Uncle and Niece

‘Besides, it’s not like I haven’t been able to tell him about my study abroad plans.’
Even if it’s not exactly hiding it.
Thud.
Selene cut off her train of thought and got out of the car, closing the door.
While she was lost in thought, the car had arrived at its destination.
The eerie wind blowing over the cemetery made Selene forget about Theron Cox.
It was also right that she should clear her mind of distractions in this place.
Because it was a once-a-year day.
As she walked along the path, she soon saw two tombstones standing side by side.
Names were written on them.
Nicholas Ashcombe.
Lily Ashcombe.
Selene placed the two bouquets she had brought in front of them in turn.
Even though she clearly knew her parents would not come back to life, it felt as if they would appear from somewhere and pick up these flowers.
As if they would smell the fragrance, look at the flowers, and then praise her.
Selene, engulfed in a strange feeling, lowered her eyes.
Still, it wasn’t to the point of being tormented by grief.
It was closer to a longing that would occasionally come to mind and then be forgotten once she left this place.
Selene, who lifted her gaze and took in the tombstones, stopped moving.
Selene’s chest swelled for a moment as she took a deep breath.
It was time to convey the words she had prepared.
A silent greeting flowed out.
‘Hello, Mother, Father.
Are you two well there? I’m having a reasonably happy day. The piano is still fun, and the man I’m seeing these days is unusual.
At first, I thought he was the kind of man I despise, but he was quite the romantic on the inside, and to top it off, he was caught with a past full of experience with women, so I can’t say he’s anything but unusual.
So, I’m enjoying myself these days. So that the time I’ve endured doesn’t feel meaningless.
I believe my future will be filled with more enjoyable and better things. So…’
“You two be happy there too.”
Selene conveyed her last words out loud.
This was a kind of ritual.
A gesture of sincerity prepared because she, who was not good with words, couldn’t just leave flowers at the grave.
‘There.’
Having finished her task, Selene turned around without any lingering attachment.
But suddenly, she noticed someone standing silently behind her.
“Uncle?”
It was Uncle Orlando.
It was impossible to tell how long he had been standing on the path; he stood there like a stone statue with an expressionless face.
As their eyes met, an expression slowly formed on his face, which was like a faded sky.
“Selene.”
Orlando smiled so naturally that she thought the ghostly figure she had seen was a hallucination, and he approached Selene.
“I’m sorry, I would have avoided you if I had known you were coming here today.”
“I come here every year on my parents’ death anniversary. It’s not something you should be sorry for, just because we ran into each other.”
Selene spoke calmly.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I thought you were busy, but you haven’t forgotten my parents’ death anniversary.”
Selene remembered that she had tried to treat him to a formal dinner several times, but Evelyn had refused on her father’s behalf, saying he was busy.
At Selene’s words, the smile that had been on Orlando’s lips gradually faded.
“Of course I remember. There’s no way I could forget this day.”
Orlando said, as if muttering, without being able to see what he was looking at.
“That much is something I have to do, Selene.”
‘What was it?’
The uncle she remembered was always a confident man with a hearty laugh.
Unlike her father, who had a gentle impression, her uncle with his strong features never looked weak, no matter what expression he made.
But the uncle now was a little different.
Weak and faint.
Like a hazy fog in a winter forest.
Such an Orlando was unfamiliar to Selene.
“Are you perhaps feeling guilty?”
Selene did not beat around the bush but asked directly, with the words lingering in her heart.
Because there was a famous anecdote from the war.
Although she didn’t know in detail what had happened on the battlefield, with its billowing dust from the shelling, it was a tragedy of war well-known to the people of the empire.
Orlando let out a lonely laugh.
“Guilt. That would be right. Seeing as Nicholas still appears in my dreams often.”
“…”
“Saying that if I hadn’t given that order, he might still be living in that ducal estate now…”
Selene lifted her gaze.
“You’re talking about the Bipod Sea Route incident, right?”
The Bipod Sea Route incident.
That was the tragic anecdote well-known to the people.
“Yes. As you know, I ordered your father to go back to the west sea route because there would be enemies on the sea route he was originally going to take. But the enemy had already ambushed there and was waiting for our ship.”
The ambushed enemy had capsized the ship her father and mother were on.
The miscalculation was followed by sacrifice, and the brothers’ fates diverged.
Even though they had rolled on the battlefield together, one became a war hero, and the other was buried under a tombstone.
So, his bitter gaze might be guilt for having survived alone.
But thanks to the ship her father was on drawing attention, many people were able to survive, and that decision ended the war in victory, so in the end, it was the right choice.
Selene had tried to accept this choice for a long time, so she no longer resented anyone.
“You didn’t give that order on purpose, uncle.”
It wasn’t to comfort him or to soothe her own sadness.
Just the unvarnished truth.
“…”
But Orlando was silent for a moment.
“Uncle?”
When their eyes met, he belatedly smiled as usual.
“Yes, thank you for saying that, at least.”
Orlando placed his hand on Selene’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t take better care of you in Nicholas’s place.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Still. You resemble your father more than your mother, and you remind me of the gentle Nicholas.”
‘Did I resemble my father?’
It was something she had never heard before.
“You may not remember, but you were a very shy and gentle child. Your personality changed a little after Nicholas and Lily died.”
“…”
“So when I see you, Selene, I feel sorry and affectionate.”
Orlando, who was gazing at Selene, patted her shoulder as if encouraging a soldier.
“But a person has things they must do once they are born. Things that can’t be helped, even if they’re sorry.”
‘Things that must be done even if one is sorry.’
‘What did her uncle want to say, with such a grim look in his eyes?’
‘At a glance, it seemed like he had something to be sorry to her for.’
But before Selene could ask, Orlando changed the subject.
“It’s cold. If you’re done with your business, you should go.”
Orlando’s action of tightening her shawl was no different from a normal, kind uncle, so much so that Selene couldn’t continue her suspicions.
At his affectionate action, Selene erased Orlando’s ambiguous words.
“Yes. I’ll send news through Evelyn.”
“Alright.”
Orlando smiled.
As Selene turned around, a gentle breeze blew over the cemetery.

The weather had become noticeably colder.
As soon as her parents’ death anniversary passed, a harsh winter arrived.
Although it was a once-a-year change of season, what was important to Selene was the fact that winter comes after autumn, and spring comes after winter.
The arrival of spring meant that the international competition was just around the corner.
For a while, her breath would quicken whenever she thought of the approaching date, but that trembling gradually subsided, and she became calmer.
It was probably because the completeness of her performance was improving day by day.
Not only Gwendolyn’s praise, but Selene herself could feel the change.
After fighting with Theron at the zoo, she came to understand the husband in the sonnet, who had neglected his wife while suffering from poverty, a little better, and her sound became much richer and smoother.
‘I can win.’
Unlike her previous groundless determination, Selene felt a strong conviction.
She knew the level of skill of the pianists who had won major competitions in the past, and it was a conclusion she could reach because an objective comparison was possible.
However, if there was one thing that was bothering Selene at present, it was still Theron Cox.
The fact that she had not yet told Theron about her study abroad plans was bothering her.
She didn’t know that the day would come when she would be more concerned about that persistent man than the upcoming competition.
Undeniably, Theron was the existence that was stirring up her mind the most these days.
And at that bothersome stirring, Selene had recently come to a conclusion.
That she had to tell Theron about her study abroad plans the next time they met.