Chapter 2: The Second Morning (1)

I woke up to a searing sensation engulfing my entire body. There wasn’t a single part of me, from toe to head, that didn’t ache.

Raising my trembling hand as if in convulsion, I noticed my smooth, unblemished white skin shimmering like the morning sunlight.

“Madam has opened her eyes!”

The foggy haze in my mind cleared at the voice of the nurse. My throat felt as if it were on fire, filled with the sting of salt water.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

Despite swishing and spitting the salt water deep into my throat, the taste of salt lingered in my mouth.

“…Nurse, what’s happening?”

Looking around with feverish eyes, I wondered if they were performing some kind of exorcism, given that the curtains were drawn tightly, blocking out even a ray of sunlight.

“Just lie still. The nun here was brought to the convent by this nurse herself. So don’t worry.”

Amidst the flickering candles, a silver-haired man sitting by the bedside caught my eye. His face was smooth and devoid of any wrinkles, a picture of pure whiteness. A thick Bible lay open on his thigh, and his hands clasped a crucifix tightly.

“Now that you’re awake, I shall take my leave.”

The man’s face was marked with traces of exhaustion. Beneath his long, sharp eyes, a weary shadow loomed, and his golden eyes showed signs of fatigue.

For a moment, our eyes met, and then the man’s hand gently rested on my feverish forehead without hesitation.

“Since the fever still lingers, it’s best for you to rest a while longer.”

His fingers were pale and slender, a cool touch that quench the fiery heat. As my shoulders tensed at the unfamiliar touch, the man quietly withdrew his hand.

“As I mentioned, I’m just a simple clergyman, not a physician. What I conducted was a regular prayer service, not an exorcism. Please make sure to call for a physician to treat you until you fully recover.”

With a blunt tone, the silver-haired man continued, while the maid wiped away tears of gratitude with her handkerchief.

As the maid nodded firmly, a look of surprise flashed across the man’s face. He seemed just as inexperienced as I was.

Reaching out towards the man’s sturdy back as he turned away, he glanced down at me with a piercing gaze through his thick eyelashes. For some reason, a shiver ran down my spine.

“I hope you recover soon, and I hope I never have to come back here again.”

After the silver-haired man abruptly left the room, the maid approached the bed. Her wrinkled hands gently caressed my cheek.

“…How long have I been lying here?”

For so long, my lips had remained sealed, leaving them parched.

“It’s been nearly a week. You’ve been lying here for almost a week without eating or drinking.”

The maid’s eyes were moist with tears. It seemed like any moment; tears would flow down her wrinkled cheeks.

“This time, you’ve been lying here a bit longer.”

Around this time every year, I would often fall ill suddenly. During the day, the breeze would be pleasantly cool, but as the sun set, the wind would turn bone-chilling.

“Not just a bit. It was almost, it was almost…!”

The maid struggled to continue, releasing her sorrow. With trembling hands, she wiped her eyes. Her wrist, endlessly thin between the sleeves of her thin nightgown, was exposed.

“You’ve been vomiting every drop of thin soup that’s passed your lips, and you haven’t listened to any of the doctor’s prescriptions. You can’t imagine how torn my heart is,” she said.

“The gentleman from earlier… he’s the priest from the monastery where I used to be a novice. I begged him earnestly to come because you seemed so unwell that I feared you might never wake up again.”

“He was a priest from the monastery.”

His eyes were transparent, devoid of any greed. They seemed untouched by impurity, truly innocent.

“He stayed by your side all night, from yesterday evening until this morning. It would be good to send a letter of thanks once you’re feeling better.”

“There’s no need for that. What those people need is financial support. I’ll tell my father to send a donation to the monastery where that priest is.”

The Duchess, more interested in filling her pockets than in heartfelt thank-you letters, would likely prefer a thick purse over a letter filled with gratitude.

“It feels like I’ve had a long dream.”

It felt like I had been stuck in a long dream for a while. Even now, when I blinked my eyes tightly, I still felt a hazy sensation as if I were in a dream.

“A dream? It seems like you’re becoming more and more like a child as the days go by. Maybe we should hang a mobile from the ceiling.”

I smiled faintly at the maid’s frivolous joke.

“So, was that dream a nightmare?”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t recall what kind of dream I had. I was certain it was a long dream, but I couldn’t remember its contents or who appeared in it.

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t dwell on it too much. Forgetting it means it wasn’t that important of a dream.”

Yeah, it was probably just a fever-induced dream. If it was so easily forgotten, as the maid said, then it probably wasn’t that important of a dream.

The feeling of the soft bedding against my body was comforting. It felt like a sensation I had forgotten for a very long time. Even the view of the bedroom as I raised my eyelids felt strangely nostalgic.

***

“Would you be okay with some easy-to-swallow soup? I was planning to prepare some.”

I glanced down at the neatly arranged dishes on the table. My attention was drawn to the beef stew with plenty of fresh tomatoes. The savory aroma filled the air.

“I’ve been lying down for so long that I wanted something nutritious to eat.”

I scooped up a piece of meat and took a bite. A smile formed on my lips as the flavor of the stew spread in my mouth.

“Oh my, what’s gotten into you? You never used to touch meat…”

The maid was taken aback, her mouth agape. She had every reason to be surprised. I used to only nibble on salads during mealtimes.

But now, I couldn’t even bear to look at the salad plate in front of me. The sight of the finely chopped carrots somehow filled me with disgust.

“The master should see you like this!”

After a long time, I finished a meal feeling pleasantly full. The maid, seeing the empty stew bowl, clapped her hands with excitement.

In truth, I may have overeaten a bit, and my stomach felt a bit uneasy. However, I just quietly smiled, not wanting to spoil the maid’s excitement.

After finishing the meal, I returned to the bedroom. Though still feeling a bit dizzy when walking around, the fever had subsided enough for me to read a book comfortably. I decided to secretly grab a book to read before the maid returned to the room.

Yes, perhaps I’ll finish the book I started last time.

As my fingers wandered through the bookshelf, they froze in mid-air. A week ago…

I couldn’t remember what book I had been reading. Only the vague memory of the color of the leather-bound cover came to mind, like a distant memory from long ago.

‘…It’s really severe.’

Thankfully, I found a bookmark sticking out between the pages and pulled out the book. ‘The Last of Huntington’. It was a rare book that was out of print and hard to find, but my father had personally obtained it for me.

As I quietly read through the story, I felt a strange unease and flipped through the pages in succession.

‘…Strange.’

Although it was a book I had only partially read, I strangely felt like I could guess the contents of the later part. It was as if I were rereading a book I had read before.

Feeling uneasy, I closed the book shut.

‘In the end, Huntington sacrifices himself and dies, right?‘

I couldn’t understand why I knew the ending of the novel. It felt like I had forgotten something that I should never have forgotten.

My mind was foggy, and no matter how hard I tried to recall, I couldn’t remember. The only thing that remained in my mind was the image of the priest with sharp eyes and silver hair.

‘I hope you recover soon, and I hope I never have to come back here again.’

His tone was so blunt that it felt arrogant. Moreover, he didn’t seem like a priest with such sharp eyes.

But for some reason, the golden eyes peeking through his thick eyelashes were unforgettable. Just thinking about him sent a shiver down my spine.

“Stone Eyes…”

As I muttered to myself, I was startled by a sensation behind me, prompting me to turn my head.

“Lady, your father has returned.”

The maid’s smile widened. Upon hearing that my father had returned, I hurriedly got up from my seat. Dizziness hit me, and my legs wobbled. With the maid’s support, I cautiously descended the stairs.

“Father!”

His back, which I longed to see, was vivid. Normally, I would just greet him nonchalantly as he returned, but this time, my feet moved ahead of my thoughts.

Like a child, I rushed into my father’s embrace. As I smelled his familiar scent, tears welled up in my eyes.

“Alicia?”

“I missed you. Really…”

Flushed with embarrassment from behaving so childishly, I released my tightly held arms and looked up at my father. His affectionate gaze met my uncertain one.

“You still seem to have a fever, so it’s better for you to return to your room and rest.”

“I’m not feeling as bad as you think.”

Father’s large hand rested on my forehead. As I glanced around, I saw the maids and servants looking at me in astonishment.

“You’ve been bedridden for so long that we had to replace three doctors, but the last one I hired seems to be quite competent.”

Why did I feel so touched? It was as if we hadn’t seen each other for a very long time, and my heart was filled with warmth.

“I have something for you.”

I received a neatly wrapped gift box.

“What’s this?”

“I happened to come across it and thought of you. Consider it a souvenir for enduring a week of illness.”

With excitement, I opened the box to find a butterfly brooch made of silver inside. But as I gazed at the familiar brooch, the smile on my lips turned cold.

It went cold.

My hand, holding the gift box, trembled. The delicate wings of the butterfly seemed as if they could soar to the sky at any moment.

As I touched the butterfly brooch, memories buried deep within me began to unravel uncontrollably.

‘I happened to come across it and thought of you.’

‘Father, I really like it.’

And then, on a distant day, the butterfly brooch was ruthlessly shattered under the boot of a dark-haired girl.

Throughout the night, I tried in vain to piece together the shattered fragments of the brooch. My hands, pricked by the broken edges, felt like they had been stung by a hive.

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of blood dripping from my fingertips echoed clearly.

“It seems you don’t like it. I’ll bring something else tomorrow…”

Why was I forgetting? The flawless brooch emitted a metallic scent of blood. My trembling legs lost their balance and I staggered.

“Oh, Miss!”

“Alicia!”

I shook my head helplessly, like a broken wooden doll.

Finally, all the forgotten memories came rushing back. In the unearthed pit lay the charred remains of a body.

An unjust death on the gallows, the past that awaited…

“My future…”

“Miss! Pull yourself together!”