#098. The Weeping Woman (8)
—
*Crash!*
The necklace, thrown forcefully to the ground, shattered into countless pieces.
Fragments of the red gemstone scattered in all directions, scattering light along with them.
“You, you…! What on earth are you doing…! That necklace could have provided the information you wanted, and if things went well, it might have even summoned the Doctor…!”
“It doesn’t matter. I can get the information elsewhere.”
Curiosa was stunned by the completely unexpected turn of events.
However, the one responsible for this impulsive act remained utterly calm.
“You…! You…! You’re going to regret this…!”
“Who knows.”
With that response, Ray turned his head toward Lady Lenia.
*Whoooosh──!*
Sorrow, anger, hatred, regret.
The emotions that had been trapped were now reduced to dust, scattering into the air.
They swirled around the sunlight streaming through the collapsed ceiling, shimmering with breathtaking beauty.
How much time had passed like that?
With all her emotions finally freed, Lady Lenia’s vessel was left completely empty.
*Drip.*
The last teardrop that had welled in her eyes slipped gently down her faintly smiling face.
Ray, who had been watching the entire scene without a single movement, finally turned away and spoke.
“If you have nothing more to say, leave. As I told you, I’m not interested in exchanging information right now.”
“…….”
“Get lost.”
Curiosa leaped into the air and disappeared into a rift in space.
Silence settled over the area.
Ray watched the dust drifting through the sunlight and stood guard beside the two sleeping figures.
“Huh? Huh? Did I fall asleep? Did something happen while I was out?”
Philip, now awake, asked hesitantly.
“No. Nothing happened.”
—
# In the Garden of the Half-Collapsed Mansion
*Thud.*
Ray and Philip, surrounded by a cushion of wind, landed safely on the ground.
Behind them, Lady Lenia, still unconscious, was carefully carried out of the wreckage and laid on a prepared bed.
“What exactly happened?”
“It feels like I just woke up from a long dream.”
The children of the streets looked at Lady Lenia, unable to hide their conflicting emotions.
With the necklace shattered, the emotions and consciousness contained in their vessel had returned.
However, all that had happened remained vividly imprinted in their memories.
“I… I tried to attack those kids.”
“So I really did stay in this mansion for weeks? And not because I was forced, but of my own will?”
Everyone struggled to believe their own past actions, deeply shaken by the realization.
Yet, despite the confusion, one undeniable truth shone through.
They had been truly happy during their time at the mansion.
It wasn’t a false emotion.
It was genuine happiness.
The warmth of Lady Lenia’s kindness and care had created that feeling, and even now, traces of it still lingered within them, sparkling like tiny stars.
“Why… why isn’t she waking up?”
“Just wait. She will.”
That was why—
Despite their initial wariness, the children’s gazes now carried more concern than fear.
As their anxiety deepened—
“Sh-she opened her eyes!”
“Shhh! Don’t startle her.”
At last, Lady Lenia regained consciousness, and scattered gasps filled the air.
“…….”
Lady Lenia blinked blankly as she looked around.
‘The children…? The last thing I remember… the light… Ah.’
As her mind gradually cleared, she began to grasp the situation.
Her body, too, started to register the changes it had undergone.
*Thump.*
She placed a hand over her chest.
The tightness that had once made it hard to breathe had completely disappeared.
The chaotic mix of voices and emotions that had filled her mind was now utterly silent.
Her fingers then moved up to her neck.
“……!”
The necklace was gone.
Tears she thought had long dried up began to flow once more.
She remembered everything she had done.
She had wanted to stop, but she couldn’t.
The overwhelming tide of emotions and impulses had forced her forward.
And she instinctively knew that the necklace had been the source of it all.
Yet, in the state she had been in, she never could have removed it on her own.
But now, that shackle was gone.
Her days of being herself yet not herself had finally come to an end.
As she wept in relief, Ray approached her and spoke.
“The meal is over, but aren’t you having tea today?”
—
Lady Lenia revealed that she had once been a renowned mercenary.
“You… really don’t seem like one.”
Veronica looked visibly shocked.
It wasn’t an easy story to believe.
A woman who embodied elegance and grace had once been a symbol of ruthlessness and brutality?
“I retired when I became pregnant. There was no way I could raise a child on the battlefield. So I settled down in Sector 47.”
She never knew who the child’s father was.
That was just how mercenary life was.
Regardless, she had raised the child alone.
His name was Joshua.
The tiny life she had given birth to had taught her the beauty and wonder of living.
“…I was happy. When Joshua laughed, I laughed with him. When he cried, I cried with him. I thought my entire life had existed just for this child.”
Those were happy days.
Until that night, ten years ago.
A past grudge, stemming from her mercenary days, had come knocking in the dead of night.
Seeking vengeance.
Somehow, they had discovered where she had settled down.
The only light shining in the mansion at the time was from Joshua’s room, where he was reading a book.
Unaware of his existence, the intruders assumed it was Lady Lenia’s room and scaled the walls.
When they found Joshua, their delight only grew.
*”Let’s kill him. Watching her suffer will be even more satisfying.”*
Joshua lost his life that night.
And moments later, so did the intruders—at Lady Lenia’s hands.
Slaughtered in a manner so gruesome and merciless that it defied words.
“After that, I lived like a corpse. Never stepping outside, never seeing another soul.”
She rotted away inside that mansion.
There was no one to tell her it would be okay. No one to console her.
She was neither alive nor dead.
Time passed, countless days blending into one another.
And then, one day, she opened her eyes to find a man standing before her.
*”Such magnificent emotions you have. If you don’t mind, would you share your story with me?”*
He was a towering figure, dressed in a coat and fedora, with a mask and sunglasses hiding his face.
As if entranced, she told him everything.
The man retrieved a silver thread and a gemstone from his pocket. After toying with them briefly, he fashioned a necklace and handed it to her.
*”This will help ease your emotions.”*
It was a lie.
The moment she wore it, her emotions didn’t fade—they intensified.
Sorrow, rage—every feeling inside her raged wildly.
And unlike before, she couldn’t release even the tiniest bit of them. They only continued to pile up.
Her longing for Joshua consumed her.
She missed him. Desperately.
And the necklace knew exactly how she could fill that void.
“…What happened after that, you already experienced firsthand. I’m sorry. I selfishly brought you all here… just to fill the emptiness Joshua left behind. I don’t know how I can ever earn your forgiveness… but I truly am sorry. I will accept any punishment.”
At this moment, the heaviest emotion in her vessel was guilt.
The street children hesitated, exchanging nervous glances.
Then—
“It’s okay!”
One voice broke the silence.
And soon, another.
And another.
One after another, the children began shouting.
*”It’s okay!”*
*”We don’t blame you!”*
*”You don’t have to apologize!”*
Warm words, like petals scattered in the wind, piled up around Lady Lenia.
It was a cloudy afternoon in October—
A day that made one long for a mother’s embrace, just to cry like a child.
***
# A Few Days Later
The mansion was filled with the sounds of bustling activity and lively voices.
“Help me lift this pillar over here!”
“More! More! More forward! That’s it!”
Piles of construction materials were scattered throughout the site.
Children, donned in safety gear, moved busily around.
Since the mansion was beyond repair, they had decided to tear it down completely and were now in the midst of building something new in its place.
“Lift it all at once! On three!”
“Everyone together! Hnnng… Oh?!”
A massive steel beam was suddenly lifted into the air, caught in the swirling wind.
Floating effortlessly, it soared through the sky before gently landing at the construction site on the second floor.
*Thud.*
“Oooh! As expected of Lady Veronica!”
“All hail magic! All hail Lady Veronica!”
“You’re amazing!”
The children’s enthusiastic cheers made Veronica’s lips twitch upward uncontrollably.
“Hah! This is nothing!”
Each time they chanted her name, her smile grew wider.
Among their group, Veronica was the most expressive when it came to emotions.
Watching from a distance, Philip nodded knowingly.
“Praise makes even Veronica dance.”
Philip was seated in a chair in front of a broken table.
Ray, sitting across from him, responded.
“She’s the best. Thanks to her, the work is progressing several times faster.”
“But Ray, aren’t you the real MVP? You cast enhancement magic on every single worker.”
Ray shook his head.
“That helps, but it’s nothing compared to physically moving the materials with wind magic.”
“Well… when you put it like that, I guess you’re right.”
Philip turned his gaze back toward the site.
Veronica was making rounds with Lady Lenia, using wind magic to assist in the construction.
Her magic had become much more refined—perhaps she had picked up a few tips from Lady Lenia, who also wielded wind-based magic.
—*Lady Veronica! No lifting people with magic!*
—“Aaaaah! Put me down! S-Save me! Guys! Burn my diary if I don’t make it!”
…She might have been getting a little *too* enthusiastic, but at least she was helping.
Ray watched the children quietly before parting his lips.
“Why did the Doctor give Lady Lenia that necklace?”
The **necklace**.
Philip instinctively straightened his posture.
It was only recently that he had learned Ray had shattered the necklace to save Lady Lenia.
*”I wanted to do it. It has nothing to do with you. And breaking the necklace led to some useful discoveries, too.”*
…That was what Ray had said.
But—
‘Who knows? Maybe he did it because I seemed too concerned about Lady Lenia.’
The lingering guilt wouldn’t fade easily.
If they had studied the necklace instead of breaking it, they might have uncovered more information about the Doctor.
“The reason he gave her the necklace… Couldn’t it have been some kind of experiment?”
They were almost certain that the person who had given Lady Lenia the necklace was the Doctor.
The description matched the man in the photograph they had found in the basement.
And the fact that Curiosa had tried to kill Lady Lenia to silence her suggested that she had crucial information.
“Lady Lenia, you once mentioned that after receiving the necklace, you felt like someone was watching you for a while. That means the Doctor was observing from the shadows—probably to see if the necklace worked as intended.”
Philip’s theory made sense.
But if that were the case, what exactly had the Doctor been trying to achieve with his experiment?
The necklace had drained emotions from the children, turning them into obedient dolls.
‘…But the vessel was completely empty. Yet, the children said they genuinely felt happy while living in the mansion.’
The observable effects and their testimonies didn’t match up.
“…….”
Could this have something to do with the **Homunculus** that Curiosa had mentioned?
Who exactly was the Doctor, and why was he gathering **Fragments of the Rainbow**?
Ray spent a considerable amount of time pondering these questions, but no satisfying answers came.
Just then, Lady Lenia approached.
“A few days ago, you asked me if I knew anything about the **Rainbow**.”
In her hands was an old, worn notebook she had recovered from the rubble.
“This is my journal from my mercenary days. I wrote in it daily—every request I took, every location I visited, everything that happened.”
Flipping through the pages, Lady Lenia suddenly stopped.
“Ah, found it. My memory wasn’t wrong after all.”
Ray and Philip took the notebook she handed them.
“……”
“Uh… Uhhh… Uhhhh… What?”
As Ray silently read, Philip’s mouth slowly dropped open in shock.
“This… This is a well-known story. At least among mercenaries.”
