20 Darion and Ai's Story - Part 3
She was scared and afraid of all the criticism that she could face when she said anything related to sleeping with another man.
Darion's reputation was already bad and hence if she were to say that, her parents would kick him out of the village which she did not want to happen.
As for Darion, he couldn't leave the village as he still held thoughts about Ai. His love never decreased.
"I am pregnant.", she came to inform Darion about this and wanted to tell him that he was the father.
She didn't know if he really was but believed in her love and the slight possibility.
When Darion confessed his feelings and everything that he went through, she was happily going to admit that she loved him. She would even ask for forgiveness for everything that saddened him. They could have just gone away from the village and lived happily.
She was so happy that tears broke out in her eyes. She was about to say to him that she loved him as well however, she failed to do so.
That was because she spotted her parents walking towards the village.
As Darion's hut was near the edge, many travelers or people could be seen entering or exiting the village.
And thus, she said just one to two sentences while leaving the place. Both of their hearts broke on this fine day and it was from this day Darion became a player and slept with many women while being a drunkard. He was handsome of course, and many ladies in the village liked him despite him being a drunkard.
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Right now, Darion was in Ai's house. She fainted because of the extreme pain. She was about to give birth but there was no one nearby.
During this era, there weren't exactly any hospitals or advanced techniques for birth. Everything would depend on the mother and fate due to which, the chances of death were higher.
Therefore, going to a hospital wasn't an issue. The problem was that there was no lady or nanny nearby to help her in giving birth.
Darion was a man and had no idea how to help. So he decided to go and call a lady or two instead who could aid her.
Well, he was a player and drunkard, as mentioned. While some did like him and slept with him, they never revealed it to anyone else in the village because of their reputation.
When he went to ask for help, none of them agreed as they were busy with the celebration. No one was ready to hear him out in the first place.
"Someone…"
"Please, she is in need of someone-"
"Hey you-", he lifted his right arm to call out to Ai's parents, but they too ignored him.
He was drunk, he couldn't think straight. He kept asking for help.
He was desperate and seeing him in this state, Leko walked toward him. Although he was a drunkard and a playboy, he too was a human and a member of the village – Leko thought this and walked towards him to ask about the matter.
When Darion explained everything, Leko realized how big of a problem it was. He immediately asked everyone there to stop and called out to two or three ladies to go and aid Ai.
They helped her despite having fainted and somehow, her child was born. Unfortunately, though, there was no cry.
The village went quiet when it was a new year and didn't celebrate because Leko broke the news about Ai's child's death. The one who was hurt the most was Darion. Even if it was Ai's and some other man's child, he felt the pain for some reason because he knew how Ai would feel after she was awake.
The night passed in silence soon after which Ai regained her consciousness. She realized that her stomach wasn't budged anymore.
"Wha-", she found two to three ladies sitting in her room to tell her the news.
After hearing everything, her heart snapped further. She cried the entire day, the next day, and the day after as well without eating anything and hardly drinking any water.
On the fourth day, after that, she went to Darion's house and said whatever came to her mind while furiously blaming him for being the reason for the death of the child.
"If you weren't a playboy…"
"If you weren't a drunkard…"
"If you didn't have a bad reputation, then they would have agreed to come with you right away to help me in childbirth!" – this was her reasoning.
She knew that whatever she said was foolish and weird. She knew that he wasn't exactly the reason for the child's death as the two ladies shared their thoughts about the child dying during the fetal stage, that is, it was already dead after the first four to five months of pregnancy.
It is easier to blame others than blame oneself when one is filled with mixed emotions with sadness majoring – this was so true at the moment.
She lashed out and said whatever came to her mind only to end up regretting it after a few days. Darion knew that she was just sad and said all that, but he took all those things to his heart.
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Ai continued to blush after seeing his half-naked body. That was because the time that she spent with him, in bed, clearly flashed in her mind. But she soon calmed herself.
"D-"
"Darion…"
"It has been a while…", she said with a smile on her face.
Darion knew her for a long time so he could easily identify the sadness behind the smile. Also, black markings left by her tears were visible on her face.
Although Darion tried his best to forget about Ai, he still loved her. When he found her standing in front of him, he was surprised and knew not how to behave. So, a completely different personality of his came out and he spoke in rather a different manner as if he had changed.
He slowly stretched out his right hand towards her while saying, "What happened…?"
"Why did you cry?"
"Who made you cry?"
"…"
