Chapter 579 – Faint Light in the Snowy Forest

At Father’s house, Elliot and Camilla, King Melvin and Queen Eldorene, Princess Stephania and her group, and Forset were staying. In addition, as both escorts for the important figures and communication liaisons, the familiars were placed with the Count’s family.

There was the matter of thanking Elliot and Camilla for attending the wedding ceremony, and while King Melvin was traveling incognito, in case the information leaked, he was being hosted by Count Gartner to demonstrate that the relationship with the royal family itself was friendly.

As for the three princesses, Queen Eldorene and her group, and Forset, they were either representatives of their respective countries or acting in their stead, so it seemed to be from the perspective of wanting to have some contact or connection with Gartner County as well.

As for the villagers, they all returned to their respective homes, leaving only Hadley who had come from the neighboring town. We too returned home on a sleigh through the snowy night path—and thus ended up staying at Mother’s house.

And so the night passed—when I woke to a slight feeling of suffocation, I realized that on the several beds connected together, I was being hugged by Grace and Ashley.

Hmm… Was it because of what happened with the villagers yesterday? The two of them must have had a lot on their minds too.

“Ah…”

It seemed I had woken up unusually earlier than Grace. I twisted my body a little to adjust to a position where I could breathe easier, but… being hugged from both sides like this was somehow unsettling.

In such cases, I usually deal with it in various ways, like trying not to think about the current situation, thinking about something else, or casting a sleep-inducing spell on myself—.

“Hmm… Good morning.”

But it seemed today I wouldn’t need to make such efforts.

It appeared Grace woke up because I moved a little. Although I was being hugged quite firmly, when Grace noticed the situation, she moved to give me a little space.

“Yeah, good morning.”

Instead, I held Grace’s hand. Lying here like this in a room of Mother’s house, gazing at the ceiling with Grace, I found myself reminiscing about various things from the past.

“It might still be a little early.”

“Maybe. Let’s stay like this a bit longer.”

“Yes.”

Exchanging words in small voices so as not to wake everyone who was breathing in sleep, I closed my eyes. Feeling the body heat and heartbeats of Grace and Ashley, I soon drifted back into a light slumber.

“The view from the bath is so incredibly beautiful!”

Marceska, who had come down from the open-air bath on the upper floor, showed a somewhat excited, carefree smile.

Her hair was wet and steam was rising from her body… Well, it was good that she seemed to have enjoyed herself. Sion, who came down from the bath later, gave a wry smile seeing Marceska’s state. Sigritta had her eyes closed, seemingly ruminating on the view from the bath. Perhaps she planned to paint it later.

The view from the bath after snowfall is beautiful, so I thought, “since we have the chance,” and heated the morning bath. We drew lots to split into several groups, and everyone was taking turns bathing.

While this was happening, we saw Princess Stephania and her group arriving on Corulis, landing in front of the house. Lavigne was with them too. She had been over there as a liaison, but it seemed she returned here with Corulis as an escort.

“Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning.”

Greeting and welcoming them at the entrance, Princess Stephania and the others also smiled and returned the greeting.

“There’s still a little time left, but we were told we could go ahead, so we came here,” said Princess Stephania. Well… even though he’s incognito, since King Melvin is here, she isn’t acting as his proxy.

Although she is accompanying Princess Adriana and Princess Elham, it seems King Melvin created some free time for her activities.

“We saw steam coming from the rooftop…”

“We heated the morning bath. When it clears after snowing, the view is beautiful.”

“It was quite nice water,” said Rosemary, hiding her mouth with her feather fan. Hmm. Based on experience, it seemed Princess Stephania and the others would likely show interest too.

“If Your Highness is willing… would you care to take a bath?”

“That sounds lovely.”

Princess Stephania made a happy expression. She has a curious nature, or rather, a personality that tries everything firsthand.

And so, the three princesses, plus Queen Eldorene and her group who arrived later and heard about it, spent the morning by taking baths and such.

After breakfast, while waiting for Father and the others to arrive… I had some thoughts, so we decided to pass the time by playing lightly.

Since many of them had never played in the snow, we thought, “why not,” and decided to build a snow mountain while clearing the snow around the house, and then slide down it on sleighs made with Wood Magic.

“Be careful not to crash into the surrounding trees or people.”

“You can steer it to turn, right?”

“Yeah. You can control it somewhat with the handle and shifting your weight.”

“Yes.”

It had a handle attached, linked to a mechanism that changed the direction of the boards. Sion and the others have excellent reflexes, so they should be fine even at high speeds. The three of them slid down the slope of the snow mountain at full speed from the start. The way they zigzagged through the trees in the forest was impressive, as expected.

“Harold and Cynthia, don’t try to copy them.”

“That speed is impossible for us,” Harold said with a wry smile.

“…Having the area around the house be this lively is wonderful,” said Floria in high spirits. Since Floria is partly where Mother’s house manifested as a Spirit, she probably likes this kind of atmosphere.

“Mother liked this kind of liveliness too.”

“…That’s right. I think Lisa would be happy with this,” Rosetta said with a small laugh at my words, and Floria also nodded.

The problem was Corulis. Seeing the sleighs, Corulis expanded its crystal armor into a sleigh-like shape, wrapped it around its underside, and gestured with its nose, urging me to get on its back. …Was this Princess Stephania’s idea, or Corulis’s own?

Marlene invited Lasnote, and with a beaming smile, got on Corulis’s back, then lightly kicked the shield expanded at its feet, and Corulis slid across the snow. For Corulis, it was relatively restrained, so it seemed to be sliding with some moderation.

“Hehe, this is fun,” Lasnote laughed softly, exchanging looks with Marlene.

…Being able to move normally even without a slope, thanks to Corulis’s physical ability to slide, might be an advantage.

Well, it did look quite fun. Maybe it would be good to take turns riding.

Thinking such thoughts, I casually let my gaze wander—and noticed Lavigne and Belius were also looking at me with expectant eyes.

“Lavigne seems to want to play in the snow too.”

“Belius probably does as well. I think it’s likely his first time playing in the snow,” said Ashley with a smile and Claudia with a small wry smile.

Hmm. Right then. Let’s make a pull-type dog sled using Wood Magic for them.

While we were playing like that, sliding through the forest on the familiars’ sleighs, Father and the others arrived on horse-drawn sleighs via the main road.

“Good morning.”

“Mm. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Theodore.”

Following Father and Daryl from the carriage, King Melvin and the villagers also got out. With this, the entire group for today’s grave visit was assembled.

“It’s quite lively, or should I say, something like that.”

“Yes, that’s right. The matter has been settled, and I thought staying in a gloomy mood forever would just worry Mother.”

“That’s true. Certainly.”

When I answered, Father nodded quietly. That was his thinking regarding Mother, and also regarding the villagers.

From now on, in order to move forward and walk with Carter and the others, it would be meaningless to have settled things if I kept showing a dark expression.

From Mother’s house—to the tomb in the forest. We made a path by clearing the snow with magic. We piled the accumulated snow into Snow Golems, stacked them at regular intervals, and turned them into snow mountains.

This was to create a situation where snow removal would be easier when it snowed again later.

After we leave, Harold and Cynthia will probably handle the snow removal, so we aimed to create more space where the snow could be cleared at that time.

We arrived at Mother’s grave. It must have snowed from yesterday until midnight. The tombstone was also covered in snow…

“I came to check on it yesterday too… I’m home, Mother.”

Saying that, I cleared the surrounding snow all at once by turning it into Snow Golems. For the finer areas, like on top of the tombstone, we all split up and cleaned it neatly. This part was done by hand, not relying on magic.

“How about this?”

“Yes. It’s clean now.”

We tended to the tomb until we reached a point we were reasonably satisfied with. When I commented on the result after inspecting it, Grace nodded with a gentle smile.

Well then—let’s proceed with the grave visit. Receiving the bouquet entrusted by Prince Josiah and the bouquet we prepared here from Rosemary, the surroundings grew quiet too… becoming the serene atmosphere befitting a tomb in a snowy forest.

“This is something we received from His Highness Josiah. And this one is… from us.”

Saying that, I offered the bouquets before the grave. Then, I closed my eyes in front of the tombstone.

There are… various things to report.

The talk with the villagers, and the message entrusted by Kathryn. What I thought after hearing their stories. What I want to do from now on. Reflecting on these, I offered a silent prayer as if telling Mother.

What I want to convey isn’t just about yesterday.

Everything that happened from the last time I visited the grave until today. The journey to the west of Verdgar… the words of gratitude conveyed to Mother from the Wisneaire Count’s family in the port town, the battle in Grantios…

Loading all these into my silent prayer, I conveyed them to Mother, and eventually opened my eyes. Everyone else too—closed their eyes quietly before Mother’s tombstone and offered their silent prayers.

Father, then Grace and the others, Daryl, King Melvin and his group followed.

And then… finally, the villagers. Bowing their heads deeply to me, they went before the tombstone, knelt as if to kneel, and put their hands together. For them, it was probably also an apology to Mother.

I could hear not only words to Mother… but also words apologizing for turning their backs on me and Grace back then. Inaudible sobs escaped too.

The children also offered silent prayers to Mother behind the adults. It was a long, long prayer and apology.

“…I think it surely reached Mother too.”

Closing my eyes once more and offering a silent prayer, I then opened them and spoke to the villagers. Hadley and the others, while looking down, stood up slowly, one by one.

“Thank you for allowing us to visit the tomb.”

I nodded at Hadley’s words.

“…Shall we head back? We’ll get cold.”

Saying that, we prepared to leave.

When I looked back at the tomb one last time as everyone was leaving.

Through my monocle, I thought I saw something like phosphorescent light beside the tombstone. More ambiguous than a spirit that hasn’t manifested—.

It lasted only for an instant. The moment I strained my eyes, it had vanished.

Was it an optical illusion of mine, a phantom born from wishful thinking? Or was there truly something there?

The faint light in human shape—I thought it looked at me and smiled slightly. I had a sensation as if only a gentle warmth remained deep in my chest.

“…We’re leaving, Mother.”

I stood there for a little while, but after saying that to Mother’s tombstone and bowing, I too followed after everyone.