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She shouldn’t find out right now.
The news reported Angelica and Francis Bernova had been brutally murdered by a killer who had attacked their mansion. The entire planet was in mourning, but Mina’s story was completely different. Angelica had shielded Mina with her own body, dying in her abuser father’s hands. He was her killer, but no one knew it.
When Mina said the man had attacked her too, I couldn’t breathe. The mere possibility could have killed me with fear. But she was indifferent to it.
“Remi…”
We were sitting at the dinner table. Mina was playing with her fork indifferently. She had been like this lately. Even though I made her favorite dishes, she didn’t touch any of them. She was wandering around like a ghost since Bernova died. Her pure anger, jealousy, and daring nature had disappeared. She wasn’t a hunter anymore, she looked far too defeated for that.
And she also had been asking to reset things a lot lately. Every time she let her guard down and showed a sliver of vulnerability, she would immediately snap, ‘Can you delete that?’ I knew I wouldn’t get caught at this point because we had become little more than strangers. She was treating me like a remote control; the lines of our old relationship had blurred into something cold and transactional.
We were no longer servant and master.
I wished to make her feel better, but the keys to the tower where I once roamed freely had been taken from me. I couldn’t conquer it. I wanted to kneel down and shout at her, beg her not to be silent. Her mere presence was enough to take away all my pain.
But it seemed I wasn’t the cure for Mina’s soul.
I’m so useless.
“Tell me, why do disasters happen to people?” Her voice sounded flat, like she were reading from a text book. Her eyes were focused on something else; not on me.
I cleared my throat. “Disasters are constant, not accidents. The universe tries to teach us something.”
“What’s it?” she whispered. “What’s the universe trying to teach us?
“It depends on your perspective.”
“But… what about bad people? They also learn something from disasters?”
“No. They just deserve it. They’re paying for what they’ve done.”
Mina held her breath. Something in her expression collapsed. I stood, drawing her chair closer before kneeling in front of her. I rested a steadying hand on her leg, but she remained pale, unmoving.
“Deserve? But why are innocent ones suffering too? They don’t deserve this cruelty.” She took a deep breath, her brows furrowing. “They know nothing about it, why are they being sacrificed for the sins of bad people? I… I don’t understand, Remi.”
“Perhaps…” I began, hesitant. “God takes them for that very reason. To keep them from living in the filth of this world.”
“But… it’s unfair. Why are the ones deprived of this vast world them? Why can’t the bad people go instead?”
“It would take centuries to completely eliminate the bad people. Saving the innocents is the easier way.”
“But I… No… I guess…” she nodded slowly. “You’re right, Remi. This is the right way. It’s just… Sometimes I just think… I wish I could create a place where everyone is happy. But I can’t, Remi. I’m too weak. I’m so useless.”
“You’re not.” I said in a firm voice. “You’re enough. You… brought light even to me.”
She scoffed. “My power is only enough for a robot, I suppose.”
I flinched but said nothing. Mina Her hand flew to her mouth the moment the words left her lips.
“I’m sorry, Remi! I didn’t mean to insult you. On the contrary… I’m grateful to you.” She stroked the back of my neck and began to play with my hair. “Thank you for being by my side. Thank you for being a robot instead of a disgusting human. Your master loves you so much.”
I stared, the color draining from my face.
Oh no.
Mina had never accepted she was my master; always treated me like a real human being. Her sudden change was unusual, unsettling. At that moment, I felt like I’d said something so wrong. But when she kissed my forehead, my thoughts fell silent. Everything lost its importance.
It’s not the right time. I comforted myself with this, trying to rid of the guilt.
