It happened unexpectedly, and never in Cass and Cyan’s wildest dream would they live to hear their daughter divulge something she’d been keeping a secret for a long time. They were already resigned to the fact that their daughter might never tell them her secret, but that was fine.
So, when Lyra held them back from leaving her room, they didn’t guess that she wanted to talk about it.
They thought Lyra was nervous because of her coming-of-age ceremony and wanted to talk about it.
“You see, I… had a secret.”
When Lyra said that, Cyan and Cass quickly understood what it was about.
What followed her words was her silence, and her trembling hands. She hung her head down, so Cyan and Cass couldn’t see her expression.
Thinking that she might have been forced to confess her secret to them, Cyan quickly said, “You don’t have to force yourself, Lyra.”
They agreed that they would never try to corner her, or to make her tell what she didn’t actually want them to hear.
So, even if Lyra never got to tell them her secret at all, they would just accept it.
“No, I want to say it. Let me say it.”
Lyra distanced herself from Cyan’s hand as she insisted on doing so.
Looking at her daughter’s determination, Cass calmly said, “Alright, take your time, Lyra.”
“You see, I… ever since I was born, I had memories… of when I lived as someone else. Memories of my past life…”
Sure enough, it was exactly this secret that Lyra wanted them to know.
Though it was no longer important now that she seemed to be able to free herself from the shackles that had been weighing her down, it was nice to see that their daughter wanted to open up and tell them this. She trusted them enough to tell them her greatest secret. That alone made them happy.
“I can’t tell you… who I was before… But that’s why I was calm and more mature than my age as a child… and other odd stuff about me… that’s the explanation…”
Obviously, they knew why she thought that way.
Even if she didn’t want to tell the whole truth to them, it’d be fine.
Telling such a huge secret was surely not an easy feat.
Just as they wanted to answer her, Lyra suddenly lifted her head and looked at them with eyes that seemed about to cry at any moment. Her voice trembling, yet her words were still clear.
“And that’s why… I want to thank you… for becoming my parents… and for always showering me with love. I’m really, really grateful I was born as your daughter…”
Her words were very touching.
But, she quickly hung her head down again, clearly afraid of their reaction.
Cyan and Cass looked at each other and nodded.
The two hugged Lyra at the same time as they said, “Well done!”
And towards Lyra who was surprised that they weren’t surprised, they still had a few words of advice for her to remember.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Cyan said.
“We only want you to be happy.”
“Even if you were to become someone worshipped by the whole world, if you are unhappy, we wouldn’t like that.”
After all, a child didn’t ask to be born.
They managed to exist because their parents wanted them to be there.
As such, when they decided when they wanted to be parents that they were prepared to love and accept their children no matter how they’d be.
However, they promised they’d try their best to guide their children into kind and good people.
It’d be selfish to demand that the children fulfil their parents’ will as the children didn’t even ask to be born in the first place.
Why burden them when they didn’t even ask to be born?
When Cyan was younger and thought of the previous duke and duchess as his parents, he was often told by the duchess this…
“You should be grateful to me that you’re even here in the first place. Why can’t you just do a simple thing I asked you to do?!”
At that time, Cyan’s first thought was how he didn’t even ask to be born, and now he had to do the things he didn’t want to do. He hated being guilt-tripped like that.
And his greatest concern was having his children feel like they’d rather not be born at all.
Such thought had visited his mind when he was young, and he knew how agonizing it felt.
He didn’t want his children to ever think of that.
“Thank you…”
Lyra’s sobbing and the words that she uttered amidst it all brought Cyan back to reality.
“Thank you for becoming our daughter,” Cyan said.
“We love you, Lyra,” Cassie added.
“Me too… I love you too…,” Lyra tightened her hands that were embracing Cass and Cyan back.
We’re glad that you’re here with us.
