Published: August 15, 2025
Early morning. As the white light filled the room, I was dressing my daughter Lisa in a black dress.
Though it was mourning attire, it was a fluffy and cute baby dress, fitting for an infant. I pinned a pearl brooch to the chest. This was made in Ipsandros. Designed by ms. Kaede, a merchant from Mizuho, it was meant for formal occasions like weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies. Normally, pearls are prized for their perfectly round shape, but this one was conical—like a teardrop.
Pearls are also known as "tears of the moon." At joyful events like weddings, they represent tears of happiness. At funerals, they symbolize tears of sorrow—standing in for a lady who cannot afford to openly weep.
I also wore pearl earrings and a necklace. My mourning dress was a bit more glamorous and luxurious than usual—a black dress befitting the wife of the bereaved. Even at a funeral, the main mourner’s wife needed some elegance. To ensure there was no flaw, I stood before the mirror and inspected myself from head to toe.
“Yeah, looks okay…”
At that moment, there was a timid, gentle knocking on the door. Expecting Tunic to come as promised to do my hair, I invited the visitor in. But it was a small girl who entered.
“Ceri…”
I called her name. Behind her stood her grandfather Wolfgang and Tunic, but they seemed only to be accompanying her. They stayed by the door while only Cecilie hurried over to me.
Ceri stopped just in front of me and lowered her gaze.
“M-marie….”
She whispered that and then said nothing more. I smiled and took her hand.
“Ceri, will you do my hair? Tunic can take care of the baby’s.”
“Okay!” she answered brightly, while Tunic lifted Lisa in her arms. Ceri suddenly looked up as if startled.
“Is that okay? Today is the duke’s funeral, an important day, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s why.”
I told her.
“You’ve been learning how to do hair and dressing from Tunic all this time while I was away, right? And you’ve been practicing every day with your doll since I came back?”
“Did Grandpa tell you?”
“Yes. But even if he hadn’t, I’d have expected a hard worker like you to do exactly that.”
As I said this, tears welled up in Ceri’s eyes. She clenched her teeth to keep them from falling, trembling as she gripped the hem of her skirt.
“Marie… I, I…”
She tried to say something but was choked up and couldn’t speak. Unable to bear it, I reached out to embrace her. But she refused and instead pulled a pink envelope from her pocket and shoved it toward me.
“…Is this a letter? For me?”
She nodded silently. When I asked if I could open it, she didn’t respond. Wolfgang, who had been standing by the door, finally stepped forward to help.
“It’s an apology letter to Lady Marie. She had intended to speak in person, but prepared this just in case she couldn’t find the words… Please read it.”
I nodded and broke the seal.
Ceri sobbed as she came behind me. Small hands gripped my hair and started combing it.
I let her work while silently reading the letter.
“Marie. I’ve come to say sorry. I’m sorry for saying I hate you. I was a bad girl.”
The letter began with those words.
…Ceri… a sharp pain tightened my chest.
“I wanted to do so many things. I couldn’t do them well and I ended up failing. When you were away, I kept wishing that when you returned, I could do lots of things for you. I wanted to hug you every day, say good morning, and talk with you. But you kept holding the baby and didn’t talk to me. So, I thought I’d play with the baby. But the baby just cried when I held her. Then, when I tried to play with her during a happy time in the day, Ella took the toys away. I couldn’t do anything for you anymore. That made me sad and frustrated.”
“…Mm… mm…”
I nodded, carefully reading the words, some spelled incorrectly, slowly and with care.
“But I didn’t want to fight. I wanted us all to get along. So please forgive me. I’m sorry for saying I hate you. I want to be friends again. Please, let’s get along. Yours, Cecilie.”