2

‘Me? Are you calling me?’
 

My name isn’t Calidora… is it?

“Do you not hear your uncle speaking?”

This time, Lord Abellus fixed his gaze squarely on me as he spoke. Could it be that ‘Calidora’ was some ancient word meant for one who had sinned? The thought alone made tears well up in my eyes.

‘I… I truly have done wrong…’

“Calidora! Cease this foolishness at once and answer me properly!” Lord Abellus thundered.

With the eyes of the ancestors upon me, I knew this was the perfect moment to atone. I forced back the tears threatening to spill, bowed my head low, and opened my trembling lips.

“Honored A-ancestor, f–forgive me…”

Though I could not see their faces, I felt the air stir with murmurs all around.

“I cannot lift my head… I was wrong… hic…”

‘No, I mustn’t cry. I need to make a proper apology.’

 But when the ruins of Ardentluna flashed across my mind, grief surged through me, heavy and suffocating.

“Hicc… hhnngg…”

In the end, I broke down and confessed through sobs.

“I tried… to protect our house… but with my strength… I could do nothing… hngg…”

I drew a shaky breath and waited for Lord Tiverius to pronounce my punishment. Whatever judgment fell upon me, I would accept it.

But his response was not what I expected.

“What nonsense is the child spouting now?”

“She has looked unwell for some time. Perhaps it is best to dismiss her for now,” another voice suggested.

“… Hm?”

Startled by their words, I hastily wiped my tears and raised my head. The others merely stared back in puzzlement, as though utterly bewildered, but no one spoke to me.

Lowering my head again, I caught sight of my reflection on the polished floor–

“Kyahhh!”

I screamed without thinking. Staring back at me was not the familiar face of Ignisia Cassia, but that of a small child I had never seen before.

At my cry, even the solemn features of Lord Tiverius twisted in dismay.

“Young lady, forgive me!”

A man dressed as a servant rushed forward, scooped me up with one arm, and bolted outside.

“Waaah!”

Without the slightest chance to resist, I was carried off and unceremoniously expelled from the council of my ancestors.

***

“Pffhah!”

The man had taken me to a well outside the building. Handmaids hurried over, washing the tear-streaked mess from my face.

‘W–what is happening to me…?’

I peered into the water’s surface, aghast.

Short arms and legs then tiny hands and feet. A head far too large for my body.

“D–did I… become younger?”

Even my tongue felt clumsy, my words lisping like a child’s. No matter how I looked at it, a four-year-old girl stared back at me. No wonder everyone else seemed so tall. At first I thought the spirits of the great were larger than life, but it was I who had shrunk.

“Young lady, please don’t lean so far! It’s dangerous!”

One of the maids grabbed me as I teetered over the water’s edge.

“I just… w–want to kn – hic!”

I wanted to ask what was happening, but it seemed my childish speech could no longer be understood.

The maid gently patted my face dry with a white towel, straightened my tousled hair, and set me upright in a rigid stance.

Unable to move, I stood there staring forward, catching a faint red shimmer in the downy strands that wavered before my eyes.

‘Is it because I’ve crossed into the afterlife that I’ve become a child? Lord Abellus too had appeared youthful… Perhaps I’ve changed as well. But was my hair always this red?’

“Young lady, the heir has arrived.”

“Huh?”

‘The heir? Who…?’

“Calidora!”

The one storming toward me was none other than Lord Abellus himself. At his approach, all around us bowed their heads in reverence.

“What has gotten into you? As if it weren’t enough to sit quietly, you bring disgrace with your screaming?!”

No doubt that he was furious because of my outburst during the council. That he had followed me so quickly meant he had left midway, just to scold me.

“The patriarch himself acknowledged you as an heir, yet you dare disrupt a solemn assembly? Whatever childish game this is, I will not overlook it.”

“F–forgive me…”

‘After everything… after failing to protect our house… the only thing I’ve done is cry and scream before them all.’

Shame burned me; I wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Of all the ancestors, Lord Abellus was the one I had admired most. Since childhood, I had devoured every tale of his life, memorized every line of his chronicles, even studied savage records if they mentioned him. The day I learned he had died so young, not yet thirty, I wept until my eyes were raw.

And now, because of me, his most worthless descendant, he stood seething in disappointment.

My chest thudded painfully with guilt.

“H–honored ancest…or, f–forgive…”

“Enough! If all you mean to do is stammer the same words, then hold your tongue!”

Perhaps to him, my broken apologies sounded like nothing but hollow repetition.

“H–honored one, I… regret…”

His eyes narrowed, as though asking what nonsense I babbled now.

“H–honored one… s–sorry…”

Still, my sincerity did not seem to reach him. At last I clasped my hands tight, drew in a deep breath, and forced out the simplest words I could.

“H–honored one… forgive…”

“Did I not command you to stop this foolishness?!”

His shout made me flinch and stagger back, terrified.

“Y–yes, sir…”

He raked his fingers through his hair, clearly exasperated.

“Take her back to her quarters at once. And you–”

“M–me?”

“Keep out of sight. Live quietly. Your very presence unsettles me.”

‘… Of course it does.’

I said nothing, staring only at the ground.

When Lord Abellus turned away, a maid stepped forward immediately.

“Young lady, please come with me.”

So even here in the afterlife, they had prepared quarters for me. I followed her without protest.

But as we walked, I realized the realm of the dead was nothing like I had imagined.

I had always pictured it as a dim underworld, shrouded in shadows. Instead, sunlight streamed warmly across gleaming marble, the city alive with gentle radiance. People wandered in garments light as wings, smiling as though at peace.

“Beautiful…”

It was as if I had stepped into Ardentluna as it had been before the invasions. This felt serene, whole, untouched. I had failed to defend our house, yet here I was, in its eternal rest.

Still, the thought of those I loved, who might yet suffer in the world of the living, rooted me in grief.

“This way, young lady.”

“Y–yes…”

The maid urged me along.

‘So even here, the retainers serve Ignitus faithfully…’

I followed her into a dark corridor, until we reached a small chamber at the end.

“Please, step inside.”

I entered without hesitation. The room was modest, but clean and comfortable.

– Thud.

The heavy sound behind me made me whirl around. The maid was gone, and the great door was sealed tight.

‘Already? She left me already?’

I dashed to the door, but the handle was well above my head. Even if I leapt and grasped it, how could my tiny body possibly push such a weight open?

‘No… not alone. I’ll never manage it alone.’

“E–excuse me…! Wait!”

My cries went unanswered; only the fading echoes of footsteps remained.

‘Of course… the ancestors would never leave a disgraceful descendant unpunished. This must be the price I pay for failing my house.’