Mika's smile faded. He looked at her with surprise.
"You could have shouted!" Charlotte continued, her voice trembling.
"You could have moaned. You could have whimpered. You could have done whatever you needed to do to make the pain more bearable!"
"But INSTEAD, you held it all INSIDE! You pretended everything was FINE! You acted like you weren't suffering at all!"
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"Do you really think I'm so weak that I can't handle hearing you in pain? Do you really think I'm so fragile that I would shatter just from witnessing your suffering?"
Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"You're the one who's suffering, Mika! You're the one taking all the pain! So why won't you let me share even a little bit of that burden?!"
She grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight.
"Am I really so useless in your eyes? Am I really just a glass princess who will break the moment she sees the real world!?"
