48 Episode 18: Homecoming ② (1/2)

The change in Dad's expression was drastic. And I realized now that my expectations had been a bit emotional and distorted.

I hadn't expected it to be a touching reunion. But when I thought about it, what would it feel like to have a son who had just died come back?

On top of that, my son had died after years of suffering from a strange disease, and I hadn't even visited him in the years before his death. I don't hold any grudge against him for that fact, but he doesn't know that.

And the dead in this world are sometimes the ones who are motivated by deep resentment against the living.

If my dead son suddenly came to visit me in the middle of the night, even a man with the title of Baron would not be in his right mind.

When my father first saw me peeking out of the dark window, his eyes widened, he was stunned, and then the blood quickly drained from his face.

The stern man I thought he was was was not there. I sensed a hint of fear in his expression, and I felt a sense of clarity.

I wasn't shocked. Maybe the undead body had altered my mind a little. Since I was desensitized to pain, it was not surprising that I was desensitized to mental shock.

Baron Fomet was better off for not panicking and screaming. I was calm enough to think about that.

I knocked on the window a few times, and Rudolph Fomet, perhaps calmed down a little, fearfully came near the window.

He looked as if he was having a nightmare. He saw me cowering against the window, studied my face closely, and called out my name in a shaky voice.

”No, you idiot, ............ you can't. Rielle--you're supposed to be dead.

I feel like I haven't been called that in a long time. It's been a while since anyone called my name, maybe years.

Rielle Fomet. That was my name before I died. And a name that will probably never be used.

As if to confirm it, Rudo says.

”I'm cremated and mourned. Rielle ......, you've been dead for a year.

...... Oh, Dad. It's not like I don't know you're dead. I came here to ask you a favor. Let me in.

I didn't feel any resentment in front of him. I suppose I should be happy about that.

Maybe it's because of Senri. I already have a new love in my life.

The color of his face returned a little, as if he had regained his composure at my lack of emotion.

”Do you hate ...... me?

A low, stifled voice. It showed the anxiety and regret that was in this father.

I'll say it again, there are no hard feelings. It was short-lived, but I was certainly given many things by the man in front of me.

He didn't come to visit me, but he didn't abandon me when I had no chance of recovery.

He never stopped caring for me, and provided me with many books if I wanted them. I'm sure it cost him a lot of money, especially among his seven children.

That's what kept me calm after I died. It's not because I'm kind but because he raised me that way that I'm not motivated by vindictiveness.

And if he cremated me, then ...... it looks like someone somewhere has replaced my body and sold it off.

Well, it doesn't really matter now.

My head was starting to spin for survival.

Don't hate your circumstances. That's one of the things my dad taught me.

Think and act before you resent. These may seem like difficult words to give to a child with a strange disease who was less than ten years old, but since they kept me alive, I should listen to the words of my elders.

I look up at the black eyes that resemble my old ones, eyes that have turned blood red.

”I don't hate you. Dad, you don't have to come into my room if you're scared, just listen to me.

...... Oh, it's ...... such a night. ............ Come on in.

Dad was still pale, but with a small sigh, he opened the window and invited me in.

§ § § §

”...... gone, huh?

After watching his son jump out of the window and disappear into the darkness, Rudou sank back into his chair with a thud.

A strong feeling of emptiness and fatigue washed over him.

He was a terrible son.

So goes Rudolph Fomet's assessment of his son, Riel.

The illness that had struck when he was barely ten had taken everything from him.

Cause unknown. A disease that could never be cured by magic or by calling any good doctor. It is not well researched because there are so few cases, and those who do die of weakness within a few years. There were zero exceptions.

The name given to the disease was given purely because the body and the soul seemed to be falling toward death--dead soul disease.