Cecily had been deep in thought, but when she came to her senses, Zeke was no longer there. His argument with Cain had come to an end, and he had disappeared off somewhere.
“Cecily,” Cain said, as he quickly took her hand and drew her close. He placed his delicate fingers upon Cecily’s chin. This clumsy action drew Cecily out of her daydream and pulled her back into reality.
Cecily’s eyes opened wide in shock as she realized what Cain was about to do.
“Stop!”
Her movements borne from reflex, Cecily thrust Cain back, using his shoulders.
She hadn’t pushed very hard, but Cain lost his balance, and his shoulder collided with the doors of a small gate.
As soon as she saw the sadness spread across his face, pain stabbed her in the chest. She might have been surprised, but she had done a cruel thing to Cain. She needed to apologize right away.
“I-I’m sorry, Cain! I...”
However, a good reason wouldn’t come to her lips. Cain gave a small smile as Cecily simply flapped her lips in confusion.
“Hey, it’s fine. We all have days when we’re not in the mood, right?”
Cain said this, but perhaps his feelings had actually been hurt, for he turned on his heel and began to walk away.
“Cain, where are you going?”
“I remembered I had something I needed to take care of. I’ll be back by evening.”
The stiff words that came out of his mouth were a poorly told lie. After all, it was Cain who had proposed their daylong walk around the village.
Left alone, Cecily was unable to move for a while. Eventually, she tottered back into her home. She climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom. With uncertain feet, she walked over to her bed and slumped down upon it.
She couldn’t help but ponder her situation.
“Why...?”
Cecily and Cain were lovers. It was only natural for them to hug and kiss. It was cruel of her to push Cain away without reason. She needed to chase after him and apologize. If she did so, she was certain he would smile at her. Then they would kiss and make up as if nothing had happened at all.
These thoughts passed through her mind, yet her feet refused to move.
“What’s wrong with me?”
Cecily began to shake all over.
Was it true that she hadn’t forgotten something important? For some reason, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she must have. The problem was that she had no way of finding out what it was. Cecily tried to remember once again, but her head started to hurt. She let out a groan.
She didn’t want to think of anything. She mustn’t think of anything.
But Cecily wasn’t even sure why she even felt that way.
What happened last night? What am I suffering from?
All of a sudden, a noise outside her door caused her to flinch.
Someone was knocking. Maybe Cain had come back.
Or maybe it’s Sir Zeke...
As this possibility crossed her mind, Cecily found herself rushing to the door.
“Cecily?”
“Oh... It’s you, dad,” Cecily said quietly, all the energy gone from her voice.
Standing at the door was neither Cain nor Zeke, but her father Sewell.
“You’re back, then. Where’s Cain?”
Noticing his daughter wasn’t answering him, he asked another question.
“Mind if I come in?”
Cecily had no reason to say no. She nodded, and Sewell came padding in. Cecily offered a chair to her father. Unfortunately, Sewell still hadn’t fully recovered after what had happened yesterday. The chair let out a groan as Sewell sat down. He began to speak with some awkwardness.
“L-Listen, Cecily. You want to, um, marry Cain, is that right?”
Cecily couldn’t answer.
I always thought that I’d want to marry the person I fell in love with.
In the fairy tales that Cecily loved, the princess always married the prince in a grand wedding ceremony. Everyone in attendance applauded as they celebrated the union of the happy couple. It was a given that these stories would reach this happy end.
Naturally, Cecily had always dreamt of such a beautiful tale for herself. Because of these stories, she was perhaps rather keen to get married herself.
Yet for some reason, an answer wouldn’t come to her lips.
“Cecily, your daddy wants you to be the happiest person in the entire world. Which is why, you see, if you, Cecily, if you’re serious about this—”
However, his words were cut off.
“Dad, I need to ask you something. What have I been doing this past year?”
Sewell didn’t show a trace of discomfort. He gave a relaxed smile. “Why, you told me with such joy what you were doing this past year just two days ago!”
“Can you repeat it for me?”
“Huh?”
“I want to hear what I told you from your mouth. You don’t mind, do you?”
Sewell presumed his daughter just wanted to be coddled and to spend time with her father. He happily agreed.
“Of course. Let me relate to you what you told me, Cecily.”
And so Sewell retold Cecily’s story.
It was a tale that traced Cecily’s past, relayed in Sewell’s gentle voice. As Cecily listened, she felt her heart grow calmer. That uncomfortable frustration began to lessen, if only slightly.
Yet, for some reason, it felt as though something were missing.
That’s right...
Two days ago, when Cecily had been eating Sewell’s lovingly made meatballs... When she’d been telling Sewell about the past year... She had felt something.
I felt...sad. Lonely. I’m certain of it.
That emotion was seared deep into her chest.
She didn’t know where that sadness had come from. When she tried to remember it, her head hurt. It was if someone was forbidding her from remembering.
“And so, you asked your good friends Lottie and Alphonse to come home to the witch village with you. I was so happy to see you again, after this long year.”
Looking up at her beaming father, Cecily felt a pang of guilt. However, she stood up, shaking off those vestiges of hesitation.