“……? Uh, on the stone, Mommy’s name, it’s written!”
The child, staring at the gravestone with a puzzled expression, suddenly exclaimed. Judging by the sparkle in his eyes, asking Rutus to look at it, it seemed they had no idea what it was.
‘Having spent his entire life locked up in the annex, it’s only been a few months since he returned to the main house. It’s understandable.’
The child, seemingly thinking of the gravestone as nothing more than a stone with Ellie’s name inscribed on it, looked around curiously, marveling at it.
It took some time before he realized that there was more than one such stone and tilted his head in confusion.
Dozens of gravestones, each bearing a different name. The commonality was perhaps that all the surnames were the same.
“……”
Rutus, who had been silently staring down at the gravestones, finally spoke when the child’s curiosity began to wane.
“This site is where the members of the Duke’s family, who have found eternal rest, are laid to rest.”
“Eternal rest?”
“…It’s a place prepared so they may rest in peace.”
Since this was a visit I should have made long ago, it seemed appropriate to come together this time. Rutus spoke.
It was an ambiguous remark, unclear whether it was directed at the child or at the gravestone.
The child blinked, his face showing confusion. Only then did Ellie notice the dates inscribed on the gravestone.
<753.10.14~774.09.01>
The first day of September.
The end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
[Somehow, I thought it was strange there was no one at the training grounds today, That’s why…]
[Hey, hey, be quiet! I told you I have to be careful today…!]
Was that why? The maids had been having a conversation she couldn’t quite understand.
-……
Now, the fragmented pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together, and Ellie’s mouth opened slightly in realization.
Rutus’ visibly low spirits since dawn, and how he had cleared his entire day’s schedule despite the pile of work waiting for him, making the effort since early morning.
“……If you give a greeting, she’ll like it.”
“A greeting?”
“Yes. …She so longed to be called ‘Mommy’.”
It was all because today was her memorial day.
Before fully processing this realization and reacting,
The child, who had been unable to keep his feet still and had been poking at the dirt with the tip of his shoe, rolled his eyes.
“……”
-……
At the end of her gaze, she met purple eyes that contained her own reflection.
Switching his gaze back and forth between Ellie’s face and the gravestone, the child furrowed his brows with a serious expression, blinking slowly.
Mouthing silently.
Then he fixed his gaze on Ellie and gave a bright smile. He even silently called out to her as an added bonus.
Watching the child mimic the actions Rutus had just described, Ellie realized:
‘Since he said to greet Mommy, he looked here instead of at the gravestone.’
His serious expression earlier was likely because he had been pondering this.
-……
In other words, he didn’t fully grasp the situation.
Although the child was thoughtful and bright for his age, fully understanding death was still far beyond his years.
Standing on the ground where his mother’s coffin was buried, he didn’t even glance at the gravestone, instead focusing on her. Ellie let out a soft sigh.
‘Having spent more than half a year with his ghostly mother before even seeing the gravestone, it’s not surprising that it doesn’t resonate with him…’
Still, it felt strange. Ellie clicked her tongue softly before speaking to the child.
-Adi, don’t look at Mommy right now; look ahead.
“……?”
-Daddy… um, Daddy can’t see Mommy, can he? If you keep looking here, Daddy might find it strange.
So, if you want to talk, speak to the gravestone. When Ellie advised this, the child nodded but couldn’t hide his skeptical expression.
He understood that it was because Daddy couldn’t see her, but the situation of having to greet the gravestone when Mommy was right beside him seemed unsatisfactory.
“……Mommy, hi.”
Afterward, Rutus’ expression as he watched the child awkwardly wave at Ellie’s graveston, Hmm…
…did not seem particularly pleased.
He merely readjusted his grip on the child’s hand.
Ellie silently watched the two of them.
“Daddy, I’m hungry…”
“……Let’s go.”
-……
Standing still as if rooted in place, until they were no longer in sight.
That was all.
* * *
Afterward, Ellie, who had belatedly followed Rutus and the child, left the room only after their meal was finished and it had become late at night. It was after the child, who had hugged the rabbit doll in his arms, had fallen deeply asleep.
‘So, at this hour… There really is no one walking around except for the sentry.’
It was probably already past midnight or just about to pass. With these thoughts, Ellie moved toward the annex.
– …So the thing I saw during the day is my gravestone.
Ellie knew that, since a funeral had been held, her body must have been laid to rest somewhere.
She had also heard that there was a place inside the Duke’s mansion where the family’s gravestones were erected.
Naturally, she thought that she too would have been buried there. That much was expected.
– Hmm…
The problem was that she had never considered going to look for it.
‘What would it feel like to see your own gravestone on your death anniversary with a clear mind?’
She couldn’t even express it fully with words.
– I’ve never seen another ghost, so I couldn’t ask anyone about it…
Then maybe it would be better to just go and see it for herself.
Thinking about it, Ellie realized it was strange that she had never seen any ghosts besides herself, and she grumbled as she walked.
Her coffin must have been buried beneath the ground there. Given how much time had passed, it must have long since turned to bare bones.
The burial shroud, likely similar to what she’s wearing now, might have worn out and frayed by now.
It was while she was thinking that and walking along the path behind the annex.
*Rustle*
– Ah, aaah!
In the dark forest, where only the moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves illuminated the surroundings, Ellie was startled and screamed when she sensed movement from a distant black shadow.
‘Wh-What is that! Is it a ghost?!’
Even though she had just complained that she had never seen another ghost before, it was strange that one would appear so suddenly. Ellie, still unprepared, squeezed her eyes shut.
– ……
The next realization came when she understood that ghosts couldn’t leave physical traces.
– …Ah, right…
Overwhelmed by a sense of embarrassment, Ellie let out a couple of awkward coughs and slowly opened her eyes.
Since she was a ghost and couldn’t be seen or touched anyway, she thought she might as well run away if things went south.
But when she opened her eyes to see who the person was, Ellie couldn’t help but be surprised.
– …Rutus?
She had clearly seen him send the child into the room and then enter his own bedroom earlier.
But here he was, apparently returning to her gravestone, alone, without even a torch or a candle.
And at this hour, without anyone knowing.
‘……?’
What on earth could it be? Ellie blinked rapidly with a dazed expression and realized that Rutus’ condition was quite different from what she had seen earlier, so she studied him more carefully.
Had he come out after trying to sleep? He was in light nightwear, and his hair was slightly damp.
‘He didn’t even dry his hair before coming out.’
Perhaps because everything was dark, his eyes, staring vacantly at her gravestone, appeared especially cloudy. Ellie unconsciously reached out.
– ……
Though her hand didn’t touch anything.
As if her contact with the child had been a mirage, Ellie’s hand passed futilely through Rutus’ wrist, and Ellie slowly straightened her posture.
When she raised her gaze, Rutus’ face appeared right in front of her, perhaps due to the height difference.
His violet-colored eyes, which she had always complimented as beautiful every time she saw them—however, they no longer held any light.
Ellie slowly opened her mouth and asked.
– Why are you here like this?
“……”
– You’ve already passed your bedtime. You’re going to be busy again when the day breaks, so you should get some rest.
“……”
Though she knew he wouldn’t hear her, Ellie continued as if they were having a conversation.
– How was the war? I heard it lasted quite a while. You didn’t get hurt, did you?
“……”
– Come to think of it, your birthday was before the war ended. I wonder if you celebrated it there. Well, maybe it was too dangerous, so that was probably impossible…
“……”
– Honestly, I still don’t understand why you locked Adi up and left. You could have contacted the Masons.
“……”
– But… the child really likes you, and since I don’t know what happened, I’ll just trust you.
Ellie said with a faint smile toward Rutus.
She lowered her head and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. Though she was actually stopping right in front of him, it would pass through him anyway.
She knew that Rutis wasn’t the kind of person who would harm the child thoughtlessly. Though whatever his reasons, he had done something wrong, but it was no longer something for her to interfere with.
– …So just be good to the child. When Adi grows up and inherits the title of Duke, marries, and has children, and you become a grandfather…
“……”
– And then, after more time has passed, when you think you’ve lived well enough, come find me. I’ll accept you then.
I’ll be able to tease me for getting old, so that wouldn’t be so bad. Her tone was monotonous, as if stating the obvious.
Ellie wasn’t sure what her expression looked like, so she lowered her head even further.
It would probably take a long time before that day came. Until then, she would only be able to speak like this, unilaterally…
‘…This is enough.’
Just the fact that she could watch them be happy from the side would be enough for her to endure.
As Ellie continued speaking, Rutus, who had been standing quietly, reached out his hand over the gravestone and hovered over it.
Before his arm could even touch it, he lowered it and turned away. Ellie guessed that he would return to his bedroom and followed him.
It was an action she took since their destination was the same anyway.
However…
– …What is this?
Ellie quickly covered her mouth with both hands and took a step back.
Her own corpse, completely unchanged, was right in front of her.
* * * *
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