.
— None of this was your fault.
The little girl cried into her shoulder.
— But I was the only one who survived…
— If I had been stronger…
— if I had power…
— maybe everyone wouldn’t have died…
Trụ shook her head softly.
— You’re alive because they wanted you to live.
— If you had died too…
— then their sacrifice would have meant nothing.
Hearing that only made the little girl cry even harder.
Maybe…
this was the very first time she had truly spoken everything buried inside her heart.
After a long while, her emotions finally began calming down.
Only then did Ki quietly speak.
— After that, I found her in the forest.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Ki leaned back against the chair.
— When I arrived…
— East Village was already almost completely destroyed.
His eyes darkened slightly.
— I heard someone crying, so I went back to search.
— And I found her sitting alone in the ashes.
The little girl remained silent.
Ki continued quietly.
— She sat there staring at the flames for hours.
— She didn’t speak.
— She didn’t react.
— It was like her soul had already died.
Bướm, who had stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke.
— That monster…
— do you remember anything else about it?
The little girl trembled slightly.
After a long pause, she answered softly:
— I only remember…
— glowing red marks across its body…
— and those terrifying eyes…
The room fell silent once more.
Nobody knew what had destroyed East Village.
But everyone understood one thing.
That creature…
was not a normal monster.
Outside the window, the wind continued blowing across the floating island.
Trụ looked at the little girl trembling in her arms and quietly let out a breath.
At the very least…
from this moment onward— this child would no longer be alone.
~End~