Chapter 23
Ryder’s heart went completely cold at my words.
Watching helplessly as I walked away, his hand fell to his side.
Those tired eyes slowly turned red, filling with tears.
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A deep sense of powerlessness and despair washed over him, making his breathing quicken.
Ryder sat alone in the corner for a long time.
Even after the restaurant closed and a server came to remind him, he remained.
Finally snapping out of it, he handed the bag of medicine to the server and asked for a favor.
The hot eggs reduced the swelling but didn’t relieve the pain.
I was so focused on that, I skipped dinner.
My parents specially delivered a steak to my room, and were worried when they saw my injured knee.
Just then, a server came by with fresh towels, and they asked about medicine.
Hearing the hotel had some that cost 10 euros, they immediately bought a package. Soon, the server brought up the medicine.
Looking at the unopened package, I found it strange.
That afternoon, I’d asked the maid who cleaned our room, and she said the hotel didn’t sell pharmaceuticals.
How had that changed in just two hours with a different staff member?
I had my doubts and wanted to ask more questions, but my father was already applying the medicine.
“Autumn, we’ve already paid for it. Don’t worry about where it came from–let’s just take care of your injury.”
“That’s right. With a fall like that, who knows if you’ll even be able to walk tomorrow. Maybe we should rest for a couple of days before going to Iceland?”
My concerns quickly vanished with their reassurances.
After a night’s rest, though my leg still had bruises, it no longer hurt.
We stuck to our original plan and headed to Iceland.
I was overjoyed to reunite with my long–lost Aunt Sophia, and we were practically inseparable.
Under the spectacular Northern Lights, I raised my hand and made my twenty–third birthday wish.
“I hope in the new year I’ll see more of the world, meet more interesting people,
and
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that everyone around me stays healthy and safe.”
Hearing such conventional wishes, Aunt Sophia giggled and nudged me with her arm, teasing in a hushed voice.
“That’s it? You’re not going to wish for a hot guy and a passionate romance?”
I knew she was joking and was about to tease back when I caught sight of a familiar figure.
Ten meters away, Ryder stood in the crowd, staring at me intently.
Aunt Sophia followed my gaze and her eyes lit up. She exclaimed excitedly.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about! That gorgeous guy over there–why don’t you go for it?”
Ryder heard her words too and immediately became nervous and fidgety, his awkward expression mixed with a hint of hope.
I looked away, my tone more clearheaded than ever.
“That’s not going to happen, Aunt Sophia.”
My aunt didn’t know our complicated history and looked surprised.
“So certain? From the way you talk, it sounds like you know him–like he’s an ex you broke up with and swore never to speak to again.”
Her casual joke hit the nail on the head.
But after everything I’d been through and all this time, I had truly moved on.
So talking about it now, I felt completely at peace, unbothered by the past.
“We’ll never have any contact again, Aunt Sophia.”
Hearing me say this with a smile, Ryder felt like his heart was being carved out with a knife. His eyes grew moist.
While everyone around him was taking photos and making wishes, he remained alone.
He tilted his head up, looking at the brilliant auroras in the sky, memories from long ago flooding back.
On his eighteenth birthday, he had made a wish.
In this lifetime, he wanted to climb the highest mountain, dive into the deepest sea, skydive once, and see the most romantic aurora.
I had stood beside him then, repeating each wish after him.
Now, we were finally under the Northern Lights together. But lost to each other in a sea of strangers.
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