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THREE days later, Ernest brought Yuuri to the Weller estate.
It was a dreadfully sunny day. The moment she stepped outside, the brilliance of the sun’s light left her in a daze. Were it not for Ernest’s carriage, she doubted she could have gone.
“You really can’t handle the sun. Are you sure you aren’t going to melt?”
“I just don’t like the intense glare. Sorry to disappoint, but pleasant days are not my thing.” Yuuri knew Ernest would laugh at the way her eyes squinted to dull the sun’s glare, so she faced the other way. “Was it really necessary for you to come along? Just how many holidays do you get?”
“This concerns a colleague of mine. Of course I’d come along! I’m a stand-up guy, so I can leave my other tasks for now. And besides, I’m your go-between; I have to see this through!”
“…In other words, you’re slacking off on your other duties,” Yuuri deduced with deceptive ease, desperately trying to avoid reminding him of the tense way in which they had parted three days ago. That desperation was making her colder than ever towards Ernest.
They sat in the Weller family’s parlor, awaiting both their host and Simon. Intent on not meeting Ernest’s gaze, Yuuri let her eyes wander around the room. She began to study the portraits hanging on the walls. Her eyes settled upon a man and woman who seemed to be a couple.
“Huh? He looks like Joel.” The gentleman in the portrait was in his forties, but his looks and demeanor closely resembled Joel’s.
“…That was the former Baron Weller. My late husband.”
The words came from an older woman, dressed in the standard black attire expected of a widow in mourning, complete with a necklace made out of fossilized jet gemstones. She was Joel’s adoptive mother, Isabella Weller. Widows in Hylant were expected to wear their mourning attire for a considerably long time, so now, even a year after her husband’s death, she was still clad in black.
The portrait must have been done many years ago. In it, Mrs. Weller was still blonde and beautiful, as opposed to the white-haired, wrinkly woman who stood before them now.
“Well hello, Lady Isabella.”
“Good to see you, Count Selden. And is this the witch I’ve heard so much about?”
“I’m Yuuri Watoh.”
As the wife of a diplomat, Isabella had met her fair share of people who looked like Yuuri while staying in Xingka, so she merely smiled and nodded at the girl’s normally out-of-place appearance.
“Though you are our guests, I am the one in your debt. I hope Joel hasn’t caused too much trouble on my behalf. If so, you have my apologies.”
“Not at all.”
“Joel is working so hard, even though we are not related by blood, so I suppose I shouldn’t tease him.”
They were not blood-related, which seemed all the more motivation for Joel to work his hardest to find the letter for her. He felt that, by finding the letter his adopted father had tried to erase, he could repay his debt to her.
“Lady Isabella, if you find the letter, will you read it?”
Isabella gave a sad smile upon hearing Yuuri’s question. “Yes. …Do you think me a terrible wife for trying to find the letter my husband sought to hide?”
Was it wrong? Neither Isabella nor Joel seemed to be doing it out of nosiness. Yuuri continued to stare at Isabella without responding.
“So what do you think of our portrait? Count Selden, I know you were acquainted with the baron.”
“He and Joel were a lot alike and I know, even now, Joel still tries to emulate him,” Ernest said, unable to deny the similarities between them. Both he and Yuuri, who had just met Joel, could see how alike they were.
“My husband always said, ‘it’s easier to love a child who resembles you in some way.’ And then he brought Joel home. As Joel grew, he came to look more and more like my late husband when he was young. They weren’t related by blood, so I wonder why that was?”
That wasn’t a question she wanted them to answer. It was clear that Isabella suspected Joel wasn’t adopted, but in fact the former baron’s illegitimate son.
“He hid it for all those years. So why the change of heart just before his death?” she muttered more to herself.
In other words, what purpose did divulging the dead man’s secrets serve for Isabella and Joel? Yuuri, who already had reservations, was only beginning to feel more and more uneasy about the whole thing. She wondered if maybe Isabella would be happier not knowing.
Isabella stared at the portrait of her and her husband. Her eyes shimmered with a mixture of sadness and affection.
As a pair of voices approached the room, Isabella lifted a finger to her lips, as if to implore them to keep this conversation between them.
“Oh, Mother, so this is where you’ve been,” Joel said as he entered the room, accompanied by two servants carrying the funadansu with Simon in tow.
“Yes. You were taking so long, I decided to chat with our guests.”
“I’m sorry. Moving the funadansu proved to be more difficult than I expected.”
Most funadansu were meant to be movable, but this one was especially large and required more than one person to carry it.
“I’m terribly sorry, you two. And Lord Simon, thank you for traveling all this way.”
“Not at all. I’m ecstatic to see something so rare,” Simon said, presenting Joel with a gift. Joel might not have been one of his clients yet, but a good businessman never missed the opportunity to seed a new customer. Shortly thereafter, Simon broached the topic of the rare Eastern treasure.
Yuuri sat silently next to Ernest, watching everything play out. Eventually, her eyes met Simon’s.
“Yuuri…about the other day, I’m…”
“I was the one in the wrong. I…”
“You did nothing wrong! I…uh…”
The two of them became so embarrassed, they couldn’t speak. Though they were siblings, the divide between them was still vast.
Yuuri knew her brother was only worried about her, living all alone as she did. She knew she couldn’t run away forever, but she couldn’t manage to figure out how to open up.
“Please do all you can to help the Weller family, Simon.” Many thoughts raced through Yuuri’s mind, but in the end, that was all she could think of to say.
Simon responded with a smile, showing that he was willing to do as she hoped.