Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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19.
The box, smooth and polished from years of hand stains and wear, was just slightly larger than a palm.
Inside the box lay a piece of old, discolored paper and a light blue Mirror.
“…….”
Facing her mother’s traces for the first time, Lee Yeon stared inside, holding her breath for a moment.
Yet, no one rushed her. Lee Yeon slowly moved her hand and picked up the old paper.
Her hands were trembling so badly that the thin paper gave off a distinct rustling sound.
“……Seon.”
Lord Seo murmured softly, like a groan.
“It is Seon’s handwriting.”
It seemed Seon was her mother’s name.
Without another word, Lord Seo gulped down cold water, while Lee Yeon read the faintly blurred ink words.
[This mirror, which I inherited from my mother, is said to be a mirror that grants a wish.]
Lee Yeon looked down at the Mirror beneath the paper.
[That precious wish, which can only be used once in a lifetime, I have used for you.]
Her gaze paused for a moment as she followed the sentence.
Her vision blurred slightly. The writing on the paper appeared distorted, as if smeared by water. Lee Yeon quickly wiped her eyes and continued reading.
[I hope you will be happy, my child. I would gladly give you all of my happiness without a single regret. This breath of mine, which will not last long anyway, I expend for your well-being.]
The next sentence was somewhat smeared. Unlike the other parts, the paper was warped.
As if it had once been wet and then dried.
‘Tears.’
It was the mark where her mother’s tears had fallen.
Lee Yeon caressed that spot with her fingertips and murmured the smeared sentence aloud.
“I desperately wish for you to be happy, for you to surely find peace, and for you to be loved for your entire life.”
In the end, tears streamed down her cheeks. She did not know why the tears were falling.
‘Is it because it didn’t come true? Or am I grateful that she desperately wished for it despite everything? —No.’
She was just happy to face her mother’s traces. She was grateful that her mother had loved and blessed her even before she entered the world, and that she had unsparingly used a precious wish for her sake.
Lee Yeon set the paper aside and carefully lifted the object inside the box.
“It is a familiar item.”
Lord Seo said in a cracked voice. He nodded toward Lee Yeon.
“It was something Seon cherished dearly. She carried it with her wherever she went. So I looked for it to place it in her coffin together, but I couldn’t find it……”
So it was there.
Listening to that murmur, Lee Yeon looked down at the Mirror.
It had an overall light blue base, and intricate flower patterns were drawn along the edges with silver thread.
Above all, though the mirror portion was old, it sparkled brilliantly as if imbued with a mysterious light.
“It is truly beautiful.”
Jinyul, who was watching from beside her, murmured unconsciously.
However, Lee Yeon soon noticed something strange. One side of the mirror’s surface was minutely cracked.
Tracing the spot with the tip of her finger, Lee Yeon murmured.
“It’s broken……”
Jinyul leaned closer to the mirror.
“It must have cracked over time.”
“It has been inside a box for over twenty years, so that makes sense.”
Was that it?
Feeling a bit disappointed, Lee Yeon touched the area again with her finger.
“Ah!”
Lee Yeon frowned slightly. A drop of red blood formed on her fingertip. Lord Seo and Jinyul instantly pulled out Handkerchiefs from their robes.
“Lee Yeon, take this—”
“Yeon, wipe it.”
The two men held out their Handkerchiefs at the same time, but Lee Yeon did not look their way. Her gaze was fixed on the Mirror.
“Lee Yeon?”
Noticing that Lee Yeon’s expression was unusual, Jinyul grabbed her shoulder. However, Lee Yeon only stared intently at the surface of the mirror where the blood had fallen.
“The blood……”
It seeped into the Mirror.
The moment she was about to say that, a ripple-like wave rose inside the Mirror.
“……?”
Lee Yeon doubted her eyes. But the Mirror continued to sway like waves. Then, its color gradually darkened before suddenly turning bright.
And the figure of a woman appeared inside the Mirror.
“……!”
Lee Yeon gasped.
It was Lee Yeon herself. But it was not her face from this very moment—.
‘That time.’
Lee Yeon’s face turned stark white.
Clothes stained with blood, trembling hands, thick tears flowing down her eyes, and a white bowl pressed against her lips.
Her heart plummeted with a heavy thud.
‘Why is the scene of my death……’
Lee Yeon gripped the Mirror with trembling hands. She held it so tightly that her fingers turned white.
Even during that time, the scene inside the Mirror continued.
‘Grand Prince…… Jinyul.’
So I called his name as I was dying. Realizing this for the first time, Lee Yeon reflexively turned toward Jinyul.
However, he was still looking at Lee Yeon with a worried expression, utterly clueless.
Feeling an odd sensation, Lee Yeon suddenly turned her head and looked around.
“Jinyul? Father?”
Bizarrely, everything except her had stopped. The two men were frozen in place, right in the middle of saying something with worried looks.
‘Could it be because of this?’
Lee Yeon looked down at the Mirror with startled eyes. A terror different from before washed over her body. It was right at the moment she was about to smash the Mirror.
What was reflected inside the Mirror caught her eye.
The Poison Bowl falling and shattering, herself vomiting dark red blood, and her body slowly collapsing.
“……Stop!”
Lee Yeon squeezed her eyes shut and shouted. She didn’t want to watch anymore.
She already suffered from the nightmare constantly, it never left her mind for even a moment, and she did not want to see it again like this.
So, just as she was about to strike the Mirror with her tightly clenched fist.
Flash!
A dark light swept over, distorting her image inside the Mirror. Then, stark white letters floated up over the blackened background.
[A wish unfulfilled, a second chance is hereby granted.]
It was at that exact moment.
With a flash of light, the room was dyed stark white. Then, the scenery inside the Mirror changed.
‘A bed, the light of dawn, and…… me, waking up from sleep with a long exhale.’
Lee Yeon’s eyes widened.
That was unmistakably the first day of her Regression.
“Lee Yeon!”
Lee Yeon flinched and lifted her head. Jinyul and Lord Seo were looking at her with worried faces.
As if they knew nothing about what had just occurred, their faces were filled solely with concern.
Lee Yeon looked down at the Mirror again. The Mirror was serene, as if nothing had happened. And it reflected Lee Yeon’s face, which had turned pale as a sheet. Lee Yeon at this very moment.
“I……”
Lee Yeon murmured in a cracked voice. She tightly gripped the Mirror.
“I came back because of mother’s wish.”
The Regression was not a coincidence. It was not a divine arrangement either. It was her mother’s wish.
‘She said she hoped I would be happy. To live peacefully and be loved.’
And the Mirror had clearly stated.
“A wish unfulfilled, a second chance is granted.”
Lee Yeon was certain.
This was the reason she had regressed. A second chance had been given. By her mother’s wish, with her final breath.
She had not returned merely to survive, but she had returned to be loved.
Lee Yeon firmly grasped the Mirror.
“Without fail.”
I will fulfill it, that wish.
To be happy, peaceful, and loved.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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