It was a ball-jointed doll, displayed behind glass.

It was the same type that my sister had held in her arms when we were young.

I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it.

Noticing how I stood there in silence, D’Hiver spoke.

“Do you want it?”

At his question, Suki’s usual words suddenly came to mind.

And yet, why did I hesitate to answer?

“…No.”

“Why not? If you want it, just say so.”

“It’s fine. I’m not a child anymore.”

“Is this because of Suki?”

D’hiver let out a quiet sigh.

I couldn’t help but flinch.

His hand gently brushed over my hair.

“Come to think of it… I don’t really know anything about you. What you like, what you dislike.”

It sounded like he wanted me to be honest about my preferences.

Looking at him, I blinked—then finally murmured,

“I… don’t even know what I like.”

“Hmm?”

“The doll… it’s just…”

I stared blankly at the one inside the display case.

Its jewel-like blue eyes seemed to reflect me.

“I’ve never had one before.”

Whenever I saw something I couldn’t have back then, I would hesitate.

Even over something as small as a meal.

As if those sorrowful days still ruled over me.

“Blanche… My father respected her, but she couldn’t help me. All I could do was watch my sister play with things like that and be jealous of her.”

I didn’t know how to put it into words.

As I faltered, D’hiver finished my thought.

“You can’t tell whether it’s something you truly like… or just something born from what you lacked back then.”

“…Yes. It’s embarrassing, but that’s exactly it.”

I gave a faint smile.

“But I do know that I like you, D’hiver… and Suki.”

As soon as I had finished speaking, D’Hiver turned around and walked into the shop.

Caught off guard, I could only stare at his back, unsure of what to do.

Before long, he returned, holding a large doll.

Of course, he placed it in my arms.

“Here.”

“…I didn’t mean for you to buy it.”

I murmured, my voice barely audible.

I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to accept it.

“At times like this, you just say thank you.”

He spoke firmly, then frowned slightly, as if displeased.

“I shouldn’t have left things to Suki. I should’ve brought you out myself.”

“N-No, it’s not Suki’s fault.”

“No. I’ve known Suki long enough.”

D’hiver shook his head, as if exasperated.

“A young lady must be modest, elegant, patient, pure, and so on… I’ve been hearing that for fifty years.”

“A young lady, raised with care, must embody nine virtues—modesty, elegance, patience, purity, delicacy, beauty, gentleness, compassion, and a love for others. These are what I call the nine fruits of a proper lady.”

Suki’s voice echoed naturally in my mind.

Her idea of perfection.

“What’s the use of all that? People should just be honest.”

His voice was colder than I had expected.

Then he placed the doll securely in my arms.

This was the first time I had ever held a doll.

It felt firmer than I expected, and it smelt faintly pleasant.

“You’ve never had one, so you don’t know? Then start holding things like this from now on. That’s how you figure it out—whether you like it or not.”

I looked up at him, dazed.

Everything he said was something I had never once been allowed.

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course. There’s nothing you’re not allowed to do.”

Snow fell softly between us.

He brushed the flakes from my shoulders and added,

“I told you. If you want it, I’d gladly give you the whole world.”

“You already have.”

The answer I hadn’t been able to say back then slipped out now.

“D’hiver, you are the reason I live… the very meaning of my life. I want to live in the world you gave me—with you.”

“Me too.”

He leaned in, pressing his forehead against mine.

His large hands rested firmly on my shoulders.

“Violette, meeting you was the only miracle in my life.”

His gaze was so intense that it felt as though it could illuminate everything, like the sun itself.

Then, I felt his warm breath brush against me.

Soft warmth touched my lips.

In that moment, even the cold of winter faded away.

As I closed my eyes, intoxicated by that warmth, I felt something soft slip past my lips.

“D-Di—…”

My timid murmur was cut off by his lips.

He pulled me in as if to claim me, holding me so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

I had never experienced such intensity before, and it consumed me completely.

I couldn’t catch my breath.

My legs gave way beneath me.

He held me firmly, as though he would never let me go.

And just like that, I collapsed into his arms.

***

For a long time afterwards, I couldn’t stop replaying that day in my mind.

Humans are such fickle creatures!

What did D’Hiver really think of me?

He hadn’t changed at all since the day I first met him, but I had changed in countless ways over the past five years.

The moment I recalled that kiss, my cheeks burned bright red.

I buried my face in the pillow and kicked my feet around helplessly.

Suddenly—

“M-Miss.”

At Suki’s voice, I lifted my head quickly.

My face still felt hot.

“Yes, Suki?”

“P-Please don’t misunderstand, but listen carefully.”

Something about her tone was strange.

Normally, she would have said something about my flushed face—but now, an uneasy feeling crept over me.

“What is it?”

“Blanc is missing.”

Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen Blanc for days.

I had simply been too distracted to notice.

“Could he have gone off somewhere? Maybe… to find Honoré?”

My voice trembled at the mention of his name.

Suki forced the words out, her expression dark.

“I’ve searched the entire garden.”

Considering her poor sense of direction, that wasn’t entirely reliable—but still, I stood up immediately.

“Let’s look together.”

“Y-Yes.”

We searched every corner of D’Hiver’s castle, including the garden.

However, as Suki had said, Blanc never appeared.

I never saw him again.

I had raised him for five years and grown attached to him. The emptiness of losing him slowly tightened around my chest.

But before I could recover from losing both Honoré and Blanc, it happened again.

One late morning, I woke to the sharp sting of sunlight in my eyes.

It was the first time in five years.

Suki, ever diligent, had always woken me at dawn.

A strange unease settled over me.

So I went to find her.

She was lying quietly in her bed.

“Suki?”

I called her name, but there was no answer.

That couldn’t be right.

Tilting my head, I stepped closer.

Was she dreaming?

Her face looked peaceful.

Carefully, I reached out and took her hand.

Thud.

With a hollow sound, it slipped from mine and fell limply to the floor.

I froze.

Staring at her, my lips trembled.

“Suki…?”

No answer came.

My eyes blinked emptily.

An unbearable fear swallowed me whole.

I ran out of the room, shouting,

“D-D’hiver! D’hiver!”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

He appeared before me almost instantly.

Pointing back toward the room, I whispered in a shaking voice,

“Suki… Suki is acting strange…!”

“Suki?”

His eyes widened, as if in surprise.

He rushed into the room to check on her.

Then his expression fell.

He slowly shook his head.

Ah.

The meaning was clear.

A shock far greater than before crashed over me like a wave.

My vision went dark.

***

When I came to, all I could see was a white ceiling.

Suki, who had woken me up every morning and sat by my bedside every night until I fell asleep, was nowhere to be seen.

The first thing that came to mind when I thought of her was how clumsy she was.

She would sew white cloth with black thread, put sugar instead of salt in food, and those weren’t even her worst mistakes.

On nights when I was afraid to be alone in the dark, Suki would sing me lullabies.

She was terribly tone-deaf though, so instead of putting me to sleep, she often woke me up. And yet, even those moments were precious.

And now—

“Y-You said… you wanted to see more of me…”

I clamped a hand over my mouth as I spoke.

My broken voice disappeared inside it.

‘You were worried I might die before you…

Suki, you said you wanted to see me grow…

Then why…

Why… why would you close your eyes so soon…?’

“Vivi.”

In response to my desperate cry for help, D’Hiver pulled me into his arms.

In his warm, dark embrace, I could hear his gentle voice.

“I don’t know if this will comfort you, but you said it yourself: Everyone is on a journey towards death. As you said, everyone leaves someday. And Suki… she was old. She was old enough to have been thinking about leaving for a long time.”

“But…”

My voice trembled.

I knew it.

Like Blanche, Suki was old and it wouldn’t have been unusual for her to die at any time.

Nevertheless, I didn’t know how to express this wretched feeling.

“They were… people you gave to me, D’hiver… people precious to me…”

I spoke in fragments.

Suki’s peaceful face remained etched in my mind.

“I never… imagined I would lose them like this…”

I lifted my head.

His face blurred before me.

“Am I… cursed? Like my father said?”

The words tore out of me like a scream.

I was afraid that D’Hiver might abandon me too.

Suki and I had only been together for five years.

But D’Hiver and Suki had been together for fifty years.

If the bond they had built over all that time had been broken because of me, perhaps he would end up hating me more than my father ever did.

“There’s no way that’s true.”

“Then why…”

I raised my tear-stained face.

Meeting the gaze of D’hiver—whose eyes had always been like the sun.

“Why does everyone leave me? Why… why am I always the one left behind? My mother, Blanche, Honoré, Blanc… even Suki…”

“What are you talking about? I’m still here.”

His voice carried a weight greater than anything in the world.

It was something I couldn’t reject.

“I won’t leave your side… until the day your life comes to an end.”