He blamed himself for failing to protect her.

What’s more, the other kids saw how ugly he was and kept their distance. She was the only one who, despite calling him ugly, never avoided him.

Back then, her words had left him so speechless that he’d simply ignored her.

When she saw he wasn’t speaking, she thought he was actually going to die and cried for a long, long time. Finally, exasperated, he couldn’t help but tell her that he was just sick and would get better.

Then, frowning awkwardly, he had to say a lot more just to comfort her.

She forced him into a pinky swear, threatening to cry if he refused.

He felt like he was about to have a breakdown. In the end, he had no choice but to link pinkies with her.

She then drew a little circle in her notebook, wrote both their names inside, and declared that whoever broke the promise wouldn’t get any Christmas presents. He’d wanted to laugh so badly then.

After that, she kept him company for a long, long time, coming back to be with him every day after school.

At first, he was very impatient, but he slowly began to look forward to her visits. Because of her, his life started to have color...

Thinking back on it, that was probably the most wonderful time they ever had together.

She would bring him storybooks, even though he didn’t like reading them.

She would bring him tasty snacks, even though he never wanted for anything.

She would also sing for him, even though she wasn’t very good at it.

But being with her was so happy and carefree, an experience he’d never had with anyone else.

She was just a little girl, sitting by his bed and telling him stories—the really childish ones, because she didn’t know the words for any of the more mature ones. But he would still listen patiently.

She would sing to him. They would eat the food she brought, talk about school, and share their joys and sorrows with each other.

She told him she hoped they could be together forever and that he wouldn’t leave her the way her mother had. He said he would.

She told him he would get better and that he shouldn’t be afraid. She said that when she grew up, she would become a doctor to treat him, so he wouldn’t be in pain and could live a healthy life. He said he would.

She also told him that one day she would learn to sing lots and lots of beautiful songs, and then she would sing them only for him. And again, he said he would.

She made her promises, and later, she kept every single one.

He agreed to everything, but in the end, he didn’t fulfill a single promise.

So, Annabelle Linton had truly never wronged him. He was the one who had hurt her, who had failed her all along.

Gradually, he grew accustomed to her visits. He even started waiting eagerly for her by the door each day. Sometimes, if she didn’t show up, he would even throw a tantrum.

Eventually, he would spot her coming from a distance, quickly turn away, and then, with a grin, wait for her to run up to him with a surprised laugh.

They spent a month like that. While he was in quarantine, she was the only one who kept him company.

Once, she even stole a kiss. He was ecstatic on the inside, but he put on a look of disgust and asked her, "Aren’t you afraid you’ll get infected?"

Her reply was something that, even now, made him want to cry whenever he thought of it.

She had said without a second thought, "Because it’s Leona’s sickness!"

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

But it wasn’t. Not at all.

What she meant was that because it was *his* sickness, she was willing to endure it with him. Because it was *his* sickness, she wasn’t afraid. And because it was *his* sickness, if she got infected, so be it. If they were to die, they would die together...

She was just a little girl, yet she was already so utterly devoted to him. And he... he had truly spared no effort in hurting her.

Sometimes, he’d get angry and ignore her just for talking to another boy from their class. She would then try to explain herself, stumbling over her words, while he’d stubbornly ignore her—though on the inside, he was bursting with joy.

’Hmph. That wretched girl. I was waiting for her outside the classroom, and she was with some other boy! I’m just going to ignore her. That’s right, ignore her. That’ll teach her a lesson.’

[PS: Since I only released one Chapter yesterday, I’m releasing two today. This is the first of the two.

We have a PK event this week, so please show your support by being active in the comments and casting your votes! If we don’t succeed this time, the novel will go premium, so how long it stays free depends on your efforts~ If we hit 5,000 recommendation votes this week, I’ll release a bonus Chapter over the weekend!~]