Adding a word at the end just in case. Father, who had been holding documents all the time, finally let out a long sigh when I said that.

“Look at this. I got it for you.”

Father handed me an envelope. Without a word, I received the envelope without questioning and looked inside. There were five pictures.

Two were males of a similar age to Father, and two were younger than Father but at least ten years older than me. The remaining one was somewhat close to my age, but his awkward posture while gripping a chair looked uncomfortable.

After quickly examining the pictures, I wordlessly put them back into the envelope.

“I’ll go to my room now.”

The envelope was placed on the table.

“All these men are more than you deserve.”

“Well, I hope you find women of equal status for them.”

“You’re at the age to get married. Now is the perfect time.”

“If you want me to get married, how about fixing that strange entrance first? A gentleman coming to see me will be shocked and run away.”

It was a straightforward statement.

Father touched his forehead with his hand.

Seeing him unable to speak, it seemed even Father recognized that the current entrance was abnormal. Even if someone was an outsider, they should be able to distinguish between oddity and normalcy. Still, Stiana didn’t know why she had made the entrance look like that.

“It’s good for you too. If you decorate the mansion entrance splendidly, children will be born.”

Father reluctantly spoke.

Stiana, who was unusually interested in the words of fortune-tellers, had given another strange suggestion. Surprisingly, the words of that fortune-teller sometimes turned out to be correct.

Children would be born at the mansion entrance. Quite a few of them.

Because the children of the village would gather, mistakenly thinking that the Marsen mansion entrance was a clown stage. Among them, there would be a boy of the same age as Stiana, with normal thoughts that she desired.

“…If Deymick gets a sibling, he might become quieter.”

Father said.

“No. In my opinion, having one more child is not a good idea. For Deymick, that is.”

“Enough. Deymick’s problems will be solved by you and Stiana, so you don’t need to worry. Focus on your own tasks.”

After nodding, I left the study.

As I climbed the stairs, faintly worn walls came into view. Someone intentionally repeated marks only in that area. Feeling eerie, I entered the room.

“Miss, has the master finished talking with you?”

“Julia.”

Julia was organizing my room, which was full of stacks of boxes. Because of that, there was no room to walk comfortably.

When did she manage to organize all this?

“These are the belongings I brought before graduation. I didn’t touch anything belonging to you. If you allow me, I’ll call others right away to organize things in the place you mentioned.”

“Okay, I’ll handle it myself.”
Julia, who was beside me, spoke while watching my reaction. Although it was troublesome to organize, I didn’t want to entrust precious belongings to others.

“Why is the wall worn out?”

Sitting on the bed, I asked about the wall I had just seen. In response, Julia’s face turned pale.

“Oh… that. It’s because Young Master…”

“Did Deymick do that?”

“Every evening. He says there’s noise from that wall, so he always hammers on that wall to cover it with even louder noise.”

Deymick, a six-year-old boy with a lovely appearance and bright eyes, sometimes behaved mischievously and repeated strange actions. Recently, his intensity had increased, and all the tutors had run away, hearing that the children would be beaten if they encountered him.

“Even if Madam gets angry, please stay as you are.”

“Everything is because of her.”

“But thanks to her, Young Master was born.”

I was sincerely puzzled by that statement.

“Julia, do you really believe the words of that fortune-teller?”

“W-well…”

“Fine, let’s set aside the fortune-teller saying Deymick’s gender was female when he was in the womb. But to be able to change that gender, and even through artificial means. When I found out about that…”

Even thinking about it sent shivers down my spine. I stopped my thoughts and let out a small sigh.

“That fortune-teller who said that and the one who believes in those words are both strange.”

“But… when we took Young Master to the hospital several times, there was never any problem.”

“We should have gone to Professor Rober instead of the hospital.”

Not taking Deymick to the professor of mental illnesses was probably due to Stiana’s stubborn insistence.

“Where is Deymick?”

“Young Master is probably still sleeping. He studied all morning.”

“Really? I hope Deymick hasn’t forgotten my face.”

“No, Young Master always wanted to see you.”

“Huh?”

“When Young Master was young, he was always crying, but when he saw Miss’s face, he would smile…”

I didn’t know how to react to the unexpected words.

Julia continued talking more about Deymick—how he had been, what had happened. As her words became longer, Julia stopped herself and went out of the room.

The room left alone was silent.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Having fallen asleep early and lying on the bed, I lived through the dark room. It seemed that the day had already darkened.

Outside, a dull sound continued. In addition to the unpleasant noise outside, I felt choked and heavy since entering the Marsen Mansion.

Unable to endure, I got up and reached out to drink the water on the desk. It was too dark to see well. When I touched something, it seemed to be knocked over.

“Damn it…”

I was just trying to drink some water, but I woke up completely. Illuminating the room with a candle, I surveyed the mess on the floor. Among the books and pens, there was a violin case. My body froze in the feeling of anticipation that something was wrong.

“…”

The violin couldn’t be damaged, right? Contrary to my worries, the inside was intact. The violin was also fine.

“Thank goodness.”

Really.

Having breathed a sigh of relief, I gently stroked the violin. Then, I remembered the face I had forgotten. …How had he changed? He must have grown taller.

I plucked a string on the violin, a gift I gave him before parting with Roger. If it was still smaller than me, it would be embarrassing.

‘Uric must have grown really big and well since I last saw him.’

I chuckled and, after putting rosin on the bow, arranged the violin. Then, I closed the bag. I would tidy up the floor when I woke up.