Aelli turned her head to look around.

The first thing she did upon confirming the absence of the vase was not to search for the remnants of the broken vase or blame the maid who was caught trying to cover it up.

‘The flower, what about the flower?’

Don’t tell me that’s ruined too?

Even after searching carefully, she couldn’t find a single petal, let alone the flower itself.

Aelli covered her face with both hands, wearing a dazed expression.

-What kind of thing was that…!

The vase, of course she treasured it. She did treasure it, but.

To be precise, it wasn’t the vase but the flower in it that was more precious.

[Is that really enough?]

A youthful face pouting with displeasure, as if unsatisfied, came to mind.

Was it in his mid-teens?

[Yes. I like this!]

At that time, between boyhood and youth, it was around when Lutis began to seriously make his talent known to the world.

Winning the swordsmanship competition was also part of the reputation he had built.

Lutis, who came out through the bustling crowd of cheering people to stand in front of Aelli, didn’t seem particularly excited.

[Aren’t you thrilled? They say you’re the youngest ever among the winners.] [It’s only a year difference anyway.] [Still! They say that person wasn’t even an aura user. You should be proud of yourself, I’m telling you!]

Lutis, you’ll surely grow up to be a very strong and wonderful knight.

Maybe you could even rise to become the captain of the imperial knights? Even though it wasn’t her who had won, Aelli was elated.

At her action of straightening her back and pushing out her chest, Lutis finally smiled a deflated smile.

And then, how was it?

[Let’s go to the clothing shop.] [Why there all of a sudden?] [Didn’t you sing about wanting something while looking at this season’s catalog?] [How did you know that? I said it very quietly!] [Yes, you said it quietly. Right into my ear while I was reading.]

…Did I do that? Aelli pretended to be distracted, tapping the toe of her low-heeled shoe against the floor.

She had been so fond of the dress released by the famous clothing shop that year.

Having already spent the allowance given by her family on clothes and accessories, she had whined a little about the lack of budget.

200 gold for a single dress.

She had nearly fainted when he suddenly offered to buy her a dress worth the equivalent of a year’s living expenses for an average family of four.

Moreover, the source of that money was the prize money from the swordsmanship competition.

[Are you crazy? Why are you spending the prize money on this?!] [You said you wanted it.] [I never asked you to buy it for me! And that’s something you earned through your efforts, you shouldn’t spend it on me!] […That’s why I’m spending it]

It’s the first money I’ve earned by my own power, not from the family. When I won, I wanted to give the first gift to you.

I entered the competition for that purpose in the first place, he said, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, a faint blush rising on both cheeks.

The handsome young man, clearly embarrassed, was more than enough to draw attention from his surroundings,

So Aelli, leading Lutis out of the competition venue to escape the gathering gazes, discovered:

[…Then how about that instead of the dress?]

A street vendor selling various flowers near the entrance.

As it was a competition held every three years, many people were buying flowers to cheer on the participants they supported.

Aelli dragged Lutis to the front of the vendor’s display, which had become relatively quiet as the winner had already been decided.

[If you want to receive flowers, …we could buy them somewhere else, not necessarily here.]

Lutis quickly scanned the display and then carefully opened his mouth.

Even then, perhaps worried about offending the shop owner, he whispered quietly into her ear, which was quite impressive.

[I don’t mean it’s not good, but here, well… There are only wildflowers.] [So what?] [Instead of flowers from the roadside, I could get you some prettier and more precious varieties. Giving wildflowers as a gift seems too much.] [But wildflowers are pretty too?] [That’s not what I mean…!]

After arguing like that for a while, they hurriedly chose flowers only after receiving a call that the carriage was waiting.

Not her, but Lutis.

[…Then let’s go with this. This one’s in the best condition.] [Alright. Then I’ll have to find a nice vase to put it in!]

That’s how it was.

On the way back after successfully buying flowers that day, Aelli bought a small, modest vase that would match the short, small bouquet of pansies.

It was more like a tiny jar than a vase, but.

Still, she was so happy that as soon as they returned to the mansion, she immediately called for a magician.

[Is this… what you’re referring to?] [Yes. Can you cast a preservation spell on it?]

She paid 300 gold, far more expensive than the dress she had wanted so much, to cast a preservation spell on the pansy bouquet she had bought for less than 10 copper coins.

What mattered wasn’t the price of the item, but the memories it held.

To Aelli, the small bouquet of flowers Lutis had gifted her held that much significance.

Isn’t this better than a dress that would be worn for just one season and then disappear?

[My goodness, young lady! I told you not to hold the rag! You’ll hurt your hands!]

That’s why, despite being a count’s daughter, she personally wiped the vase every day.

[Madam. Since you’re with child, wouldn’t it be better to leave it to us until after the birth?]

Even after becoming the Duchess of Rattliffe, she brought it from her room in her family home and managed it herself.

When Lutis confessed to her.

When they got engaged and married.

When her health deteriorated significantly after giving birth.

There were no exceptions.

…And now it’s all completely gone.

‘How could I have kept it so carefully for this to happen!’

She felt like crying from the injustice of it all.

Aelli, who had been covering her face with her hands in frustration over years of effort vanishing without a trace, suddenly lifted her head as she placed her hands on the floor.

-Wait, then what about the child?

Lutis might have gone to work since he’s the captain of the imperial knights, but where is the child?

Remembering the eerily quiet corridor, the conversation the maids had echoed in her mind.

‘They said that unless it’s someone cleaning, no one is allowed to enter at all.’

But both the newlywed room and the child’s room were all on this floor.

If not here, where on earth could they all be?

Aelli hurriedly got up and headed towards the door located on one side of the newlywed room.

The room that she and Lutis had been preparing for a very long time was right next door.

[Isn’t it too early when the baby can’t even roll over yet?] [Then we can change it again when the time comes. Look, isn’t it so cute!] […It is cute. You did a good job decorating.]

…How could I forget this room?

The cute interior, the soft floor, the dolls filling one side of the bed.

Although things had faded here and there as if it hadn’t been used for quite a long time, it was just as she remembered.

After confirming that the child wasn’t in the room, Aelli immediately went out into the corridor and searched throughout the mansion.

The child, who was barely a year old at most, wouldn’t have been sent far away, so they must be somewhere in the house after all.

-Let’s find the child first. After finding them….

…What should I do next?

Aelli’s steps gradually slowed as she reached the entrance of the mansion after running around busily.

At least here, she could see some familiar servants entering her field of vision.

Aelli turned her body and called out to a maid passing by.

-Hey, can’t you see me?

She just passed by.

It wasn’t just the maid.

-You there too?

-…Head butler?

-Head maid?

-…Can’t any of you really hear my voice?

No one answered her calls.

A semi-transparent body that couldn’t be seen, heard, or touched, without any magic or curse cast on it.

This would be impossible for an ordinary person.

‘…Is it natural since I’m already dead?’

Aelli quietly slipped out of the mansion. Light snowflakes were fluttering.

-…In my memory, it was spring, no, the end of summer.

What was it like before I opened my eyes today? Aelli tried to recall.

She woke up late in the afternoon and feeling good, the three of them went for a walk, then had an early dinner.

She was caught by Lutis trying to put off taking her medicine because it was annoying, and as punishment, she even had to drink the problematic carp juice.

Lastly, the three of them rolled around in bed for a while, then each kissed both of the child’s cheeks before falling asleep.

‘…But I’m dead?’

It didn’t feel real at all.

[The weather has gotten much better, so shall we go boating together tomorrow, the three of us?]

She had closed her eyes thinking that before falling asleep.

Now she probably won’t be able to do that ever again.

-If I had known this would happen, I should have suggested going out instead of just taking a walk….

We should have gone boating after all. We should have gone to see flowers and fish.

No, we should have had a family portrait painted together, at least to leave a memory.

I should have written a letter. I should have told them I loved them. I should have woken up early instead of oversleeping and done something.

As she sat crouched against the outer wall of the building, snowflakes fell on her feet.

More precisely, they passed through her feet onto the ground.

As if to prove she wasn’t a living person, she was barefoot and wearing only a thin dress without an overcoat, but she wasn’t cold at all.

‘Even if I search for the child in this state, what could I do?’

They won’t be able to see or hear me. Is there any meaning in that?

It was while she was thinking this.

“Ugh, it’s freezing. Why is it snowing all day like this?”

A black skirt hem passed in front of Aelli, who was crouching.

Although she couldn’t remember the name, it was a maid with a familiar face that she had often seen in the main house.

Aelli, who had been following the maid with her eyes as she hurriedly headed somewhere as if she had forgotten something, muttered.

-That way leads to the annex….

Why is she going there?

As far as she knew, the Rattliffe family rarely had personnel transfers between the main house and the annex.

Therefore, unless it was a special case, a maid from the main house wouldn’t often go to the annex.

Aelli got up and followed the maid.

She had already searched everywhere in the main house except the basement anyway, so it seemed she should check the annex too.

After Aelli followed the maid to the annex.

The unexpected place where the maid headed, roughly pulling a tray with soup, bread, meat, and salad from the kitchen, was:

‘…The attic room on the top floor?’

It was a place many servants avoided because it was hard to warm up even with a stove and inconvenient to move around.

Literally a room that was hot in summer and cold in winter.

The maid who knocked on the old wooden door said:

Knock knock-

“Young master, I’m leaving your dinner in front, so you must eat it all today, okay?”

“……”

“Young master? You heard me, right?”

…Sigh. After asking a few times with no response, the maid sighed and turned her back.

Aelli swallowed hard as she watched the maid go back down the stairs.

-Young master?

No collateral family members lived in this house.

‘Did it change in the meantime?’

That can’t be. As she was slightly furrowing her brow:

Creak-

Aelli was shocked when she turned her head towards the door that had opened slightly with a careful hand.

-…Oh my?

There was a child with purple eyes glittering through unkempt black hair.