Ayesha glanced around the chapel, moving only her eyes.
But the chapel, grand enough to serve even as a wedding hall, might be holy and mysterious at midday, yet it was far from a gloomy or desolate place.
Well, seeing that Kirix said nothing in particular, the chapel must be a place she could safely relax about. Even if something not human were wandering about, it would catch this man’s eye before hers.
Though it was still a little early to judge, having stayed at Langfield Manor only a few days, the days and nights she spent at House Eseldor were remarkably smooth for a manor where an evil spirit appeared.
Of course, she could not know every event that happened in every corner of this vast manor. But if something outside the ordinary had occurred, Kirix or the servants would have come running to Ayesha first.
To be honest, Ayesha sometimes felt as though she had come here not to cover a story but to enjoy a vacation—one so elegant and splendid that she had never even imagined she could enjoy in her life.
That was not to say there had been no unsettling incidents at all. When using the bathroom, especially when she had to look in the mirror, she was somewhat uneasy. But this too quickly dulled. As if the fear of that day had been for nothing, no further ominous signs were found in the bathroom. The servant also came and went, cleaning the bathroom, without any sign of reluctance.
Well, doesn’t everyone commonly experience nightmares in their sleep or being pressed down in their sleep? And even having had such an experience, it is extremely rare for people to actually believe in spiritual beings or be ruled by fear.
Ayesha reached a similar conclusion. She must have seen things because of excessive tension. And then she felt newly ashamed of her behavior that day.
Nothing had happened yet—why frighten herself in advance for no reason? Fortunately, Kirix was devoting a considerable amount of time to her, so she need only prepare her article as planned.
Besides, it was rare for outsiders to set foot in a family chapel. Ayesha resolved to turn every one of these moments into an opportunity. Intending to take in as much as she could, she craned her head far back and looked up at the soaring ceiling of the chapel.
“Good heavens…… Now I understand why you said we simply had to come here in the evening.”
Above her head, the stained glass bearing the sunset was shining gold.
Kirix asked with a smile.
“Do you like it?”
“Very much.”
Admiration welled up and her chest heaved. Ayesha pressed the back of her hand to her stinging eyes.
“Just don’t cry, though.”
Kirix teased.
“It is strange. Whenever I come to a place like this, I always…… feel as though I am overwhelmed by something.”
Because of her profession as a reporter, as she traveled here and there, she inevitably stopped by the chapel of whatever region she was in—so much so that one could say it was a certainty. The reason was simple. A chapel is a place where dozens of people regularly gather, both officially and lawfully. Sitting there, under the pretext of confessing sins, it was also convenient to collect all sorts of rumors circulating in the world.
What was strange was that, after finishing her work, she would not immediately turn and leave the chapel but would remain in that spot for a while. Even while denying God, she was suppressed by the chapel’s peculiar solemn and reverent atmosphere and could not easily take her leave.
Why was that? Was it because it was the place where the human will to draw closer to God—piling spires high enough to touch the sky—was most clearly revealed?
Or was there some duplicity within her that she herself did not know?
“It seems Ayesha must be a devout believer.”
“No, it is not particularly that…… But does House Eseldor, of all families, still offer prayers to God even though there is a legend that you were cursed by Him?”
The duplicity was not hers alone. If she were the head of House Eseldor, she would have done away with the chapel long ago—so it was quite unexpected that this family, which had every reason to reject God and more, still held its most important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals, at God’s feet.
“Instead, we have a rather irreverent custom.”
“What custom is that?”
“In our family, brides wear a black veil at their weddings, generation after generation.”
“Not a white veil? That is truly unusual. Does it have some meaning?”
For a bride, isn’t there a romance in wanting to appear wrapped in a pure white dress and a flowing white veil?
She happened to be standing in the middle of the wide aisle leading from the chapel entrance to the altar. Ayesha imagined a bride walking in with a black veil draped over her head.
The woman would take each step carefully from the entrance. For the bride appearing to hold her wedding, those around her would scatter flower petals. Over the warp and weft of the black veil draped over the bride’s whole body, white and red and blue petals would flutter and fly in.
……This somehow felt less like a wedding and more like a funeral.
Her heart seemed to pound for no reason. Ayesha unconsciously stepped aside from the aisle and retreated a step.
“To hide the bride from God’s eyes.”
Kirix answered in an utterly composed tone.
Ayesha recalled the immortality depicted in the painting. The black veil spread beneath her white back—had that been the token signifying the marriage of the two?
Then that work must have been a painting left behind of the first night the prince of the Eseldor royal house and the woman called immortality spent right after their wedding.
“The guests must be surprised.”
“If there were guests, perhaps. But there are no guests at our family’s weddings.”
“You do not invite a single guest?”
“No. Here, marriage is a vow made by the bride and groom alone. Of course, no banquet is held either. There is no time to waste. The groom and bride go straight to the bridal chamber. And they cut off all contact with the outside world and spend seven days and nights.”
As she listened, her face grew hot for no reason. Ayesha murmured low.
“What is the great hurry……”
“Because the marriage with immortality was like that. To inherit their bond, we have kept to the same procedure to this day.”
“I see. Um…… the two of them must have loved each other very passionately. A royal wedding would surely have complicated procedures and take a long time—for them to skip all that and proceed in such haste.”
“Does it sound strange to Ayesha?”
Of course it was strange. In the legend, perhaps it could be so, but everything after that was reality—and it was curious that they still insisted on reenacting the wedding of that time, and above all, the brides could not have liked it much.
After all, a wedding is the union of two highly esteemed families and the occasion on which a bride can show her most beautiful self—does it make any sense to conduct the great event of one’s life as a stolen wedding?
But she could not bring herself to reveal her honest feelings before the very person who had to uphold the family tradition.
“Well. As long as the bride and the bride’s family agree, wouldn’t it be fine?”
It was a matter far removed from her anyway. Ayesha answered lightly.
“Well, persuading the bride is the key, I suppose. I have many worries.”
So even a man like Kirix Eseldor worried about marriage. It was unexpected.
“The wedding customs of House Eseldor are certainly unique, but as the lord, you should have no problem.”
“You think so?”
“Of course. You are kind and handsome and gentlemanly…… and above all, you are the great House Eseldor—surely no one would dare turn down the lord?”
The serious mental illness said to be hereditary did weigh on her mind, but if one looked carefully, there would surely be someone somewhere willing to bear that illness. Even now, as long as he did not speak of evil spirits, Kirix Eseldor was a man with no flaw to be found.
Moreover, hadn’t his father—who had caused the tragedy of family murder, whose reputation had fallen to the bottom, and who had been burned and lost an eye—also succeeded in marrying, albeit somewhat late?
Frankly speaking, this man had a face that could captivate young and old, man or woman, from a portrait alone. Add to that the nameplate of Eseldor, and a bizarre custom that might be a funeral or a wedding, or a mental illness, would hardly be a problem at all. Customs were simply a matter of deciding to accept them, and the woman he married would bring along a whole retinue of capable physicians to examine his symptoms.
She herself, because the high wall of status made him feel like a person from another world entirely, was looking at him with a very objective eye—but in reality, the young ladies of noble families with a chance to be entangled with Kirix Eseldor would all be frantic to secure a marriage match. She had been worrying for nothing.
“Does Ayesha think so as well?”
