The man’s previously pleasant tone had shifted entirely.

“I just…… wanted to see the sea.”

“Must be nice to still have that kind of life.”

Elsie said nothing.

Experience had taught her that the more she responded, the more irritated the other person became.

“Haa, well, I’ll show you the way regardless.”

The man started walking again.

“You can buy a ticket to Earnest here. For the eastern region, that station is the largest.”

He guided her to the ticket counter, gave a brief explanation, and turned away without ceremony, heading back to his post.

After that, she managed to buy a ticket with the help of the counter staff.

Her arithmetic was poor enough that the employee had to help her, and her face burned with embarrassment the whole time.

“Gate three is where you need to go. The train is waiting, so you can board right away.”

Elsie gave a small nod and headed for the gate.

And in that moment.

A familiar silhouette entered her field of vision.

Kaiden?

No, that couldn’t be.

Her heart began to pound wildly. Elsie blinked and tried to focus her eyes.

Even in a crowd, that man’s presence stood out. It was unmistakably Kaiden.

Had he already followed her here?

She felt him moving toward her. His face looked like it could snap a person’s neck in one motion.

He had cut down her father and those who served under him without mercy.

The baron who had managed her father’s private guard as head steward had become nothing when Kaiden pulled the trigger.

The memory surfaced, and a chill ran up her spine.

Hah, hah.

Gasping, Elsie ran for the gate with everything she had.

She had to get away. If not now, she would never be free of him.

She looked back mid-run.

Kaiden was coming. One step, then another. Heavy, deliberate steps.

Her heart felt like it had leapt into her throat. A cold, spreading terror crashed over her entire body.

“Passengers heading to Earnest Station, please board this train! Please take the seat listed on your ticket!”

A staff member called out loudly in front of the waiting train. Only then did Elsie look down at the ticket in her hand.

The seat was already assigned.

The seat number, how to buy a ticket, how to handle money. There was so much she didn’t know.

She memorized the numbers and letters on the ticket with desperate focus and climbed aboard.

She looked around frantically. Then, in that moment, she realized.

Kaiden was nowhere to be seen.

She had been certain he would follow her to the end.

She didn’t know why he had stopped. But that wasn’t what mattered right now.

Whatever the reason, he hadn’t stopped her.

She let out a shaky breath and made her way to the compartment listed on her ticket.

An elderly woman sat there, wearing a neat hat pulled down over her head. Elsie checked her ticket once more and sat down across from her.

Please……

Elsie set the leather bag on the seat beside her and pressed her hands together in prayer.

Please don’t let Kaiden follow me here. Please let him leave me alone.

She cried out from the depths of her heart.

“Excuse me…… are you all right? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine.”

“Here, wipe the sweat off with this. It’s quite a long ride. Will you be all right?”

Seeing Elsie’s face damp with cold sweat, the elderly woman held out a handkerchief. Small pink flowers, just like the woman herself, were embroidered on it.

Elsie hesitated, then took it carefully.

“……Thank you.”

“You should see a doctor as soon as you arrive. Or would you like me to call a station attendant?”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

The train began to move, and the tension gripping her slowly started to ease.

If Kaiden had truly followed her, he wouldn’t have waited until the train departed.

Or had she imagined it?

That thought brought some relief. If she had been so wound up that she’d mistaken someone else for him, that was a good thing.

Only then did the elderly woman’s words begin to reach her.

“Judging by your light luggage, are you from the east? Though your accent doesn’t sound eastern.”

“……I’m just going for some air.”

“Ah, I see. I had some business in the capital and I’m on my way back.”

The answer was thin, but the elderly woman didn’t seem to mind.

“If you have the time, visit Lubeck. It’s a wonderful city. Modest and warm.”

A pleasant smile touched the old woman’s lips.

Lubeck.

Elsie repeated the name inwardly and gave a small nod.

“So where are you heading for some air, dear?”

She had no particular destination.

The only thought she had was wanting to reach a place of quiet rest.

“I want to see the sea.”

“Is that so. The sea is lovely. I go to see it myself sometimes. Looking at the sea clears my head and gives me the strength to keep going.”

The old woman pushed her hat up. Her forehead, which had been hidden beneath it, bore a terrible burn scar.

Seeing it, Elsie’s eyes wavered.

“Life brings so many terrible things. But the people around you, and things like the sea, give you the strength to keep living. Even after losing a husband. Even after losing a son.”

The old woman might have read something in her.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said something like that, words that seemed to urge her not to let go of life, to a complete stranger.

Elsie neither denied nor confirmed anything, and kept her gaze on the window.

“I get carried away at my age. Just think of it as an old woman talking to herself. I also wanted to say more to such a beautiful young lady going out alone for some air. It made me a little envious.”

Envious? Of me?

The words were so unexpected that the corner of Elsie’s mouth twitched.

The woman clearly didn’t know she was Elsie Resleth.

“At my age, there’s a lot you just accept. But strangely, the things that make you envious seem to grow too.”

The old woman continued in a gentle voice.

“Either way, dear, sometimes you need that kind of time. Time to stand at the point where what has happened is becoming the past, and look back at yourself.”

The past.

But none of this was the past for Elsie.

Kaiden refusing the divorce, the endless contempt and mockery. All of it was so vivid that even now, having fled from it all, her chest was tight.

And of everything, what had truly broken her most was……

“Live a life of misery in place of Count Resleth, who died for nothing. That’s your reason for being alive.”

Kaiden’s cruel words, lodged in her heart.

“But seeing the sea won’t make me want to live harder…… Nothing is going to change.”

Elsie muttered without meaning to.

“That’s true. Just seeing the sea won’t make everything better right away. You look at the sea, feel the sun on your skin, eat something good for yourself, take a walk in the pleasant sea breeze. That kind of process is what you need.”

“It takes too long and it’s too complicated.”

“No. It’s not as complicated as you think. It’s simply spending one day for yourself.”

The old woman said it so easily, but what Elsie needed right now was rest. Immediate rest.

To forget that she had lost the child in her womb. To forget that the paintings, her only escape, had been burned to nothing.

She wanted to erase all of it from her memory in one stroke.

Elsie pressed her lips shut. She said nothing more.

Not until the train arrived at Earnest Station.

***

The train pulled into Earnest Station.

“My, we’re here already.”

Elsie had been staring blankly out the window and came back to herself at the old woman’s words. She rose from her seat.

“Take care. Come find me in Lubeck sometime.”

Elsie bowed her head to the old woman without a word. She didn’t say she would. It was better not to make promises she couldn’t keep.

“Just ask for ‘Elise’ in Lubeck. There can’t be another old woman with such a stuffy name.”

No answer came, but she smiled softly and waved at Elsie anyway.

***

Earnest Station was small and modest.

Elsie drew in a deep breath, let it out, and began to walk.

A salty sea breeze brushed her skin and wrapped around her.

This way, maybe……

Following the scent of the sea she hadn’t smelled in so long, she found herself looking out at a blue shore spread before her.

Just as she had glimpsed through the train window, the open sea lay right near the station.

A brick path built for visitors led downward, and a wide sandy beach stretched out below.

Fewer people than she expected were gathered on the pale-colored sand.

Elsie stopped in the middle of the brick path, gazed at the waves rolling in the distance, then stepped onto the sand one foot at a time.

The wind off the salt air tossed her red hair in every direction.

She brushed it back lightly with her hand and stood at the edge of the sand.

After a brief hesitation, she made up her mind and took off her shoes.

She had been raised to believe that baring bare feet in public was improper, but what did any of that matter now.