Chapter139: The War of Poisoned Mirrors and the Cry of "Ugliness"
The Shattering and the Cold Words Within the Home
It was an exceptionally cold and biting night, with a thick, black mist swirling like magical smoke throughout the courtyard. Diyari stood in the center of the room, facing a large mirror where his grandmother's (his mother's mother) sorcery shimmered with a dark light. That woman, who should have been the wellspring of mercy, now moved her hands within that mist like a demon, determined to ruin Rina's mind.
Rina rose from beside the child's cradle. Her silvery eyes were as cold as shards of ice. She looked at Diyari, but not with love—rather with the revulsion that the curse had manufactured within her.
Rina: (In a harsh voice that cut through Diyari's soul like a dagger) "Diyari... why are your eyes so wide, staring into that mirror? What do you think you see? Your grandmother is right; she tells me in my dreams that you are nothing but an ugly shadow! You are a ruin inside, and you've lost your mind. It doesn't matter if you're a warrior when you act like an ill-mannered, unrefined person toward me!"
Diyari trembled as if he had been struck by a bullet. These words were the exact poison his grandmother had funneled into Rina's mouth through her spells. He felt that specific agony: the pain of being called "ugly" and "ill-mannered" in your own home, simply because you refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice.
Diyari: (In a broken voice, thick with tears) "Rina... how can you say this to me? I gave my entire life so that you and the child would be safe here. You say I am ugly? You say I have no mind? Simply because my eyes are wide with the weight of the tyranny my grandmother inflicts upon us? Oh, world... why do those we love become the sharpest knives to slaughter our hearts?"
The Grandmother's Sorcery and the Child's Cry
At that moment, the child in the cradle began to wail bitterly. Rina rushed over and scooped the infant up, but she looked at Diyari as if he were the child's mortal enemy. The grandmother's curse had ensured that even her maternal instincts became a weapon against him.
Rina: "Look at this child... he is afraid of you too! Your grandmother says you will be the one to turn this child's life ugly. You claim to be loyal? What use is the loyalty of a mindless, ill-mannered man who only knows how to shout? I am losing my mind here; my brain is filled with voices saying you are just the remnant of one massive mistake in my life!"
Diyari fell to his knees. His tears flowed like blood onto the cold floor. He felt that no matter how much good he did, his grandmother would twist it into evil in Rina's eyes.
Diyari: (With a deep, body-shaking sob) "Fine! Let me be ugly! Let me be ill-mannered in your eyes! But do your eyes not see my goodness? Do you not see how my heart burns when I see my grandmother—using the hands that should have fed us—forcing us to swallow the poison of unfaithfulness? Why is life like this? Why must a man pay for a thousand years for one small mistake? I am broken, yes... my mind is in pain, yes... but I am still here!"
The Peak of Estrangement and Madness
Rina clutched the child and moved toward the door, but Diyari stood and blocked her path. This time, he didn't want to hold her by force, but rather through the sheer agony in his eyes, hoping to reveal the truth.
"Rina... I am not ugly. The 'ugly' thing is the heart of my grandmother who weaves spells to destroy our home. I am not mindless; the mindless one is the person who trades loyalty for hatred. You say I am ill-mannered because I shout? I shout so the world can hear how lonely my victimhood is! Let her cast a thousand more spells, let her fill your head with those cheap insults... but I will not leave!"
Rina screamed: "Get out! Your voice is piercing my brain! Your grandmother is right—you only want to imprison me in this pain! Go to a place where no one has to see your ugliness! I don't want to look at those wide eyes full of nothing but weeping and shouting anymore!"
Perseverance in the Graveyard of Love
Diyari walked toward the door in silence. He felt his heart had no more room for new wounds. He turned back and looked at Rina as she quieted the child.
"I am going... but know this: I am strong! I will triumph! Even if a single mistake of mine was the end of the world, I still wouldn't give up. I will become the one who breaks every mirror containing a cursed image. Rina... you are everything to me, even if you think I am the most ill-mannered man on earth because I tried to protect you."
He stepped out into the dark courtyard, sitting under the shadow of the grandmother's curse which hung over the house like a black cloud. He felt his mind was about to explode, but as always, he whispered: "I am here... and I will not give up."
Wirtten by : Dlin_myth