Only the Traces Remain
The traces remained wholly with her alone. And yet—was she truly unaffected? He wanted only to confirm it; he had not thought beyond that.
"As if I could forget."
Cesare's breath caught short. That single phrase lingered long in his ears.
As if spitting something out, she flung the apricot pit she had finished eating out over the lake. With a soft plop, ripples spread across the water.
"Then……"
"There are too many listening ears in the mansion."
Her tone carried the isolation of one who had no allies whatsoever within those walls. Her gaze settled on the lake. The ripples that had risen were already gone.
"They're good at it. Pretending not to know. Playing dumb."
"........."
"There were many times when it was better if only I stayed quiet, if only I didn't know."
It was an evasive remark. He felt a sharp intuition that she was not speaking of this matter alone.
"What is happening at the mansion?"
The room in the most remote corner, the lady's tone that seemed to despise her. And her wariness of anyone in the mansion overhearing. She rarely left the estate, so little was known about her.
"Who knows."
At her vague reply, Cesare's brow furrowed. Watching him, she rose from her seat.
"You said you felt no distance from me, Mr. Appiano, but I think that is something I ought to say."
She smiled as she stood, yet the smile vanished as quickly as the ripples on the lake. It meant: do not cross the line.
"……Ah."
Faced with that firm attitude that left no room to press, he could make no reply.
"Shall we head back now?"
She said, brushing grass from the hem of her dress.
Cesare looked once more at the lake, which had begun to take on a reddish hue. Delfina's words circled through his mind like ripples.
All the way back they left the window open. Before the setting sun had fully turned red, Delfina arrived at the Pignatelli Mansion.
"Thank you for seeing me home."
The sun was setting. The red light was fading, and a deep blue was spreading fully across the sky.
"I shall give you advance notice the next time we meet."
"That would be better."
"And this will be the last time I come by car."
"That is a great relief."
At his resolute tone she gave a light laugh. Reading in that smile that the day had not been entirely bad, Cesare's expression lightened as well.
"Then, thank you for making time today."
Delfina watched until the departing car had vanished completely. Only after it was gone did she turn toward the mansion.
He may look cold, but he has a soft spot after all.
Delfina smiled faintly. But only for an instant. The moment her eyes met those of Lady Pignatelli waiting at the door, her expression sank into blankness.
"You're later than I expected."
"Mother. Were you waiting for me?"
Her voice was gentle, in contrast to her face. At the soft tone, the lady came to stand beside her.
"I was worried, you see."
To any eye they looked like a devoted mother and daughter.
"About what?"
Worried? Delfina desperately suppressed the laugh that threatened to curl her lips.
"What man who would respond to the method of courtship you proposed could possibly be normal?"
On the surface it sounded like criticism of the man, but listening carefully it was a rebuke of Delfina herself.
"He was a perfect gentleman."
"A commoner calling himself a gentleman is hardly worth mentioning."
"……."
When she made no reply to the lady's scolding, as if taking offense, she linked her arm through Delfina's.
"I just have a bad feeling about it. Must you really meet the remaining five times?"
"Of course. It's a promise."
All the way from one end of the corridor to the other, Delfina had to listen to talk of the late Count Pignatelli's strange obstinacy.
"So how long do you intend to keep up this bizarre affair? Having strangers traipsing in and out of the house is not at all good."
"I'll try to meet them outside as much as possible."
There was truly little time left. The summer that always seemed as if it would last forever always announced its end so suddenly. This time she meant to make certain of it.
"That isn't what I meant. We're cutting down on the servants as well, so I only said it casually. Don't take it too much to heart."
She had just admitted that the Pignatelli family's currently usable coffers were running dry, and now she said not to mind it.
"What do you plan to do about dinner?"
"I don't particularly feel like anything."
"Did you eat outside?"
"……No."
"Your body grows weaker by the day, so you must take care. And one never knows what might be in food eaten outside."
Delfina swallowed the laugh that tried to slip out.
"……Of course."
"I'll bring you some soup. Be sure to eat it before you sleep."
The lady, who had followed her all the way to her bedroom as if worried, said. The servants in the corridor could be seen admiring her warm-heartedness.
"Thank you."
Delfina said as she opened her door.
It was a tenderness one could scarcely believe of a stepmother. There had been a time when she had believed every one of those words to be sincere.
Through the open crack of the door the lady saw the large fish tank and spoke.
"When do you plan to throw out that empty fish tank?"
"……It's expensive, so I thought I'd keep it a while."
After that there were only formal good-nights.
Delfina closed the door, leaned back against the sofa, and laid an arm over her eyes.
The fish tank glittered, catching the moonlight.
"Haha.."
Delfina gave a dry laugh and gazed long at the light of the tank. As the moonlight wavered, old memories wavered with it.
Before she first died, Delfina too had believed the lady's kindness without the least doubt.
Saying that her daughter seemed to have lost her appetite because her body was weak, she had often brought her sweet-tasting soup, and even when she had no appetite Delfina had made sure to eat the soup.
Never knowing that the soup contained poison.
How many times had she died because of it.
It had all begun after Count Pignatelli passed away.
At first she had been so grief-stricken by the death that she had no room for other thoughts. She had believed that her new family felt the same as she did.
People, after all, tend to measure others by their own standards.
And for a time that form seemed to hold without crumbling.
Then a lawyer came to visit. His voice had been strangely heavy.
"Count Pignatelli stipulated in his will that for three years after his death, nine-tenths of the family fortune and the rights to the mansion be frozen."
"Then what of the meantime? It's nowhere near enough to maintain the household!"
"It would be best if you reduced your expenditures from now on."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Because after three years the property will pass to the direct heir, Miss Delfina Pignatelli."
The moment the family lawyer delivered those words, something inside Lady Pignatelli shattered into pieces. And it did not take long to learn how sharp those broken shards were.
"Cough, cough."
Blood began to show with every cough. She thought the weakening of her body was only natural. She believed without question that the illness of the heart was appearing outwardly as well. Though they shared no blood, the family devoted themselves to caring for her, yet she showed no improvement. Delfina wasted away rapidly.
Crash! Boom!
On a day when rain poured heavily to announce the start of summer, an indescribable agony came. She instinctively knew death was drawing near.
Fortunately she was not alone. Delfina desperately clutched the edge of the lady's skirts as she sat by the bedside.
"Mother, it hurts so much. Please call a doctor. Please."
Her throat felt as if it were burning away, and she thrashed against the sensation of thorns piercing her entire body. But the lady did not rise from her chair. Like an observer watching a butterfly caught in a spider's web make its final flutter of wings.
"M-Mother…… uh, hngh……"
Long, slender fingers gently smoothed her hair back.
"In a little while you will feel comfortable soon enough."
At the gentle voice of comfort Delfina asked urgently.
"Mother? Is the doctor—is the doctor coming?"
Lady Pignatelli smiled a pious smile and pressed her lips to Delfina's forehead.
"Oh, my child. Better this than suffering longer, isn't it?"
"……What?"
"Sleep well."
The lady's final words faded by her ear.
Before she could call out again, the agony returned and her consciousness grew distant.
Delfina slowly opened her eyes. That had been her first death—yet it had not been her last.