The funeral was everything but grand.

Reynard stood between his parents' graves and stared up at the sky.

"What are you doing, still?" Rosa asked, tapping on his shoulder from behind him. "The men left long ago. So should we. We'll come back here tomorrow."

"I know," Reynard muttered lifelessly, his eyes still searching the vast blue sky. "You head out. I'll join you in a moment."

Rosa shrugged. "Alright, then.. I'll be waiting."

Reynard heard the crunching of dry leaves as she weaved her way through the many graves, and the metallic creak of the hinge of the gate that led to the outside. The cemetery was surrounded by a tall black fence with pointy tips, one an amateur grave robber could never climb. It was greased every night to stop someone from getting over it, since grave robberies were quite common in the area.

Reynard put a hand in his pocket and felt around for the tears of paper his mother had left for him prior her death. They were still there, every little piece. At times like these, Reynard wished his parents were still alive so they could guide him, enlighten his way for him… Just like they kept on doing all those years.

Hopelessly, he glanced back down since his neck had started to sprain from looking up and he caught sight of the two identical graves, side-by-side. His face crumpled into a state of despair and it took everything in him to stop him from crying.

Just then, when he thought he would burst from the effort, there was a little disturbance in the calm behind him. Swiftly, he looked back and saw an old man and a small child holding stringing him along by the finger, heading their way through some graves.

"Oh," the weak old man said as he noticed Reynard standing there all by himself. "Are you alright, young man?"

"Grandpa, who's that?" the small boy said in his high pitched voice, ruining the tranquility within the cemetery. He was immediately shushed by the old man.

"Ah, I was just..." Reynard gestured vaguely towards the graves at his feet. "These are my parents." He didn't realize his words would come out so blunt until he said them, but he was in no mood to speak and draw out his sentences.

"I see," the old man said, smiling kindly. "Shall I pray for their well-being?"

Reynard shrugged. "Sure."

The man joined both his hands over his lips and bowed his head slightly as he recited prayers in his head. Impatiently, the little boy pulled on his grandpa's shirt, trying to hurry him up.

"Come on, grandpa!"

The man stayed silent, mumbling under his breath. For a while, there was calm in the cemetery. Then the man dropped his arms to his side and smiled, his face so kind that it almost brought Reynard to tears.

"I hope you have a good life, young man," the old man said as he was led away in the wind by his grandson. "Don't let their loss get to you. There's nowhere to go from here but up." With these last parting words, he disappeared into the distance.

Reynard looked on with a lost expression on his face, wondering if he should take a passer-by's advice.

Sighing, he trotted his path, winding his way between the gravestones, leaving behind his own parents'. His mother's white gravestone with black inscriptions read:

⁕⁕⁕⁕

Here lies

Amice Isabella Gradral

Year of Priestess 480 - 517

She loved, was loved, and died.

⁕⁕⁕⁕

…

And there was his father's, which was black with white inscriptions, reading:

⁕⁕⁕⁕

Here lies

Simon Emil Gradral

Year of Priestess 478 - 517

Father, son, friend.

⁕⁕⁕⁕

…

As he made his way home, he thought about the old man's words. 'There's no way to go from here but up.' He hoped it was true. He couldn't afford to lose more.

Reynard sighed angrily and walked faster, wanting to get home and go straight to bed again. He hoped sleep would solve this feeling of heartbreak and emptiness, since there was nothing else which could do so.

At home, an aroma of freshly cooked breakfast wafted to him through the air.

"You're cooking already?" he asked his sister as he looked into the kitchen. Indeed, Rosa was frying fresh bacon which she had just bought on her way home. The sizzling sound made Reynard hungry again. "You know we can't afford to buy bacon, Rosa, it's too expensive."

"Shh, it's my treat," she said soothingly as she added more bacon to the pan. "Let's eat something special today to lighten ourselves up. Our first meal without Mother and Father."

Even the mention of them broke his heart.

"But I think I told you that I've eaten already," Reynard said as he hopped on the kitchen counter beside the stove, looking hungrily at the bacon. Sitting on the counter was something their mother had never let them do, even when they were toddlers. But Rosa didn't comment about it and let her brother stay.

"Yes," she said as she forked the meat into a clean plate. "But I didn't want to eat bacon alone."

"Well, then I shall honor you with my presence at the table."

Rosa chuckled as she rolled her eyes. It was almost as if everything was normal again. They could have just been having this kind of conversation on a normal day. But today was not a normal day. It was the day of their father's funeral and both the siblings knew it deep down.

"Come on," Rosa said as she grabbed a loaf of bread she had cut into slices. "Let's go eat."

✿

[Back at what was once Ogden Cove]

"Tell me, then," Mama said as she gulped down her remaining sips of tea. "Why do you think Sidmund and his pals are assassins?"

I cupped the hot cup of tea in my hands. Well, here we go again. I didn't know what to tell her, since she clearly trusted her old customer. And this blame on him might lead her to feeling betrayed. I gripped the cup tighter, letting the heat of the tea get to the palms of my hand, higher and higher till I couldn't stand the pain.

"I heard them. At the ball, I mean."

Mama waited for me to go on, and that I did.

"After realizing the danger he was in, the Marquess shut the event down immediately and then left, leaving behind a crowd of outraged, screeching women." I paused as Mama chuckled. "I was trying to find my way in the dark when I came upon a girl who told me all about it, how people were after the Marquess's life."

"Why?"

I removed my palms from the tea cup and rubbed them against each other to soothe the pain. "Apparently, he killed his brother for the duke's title."

"Ohhh."

"Yeah. So people didn't want him to be the duke and tried to kill him, but he came here instead to get married."

"Pssshhh. Douchebag. Like father, like son."

I nodded. "So when people found out that he came here, to Wisteria, they sent out assassins after him, which just happened to be the group from last night. I heard them calling each other Sid and Klyn, I swear."

Slowly, Mama nodded. "Wow. What if you died back there and never returned home? I wouldn't even have had a clue that your killers were in my house. Ugh, I feel filthy for inviting them in now."

"It's okay," I said, shrugging. "The left right after they confirmed that the building was empty."

Mama frowned. "But weren't you all inside?"

"We were." I smiled.

"Then how…?"

"It was me. I told everybody to take cover under the shadows so they wouldn't be able to see us under the moonlight. And to think that idea saved everyone's life..."

"Wow. Good job, lassie."

I laughed, blushing warmly at the compliment. "Thank you. But I wasn't able to solve the trauma all the rich girls got after that. Since I've lived most of my life in similar poor conditions, I was able to act despite the terror."

Mama frowned in a strange way. I paused.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes narrow.

I failed to understand. "Um, what?"

"You just said you've been living in similar poor conditions most of your life. What do you mean by that?"

I frowned. "Before my sister won the lottery, we literally lived in a broken down apartment complex where people in daggers roamed to steal your cash. Horrible times, those were."

Mama scoffed unbelievably. "What the hell are you saying??? Do you mean that the emperor had another child besides you? And what is an apartment complex? Lottery, daggers… I can't understand what you're saying."

I frowned, trying to process her words.

Sister...lottery...daggers… All part of my life. My previous life. MY PREVIOUS LIFE! OH GOD, NOT THIS LIFE! I'd messed up, big time. How can I tell Mama about my life as Seonhee Lim? Nobody knows that I've been isekai'd yet! What have I done? I must sound like a babbling lunatic right now.

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Mama," I said hastily, trying to correct my mistake. "I-I was- I was talking about a friend, haha! She used to live in horrible conditions...and-erm- So I..." I knew my words were of no avail. I would be caught! I needed to fix this ASAP!

"Was it really a mis-worded sentence?" she asked suspiciously, leaning forward in her chair.

I inched back, eyes wide. Was she on to something? Was I just imagining it? I gulped and shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. Damn, where was all this sweat coming from? How do I make up a believable lie? God, help me.