Grave Responsibility

After Theron left, Selene did not meet him for two weeks.
It wasn’t because she didn’t invite him first, but because Theron had sent a letter saying he would be busy for a while.
She briefly worried that he might have given up on being her observation subject after playing the piano at the ducal estate, but her worries were put to rest as the newspapers were plastered with news about his company.
Something about successfully attracting a huge investment while building the second building.
So, deal after deal kept pouring in.
Anyway, even without meeting Theron, she could hear news about him every day, so Selene could keep her interest.
Occasionally, the memory of her second kiss with Theron or the strange symptoms of her body would come to mind, but such stray thoughts were quickly forgotten when she focused on her piano practice.
Besides, even without piano practice, Selene couldn’t afford to be distracted by other things after receiving a sudden letter recently.
The letter was from Selene’s grandmother, Beatrix.

[I’d like to see your face, it’s been a long time.]

Below the short letter, a date and time were written, as if telling her to come at that time.
It was this weekend.
Selene was quite nervous after receiving the letter.
It was probably a similar tension to what she had felt just before going on stage at the competition she had recently won.
Thinking the tension would be less if Evelyn was also called, Selene had met Evelyn two days ago.

“The bruise Rupert got from hitting the pillar on his birthday is not fading away… I’m worried it might leave a scar on his handsome face.”

Before she could even ask if she had received the same letter from their grandmother, Evelyn relayed her fiancé’s recent condition with a worried face.
Selene pretended not to hear Evelyn’s concern.
It wasn’t right to break Rupert’s resolve to keep the secret of being hit by Theron.

“Oh, did grandmother send you a letter? Not me. Actually, even if she invited me, it would be a bit awkward to go. You know my dad and grandmother don’t get along.”

As Selene quickly changed the subject, Evelyn answered evasively.
And Selene understood what Evelyn meant.
As she said, she didn’t know why the two had grown so distant, but at some point, her uncle had stopped visiting the annex where their grandmother was.
Evelyn said she didn’t know the reason either, so Selene had naturally lost interest.
It was a problem the two of them had to solve.
However, as the car got closer to the annex where her grandmother was, Selene found herself resenting the two who had fought.
If they had been on good terms, she could have dragged Evelyn here too.
She wouldn’t have to face her grandmother alone.
Even though she knew she was no longer a child who would flinch at her grandmother’s gaze, when she was alone with her equally quiet grandmother, she felt as if time had stopped.
So, when she went to see her grandmother once a year like today, Selene would prepare about five to six conversation topics to discuss.
She wasn’t good at talking, so if she didn’t prepare in advance like this, she would surely just be sipping cold tea in the stopped time.
“We’ve arrived, my lady.”
At the driver’s announcement, Selene snapped out of her daze.
Thanks to her grandmother’s cold gaze in her childhood, the habits of maintaining etiquette and dignity were engraved in her body, but with such a hazy mind, she might be scolded even now as an adult.
Selene started walking.
Fortunately, unlike her tightened heart, her movements were no different from usual.
Moreover, the annex she had entered for the first time in a long time was also unchanged.
Due to the almost obsessive cleanliness of Beatrix, there was not a speck of dust on the windowsills of the annex, which was located at the foot of a quiet mountain away from the city, and the well-maintained facilities were clean.
The unchanged appearance of the annex made Selene feel a subtle nostalgia.
‘It was originally my father’s place.’
This annex had been inherited by the Duke of Ashcombe for generations.
So, her father, who had become the Duke, would stay here for about a week in the fall.
He would bring a chair under a tree with falling leaves and read a book.
Although he had lost even that leisure after being called to the army as the continent’s situation became unstable.
Her father, as was customary for men from noble families, had graduated from the military academy with his older brother, Orlando.
Orlando continued to serve and was quickly promoted to colonel, but her father remained a reserve officer and stayed a lieutenant.
And Selene’s mother was also a nursing officer, and she fell in love with her father during training and married him.
Selene’s mother, who was from the Imperial Army Nursing Corps composed of female nobles, was able to get married without any particular obstacles as her gentle and kind personality had won over her picky grandmother.
According to Gwendolyn, her grandmother didn’t just like her mother, but cherished her like a daughter.
As if both of them were her own children.
‘But now, she might regret that permission a little.’
Because both of them were soldiers, they had lost their lives at once during the war.
Selene remembered her grandmother wailing in front of their tombstones on the day of the funeral, clutching their dog tags.

“Aaaah!”

It was like seeing a different person.
Her grandmother, who had always stood with a straight back and clear eyes, was bent over as if groping for the fallen death, and her eyes were hazy as if she couldn’t see in front of her.
Of course, that image was as if it had been a hallucination, and the next day Beatrix immediately returned to her original self, but Selene still vividly remembered that scene overflowing with sadness.
“My lady, you may go in.”
As Selene stood still in front of the sunroom where her grandmother would be, the maid who was guiding her spoke cautiously.
Selene, who had been reminiscing for a moment, turned the doorknob after a short deep breath.
She saw Beatrix drinking tea with a static gesture under the pouring sunlight.
Beatrix, who felt her presence, turned her head.
“You took a long time.”
“…”
“The car you came in seemed to have stopped at the main gate 10 minutes ago.”
It wasn’t a reproachful tone.
If she were younger, she would have been intimidated right away, but now Selene knew that she was just asking a question.
“I had something to think about, so I looked around for a while.”
Selene sat down in front of Beatrix.
The summer sunlight was strong.
Perhaps because it was a sunroom, the light felt even stronger.
But now, Selene could endure such light with a straight back without even squinting.
Similarly, looking at her grandmother who was sitting still even in this strong light, she felt she could understand a little of what Evelyn had said about them being like facing a mirror.
“I see.”
Beatrix did not ask what she had been thinking about and took another sip of tea.
A deep silence flowed.
Occasionally, the sound of a bird chirping or the window shaking in the wind could be heard, but it was fleeting.
Selene knew it was time to bring up the topics she had prepared.
“I recently went to the Saint Sa launching ceremony with Evelyn.”
“…”
“It was a cruise ship of such a large scale that I regretted not being able to see it with you, grandmother.”
However, Selene, who was not good at talking, quickly used up one topic.
There had been various incidents at that launching ceremony, but none of them were things that would be praised by her old-fashioned grandmother living in this old-fashioned annex.
Things like dancing a waltz with a man, or that man confessing with a large bouquet.
Her grandmother would probably consider modern people to be vulgar and undignified.
She would express that inner thought with a cold silence.
So, just as she was about to move on to the second conversation topic, B, Beatrix put down her teacup.
“My husband did not invest so much money in Saint Sa to build cruise ships.”
Her eyes were cold, as if recalling something pathetic.
“In the past, Saint Sa operated the only ship that supplied goods to a remote island where persecuted immigrants had gathered, and my husband bought shares and supported them, hoping they would continue that will.”
“…”
“A tragic affair.”
Her grandmother was talking about the family’s ideology of love and devotion.
Occasionally, her grandmother and Gwendolyn would recite the origins of the family like now, but to Selene, it was just a distant story.
Selene realized she had to quickly bring out the prepared topic B.
At this rate, she might be scolded for praising the cruise ship at the launching ceremony without even remembering its origins.
“Forget the launching ceremony, I heard you won the competition.”
But before she could bring up a new topic, Beatrix spoke first.
“You finally graduated from a university in another country, so it’s only right that you achieve that much.”
“…”
“Are you going to continue playing the piano?”
At the sudden question, Selene flinched and then slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
Beatrix clicked her tongue gracefully.
“Gwendolyn shouldn’t have taught you the piano. But you must do what you have to do. It doesn’t matter if you live clutching the piano or win a competition, but since you were born in Ashcombe, you have a grave responsibility.”
Selene stared at Beatrix.
‘What is the grave responsibility my grandmother is suddenly calling me out to talk about?’
Selene had done everything she had expected of her so far.
Things like studying hard and maintaining dignity as a member of the ducal family.
At her questioning eyes, Beatrix pointed it out calmly.
“You have no idea, do you?”
“…”
“Marriage.”