Flora tried to open her mouth again, but said nothing.
She turned her head back and continued looking at the gravestone.
She stood up and walked around to the back of the gravestone.
A natural mossy stone leaned against the back of the gravestone, with a narrow gap between the stone and the tombstone.
‘Let’s put the flowers in here. That way they won’t be easily discovered.’
She picked up the two daisies and placed them behind the base of the gravestone.
From the front, only the gravestone could be seen, not the two flowers. You had to walk to the side of the gravestone or crouch down to look under the base to spot them.
‘As for the candle, I’ll take it back. It would be discovered if left here.’
Flora blew out the candle, then put it away into a bag.
After doing all this, she stood up again and quietly looked at the gravestone.
It was completely quiet, only the sound of wind passing by. After a while, Flora bent down and pulled out a small tuft of weeds growing beside the gravestone.
The soil was a bit dry, the roots were deep; she had to pull twice to get it out, clumps of dirt clinging to the roots.
She threw the weeds behind her and looked again at the gap behind the gravestone.
“Almost done,” she said softly.
Ilya quietly hummed in agreement, her hand gently touching the gravestone.
Flora took one last look at the words on the gravestone.
Kaxiu. Still the same characters.
She turned around.
“Let’s go.”
The two walked side by side toward the exit, their steps unhurried. Sunlight fell on them, casting their shadows on the ground—slanted, long.
When they reached the cemetery entrance, Flora suddenly stopped. There were two people walking toward them from ahead.
It was Eileen and Kaan.
Eileen wore a coarse cloth skirt, washed until it was faded. A young man walked beside her, carrying a basket.
Flora froze on the spot, her heart suddenly pounding.
‘Why is Eileen at the cemetery today? Is she here to commemorate her father?’
‘But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t want to arouse suspicion, but a traveler appearing here will already be suspicious.’
Eileen also saw her.
Both of their steps stopped at that moment.
Their eyes met. Eileen was taken aback, then blinked, clearly not expecting to meet Flora here.
“Miss Flora?” Eileen walked over, her gaze pausing on Flora’s face, then moving past her to look at the cemetery behind her. Then she shook her head slightly, as if to confirm if this was real.
Eileen continued, “How did you…”
Flora did not continue.
Because that pause, that look, had already explained everything.
‘This is not a place a passing traveler would come to.’
Flora stood there, her mind racing.
‘What should I say?’
‘What can I say?’
‘Why are we at the cemetery?’
‘How do I explain?’
‘But if I seem nervous, I’ll be even more suspicious.’
Flora tried to keep her expression calm, not too shocked.
But at that moment, Ilya, standing beside Flora, had already spoken.
“We heard the cemetery here is very quiet, and we could take a look at the town, so we came for a walk.”
Ilya’s voice was still very flat, so calm that even Flora almost believed they really had just “come for a walk.”
Flora inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. This was probably the most useful instance of Ilya’s “eternal calm.”
In her eyes, Ilya’s expression was the same as always—cold, calm, impossible to read.
Eileen was taken aback and turned to look at Ilya.
“Oh,” Eileen responded, her gaze resting on Flora’s face. “Then, Miss Flora, do you think it’s… quiet?”
“Mhm.”
Eileen nodded and looked at Flora again. There was a bit of doubt in her eyes, but more than that, something else—something Flora couldn’t understand. It seemed like curiosity, or perhaps something else.
But Eileen seemed to accept the reason of “it’s quiet here so we came for a walk.” Perhaps she didn’t want to pry, so she didn’t ask anything more.
Flora’s fingers curled slightly. Her mind had been filled with the tension of the sudden encounter, but now she remembered a question.
“Are you here to…” she began, her voice steadier than she expected, “…visit a grave?”
Eileen hesitated for a moment, then nodded and pointed toward the cemetery.
“My father and brother are both here.”
She said it in a very ordinary tone. As ordinary as saying “I’m buying groceries.”
But when Flora heard that word, her heart tightened.
‘Big Brother.’
In that instant, Flora’s mind went completely blank. All her thoughts came to a halt.
‘They set up a gravestone for me, and came to commemorate me.’
‘I’ve been gone so long. Of course they would have set up a gravestone for me—or rather, for “Owen.” How could I have forgotten that?’
‘And just now, I didn’t see a gravestone with my name. Was it placed somewhere else?’
‘Well, that makes sense. There are already many gravestones around Father’s spot. No room.’
‘So… should I go look at the gravestone that belongs to “Owen”?’
‘But… that’s not appropriate. Asking about it would already be offensive. After all, in their eyes, I’m just a somewhat familiar stranger.’
‘And… if I go see it, or if something happens, and I can’t control my emotions, do something I shouldn’t, get exposed—what then? What would Eileen and them think?’
These thoughts tangled in Flora’s mind.
Her right hand unconsciously clenched a little more.
She glanced at Ilya. Ilya noticed Flora’s gaze and turned her head.
Flora saw her calm gaze, saw her face, and remembered the words Ilya had said back at the castle.
‘Forget it. I won’t go see it. If something goes wrong, I really can’t bear the consequences. I don’t dare risk how they’d react if they knew the truth about me now.’
Just then, Eileen’s voice sounded in Flora’s ear.
“Well… we’ll head over now,” Eileen said.
“Okay,” Flora replied flatly, but if one listened closely, there was a hint of hoarseness in her voice.
Eileen walked past her, with Kaan following. As they passed by Flora, she glanced at them, and they glanced back at her.
There was nothing else in that glance. It was just a normal look.
But after they walked past, Flora heard an extremely soft voice from behind her.
“Brother, why are you walking so fast?”
It was Eileen’s voice, very quiet.
At that moment, Flora froze, her hand stiff at her side.
‘Familiar, nostalgic…’
Countless impacts seemed to rush into her mind, as if they were about to break through some restraint, as if her body was about to make some emotionally impulsive move.
Just then, Flora heard Kaan suddenly let out an “Mm.”
Flora froze again.
But now, at this very moment, Flora heard Kaan’s “Mm.”
Her hand relaxed.