“It should be enough.”

With a thud, a heavy pouch was placed on the worn table. The tablecloth with exposed seams was so dusty it felt sticky. Veronica slowly raised her head. Her dry, peeling lips remained firmly closed.

“They gave it to me, saying they couldn’t find you. I added a bit more, consider it interest for the time passed.”

Julia added, but Veronica still didn’t answer. Her long eyelashes moved up and down as her dull green eyes were repeatedly hidden and revealed. Julia stared at her blank face for a while, then tapped the table as if trying to get her attention.

“Veronica.”

“…Ah.”

With a low sigh, Veronica finally raised her eyes to look at Julia. Her pale face, half-hidden by disheveled hair, became clearly visible. Julia’s brow furrowed at the sight of her bloodless, pallid appearance.

“What are you doing? Take it already.”

There were no words of concern. They were no longer close enough for such kindness. Julia deliberately lowered her voice and pushed the pouch across the table. The uneven table creaked, unable to bear the weight of the pouch.

“Don’t be difficult and take it. You need money to live in this rural backwater, don’t you?”

“…I can’t accept it, Mother.”

It was then that Veronica spoke. Her voice was dry and rough like autumn leaves. Julia tightly closed her eyes, then opened them and spoke with irritation, as if having made a decision.

“I didn’t know you were this stupid.”

“…”

“Don’t tell me you still think you’re my daughter-in-law? We’re strangers now. It’s time you accepted that.”

Her voice was so resolute it felt cold. The woman’s head dropped again. Blinking quietly, she answered in a barely audible voice.

“How can I forget him…”

The corners of her cracked lips trembled. Veronica pressed her lips together as if trying to hold back tears, then buried her face in her hands. In the silence, only her soft sobbing was clear. Julia bit her lower lip.

“What era do you think this is, to be so hung up on one man?”

“…”

“It’s not like you even have a child, and do you think the dead person appreciates you burying yourself alone in a place like this at such a young age?”

Though her words were cold, Julia’s expression was pained, as if her throat was being constricted. Swallowing a damp breath, she took out a small envelope from her bosom.

“It’s a letter of recommendation. It’s too late to enroll, but you should at least be able to qualify for a transfer exam.”

“Mother.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Having said that, Julia stood up as if her business was finished. Belatedly, Veronica got up and picked up the money pouch.

“Mother, please take this back. I really…”

“You want me to carry that heavy thing back?”

“Mother.”

“When an elder gives you something, you accept it gratefully. Where are your manners?”

Faced with such stubbornness, Veronica couldn’t insist further and closed her mouth. Julia gripped the doorknob and looked at her, then muttered almost inaudibly.

“…I’m still alive, and so can you be.”

At those words, Veronica slowly raised her head. One shoulder was drooping heavily from the weight of the pouch.

“Even I, who gave birth to and raised him, am somehow managing to live, so don’t assign too much meaning to your brief relationship and make sure you eat properly. And clean up a bit. Unless you plan to remarry a fat rat.”

Julia nodded toward the kitchen. Following her caustic gaze, Veronica turned her head to see a small mouse disappearing into a crack in the wall. But Veronica didn’t seem particularly surprised or embarrassed. She just watched it as if it were familiar.

She looked completely devoid of vitality. Her brown hair, once flowing with a soft sheen, was now unkempt as if she hadn’t washed it properly, and her wrinkled clothes were covered in clumps of dust, as if she didn’t know how to do laundry. Both her lifeless eyes and her bloodless, pale face were appearances that Tiego would never have imagined if he were alive.

Her tightly closed lips moved slightly as if she wanted to add something. But Julia ultimately didn’t speak. Since their relationship had been formed through her son, it would be better for both of them to end it here.

After staring at Veronica for a long time, Julia deliberately turned away. When she opened the door, the ungreased hinges made a sharp sound. The overgrown weeds in the yard wrapped around her ankles like lingering attachments. As she left the house, she didn’t look back even once.

* * *

After Julia left, Veronica remained standing alone in front of the closed door for a while. The pouch she had been holding fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Perhaps because she hadn’t moved her body properly for so long, her wrist to her waist ached just from holding the money pouch for a moment.

“…You haven’t changed.”

It would have been easier to bring a check than the money pouch directly, and it would have been more convenient to deposit it in her name at the bank than to visit in person. The reason she had come all the way here carrying a heavy money pouch at over fifty years of age was obvious. To check if she was still alive. To make sure that her widowed daughter-in-law, who had disappeared, hadn’t made a bad choice.

She had always been a very caring person. Just like her dead husband.

Veronica stood blankly for a moment, then picked up the pouch again. She didn’t check the amount. She didn’t want to know how much her husband’s life was worth. She simply went into the dark bedroom and lay down. Just as she had always done since her husband died.

* * *

Leontia was a mountain village famous for its open skies and beautiful scenery. With flowers in spring, greenery in summer, autumn leaves in fall, and white snow in winter, along with relatively good accessibility to the city, it had inspired dreams of rural life for those tired of city living.

However, nature typically comes with inconveniences, so it was inevitable that there were more young people leaving with dreams of the city than people coming in with fantasies about mountain village life. Given this, it was quite unusual for a young woman to move into an old house without any family.

“Well, there was a woman like that in Puerta too. She acted so high and mighty that people thought she might be some nobleman’s illegitimate child, but it turned out she was an old man’s mistress.”

“My goodness, how scandalous. But how did she end up over there?”

“She ran away after being caught by the wife, what else? Yet she acted like she was somebody, barely speaking to the villagers, not helping during the farming season, just primping all day…”

“Keep an eye on your sons. There were so many fools chasing after that woman in Puerta. I heard they all met with some accident after she passed away.”

“Well, she’s pretty, but she doesn’t really seem like that? She’s quite plain. Just look at what she eats. Potatoes, beans, oatmeal every day… I wonder if she came to practice at the temple.”

“Do women do that these days?”

“Of course. What kind of world do you think we’re living in? And though she doesn’t talk much, she greets people well.”

“Rita says she’s like a witch. She hardly ever comes out of her house. Always dressed in black. Seems to know something about herbs too.”

“Oh please, you believe her? She always calls anything unusual magic or witches…”

Rumors about Veronica spread in an instant. But she had never once stepped forward to correct them. A young woman living alone was an easy target in many ways. The mere possibility that nobility, magic, or God might be backing her allowed her to secure some degree of safety in a rural village where she had no connections. Was that why she had been complacent?

Crash! At the sharp sound, Veronica slowly opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy and her head throbbed, probably because she had been sick after Julia left. She roughly pushed back her messy, unwashed hair and struggled to get up. When she opened the door, she saw that the kitchen window was broken, as expected. She heard the sound of children running away with shouts.

Veronica approached the broken window, listening to the receding footsteps. Among the scattered glass shards on the floor, she could see a rock about the size of a fist. Seeing scratches on another window, it seemed they had already thrown stones several times before.

This had started happening after Julia’s visit. While there had always been curious glances toward outsiders, there hadn’t been any hostile people before.