DKVM Ch 24

Chapter 24

“Then we’ll see you the day after tomorrow, Rahel.”

It was the day before Isela’s anniversary.

Vivian was hanging out in Rahel’s room, working on a crossword puzzle as usual when she heard the bell chime to wake her up.

Rahel’s brow furrowed slightly as she asked.

“Why the day after tomorrow? Why not tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is your mother’s anniversary, don’t you have a memorial service or something?”

Of course, Isela’s grave would not be in this village, but I had heard that the nobility kept a place for the dead in every home they owned.

To honor the dead wherever they are.

‘Considering how the duke talked about Rahel’s mother the other day, I doubt he’ll let tomorrow pass.’

But Vivian’s answer was unexpected.

“…I don’t do that.”

“Why?”

“…”

Rahel didn’t answer.

Vivian observed Rahel’s expression and asked cautiously.

“Did you have a bad relationship with your mother?”

From the stories she’d heard from Karlz, Rahel’s mother seemed to be a good person, but…

‘Being a good daughter to the duke doesn’t mean she was a good mother to Rahel.’

If Rahel was uncomfortable, I wouldn’t bring it up anymore.

“If you say yes, I won’t talk about your mom in the future. I don’t want to say anything that might hurt my friend.”

“…It’s not like that.”

“Then?”

Rahel hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“I don’t think my grandfather would be happy that I’m memorializing my mother.”

“Why would you think that? You’re her daughter, it’s only natural for you to miss and honor your mom.”

Rahel pursed her lips at Vivian’s question, but she couldn’t answer.

A memory came flooding back.

“If it weren’t for that boy… you wouldn’t be suffering, you wouldn’t have gotten sick.”

“…Father.”

“I need to find a way to save you, Isela, or else…!”

I could still hear his Grandfather’s cries, which I had overheard when Mom and I moved to the duchy.

Of course, at that time I was too young to understand the concept of death, so I didn’t realize why Grandfather was crying.

Only at Mom’s funeral did I understand what ‘death’ meant and why Grandfather cried.

‘I caused Mom’s death.’

So I didn’t go to pay my respects to Isela on the anniversary.

I’m afraid I’ll have to face my grandfather’s crying, and I won’t be able to run away this time.

I hated my grandfather, who would surely hate me, but at the same time, I felt unbearably sorry for him.

But…

“So Rahel, just be honest with me about this. Do you miss your mother?”

Just because she felt heavy with guilt didn’t mean she didn’t miss her mother.

She was just afraid to face her grandfather’s grief and her own guilt.

Rahel spoke the truth, the one thing she had never said to anyone before.

“…To be honest, I miss her.”

I don’t know how I could miss her.

She was the first person in the world to love me, a sweet person who taught me the fullness of what it means to love, even when we lived in an old house with a cold winter wind chill.

She was my whole little world.

As I let out the emotions I’d been hiding from myself, they began to take shape.

I miss her.

I really miss her so much.

Then Vivian suggested to Rahel.

“Then let’s go see your mom.”

Rahel’s eyes widened.

“How?”

“You have a portrait of your mother in the villa, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“I think it’s on the fourth floor.”

“Then you’d better go there with me today; the duke will do a memorial tomorrow, so they won’t notice if we go today, right?”

The space for honoring the dead was set aside in the back of the villa.

So neither her grandfather nor the servants preparing for the day would be interested in a portrait gallery.

It was a pretty good plan.

“What do you say, Rahel, do you want to go to the gallery with me?”

Rahel stared at the girl after hearing her bold question and smirked.

This girl always had a knack for finding the answer somehow. It was intriguing.

Interpreting the smile as an unspoken affirmation, Vivian’s next thought,

“Hmm, but when you visit the deceased, you’re supposed to bring flowers.”

Vivian’s story triggered a memory.

“Well, I remembered my mother’s favorite flower.”

“Oh! What flower is that?”

“It’s the marca flower that blooms only in the north…it doesn’t bloom here.”

At this time of year, marca flowers bloom in the north.

In this town with its mild temperatures, they wouldn’t be available.

Just as Rahel was about to give up, Vivian shouted.

“Then, let’s make some.”

“…flowers?”

Rahel doubted her ears.

Other things were fine, but how could they make flowers?

But Vivian nodded confidently as if she had something else in mind.

“Yeah. Can you tell me what the flower looks like?”

Rahel decided to trust her this time.

This child always found the answer.

* * *

“See you then!”

Vivian and Rahel parted ways in front of the doorstep.

Rahel went to the library to find a book with a picture of a marca flower.

Vivian went to the gallery to see how they would decorate the area with flowers.

Once the two children had disappeared to do their own thing, Sally emerged from hiding in the hallway.

‘I don’t know what you’re doing… but here’s my chance.’

You’re done for now, Vivian.

Their footsteps faded away completely, and Sally stepped into the room with a meaningful smile.

The door closed quietly behind her.

* * *

“It’s done!”

I picked up the paper flower.

I was worried it would be sloppy, but it turned out better than I thought.

“Shall we go then?”

Rahel nodded.

I tucked the flowers into my bag and walked out of the room with Rahel.

We were about to sneak up the stairs when someone blocked the way.

“Vivian, can we have a word?”

The nanny appeared and blocked our path. Sally’s triumphant expression as she stood next to her mother made me feel uneasy.

“What’s wrong, Nanny?”

And my ominous predictions are never wrong.

Sally asked.

“You stole the lady’s things, didn’t you?”

“…What?”

Before I could respond in confusion, Rahel furrowed her brow and retorted.

“Vivian was with me, she didn’t do anything suspicious.”

“No, because the young lady left the room with her earlier and went off separately, and then she snuck back into the room by herself.”

I blinked in disbelief. Of course, I hadn’t come back into the room alone.

So Sally was making up something that didn’t exist.

I answered calmly.

“I never came back to the room, and when I did, the princess was already there.”

“Did anyone else notice that you were somewhere else at that time?”

The question left me speechless.

‘There is no one to prove that I was on the fourth floor at that time.’

The fourth floor is a rarely used place, with few maids, and I had to sneak around to avoid being seen searching the gallery.

After a moment of panic, I regained my composure and pointed out Sally’s error.

“You’re not trying to prove my innocence. You’re trying to prove my guilt. Do you have any proof?”

“The bag.”

Sally pointed to the bag I was carrying as if she’d been waiting for this.

“Open the bag.”

I flinched.

‘I didn’t see what was in there when I was putting the flowers in there…’

Among other things, the bag contained the paper flowers Rahel and I had made together.

‘If anyone else sees this, I’ll have to explain what it is, and then my plan to sneak off to the corridor with Rahel will be exposed.’

As I stood there, unsure of what to do, Sally stormed over and snatched the bag from my hand.

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you show us?”

She held it upside down and spilled out the contents.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

I stopped Sally a beat too late, but the flowers in the bag had already spilled out.

And in between…

What I assume to be Rahel’s hairpin rolled out.