That night, Kirana couldn't sleep.
The bedroom light had been on for several hours. Nara's notebook lay on the desk, while the old book that had made her curious all this time sat right beside it.
Her mind was crowded with questions.
About Nara.
About her family's past.
About why no one had ever told her any of it.
Kirana stared at the photograph she'd found in the box earlier.
Nara's face looked so familiar, even though Kirana had no memory of ever meeting her.
"Are you really my sister?" she whispered.
There was no answer.
Only the sound of the night wind slipping through the gap in the window.
Kirana picked up Nara's notebook again.
She opened the next page.
Neat handwriting filled the page.
"Today I saw Kirana again. She's getting so big. She always smiles whenever she comes into my room."
Kirana stopped reading.
"She saw me before?"
Her chest felt strange.
All this time, she'd thought she had never known Nara.
But apparently, there had been a time when they were together.
She turned to the next page.
"I like watching her play. She's always curious about everything in my room. She says this room has a different feeling to it."
Kirana smiled faintly.
"So I've always liked this room."
She continued reading.
"Someday, I want to tell Kirana everything. About our family. About why I had to leave."
Kirana's hand stopped.
"Leave?"
That word only made her more curious.
She searched for the next page.
But several pages after that were blank.
"Why does it stop here?"
Kirana flipped through the notebook.
There was nothing else.
She felt disappointed.
"The important part is missing."
Suddenly, a knock came from the door.
Knock.
Knock.
"Kirana?"
It was her father's voice.
Kirana quickly closed the notebook.
"Yeah, Dad."
Her father stepped inside slowly.
"You haven't gone to sleep yet?"
Kirana shook her head.
"Dad..."
Her father sat in the chair beside the desk.
"You know about Nara now?"
The question left Kirana silent.
"You knew too, Dad?"
Her father nodded.
"Yes."
"Why does everyone know except me?"
Her father looked sad.
"We weren't trying to hide the truth from you."
"But that's what happened."
Her father didn't argue.
"Kirana, you were still little back then."
"I know I was little. But I'm grown up now."
"I know."
"Then why tell me only now?"
Her father glanced at the notebook.
"Because we were afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
Her father drew a long breath.
"Afraid you'd remember something you weren't supposed to remember yet."
Kirana immediately focused on her father's face.
"What does that mean?"
Her father was silent for a long time.
"Kirana, when Nara left, something happened in this room."
The room fell silent.
"What?"
Her father didn't answer right away.
"You were here at the time."
Kirana felt her body grow slightly rigid.
"I was?"
"Yes."
"But I don't remember anything."
"Because your mind erased what happened."
Kirana stared at her father.
"You mean I forgot?"
Her father nodded.
"Some things from childhood can be forgotten."
Kirana tried to remember her childhood.
Small fragments surfaced.
The sound of someone singing.
Someone who often read her bedtime stories.
But the face wasn't clear.
"Nara..."
The name slipped from Kirana's lips before she realized it.
Her father looked at her immediately.
"Do you remember something?"
Kirana closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
She held her head.
"I feel like I've heard her voice before."
Her father fell silent.
A few seconds later, he stood up.
"I think that's enough for tonight."
"Wait, Dad."
Her father stopped.
"What really happened to Nara?"
The question made it difficult for her father to answer.
"I'll tell you later."
"When?"
"When you're ready."
Kirana felt frustrated.
"Why does everyone always say that?"
Her father didn't answer.
He simply left the room and slowly closed the door.
Kirana sat down again.
But after that conversation, her curiosity only grew stronger.
She opened Nara's notebook again.
This time, she tried looking at the back.
A single page was tucked inside.
It was different from the others.
As if it had been deliberately hidden.
Kirana pulled it out slowly.
There was a short message.
"If Kirana is reading this, it means she's found this room."
Kirana froze.
She read on.
"Kirana, you may not remember me. But I have always remembered you."
Her eyes began to grow misty.
"I know that someday you'll ask why I left."
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
"I didn't leave because I wanted to abandon you."
Kirana held her breath.
"There was a reason I had to leave."
She turned the page.
The final sentence made her heart beat faster.
"Don't believe the story you've been told all this time."
Kirana stared at the handwriting for a long time.
"Don't believe it?"
What did that mean?
Whose story was wrong?
Her father's?
Her mother's?
Or was there something she had never known about all this time?
Suddenly, a sound came from the direction of the wardrobe.
Kirana turned immediately.
The wardrobe shifted slightly.
She stood up slowly.
"Sis?"
Raka's voice came from outside.
Kirana jumped.
"Raka?"
"Can I come in?"
Kirana opened the door.
Raka stood there holding a glass of water.
"You're still not asleep?"
Kirana glanced toward the wardrobe.
"I heard something."
Raka's expression turned serious.
"Where did it come from?"
"The wardrobe."
They both stared at the closed wardrobe.
Raka walked closer.
"Should we open it?"
Kirana hesitated.
"Wait."
They stood there for a few seconds.
Then Raka slowly opened the wardrobe door.
There was nothing inside.
Only neatly arranged clothes.
Raka sighed.
"Maybe it was just the wood."
Kirana still wasn't convinced.
She looked at the bottom of the wardrobe.
Something there looked different.
A small gap behind a wooden panel.
"Sis?"
"There's something back there."
They tried shifting the bottom of the wardrobe.
It turned out there was a small hidden compartment.
Inside was a white envelope.
There was no name.
No writing on the front.
Kirana picked it up with trembling hands.
She opened the envelope.
The letter contained only one sentence.
"Kirana, if you've found this, it means the time has come for you to learn the real reason I left."
Kirana and Raka looked at each other.
For the first time, they realized that their family's secret was far bigger than they'd imagined.