Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 116

“What? Damian, why are you backing out again?”

“But someone has to watch our things.”

It was common for belongings to be stolen if left unattended in such places, so Damian wasn’t wrong.

“Why? We couldn’t ride the carousel at the amusement park before either. We ran out of time because of the Ferris wheel and the parade…”

“If we need someone to watch our things, we can take turns. I can watch them while you ride.”

With Annette also encouraging Damian to join them, he didn’t want to spoil the mood by stubbornly refusing. As he was about to reluctantly agree, Lilliana tilted her head and asked.

“Damian, do you dislike carousels?”

At her question, Damian properly chewed and swallowed the sandwich he had been munching on before answering.

“It’s not that I dislike them, but I don’t particularly like them either.”

“Why?”

“Because it reminds me of the saying ‘life is a carousel.'”

Lilliana and Casey tilted their heads in unison. But Annette laughed and said, “It’s amusing to hear someone who’s barely lived 20 years say something like that.”

“Ms. Annette, I believe I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs in life.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

Annette scoffed, and Damian glared at her with a sullen face. But Annette just shrugged, her expression saying, “What are you going to do about it?”

Lilliana finished her sandwich, sucking the sauce off her fingers, and asked, “So you’ve never been on a carousel, Damian?”

“I’ve ridden one exactly once.”

“Just once?”

“Yes.”

Casey, who had also finished his sandwich, brushed the crumbs off his hands and said to Damian, “Then let’s go.”

He pulled Damian up, as if to say, “Why overthink it?”

“What? Now?”

Damian looked at Casey, bewildered as he was dragged away without warning. But Casey held onto him and headed towards the ticket booth.

“No, wait… I can walk on my own…”

His feeble protest was ignored, and Lilliana smiled brightly and waved at him.

“Have fun!”

As he was being dragged away by Casey, Damian thought, Why am I always stuck with this 90% spirit these days?

After buying tickets with Casey, Damian went to the back of the line and stood there. Casey, who had been awkwardly silent with Damian, suddenly spoke as if he had just realized something.

“Wouldn’t it have been better for you to ride with Lilliana since you’re riding anyway?”

It sounded like he was intentionally trying to pair them up, and Damian sighed softly.

“It’s not like that with Lilliana and me…”

“For Lilliana to be safe, one of us has to stay by her side.”

Casey didn’t know how to tease people, so he wasn’t even thinking about anything suggestive. Damian, embarrassed by his own unnecessary nervousness, rubbed his neck.

Since their trip to the amusement park, Damian had been maintaining a moderate distance from Lilliana, neither too close nor too distant.

The distance between an employee and employer. The distance between friends. The distance between housemates.

“What do you mean ‘it’s not like that’ with Lilliana?”

“It’s nothing. I misspoke.”

Damian quickly cut off Casey’s words and said what he wanted to say.

“There are a lot of people here, and it’s bright, so they won’t try anything.”

He looked at the security guards patrolling the area and the police officers on patrol.

“Even a petty thief would be caught immediately.”

At his words, Casey also looked around and then spoke again.

“But it’s a bit unsettling to trust humans.”

Damian chuckled at Casey’s distrust of humans.

“Well, I’m human too.”

“You’re a human I know. Other humans are humans I don’t know.”

Casey simply categorized Damian with his binary logic and then, looking at his right arm, asked, “What about your arm?”

Damian took out a folding knife he always carried in his pocket. He tossed it in the air with his right hand, spinning it, catching it, and then showing off fancy tricks by rolling it between his fingers.

He folded it again and put it back in his pocket, shrugging. Seeing that, Casey nodded.

“You’ve recovered a lot. Isn’t that almost the same as normal?”

“Actually, it’s not perfect yet. Since I can’t feel any sensation, there’s a sense of disconnection when I use my hand. But shooting a gun is no big deal now.”

As they were having this trivial conversation, the line steadily shortened, and it was soon their turn.

Leaving Casey alone, who was choosing a horse more meticulously than necessary, Damian sat on a random horse. There was no reason for two guys to sit next to each other on a carousel, was there?

Damian glanced at the horse he was riding. When he was very young, the height of the carousel horses seemed quite impressive, but now they seemed rather small. He imagined how ridiculous he must look from the side and then stopped.

Once everyone was on board, the carousel started to move. With the ding-dong, ding-dong, thump-thump of the music, the horses bobbed up and down.

“Hey, Damian~”

He wondered where Casey had sat, but then he heard him calling from right behind. Damian turned around with a slightly annoyed expression, and Casey waved at him with a bright smile.

“Seriously, what’s so fun about this…?”

“Damian, not that way! Look to the side! To the side!”

Casey pointed towards the outside of the carousel. Damian turned his head to the right, and the upper Nell River, winding through the hills, came into full view.

The scenery was lush with greenery, typical of summer, and the air carried the distinct scent of the water, which wasn’t unpleasant. He could understand why this carousel was so popular. People liked this kind of thing.

No sooner had he thought this than the carousel spun, and the scenery changed completely. The section Damian was on returned to the uninteresting view of the bustling crowd. He stared blankly at the whirling scenery.

Instead of barren mountains and burnt fields, there were mountains and fields dense with vegetation. Instead of the chaotic sounds of exploding bombs, there was the lively chatter and laughter of people. Instead of soldiers covered in dust and blood, running around, there were people strolling in beautiful clothes.

It had already been four months since he left the military, but this scenery still felt unfamiliar. He felt like he would be back in the middle of the battlefield if he closed and opened his eyes. For some reason, he still felt like he hadn’t escaped the war.

So this was just a daydream…

“Yahoo! Damian! Brother Casey!”

He heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Lilliana leaning over the fence, waving her hand. She was alone, having apparently left Annette behind.

Before Damian could react, the carousel spun, and Lilliana quickly disappeared from view.

Then came the scenery of the riverside. The crowd. The hills. And again…

“Are you having fun?”

Lilliana, smiling brightly.

“I am~” Casey replied with a smile.

“What about you, Damian?”

But before Damian could open his mouth, the carousel spun again, passing Lilliana by.

Once again, the scenery of the riverside. The crowd. The hills. And after that, Lilliana, standing with her sunlit blonde hair fluttering in the wind.

“Are you having fun?”

Lilliana asked again, and Damian simply smiled in response. And as he passed her again and the carousel spun, they faced each other once more.

“See? I told you it would be fun.”

Her smile was even brighter now.

Someone said life is a carousel. The scenery changes as it spins, but eventually, it returns to the beginning and starts spinning again…

Damian hated that saying. The reason he had only ridden a carousel once was that he already understood what it meant when he first rode one.

He remembered it was probably before he turned ten years old.

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