Chapter 56
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 56
"A-Aunt Elicia!"
At Charlotte's sharp cry, the forest birds that had just awakened from their slumber scattered into the air with a flutter of wings.
"Are you saying that you can see His Highness Leopold right now, Aunt Elicia?"
Charlotte cried out, struck by a dizzying shock that made her head spin.
'I gained the ability to see His Highness because of the sorcery, but how could Aunt Elicia possibly...'
In that moment, Charlotte recalled what Mrs. Smith had said the day before.
'...No matter how intertwined two souls may be, seeing that soul or communicating with it is an entirely different matter!'
'Even a spirit medium or Sorceress who communes with souls can only receive one-way messages from them....'
Even Mrs. Smith, a renowned Sorceress and spirit medium, had said that directly seeing a soul was difficult. Yet how could Aunt Elicia see Leopold so clearly that she could call him by the title "Prince of the Dawn Light"?
Charlotte collapsed beside Elicia, then lifted her head toward her aunt and asked.
"Surely you're not saying that Aunt Elicia is a spirit medium or some great Sorceress, are you?"
Her expression remained skeptical, yet her mind began to carefully recall Aunt Elicia's past actions. Now that she thought about it, Elicia often said strange things—that she would meet her deceased husband at night, or that she could feel the vitality of spirits when autumn came.
"Ah... yes, I remember Jane mentioning such a word."
Elicia spoke while gazing at the sky, as if searching through distant memories.
"Charlotte, when I was your age, my great-grandmother defined herself with the word 'medium.' I think that word suits us a bit better, actually. A medium doesn't practice sorcery or awaken sleeping spirits to summon them."
Elicia's transparent blue eyes met Charlotte's gaze.
"A medium is like a forest connecting one village to another, Charlotte. We can see the spirits of another world just as we see the people of this one, but rather than performing great deeds, we simply exist in that way."
"Us? You mean us?"
I shook my head in disbelief. Aunt Elicia was one thing, but it seemed she was now telling me that I, too, was a medium.
"Aunt Elicia, but I've never seen another spirit before. That's why I thought seeing His Highness was due to sorcery. The Sorceress I met yesterday said...."
I suddenly bit my lip and swallowed the rest of my words. I had remembered Mrs. Smith's words—that the spirits responding to my sorcery were undoubtedly those of people who had already departed from this world.
"Yes, Charlotte. There aren't many spirits wandering worlds to which they don't belong. Such spirits are those who haven't yet found their proper place...."
Aunt Elicia pulled the blanket I had draped carelessly up to my shoulders as she spoke.
"And above all, spirits do not reveal themselves to those who do not call upon them or desire their presence."
I gazed at Aunt Elicia with eyes that still held a mixture of shock, curiosity, and a glimmer of hope.
"The Sorceress Mrs. Smith told me that seeing spirits is a dangerous thing for me. Conversing with them, and moreover, l-loving that spirit... as well...."
I trailed off, afraid that Aunt Elicia might be horrified to learn that I loved Leopold. But Aunt Elicia spoke in a light, almost humming voice, as though she hadn't been listening to my words at all.
"A medium is also a vessel that holds spirits. That is why we can not only converse with them, but touch them and feel the warmth of their embrace."
Aunt Elicia continued speaking as she adjusted the blanket around my neck.
"Sometimes, Charlotte, I think that we have no concept of death at all. Living as we do, connecting fragments of spirits and flesh, weaving together the worlds of the living and the dead... at some point, the boundary between life and death became blurred for me."
With her words, the mist surrounding us both grew slightly thinner. And beyond the last traces of dawn, the sunlight of morning—long since awakened—began to shine through.
"Charlotte, many people believe the world is black and white, divided into night and day. But in truth, between black and white lie countless colors, and night and day are connected by dawn, are they not."
Aunt Elicia's voice dispersed gently with the wisps of mist.
"Aunt Elicia, I... I have something I'd like to ask you."
I opened my eyes and carefully spoke, hesitant.
"If I truly am a medium like you, a medium who holds spirits and binds them to flesh, who weaves together life and death...."
In my voice as I continued, there lay a hope I had dared to forget.
"Could it be possible that one day I might return the soul I perceive back into a body?"
Aunt Elicia nodded slowly, as though she had anticipated Charlotte's question, and answered.
"If it is a soul that has not yet found its place, a soul that still remembers the warmth of flesh... Yes, it might be possible."
"Oh!"
Charlotte gasped, a sound mingling shock and elation. If I truly was a medium as Aunt Elicia suggested, then seeing Leopold's soul so vividly made sense, and my conviction that I could find his body somewhere also became clear.
'And perhaps I might even hold His Highness's soul and guide it back to his body!'
Charlotte covered her mouth with trembling hands. Yet Aunt Elicia gazed at my joyful face with a somewhat melancholic expression.
"But... Charlotte, memories remain with the flesh."
Aunt Elicia gently pulled down my hands and held them softly, cautioning me.
"The warmth and affection shared when one is a soul cannot become the property of flesh. So even if you were to reunite his soul with his body... he would forget all the memories he shared with you while a spirit."
At Aunt Elicia's calm words, my joyful expression gradually faded. Even if I found Leopold's body, even if his soul accepted the flesh, he would lose all memories of when he was a spirit.
'That means, once His Highness regains his body and his life....'
Only then did I understand what Aunt Elicia's sorrowful expression meant, and my lips parted slightly.
'His love for me, all those dozens of nights we spent together... he will forget it all.'
A hollow shadow flickered in my dark brown eyes. Aunt Elicia looked at me and offered comfort.
"For those who are not mediums standing between life and death, the boundary between flesh and spirit is something profoundly fundamental and natural."
As Aunt Elicia spoke, the forest that had awakened from slumber released a cool sigh. At this, the trees rustled and scattered their autumn leaves in an early farewell.
I lifted my head, having been frozen in silence for a moment. In that brief span, I had bitten my lips so hard that tiny droplets of blood beaded upon them, now pale from the cold.
"It's all right, Aunt. From the beginning, I was prepared to do anything for even the slightest possibility that he might reclaim his body and live freely."
I spoke with a forced smile on my numb face. Regardless of how deeply my heart had fallen in love with him of its own accord, he had known me for scarcely three months—a fleeting span of time.
'So His Majesty losing such a fleeting memory is merely a pittance compared to the value of the life that lies before him.'
I turned my head away, unwilling to let Aunt Elicia see the tears that kept threatening to spill. Then, forcing brightness into my voice, I spoke.
"Besides, even if he doesn't remember me, I can remember him. That's enough for me... Come to think of it, being forgotten by a gentleman is hardly a novel experience for me, is it, Aunt Elicia? Wouldn't you agree?"
"...."
Aunt Elicia regarded me in silence, her gaze unwavering. Yet I pressed forward, feigning indifference.
"So please, don't worry. Help me, Aunt Elicia."
I turned to face her once more as I spoke.
"If I truly am a medium like you—if I can truly see spirits—then perhaps through that ability, there might be a way to discover where his body lies, might there not?"
I feared Leopold forgetting me far less than I feared failing to find his body in time. I would do anything—anything—to prevent him from drifting into sleep without ever having tasted the freedom he so desperately desired.
Aunt Elicia parted her lips, her voice growing slightly tighter.
"Wherever death dwells, there too do our ears listen, Charlotte. Though we are neither Sorceresses nor necromancers, and cannot summon spirits locked in deep slumber...."
She paused, her gaze full upon me. My great-aunt's eyes took in my painted smile and my unfeigned brave gaze as I listened intently to her words.
Then she finished what she had been about to say.
"... we can willingly lend our time and our ears to spirits who have something they wish to say."
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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