"Help me…"
"I don't want to die…"
"Please…"
"Help me…"
"He—"
Lorelei suddenly woke up under Maria's insistent taps. She was right over her bed, smiling at her.
"Morning, Lorelei! Get up, get up, let's go see the field behind the hill. I think the dandelions have already bloomed."
"I'll Be rigHt theRe."
It was still that same dream. The same place. The same faces. No matter how much she ran, they would sooner or later catch her. Every time they did, those memories would come back again and again. The same words would resonate through her ears. How long had she been having those dreams? Lorelei herself had no clue whatsoever. They felt like they had always been there, right beside her, but lately, they had grown even scarier than before. The voices no longer whispered—they screamed their pain away, carrying all of it through Lorelei, who would feel every inch of her body ache with the same pain as in the memory. The blame was hers to take, she knew that. The pain was hers to bear, she knew that. The boulder was hers to carry, she knew that. Yet Lorelei still believed it was unfair. Why was she born like this? Why not the neighbor? Why did she have to suffer like this? What did she even do to deserve any of it? Nevertheless, she chose to ignore those questions. Lorelei hadn't had a choice in being born this way, but she did have a choice in the people she had killed. She got off the bed and walked toward the bathroom. She had to brush her teeth, as she had always done ever since Silvia taught her how. She hated this moment of the day because she had to stare at herself in the mirror. She hated the way she was. Lorelei didn't even know if she was human or not, but somewhere in her heart, she thought it didn't matter. Whether she was human or a totally different being, they were both just as despicable.
After she finished brushing her teeth, she put on her glove and walked downstairs to say good morning to Silvia. But she saw her at the door, speaking to people whose voices she had never heard before. So she hid behind the table and slowly crawled closer, going behind the couch until she could see the people Silvia was talking to. They were knights—just like the ones she had seen at the capital. They seemed to be handing something to Silvia, but she couldn't see what it was. Silvia's expression looked bland, as if she had forgotten that she was supposed to smile. Lorelei had never seen that before. Even back when she was crying, she had still tried to keep a straight face. But now, all Lorelei saw through Silvia's eyes was emptiness. Before Silvia was done talking to them, Lorelei went back upstairs and waited until she heard Silvia close the door. Once she did, Lorelei rubbed her eyes while walking down the stairs to make it seem like she was still asleep.
"GOod mOrniNg, Silvia."
"Good morning, Lorelei!"
There was no difference in her tone, and Silvia was back to smiling. It made Lorelei question what she had seen before, but she quickly brushed it off as nothing important. What mattered was that Silvia was smiling again. Maria rushed in from the front door and ran toward Lorelei.
"Come on! Come on! Let's go, Lorelei!"
"Maria, would you be able to leave some time for Lorelei later this evening? I need to speak with her."
Silvia looked straight at Lorelei while saying those words. She was smiling, but she still felt so distant. Lorelei noticed that something was definitely wrong with Silvia's behavior.
"Yes, Mom, we'll be back before evening."
Maria took Lorelei's hand and walked toward the door. While being dragged by Maria, Lorelei stared at Silvia, who answered her with a mirthless smile. Something was definitely wrong with Silvia today. She wanted to ask what was happening, but decided to leave it for later, since Silvia also wanted to have a talk with her. For now, she just decided to enjoy the time she was spending with Maria. Ever since the incident at the capital, it seemed like the two of them had grown even closer than ever before. And just as Maria had told Lorelei, the dandelions had indeed bloomed all across the field. As far as her eyes could see, there were only dandelions. They were a beautiful, bright yellow. Even though the sun was shining at its fullest, the flowers seemed to have merged with its light, forming a halo above the ground that stretched across hundreds of dandelions. Maria went ahead and ran across the field first, spreading her arms out like an airplane and zig-zagging her way through. Soon enough, Lorelei followed after her, and they both started running through the field. They laughed and chased each other. Sometimes they would stop and start putting flowers in each other's hair. Maria even made two crowns out of them and gave one to Lorelei, who happily accepted Maria's little gift. Together, they spent the whole day making all sorts of accessories out of the dandelions.
"I think we should go back now, Lorelei. Mom said she wanted to talk to you."
"AlriGht!"
They walked hand in hand toward the house, happily jumping at every step they took. Silvia was calmly sitting at the table, waiting for them with dinner ready. When she saw them, she gave them a warm smile before signaling for them to sit and eat. The two girls ate until they were full and went to sleep, saying goodnight to each other. Tonight, Maria didn't come to see Lorelei. Instead, it was Silvia who came in. When Lorelei saw that someone had entered, she quickly got up to turn on the lamp. She saw Silvia standing over her bed with a book in her hands.
"May I have a seat?"
"Yes."
Silvia sat on the bed, and Lorelei got up to join her.
"I… I have a favor to ask of you once more, if it doesn't bother you. In exchange, I will tell you about the massacre that happened eighteen years ago. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes."
Silvia gently smiled at Lorelei and placed her hand over the book she was holding. She seemed to be thinking about something Lorelei couldn't understand, so she didn't bother asking. Silvia opened the book from the back, and in bold characters, Lorelei saw a signature. Silvia placed her hand over it.
"Lorelei, could you tell… could you tell me what is written there?"
She lifted her hand, revealing a long, bird-like image. Lorelei inspected the letters that the bird was composed of.
"You're able to read it, aren't you?"
"L"
"E"
"O"
"N"
"E"
"L"
"It's wrITten LEONEL."
Silvia stayed still. Lorelei saw her lips moving. She was mumbling something to herself, but it was too low for Lorelei to hear.
"Thank you, Lorelei. Truly. Now then, I guess it's my turn to respect our deal. Do you know what the Solemn Lament is?"
Lorelei shook her head.
"It's a day when we, the people of the honorary kingdom of Vileth, mourn the dead. It's a primordial rule—even though it's not written—that anyone who knows about the Lament shall never speak of it. I think it's important for you to know what the Lament is. It happened even before you or Maria were born. Back then, I was still young—about fifteen years old. I was living in the capital with my family. I had everything I'd ever wanted, even a fiancé I was going to marry later on. Everything changed in the span of a day. I still remember it as if it happened yesterday. A small figure appeared in the skies and spread its wings above the capital. Not even a second later, a scream echoed through everyone's head. In just a few minutes, people had gone mad. I was still outside when the scream echoed. I still remember it—it was horrifying."
Silvia seemed to be shivering a little as she talked about the scream.
"The things I saw out there… It seemed like their minds had been taken over by an unknown force. People began running to the river with knives at their throats. They stood in line all around it, and on the second scream, they all slit their throats, dyeing the river scarlet red. I think if I had been out there for even a second longer, I would have been taken over too. But thankfully, my fiancé brought me back. He held my hand and told me we had to leave as soon as possible. I was young and foolish and refused to abandon my family. But he told me they were already dead, and even more were being killed. If we didn't leave now, another scream was going to echo again, and this time, he wasn't sure he would be able to keep his sanity intact. He told me to cover my ears with a pillow and not let go. He said he would prepare a carriage and be back soon. I obeyed his orders and saw him off. Then the inevitable happened—a third scream echoed through. This time, from the window outside, the sky turned bright red, and six pillars appeared in the middle, forming a kind of crest. I started worrying about my fiancé and decided to go look for him. But before I could reach the door handle, he opened it and held my hand. Together we ran across the capital all the way to the meeting point where he said the carriage would be. We hopped in, and it rode off away from the capital. I was still staring at the pillars of light in the sky through the carriage window. That's when I noticed they had grown even bigger and were now standing vertically. Then the fourth scream resounded, and this time, the pillars divided and spread across the continents in six different locations. Every time a pillar struck down, it felt like the whole earth was being shaken from its very core. That's about when I lost consciousness. After that, my memory is blurry. I don't remember much except living with my fiancé here for the next few years."
There was something Silvia was hiding from Lorelei. She could see it in her eyes—it wasn't the whole truth. Lorelei was sure there was something else. Silvia leaned closer to Lorelei and stared right into her eyes.
"Now then, Lorelei. May I ask you why you wear that glove at all times?"
Lorelei was startled by Silvia's question. Up until now, she had never seemed to care about it.
"You killed him, didn't you?"
Silvia smiled at Lorelei.