Chapter 53

Chapter 53

I picked the neatest outfit from the ones laid out in the wardrobe. Truth be told, calling it ‘picking’ was a bit ridiculous—there was only one black formal suit, so there wasn’t much to choose from. Anyway, I straightened the collar of the hopelessly out-of-fashion shirt, buttoned it all the way up to my throat, and picked up the bouquet of white flowers I’d bought yesterday.

Stepping out of the room, I found Shion standing in front of the door. The child looked up at me with eyes full of wanting. She’d come looking for me, probably hoping to play—but unfortunately, I had somewhere to be.

“Shion, I can’t play with you today. I have to go somewhere.”

“Where are you going, Unnie?”

“I’m going to a funeral.”

“A funeral? Why? Why?”

“Well… you know that cat I brought in? The living one, not the soul.”

“Uh-huh!”

“It’s that cat’s owner’s funeral.”

“Oh. I see.”

The child blinked twice as she answered. Despite me telling her I couldn’t play, she didn’t seem to be sulking.

“Unnie, but aren’t you taking the cat?”

Shion asked without breaking eye contact.

“Huh? The cat?”

“You said it’s the cat’s owner’s funeral. So you have to take the cat!”

“Ah… is that so?”

To be honest, I’d thought about taking the cat quite a bit. But in the end, I’d decided it was better not to. After all, I’d already said their final goodbye while the owner was alive.

“Yeah. You have to take it. You have to.”

But Shion had a different opinion.

“’Have to’?”

“Yeah! Of course. It’s the owner’s funeral, isn’t it? What if the cat can’t go!”

“You think so?”

“Yeah! Yeah! So you definitely have to take it.”

The child’s voice, emphasizing the word ‘definitely,’ made me pause and think. Watching her look of certainty, I almost felt convinced.

Is that right? Well, she had a point—it was, after all, the cat’s owner’s funeral.

Truth be told, I hadn’t really thought about it, but from the very first moment they met, that creature and its owner must have been through quite a lot together. If their memories together were long, maybe the creature needed more time to let its owner go.

“Fine. I’ll bring it.”

I changed my original decision and told Shion. Then, passing the child who answered with a short ‘Okay!’, I walked along the corridor. That’s when I reached the hallway where the ladies-in-waiting’s rooms lined up side by side. From one of those rooms, Sonia suddenly popped out.

“Oh? Laura. You’re already ready?”

She was dressed head to toe in black and greeted me cheerfully the moment she saw me.

“Yeah. Sonia, by the way, do you know whose room the cat is in today? I’m planning to bring it along.”

“Huh? I thought you said you weren’t taking it?”

“I changed my mind. Once the funeral’s over, it’s truly over. So I figured it wouldn’t be so bad to bring it one last time.”

“Hmm… okay. Sure. Let’s take it. It’s probably in Ann’s room. Momo declared Ann’s room her territory, she said. She only sleeps there.”

Sonia seemed to have already named the cat ‘Momo’. ‘Momo’—that was actually a pretty cute name.

Anyway, she grabbed my arm and led me straight to Ann’s room. Then, with her free hand, she knocked—knock, knock. Not long after, the door swung open in an arc.

“Hey, you two. What’s up?”

Ann appeared, looking half-asleep, waving a hand groggily.

“Ann, is Momo here? We want to bring her along too.”

“Bring her? Ah. Is today the day of the funeral? But Choco’s sleeping right now?”

Now it was Choco. Good grief. So even the cat’s name wasn’t consistent. I couldn’t help but think my friends were really doing whatever they pleased.

Meanwhile, Ann pushed the door wider to show the room. I could see a cushion set aside for the cat in the corner. Despite Ann’s report that she was sleeping, the creature sprang up from her spot and strode right out toward us.

“Huh? She’s awake?”

Ann stepped aside to give the cat room and asked.

Meow—

The creature casually ignored her and came up to me, circling around my feet.

“Look at Choco. She likes Laura way too much. I’m the one who gives her a place to sleep…”

“I bought tons of snacks and offered them.”

Ann and Sonia both pouted at the sight. I felt a little proud and let a small smile creep onto my lips. Honestly, I hadn’t done anything special, and yet this creature liked me the most. Who knew? I was actually quite popular with cats.

“Anyway. Let’s go. Momo, come here.”

Sonia grabbed the little creature and scooped it into her arms.

“Ann, we’re running late, so we’ll head off now.”

She turned to Ann as she said it.

“Got it. Have a good trip.”

Ann answered.

“You say goodbye to your owner too, Choco.”

Then she took the cat’s front paws, gave them a couple of shakes, and offered greetings to the little beast as well.

After that, we walked side by side out of the manor and along the path cutting through the garden. All the while, Sonia was carefully stroking the cat in her arms with the back of her hand.

“Sonia, you really didn’t have to change your day off, you know… Are you sure you’re all right with this?”

“Mm. Well… it’s not like you know him well either, right? But you’re still going because you’re worried. I feel the same way. And—how do I put it—since he said he has no family, I figured there might be no one at the funeral. I at least have that connection of having taken him to the hospital, so I thought I’d use that as an excuse to pay my respects.”

Sonia answered without shifting her gaze from the cat. Maybe she was kinder than I’d given her credit for.

“I see.”

I glanced at the faint smile on her profile, then turned my eyes back ahead. That’s when the spot where the cat ghost appeared came into view at an angle. There, looking out of place among the landscaping, was the catnip the young marquis had brought over. The gardener had gone ahead and planted the pot that had just been sitting there.

‘With all this chaos I almost forgot—I need to help that cat ghost ascend soon… Ah. That feels impossibly far off. I promised I wouldn’t, but in a case like this, possession seems like the only answer…’

Truth be told, I’d never tried possessing an animal before, so I had no idea if it’d work. But in this situation, there didn’t seem to be any other way to read its memories.

What should I do…?

“But you know, Momo looks fierce, yet it’s really attached to people, isn’t it? That makes it even cuter, I think.”

Just then, Sonia suddenly spoke up. At her words, I shed a handful of the worries cramming my head. I felt like dealing with the concern closer at hand first.

“……But about this little guy. What’s its real name, anyway? Don’t tell me you each gave it a different name?”

* * *

The cemetery had that chilling aura you’d expect from a place where the dead were buried. It was daytime, so no ghosts were visible to the eye, but something was definitely here. Seemed like quite a few spirits had failed to ascend and were lingering.

“Laura, what’s wrong?”

Sonia turned to look at me, glued to her side, and asked.

“Huh? Nothing…….”

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“Uh… well… it’s a cemetery, you know. Ghosts might show up.”

I gripped her arm even tighter as I answered. I’d stepped forward boldly saying I’d attend the funeral, but now that we’d actually reached the cemetery, my heart felt like it was being squeezed tight with tension.

“What’s with you, in broad daylight? Come here.”

Sonia let out a small laugh and pulled the arm I was clinging to toward her. Afraid of losing hold of her, I quickly moved to stand behind her.

But Sonia didn’t know. Of course, since she couldn’t see them, it was only natural she wouldn’t. That ghosts don’t only appear at night, like the rumors going around.

If a ghost had immensely strong energy, it would sometimes show itself without warning even when the sun was directly overhead. If it were a mischievous ghost like Shion, that would be a stroke of luck—but there were also evil spirits with thick malevolence. And that was exactly what I was afraid of.

“Where will he be buried?”

Sonia walked ahead of me and asked. I peeked my head past her shoulder and began to look around.

“Over there, people are gathering. That must be the burial site.”

Then she pointed to the right. There, a few people holding shovels were digging into the ground. We headed straight over and found the cat owner’s spot using the patient number from the hospital.

“Here.”

The spot Sonia pointed to had a small pit dug out, barely big enough to lay one person. Beside it lay a corpse wrapped in white cloth—even without an explanation, it was clearly the cat’s owner.

We felt a bit solemn as we quietly waited for the funeral to proceed. The cat also stayed still, nestled in Sonia’s arms. But as the man began to be lowered into the ground, the creature squirmed as if it was struggling, then jumped out of her arms. It started trying to dig at the dirt with its small front paws.

“No. Don’t do that.”

Sonia startled and quickly scooped it up.

Meow, meow—

The cat yowled in protest. It was as if the animal’s senses were telling it something was wrong. Maybe it understood that the white-cloth-wrapped lump was its owner.

Meanwhile, a gravestone was being set up. It was a small, rough stone engraved only with the year the man had died. It seemed to be just the bare minimum marker that someone was buried here. Feeling a little bitter, I placed the white flower bouquet I’d brought in front of it. Then, I silently prayed that he would be reborn in a good place.

Meow—

The cat was crying again. Sonia held the thrashing creature tight in both arms.

“Laura, let’s go.”

She said it with a troubled look on her face, as if she didn’t know what to do with the cat’s violent reaction.

“……Alright.”

There was nothing left to continue at the funeral anyway. The usual funeral rites—they meant nothing to him. He was just a man from the streets.