Chapter 103: Wash and Rinse
Every time spring came and the flowers started to bloom, Armand would hold a bouquet of fresh flowers and visit the cemetery, staying there for half a day.
He would wear all black and stand silently in front of three gravestones. He wouldn’t say a word, just stand there.
The three gravestones were beautifully carved and placed in a good spot. Every time the sun rose, its warm golden light would shine right on the dark stone. But unlike the others, these three gravestones didn’t have a single name on them.
They were plain, nameless tombstones. From the outside, they looked no different from any other carefully made gravestone. But they didn’t even have a family crest. If people didn’t know Armand came here every year, they might think the place was haunted, how else would flowers randomly show up on nameless graves?
But because some people did know that Armand came to pay respects here, no one dared to put any name or clue on the stones. It was a way to keep his true identity hidden.
In fact, not only were the stones blank, but there wasn’t even anything buried underneath them. Even if someone got curious and dug up the graves, they wouldn’t find anything useful.
But what these three gravestones represented was very simple.
The first gravestone was to remember his parents.
Unlike Evelia, who had been an orphan for as long as she could remember, Armand had clear memories of his parents. He had been young, but he remembered their names, who they were. Even now, if you searched the old records of the Knights, you could still find his original family name.
But after his father died in battle, the family began to fall apart. Later, his mother also passed away from illness. Just like that, Armand became an orphan, “as expected.”
His parents had their own graves before, but after his relatives sold the house, the graves were destroyed too. So, once Armand had some money, the first thing he did was buy a new grave for them. But by then, he had already changed his name and joined the Crown Prince, so he couldn’t leave any clues on the stone that could be linked back to him.
The second gravestone was to remember his nightmare.
That nightmare had haunted Armand for over ten years now. But it was also the reason he was able to push himself this far, to keep doing things that he disliked, or even found disgusting. Sometimes he had to face people he couldn’t stand.
But he had to keep going.
This gravestone wasn’t really to honor a broken promise, but more like a reminder to push himself forward… and also a form of self-punishment.
The third gravestone was to remember his past, or maybe both his past and future.
He had changed his name, his identity, which meant the old him was already dead. Thanks to the Crown Prince’s help, he had done a good job faking his own death.
As for his future…
He had bought a house in a peaceful, beautiful place where the weather was always nice. He even picked out a spot to be buried. But if he didn’t live long enough to make it there, someone else would bury him here, instead.
“……”
…Haa.
He let out a silent sigh and looked up at the sky.
The sunlight was still bright and warm, no different than any other day.
Every time he came here, he would think to himself, ‘I really hope the day I die is on a beautiful day like this.’
He bowed his head and set down the flowers.
Then, he turned around, facing the wind, and the sound of dry leaves rustling in the breeze.
In the end, it’s just… dust returning to dust, ashes to ashes.
Rustle.
Rustle, rustle rustle…
Meanwhile, in another part of the estate, Evelia was in her bedroom. She had completely stripped down the little girl she had picked up earlier and tossed her into the bathtub filled with warm water.
Because the little girl's hair was so badly tangled, with dirt and grease stuck in it and impossible to pull apart, Evelia decided to just cut part of it off. Her long hair became short, ending just above her shoulders. That made it much easier to clean.
She held the girl by the neck and dunked her into the bathtub a few times. Right away, a dark layer of filth spread over the water, and the unevenly cut hair floated everywhere.
Evelia didn’t care about cleanliness. She treated the girl like a piece of dirty laundry that hadn’t been washed properly. She casually laid her on the floor, emptied the dirty bathwater, and refilled the tub with clean hot water. While doing this, she mopped up the water on the floor. She even poked the girl with the mop a few times, but the girl was so deeply unconscious that she didn’t react at all.
Evelia reached out and checked the girl’s breathing, wondering if she had starved to death. Only after feeling a faint breath did she relax and continue mopping and refilling the tub. As she worked, she even started thinking how she'd deal with the body if the child really did die here later.
After changing the water several times, Evelia’s cleaning finally started to show results. The color of the girl’s hair began to appear. It had looked dusty and grey because it was covered in dirt and garbage.
But her real hair was a beautiful shade of blonde. It wasn’t the bright gold you’d see on royalty, but a lighter, more silvery color, platinum blonde. Still, it looked elegant and noble.
The girl’s body was incredibly dirty that Evelia had to scrub her for a long time, like she was cleaning charcoal-burned pig’s feet. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but even Evelia was sweating from the effort. Only then did the girl’s pale, doll-like skin finally show. Looking at the filthy child now very clean, Evelia felt a sense of satisfaction, like finally unclogging a drain.
She lifted the now-clean child, shook her off a little, and looked at the drying rack where she normally hung her own clothes. She thought about hanging the girl up to dry, but couldn’t find a place to clip her, so she gave up.
There were no clothes that would fit the child, so she just wrapped her tightly in layers of bath towels and placed her on the bed. Then Evelia dug into her storage box and pulled out some tomato-flavored snacks, wondering if she could stuff them into the girl’s mouth.
But the girl’s mouth was too small to eat chips or cookies, so after trying for a while, Evelia gave up and decided to eat some herself, as a reward for all her hard work.
She sat on the edge of the bed, munching loudly on tomato-flavored chips. Her drink? Her favorite, the tomato ketchup. Just for this little girl, she had even brought out a few of the expensive ones.
Crunch. Crunch.
Crunch crunch crunch.
“……”
Maybe the sound of the food and the sour tomato smell stirred something in the starving girl. After being dunked and scrubbed for so long without waking, she finally let out a soft sound, because she really wanted something to eat.
Slowly, she opened her green eyes.
She looked hazily at the figure in front of her. A figure in pink triggered some not-so-great memories. She still remembered the body she had made for someone, a cute pink-haired girl. But as soon as that girl opened her eyes, she had ripped her head off like a monster.
Still, the girl didn’t panic too much. She thought to herself, ‘Pink hair’s unusual, but no way it’s the same person. This must be a kind person who took me in.’
Crunch.
Evelia held out a tomato chip to her, and the girl took a small bite. Having not eaten anything for so long, she quickly got excited. Wrapped up in layers of towels like a cocoon, she wiggled her way closer to Evelia, hoping this “kind person” would give her more.
But the moment she got a clear look at Evelia’s face, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
What the heck?! Who is this? What’s going on?!
Isn’t this the freaking demon who tore off my head?!
Gah.
And just like that, the alchemist who had only just woken up fainted again from the shock.
As for Evelia, she just calmly checked the girl’s breathing again. Once she confirmed the kid was still alive, she decided to finish drinking her tomato ketchup first, then figure out what to do next.