❦❦❦
THE cotton roses on the Aldridge estate were those that had been grown in the Watohs’ garden. With Leon and Hana gone, the task of tending the herb garden fell to Walt.
And with the passing of his older brother, Walt was forced to return to his own home and take over his family’s estate. Over time, Hana, along with the days he spent at her family’s estate, became a part of his past.
“You always said that…you were grateful to me?”
All that time spent reminiscing was causing Walt to mistake Yuuri for Hana again. Simon and Yuuri could tell that this elderly man still had unresolved feelings for the younger Hana and so stopped correcting him.
“I forced my blood on you so I could marry into the Watoh family. Even after my attempt failed, I still deceived you. You had finally chosen a partner and yet, I kept it from you and everyone in the manor!”
His quivering, wrinkled hand reached for Yuuri. She gently took his hand in her own.
“I was the one who made Leon think he wasn’t bright enough to handle all the complexities of the trade. I persuaded him to leave. …If you hadn’t eloped or just told Lord Saizoh the truth from the start, things might have turned out different.”
Hana’s leaving without telling her parents was what caused the chasm between her and her father, one that took years to heal.
She hadn’t realized at that point that she had already chosen her partner, so she forced herself to obey her father’s wishes for her, all the while contradicting her nature. If she had known all along that she already tasted Leon’s blood, she could have convinced her parents without needing to run away.
Walt had always regretted not telling her. But Yuuri’s grandparents had seen it differently, and were grateful to Walt. Hana must have shouldered her own guilt for repressing such an important memory.
So Yuuri tried to give this man the words she was sure her grandmother wanted him to hear.
“But you were the reason I was able to be with Leon, right?”
“…You were growing weaker by the day. I could bear to watch you suffer no longer. That was all.”
“What is it you want from me? To be forgiven or to be punished?”
The man shook his head. “…I am not sure myself.”
“Neither is possible. I am stubborn and will never change. Even after everything you’ve told me, my gratitude toward you will never fade.”
Hana and Leon had left this world feeling grateful to Walt. And Yuuri believed that was how things should stay. Yuuri knew her grandmother to be stubborn; her grandfather even more so. But both of them were compassionate people.
“Miss Hana…”
The man had a peaceful expression. And so, Yuuri and Simon decided to join him in gazing at the cotton roses in silence.
✦ ✦ ✦
❦❦❦
DURING the carriage ride back from the Aldridge estate, Yuuri confided in Simon.
“While things…aren’t that serious, I do believe he loves me for who I am…”
“He? Do you mean our esteemed Count?”
Yuuri nodded. She took a big breath, trying to pull herself together and finally tell him something she should have long ago.
“You’ve probably already figured it out, but I drank Ernest’s blood. He knows…that I need blood from time to time. But I haven’t…told him everything about what it means to do such a thing for a vampire.”
“Father and I already knew. He told us himself.”
“I see…” Yuuri wasn’t surprised. It seemed like the sort of thing Ernest would do.
“Listen, Yuuri…I know you know him better than I. He seems flippant, but he really is a considerate man. He cares about you.”
“He does.”
She had never doubted that. He was always showing up just in the nick of time. Lately, he would even offer his blood before Yuuri had to ask.
Ernest truly was kind. But it was his kindness that frightened Yuuri. She was afraid that if she let herself lean on him too much, she would become weak and unable to take care of herself. That was why she had always been so reluctant to accept his attempts to reach out to her.
But she desperately wanted to lean on him, and that made her doubt if she ever was strong to begin with.
“Father and I want to do whatever we can for you. So please, talk to us. About anything. Well, almost anything… Just open up to us about what you want to say.”
“Thank you, Simon… Hehe, don’t cry.”
At twenty-four, Simon still cried openly. Yuuri handed him a handkerchief.
Vampires and their descendants could be awkward, foolish, and fragile. It was why they were on the verge of extinction. They may have even already died out in Himomoto. Yuuri might even be the last vampire left on the planet.
As foolish as it was though, even vampires deserved happiness.
That was why Simon wept openly before her.
Yuuri vowed that, as soon as Ernest finished his current job and started coming back to her shop, she was going to change things, once and for all.