TEASER CHAPTER 8 PART 10
"This
is a painting of Firana and the newborn Irisdina. Victor wanted to preserve the image of the two of
them, so he painted it himself."
Madam
Parline picked up the mother-daughter painting.
Nozomu
had no idea how good the painting was artistically.
However,
it was a painting that strangely caught his eye and made him smile just by
looking at it.
For
a moment, Nozomu gazed at the painting that was being held up, as if he was
sucked in by it.
"What
a beautiful person... Moreover, she looks so happy..."
"She
was happy. There's no doubt about that, but ... she didn't live long."
While
muttering meaningful words, Madam Parline drank the wine in her cup in one
gulp. The tone of her voice, which seemed to resonate in the core of Nozomu's
chest, caused him to gulp.
Nozomu
knew how this will end. He had heard the rough story from Somia before.
But
the words of the people involved in this story carried so much weight that they
pressed down on Nozomu, suffocating him.
"A
short time after Irisdina-sama's birth, Firana-sama became pregnant with her
second child."
Following
Madam Parline's words, Mena opened her mouth.
Perhaps
remembering those days, the maid had a sad expression on her face.
"However,
Firana-sama's health gradually began to deteriorate, partly due to her frail
body."
Filana,
who had a frail body to begin with, gradually lost her strength after she
became pregnant, and she was bedridden more and more often.
Still,
Firana, as a mother, tried not to worry her daughter or husband, smiled at
them, and her daughter too tried not to worry her mother, returned the smile.
"Unlike
her unborn child, who was growing steadily, the mother gradually became
emaciated and eventually could no longer stand up."
The
mother's weakened condition was in contrast to the steady growth of her unborn
child. Mena described that it was as if the mother was giving her own life to
the child.
Nozomu
imagined how Irisdina felt when she saw her mother weaken. But nothing came to
mind, just an inexpressible bitterness that spread deep in his heart.
"Irisdina-sama
wondered if there was anything she could do for her, but at the time she was
unable to do anything, and Master had already called in skilled doctors from
all over the country to gather rare medicines, but her body was already at its
limits."
The
burden of the pregnancy was too heavy for Filana's frail body.
It
was like a hole in the bottom of a rotting ship.
No
matter how many stakes were driven in to plug the hole, they only widened the
hole in the rotten bottom of the ship. Even if they tried to scrape the water
out, the collapsed bottom planks could not withstand the water pressure, and
the holes opened one after another.
Neither
Victor's desperate treatment nor Irisdina's earnest wishes could do anything
but slightly prolong Firana's time, who was on the verge of disappearing.
"And
then, Firana gave birth to Somiriana in front of Irisdina, and passed
away..."
Mazarinette's
words, filled with sorrow, melted into the air.
"In
front of Firana-sama's dead body, Irisdina-ojousama made a vow, ‘I will protect this little life on behalf of
my late mother’, while embracing Somiriana-sama in
her arms."
A
younger sister who was born at the cost of her mother's life and a vow engraved
in her heart as she embraced that little life in her arms.
That
was the beginning of Irisdina's path.
Nozomu
clenched his fists with a tightening pain in his chest, even though he had not
experienced it himself.
