Day 29: Candlelight
It was far too late to regret anything.
The future was all he could count on. The decisions he made were neither right nor wrong, simply his own. He couldn't afford to regret any of them.
He remembered how hard it was at the beginning. When he would sit at his desk and look outside at his home until the candlelight waned and he was sitting in the darkness he knew too well, asking the same question over and over.
What if I had chosen differently?
He had never gotten an answer, and the constant wondering had nearly driven him mad, so he had stopped. He did what he needed to do. He couldn't afford regrets, when the actions had been done.
He couldn't afford to think about her. He couldn't afford to think about him. He couldn't stand to think of both of them at once.
So when a god had come before him, bearing his son's face — such an achingly familiar face — and the news that he was still alive, King Ban hadn't hesitated. After all, if it was a god's will, then surely he could...
I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'll choose our son this time.
It had been so long since he had seen that face...