The events of last night could have given her such a shock that it threatened her mental balance.
Even if she looked undaunted, she had only just started middle school, so it was only to be expected, but…
Tohko made her drink the milk and the medicine, then told Uotani a story to take her mind off everything, during which Uotani finally fell asleep.
We made sure she was asleep, then quietly left the room.
“That song is in Kyōka’s The Grass Labyrinth,” Tohko said once we’d gone a little way from the room.
“That’s the story where Akira Hagoshi is the main character, right? The one where he stays at a haunted mansion to find his mother’s lullaby. So then, do you think Uotani’s grandmother read it in The Grass Labyrinth and taught the song to Uotani? But what’s ‘the land of dragons’? Is there a dragon god in that story like there is in Demon Pond?”
“No…although…”
Tohko’s eyebrows pulled a little closer together, as if something were bothering her, and she put an index finger to her lips. And just like that, she fell silent.
That night in my bed, Tohko read Yuri’s diary to the end for me.
The bookmark, made from a pressed, red dianthus, was stuck between the pages of the diary.
I leaned against the headboard with my legs stretched out in front of me and listened.
“Akira might leave. He’s had a troubled look ever since his friend came. His friend has said that studying abroad is something Akira wants with all his heart. I know it’s true. Because Akira told me so.”
“It’s hard for me to see Akira lost in thought, and when I tried to go for a walk with Chiro, Baron barked at us with terrifying ferocity. Chiro got angry and tried to go toward Baron, so I quickly stopped her.”
“Shirayuki came to the house! When I looked out the window, she was standing there with cold eyes! ‘Everything will be well if you let me handle it, who cares about breaking a promise, if you did you’d be free,’ she said, to tempt me. But I could never break my promise. I’m the oracle who prays for the prosperity of the Himekuras, and I’m my father’s daughter. I don’t resemble my father or anyone in the family…There are some people who say awful things about that fact. But my father calls me, ‘My daughter.’ And my current mother, father’s second wife, also used to speak kindly to me when I was still there. I could never disappoint them.”
“Akira intends to study abroad after all. I eavesdropped on him talking with his friend, and the world came crashing down around me. It felt as if my chest would tear open. The fairy tale is ending; it’s ending, it’s ending.”
“A volume came from Father. I have nothing but that to cling to now. I thought if I could see Father’s message, it might soothe me, so I went to the butler’s room and tore the wrapping off the freshly arrived package and opened the book. I had been told before that I mustn’t do such unseemly things, but I thought I would go crazy if I didn’t.
“But when I opened the cover, I knew that this was not a book like the others I’d received from my father up until now.
“My father’s books will no longer offer me comfort. The words To my daughter will never again echo through my heart. There is only despair like falling into a pit of darkness.”
“The butler brought the book from my father. It’s sitting on my desk. I turned back the cover and stared at my father’s message. Tears filled my eyes and refused to stop.
“So it was true when everyone said that I was not my father’s child, but a child of sin, born as the result of my late mother’s infidelity.
“There is no happiness left to me. If I was to meet Shirayuki now, I would surrender to her temptations. I must not go to the lake at night. I considered it, but then there was a tap-tap-tap at the window, and when I turned around, Shirayuki was there, smiling. ‘Back, back,’ I beseeched her over and over.”
Tohko huddled on the bed and continued reading dispassionately.
Bent over the book, her profile looked calm, but her eyes were a little watery.
It was said that Yuri wasn’t a true child of the Himekuras.
When I thought about it now, the souvenir shop owner and Maki had both said things suggestive of that. That there were circumstances that kept Yuri from being with her family. Was that because Yuri was a product of her late mother’s affair?
Yuri’s sadness pressed in on my chest.
At the same time, mentions of Shirayuki in the diary increased as well. Shirayuki, who she had only encountered at the pond before, began appearing at the house and would tap on the window the entire night.
Yuri’s spirit was haunted more and more and grew heavy with madness.
“Please, Shirayuki, don’t come here. No, you’re wrong. I’m still keeping my promise. You’re wrong, you’re wrong. It’s not like that. I’m not a ghoul like you. I mustn’t go to the pond. My promise. Our promise.”
“Shirayuki beckons to me from the window. I won’t go to the pond. I think I’ll put up some red flowers. White flowers are so ugly—I hate them. I think I’ll tear apart every one of the white flowers, every one of them, and throw them away. I can’t go to the pond at night. After all, the moonlight is white; I mean, it’s white after all, white; I mean, it’s white, it’s white. White, white. Pure white. Ugly. Terrifying. After all, it’s white. My father’s books. Baron is barking. Whenever I try to go out, Baron barks. Baron bit Chiro and she got covered in blood. I bandaged her and I was crying. I thought Chiro was going to die because she’d lost so much blood. I can’t see Chiro. Akira is setting out next week.”