Chapter 579: Only A Dream? (I)

To avoid going through the same tragedy again, Edmond and Rose decided to live by themselves deep within the forest.

The first few weeks were difficult, but little by little, they adjusted to their new life. Before long, the forest truly felt like home.

Edmond built a simple wooden hut, hunted for their food every day, and chased away any predators that came too close to their home.

Meanwhile, Rose easily made clothes after learning how to sew and weave back in the village.

She also took care of their small livestock—rabbits, sheep, and cows—that Edmond had captured from the wild and brought home.

"Are you tired?" Edmond asked as he returned after chasing away a pack of wolves that had wandered too close to their home. "You should get some rest. I’ll take care of the rest."

Rose smiled and handed their daughter to him. "It’s still too early for you to tell me to rest."

The little girl immediately reached out with both of her tiny hands. Edmond chuckled softly before lifting her into his arms. She giggled happily and grabbed onto him, clearly pleased to be in her father’s arms.

"There’s no such thing as resting too early," Edmond said with a smile. He lowered his head and gently kissed Rose on the temple. "You’ve been sewing winter coats for us for the past few days. I think you deserve some free time."

Rose smiled and playfully smacked his arm. "That’s nothing compared to hunting down bears so I could make those coats from their fur."

"Just get some rest, alright?" Edmond said gently.

With their daughter resting comfortably in one arm, he reached out with his free hand and gently stroked Rose’s head. "Give yourself some time to relax. You need to rest your mind too."

Edmond wasn’t saying that without reason.

For the past month, Rose had often woken up in the middle of the night with fear written all over her face, her body covered in cold sweat.

She told him that she kept having the same kind of dream.

In those dreams, the Cardinal and the people from the Holy Temple always managed to find them. They would come to their home and take her family away from her.

Rose would desperately search for Edmond and their daughter, but no matter how far she ran or how hard she looked, she could never find them.

At first, Edmond tried to convince her that they were only dreams, born from the fears she had been carrying in her heart for so long.

But as time passed, the dreams only became worse.

They felt more real each time, and sometimes, even after waking up, Rose couldn’t completely shake off the fear. She would look around their home nervously or suddenly worry that someone might be watching them.

Seeing her like that made Edmond deeply worried.

"Alright," Rose finally said. She gave him a small smile. "I’ll rest. But I want to fetch some water first so I can take a warm bath."

Edmond gently caressed her cheek. "Alright, then. Be careful."

Rose simply smiled in response. She turned around and made her way toward the river, which was only a short distance behind their home.

The path leading to the river was one Edmond had made especially for Rose.

He had cleared away the thick bushes and cut down any branches that could get in her way. A simple wooden fence ran along both sides of the path, keeping wild animals from easily wandering onto it. Edmond had even checked the ground carefully and removed sharp stones and anything else that might hurt her feet.

He knew Rose could take care of herself, but that had never stopped him from worrying about her.

Whenever it came to his wife and daughter, Edmond always wanted to make sure they were as safe as possible.

Rose walked along the familiar path while carrying two empty wooden buckets. The sound of birds and rustling leaves filled the forest around her.

Before long, she finally reached the river.

The water was clear and calm, flowing gently between the rocks. Edmond had also built a small wooden platform near the riverbank so Rose wouldn’t have to stand on the wet, slippery ground whenever she fetched water.

Rose placed one bucket down and crouched beside the river. She dipped the other bucket into the cold water.

For a moment, everything felt peaceful. As Rose listened to the gentle sound of the river, she began to think that maybe Edmond was right. Maybe she really did need to slow down and get some rest.

She looked down at her reflection on the surface of the water and only then did she notice how tired she looked.

She let out a soft sigh. "Those were only dreams," she whispered to herself.

She had repeated those words countless times over the past month.

They were only dreams.

The Cardinal didn’t know where they were.

The Holy Temple couldn’t find them here.

Her family was safe.

Rose reached for the second bucket, but then she suddenly stopped moving when she heard a loud sound in the distance.

At first, it was so faint that she thought she had imagined it. But a few seconds later, she heard it again.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Rose slowly stood up, and her fingers tightened around the handle of the bucket as the sound grew louder.

After a moment, she finally realized what the sounds around her were. They were the sounds of horses’ hooves, but not just one horse and there were many of them.

A chill ran down Rose’s spine and her heart immediately began to pound as all the terrible dreams she had been having flashed through her mind.

Without wasting another second, Rose abandoned the buckets by the river and ran back toward their home.

Rose ran as fast as she could without caring about anything in front of her.

She was so panicked that she could barely run straight. Several times, she stumbled into the wooden fence along the path, leaving scratches on her arms.

Even so, she kept running.