Endless Debt Chapter 689 - 196: Young and Foolish Days_3

"Remember that night was just like now, a stormy day. Our ship was anchored near the shore, only a few hundred meters from the coastline. I went to the captain’s room, covered his mouth, and under the cover of thunderstorm sounds, I killed him with a stone."

Haha, I smashed open his safe and took away bundles of cash. At that moment, I felt I was not just a sailor, but also a pirate, a murderer, a righteous arbiter, a warrior defying fate."

I leaped into the sea, being battered repeatedly by the giant waves. When I regained consciousness, it was already noon the next day. I was lying on the beach, with nothing but the clothes on my back."

Ewen’s voice softened, just like the character in the story, equally exhausted."

"It’s just starting over, I’ve started over many times."

Cinderella rose from below and sat on the sofa with Ewen, lightning reflecting on their faces like the glow from a television. In the emptiness, Cinderella saw Ewen’s life."

"You know the story afterwards, I collapsed in an abandoned station, awaiting death."

Ewen’s voice was very light, like a child’s sleep talk."

"I calmly told myself, this ending isn’t bad, but when I closed my eyes, I was overwhelmingly sad, and eventually cried like a child."

I have no warm home, no place to rest, nor anywhere to go."

In this world, no one loves me, not even my mother. The bustling world is both close to me and yet distant, so far that it is unreachable."

Cinderella murmured, "Then that train came."

"Yes, that train came," Ewen said, "It was the most luxurious train I have ever seen in my life. The carriages were big enough for men and women to dance inside, the broadcast played music tirelessly day and night, and the fragrant scent of wine permeated each carriage."

"She helped me, cleaning my wounds, bringing warm blankets and food. She was like the warm sun in winter, even the hardest ice would melt into gentle water before her."

Cinderella knew who she was, the woman with Fire Opal eyes."

"I told her all about the journey, and suddenly she asked me why not write it down, since my experiences were so interesting?"

I said I had already written it down, but it got torn up. Then she said... just write it again, and let more people see it."

To this day, Ewen still marvels at that fateful encounter, as if an unknown force was orchestrating everything."

"When I got off the train, I was determined to become a writer."

Cinderella didn’t care about Ewen’s creative aspirations, but about something else. Her eyes gleamed, questioning, "What about that woman? What happened to her?"

"She left with that train, and since then, I never saw her again."

"Then why didn’t you look for her?" Cinderella knew, "You fell in love with her, didn’t you?"

Ewen didn’t directly answer Cinderella’s question. He explained, "Later I tried, I checked the train’s schedule, but the official record was blank. They said the abandoned station and the nearby railway were all decommissioned, no train should pass through. I guess it might have been a private train, but I asked many wealthy businessmen, none of them heard of such a luxurious train."

"She disappeared just like that, along with the train, without a trace."

Ewen lamented the mercilessness of fate."

"In today’s world, information exchange is so advanced, railways connect countries, telegrams span thousands of miles... yet the connection between humans is still so fragile."

I don’t know who she is, where she came from, or where she was going. I don’t even know her name, I only remember her face, but even that face has faded as the years go by, until finally, all I remember are those eyes like Fire Opal."

It turns out the connection between me and her was so fragile, that first meeting was a final farewell."

Cinderella said, "Then you began to write books, hoping she’d see your stories."

"And what then?" Ewen said, "Who knows when she’ll read my book, notice it? By then she might be married, she could have died, or perhaps she’s already read my book but long forgotten me, after all, to her, I’m just an insignificant stranger among the vast sea of faces."

Cinderella could feel the heavy sadness in Ewen’s words. She hadn’t expected that Ewen had such a past, that woman influencing Ewen’s whole life, yet Ewen knew nothing but those eyes."

Nothing at all.

No... she left something else."

Cinderella looked at Ewen’s chest, "That ticket."

Ewen’s voice was unwavering, "The only memento."

The story ended, both immersed in the lingering sadness of the tale, Cinderella suddenly lightly slapped Ewen, feigning indignance."

Ewen asked, "What’s wrong?"

Cinderella said, "Your story! You lied to me!"

"We’re even," Ewen said nonchalantly, "Besides, I just embellished the story a little. Don’t forget, I’m a writer, the kind best at deception."