LS 07

Chapter 07

The fact that she had asked the question only after opening the door did not seem particularly important to her.

Dolores closed her book and beckoned with a small movement of her fingers. Anais hurried over.

The letter Anais had brought was, more precisely, less of a letter and more like a card folded in half.

It already looked as though someone had opened it.

“Ana, you—”

“I didn’t open it first! Pablo just took it out of the mailbox and gave it to me exactly as it was!”

Disgusted at the accusation, Anais immediately shifted the blame onto Pablo.

As she lightly pushed her sister’s head and walked toward the bed, Dolores asked,

“What’s Pablo doing right now?”

“He’s outside.”

“Outside?”

“I don’t know. He seemed excited about something, all by himself.”

Dolores unfolded the mail.

The sender was Claudia.

The message said that the party being held at Pierre’s Azaria Villa was essentially a farewell party, and that if Dolores loved her, she absolutely had to attend.

At the end, it stated that an invitation was enclosed.

“You were invited to Monsieur Pierre Thomas’s party?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. I saw an interview with him in L’Esquisse recently. Apparently, Monsieur Pierre Thomas’s grandfather is extremely famous in Limoges for his copper metalworking business. Isn’t that why the jewelers of Narfon send their finest jewelry to that family every year?”

Her younger sister was at the age when she had only just begun to take an interest in high society and the opinions of outsiders.

As a result, she avidly read cheap magazines like L’Esquisse, which contained little of any real value or significance.

L’Esquisse was a daily newspaper founded with the purpose of documenting the everyday lives of the Langians.

“You already have so many of them that they’re spilling out of your drawers and lying around everywhere.”

“My drawer is this small.”

Anais clasped her hands together and offered what she considered a reasonable justification.

Perhaps even she realized how feeble it sounded, because she quickly changed the subject.

“Sister, are you going? Claudia has so many connections. I’m jealous. But did you hear? Her Hanashian fiancé, I mean. I heard he’s extremely difficult.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I have my own sources. Information gets around.”

Dolores snorted at Anais, who proudly puffed out her insignificant little chest as though she had some impressive network of informants.

Then she naturally looked for the thing that should have been there.

“So, Sister, Sister, are you going or not?”

“No.”

“Why? Father’s going to come home drunk today anyway. We could go take a look together before he gets back.”

Anais casually slipped the assumption that we’re going together into her sentence, like a fox.

Dolores had not spent much time with the friends she had made in Langet for quite a while.

More precisely, she had stopped seeing them after injuring her leg.

She did not particularly want to attend Pierre’s party either, but the thought that it might also become Claudia’s farewell party made her hesitate.

After examining the card front and back, Dolores said flatly,

“Confess. You really brought this exactly as you found it?”

“What are you talking about?”

Claudia had clearly written that she would send an invitation along with the letter, yet the envelope contained nothing but the card.

Dolores examined the envelope again.

Then she suddenly felt something was off.

There was no postmark from the Langet Post Office anywhere on the envelope.

There was no official marking, nor any indication that postage had been paid.

“I’m asking if you really found it in the mailbox and brought it straight here.”

“I’m just delivering it. Pablo suddenly went outside and came back with it. He told me to bring it to you.”

Come to think of it, it was strange.

Their house was located somewhat outside the city, so postal workers usually only came at the beginning of the week.

It was highly unusual for a letter to arrive at noon on a weekend.

Dolores put on a thin cardigan and descended the stairs with her cane.

She wanted to see if Pablo had perhaps left the invitation in the mailbox.

Anais followed lazily behind her.

But what in the world was going on?

In the front yard of the Artois family home—which was too small to truly be called a mansion, yet somewhat too large to be considered an ordinary house—an utterly unexpected scene was unfolding.

Creak, creak.

The old swing installed beneath the shade of a tree in front of the house creaked as though welcoming her.

Pablo was sitting on the swing, energetically kicking his legs out and pulling them back as he played.

He had already managed to dirty the clothes he had put on clean that morning.

“When am I going to get as big as you, brother?”

Beside him stood a tall young man, casually pushing the swing with one hand.

Creaaak, creaaak.

“Pab, you’ve grown this much since I last saw you. What’s the hurry?”

Her heart slowed for the briefest moment.

It was Xavier.

He wore a luxurious beige shirt neatly paired with a dark gray vest.

His tie had been carefully knotted.

Sunlight slid across his soft brown hair.

Seeing him there, in their own front yard, felt almost like a dream.

“I want to grow up quickly. Studying is boring.”

“Once you get older, you’ll probably start thinking studying and everything else are more or less the same.”

“Really? Then what did you study? I’ve only heard about Rudigeden Academy, but it’s supposed to be an incredible place. I heard just anyone can’t get in. You know, Sister really wanted to see you too—”

“Pablo!”

Dolores interrupted him with a sharp shout.

Startled, Pablo jumped down from the swing and covered his mouth with both hands.

“Sister!”

“You. Go inside right now.”

As Dolores began speaking with a bright-red face, the flustered Pablo looked back and forth between her and Anais.

“It’s been a long time.”

Anais waved toward Xavier with a sullen expression.

Until a few years ago, Dolores had been close with Xavier, so Anais knew him well too.

She simply did not like him as much as Pablo did.

“Ana, you’ve grown so much, too.”

“I’m at the age when I’m supposed to. You haven’t changed at all except for your height, Brother.”

“I’m at the age when I’m supposed to, too.”

His answer was gentle, yet subtly crooked.

Anais responded with a lopsided smile.

Then she grabbed Pablo by the wrist and said,

“We’re going to go clean up the house.”

“Huh? No, wait, what?”

Caught in Anais’s quick-witted grip, Pablo was dragged away helplessly.

The cry of birds rang out overhead, surrounding them with a refreshing sound.

The air was exceptionally clear today.

A few white clouds were scattered across the blue sky.

Sitting on the swing, Xavier looked up into the air and said,

“During last year’s autumn break, I went on vacation to Deniro. Partly to clear my head, and partly so my father could introduce me to some people he knew. But even that place wasn’t the same as it used to be. Probably because it’s close to the heart of the iron-mining industry, but the sky was always gray. I missed skies like that one so much it drove me crazy.”

His gently curved lips held a warmth that blended with the peaceful atmosphere of the small yard that could barely be called a garden.

Dolores did not think Xavier had always smiled like that.

But at some point—

That was the smile she remembered.

“……I don’t care where you went on vacation last year. I’m asking what you’re doing here.”

“You received the letter, didn’t you?”

“You mean Claudia’s letter?”

“I told her I’d deliver it to you myself, so she gave it to me.”

Xavier confessed simply.

He explained that because he did not know whether her father would be at home, he had first given Pablo some pocket money and asked him to deliver the letter.

It was not difficult to understand.

Her father generally disliked Dolores’s friends equally, so Xavier’s caution made sense.

Dolores let out an irritated sigh.

“Father went out earlier. Didn’t Pablo tell you?”

“Not at all. Pab really isn’t as innocent as he looks. When is he coming back?”

“He said he had business in the city, so he’ll be back before dinner. I’ll have Pablo return the money you gave him. How many livres did you give him?”

Xavier waved his hand dismissively.

“It wasn’t much. Forget about that. Anyway, this worked out perfectly. Get ready and come with me. Let’s go to the party. Everyone will be waiting for you.”

“You’re the one who just came back after all this time. Why would they be waiting for me?”

“There were plenty of people who enjoyed your nasty comments.”

Xavier joked as he reached out and placed his hand over Dolores’s hand just as she was about to turn her cane.

At the sudden warmth covering her hand, Dolores reflexively looked down at him.

“Does your leg hurt a lot?”

He asked.

“……Not enough for you to worry about, but not well enough for me to go to a party with you, either. Sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize. If it’s only that bad, I can just carry you around.”

“My father probably hates you more than any of my friends. If a newspaper article comes out saying I went around

on your back, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. I saw the news that you’d returned in yesterday’s paper.”