#098. The Weeping Woman (8)
Crash!
The necklace thrown forcefully to the ground shattered into pieces. Fragments of red gemstones scattered in all directions, scattering light.
“You... you...! What the hell did you just...! Not only the information you wanted, but we could’ve even summoned the Doctor if we’d handled this right...!”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll get the information elsewhere.”
Curiosa reeled from this completely unforeseen situation, while the instigator of this abrupt act remained utterly serene.
“You...! You...! You’ll regret this...!”
“Maybe.”
Ray answered tersely and turned toward Madame Lania.
Ooooooh──!
Sorrow, anger, hatred, regret. Emotions once imprisoned scattered like dust through the air, swirling in sunlight streaming through the collapsed ceiling with unbearable beauty.
How long did this last?
Madame Lania’s vessel now stood completely empty, all emotions purged.
Plink.
A final tear clinging to her eyelid slid down her faint smile.
Having observed everything without moving a muscle, Ray turned his head.
“Leave if you’ve got nothing else to say. As I said, I’m not exchanging information now.”
“......”
“Get lost.”
Curiosa leaped into the air and vanished through a spatial rift. Silence reclaimed the void.
Ray watched dust motes drifting in sunlight as he kept watch over two sleeping figures.
“Huh? D-did I fall asleep? Did something happen?”
Ray answered Philip’s groggy question:
“No. Nothing happened.”
●
Before the half-collapsed mansion’s garden.
Thud.
Ray and Philip, wrapped in wind, landed safely. Madame Lania—still unconscious—was laid on a bed retrieved from the wreckage.
“What the hell happened?”
“Feels like I just lived through a wild dream.”
The street children couldn’t hide their turmoil as they stared at Madame Lania. With the necklace destroyed, her emotions and spirit had returned, though memories of recent events remained vivid.
“I... I tried to attack those kids...”
“I stayed here for weeks... Willingly, not forced...”
All half-doubted their own actions, reeling in shock. Yet amidst the chaos, one truth shone clearly: they’d been genuinely happy here. Not false joy—real happiness. The warmth of Madame Lania’s kindness still glittered within them.
“Why... why won’t she wake up?”
“Wait. She will.”
This explained why concern outweighed wariness in the children’s eyes.
As tension thickened—
“Sh-she opened her eyes!”
“Shh! You’ll scare her!”
Madame Lania finally stirred, drawing collective gasps.
“......”
Her dazed eyes scanned the surroundings. The children...? Last I remember... light... Ah. Awareness slowly returned. Physical sensations followed—the suffocating weight in her chest had vanished. Her mind, once flooded with voices, now lay quiet.
Her hand flew to her throat.
The necklace was gone.
Tears she thought had dried spilled anew. She remembered everything—the unstoppable tidal waves of emotion, the instinctive knowledge that the necklace caused it all. A collar she’d lacked the strength to remove... now gone.
An end to days of being herself yet not herself.
As grateful tears fell, Ray approached:
“Dinner’s over. Aren’t we having tea today?”
●
Lania revealed she’d once been a renowned mercenary.
“You... don’t look the part at all...”
Veronica struggled to hide her shock—understandable for someone embodying grace versus mercenary brutality.
“I retired after getting pregnant. Couldn’t raise a child on battlefields. Settled in Sector 47.”
The father? Unknown. Such was mercenary life.
She raised the boy alone. Joshua—the small life that taught her beauty and wonder.
“...I was happy. Laughed when he laughed, cried when he cried. My existence revolved around him.”
Those happy days ended one night a decade ago. Old enemies from her mercenary past came bearing grudges.
The only lit room was Joshua’s, where he read. Invaders mistook it for hers. Finding him delighted them.
“Let’s kill him. That bitch’s suffering will be glorious.”
Joshua died.
The invaders died too—horrifically—when Lania came running.
“Afterward, I became a wreck. Never left the mansion. Spoke to no one.”
She festered inside, with none to comfort her. A life neither alive nor dead.
Countless years passed until—
A man appeared before her:
“Magnificent emotions. Will you share your story?”
A giant in a coat, fedora, mustache, and sunglasses. Spellbound, she confessed everything.
The man pulled a silver strand and gem from his coat, crafting a necklace.
"It will help you let go of your emotions."
That was a lie.
The moment I put on the necklace, my inner emotions only intensified.
Sadness, anger, and all sorts of emotions began raging.
Unlike before, not even the slightest bit of emotion was released—they just kept piling up.
My son. Our son.
My beloved child.
I was overwhelmed with longing.
I missed Joshua terribly.
The necklace knew how to fulfill that desire.
"...What happened after is exactly what you experienced. I'm sorry. It was selfish of me to bring you here. I just wanted to fill Joshua's empty place somehow. How can I earn your forgiveness... I'm truly... sorry. I'll accept any punishment."
The strongest emotion in her vessel now was guilt.
What could one say in response?
The street children fidgeted nervously, glancing at each other.
"It's okay!"
Someone's shout broke the silence first.
"I-I'm okay too!"
"Don't apologize!"
The children all chimed in with reassurances.
Words of comfort, tossed like flower petals, began piling up around Lady Renia.
"Really, it's okay! Don't cry!"
"We were fine!"
"Hey, why... why are you crying?"
"I dunno... Just... damn it. Must've got dust in my eye."
A kaleidoscope of emotions swirled in the children's vessels,
as blurry and indistinct as their tear-filled vision.
Some emotions crumbled away like dust in the wind,
while others sprouted pale shoots like seeds after winter’s frost.
It was an October afternoon that made one want to sob like a child in their mother’s arms.
*
Several days later,
the mansion buzzed with busy noises and voices.
"Help me lift this pillar over here!"
"More! More! Further forward! That’s it!"
Construction materials piled everywhere,
as children in safety gear hurried about.
They were demolishing the unsalvageable mansion and building anew in its place.
"Lift it all at once! Together now!"
"Everyone! Ugh... oh?!"
A massive steel beam wrapped in wind magic suddenly shot upward,
sailing through the air to land gently on the second-floor worksite.
Thud.
"Whoa! That’s our Veronica-nim!"
"Long live magic! Long live Veronica-nim!"
"Amazing, simply amazing!"
Veronica’s lips curled into a pleased smile at their cheers.
"This is nothing special!"
Her mouth worked overtime whenever praised—Veronica was the most expressive of their group.
Watching from afar, Philip nodded and remarked:
"Compliments even make Veronica dance."
Seated at a broken table across from Ray,
the latter responded:
"She’s incredible. Thanks to her, work’s progressing several times faster."
"But Ray," Philip countered, "isn’t your contribution the greatest? You’ve cast enhancement magic on all the workers."
Ray shook his head.
"Still not as helpful as directly moving materials with wind magic."
"Well, when you put it that way..."
Philip’s gaze returned to the site where Veronica assisted Lady Renia with wind magic—perhaps having learned tips from another wind-element user, her spells now looked more refined than before:
"-Veronica-nim! People! You mustn’t levitate people!"
-"Aaah! P-put me down! H-help! Guys! B-burn my diary if I die!"
...Perhaps slightly overenthusiastic, but effective nonetheless.
Ray watched the children thoughtfully before speaking:
"Why do you think the Doctor gave Lady Renia that necklace?"
Necklace.
Philip’s back straightened unconsciously—he’d learned belatedly that Ray destroyed it to save her.
[“I wanted to do it. It’s none of your concern. There were things gained by breaking it.”]
...Ray’s words aside,
‘Was it because he noticed my concern for Lady Renia?’
Shaking off the guilt wasn’t easy. Had they studied the necklace intact, they might’ve uncovered more about this "Doctor."
"Maybe it was an experiment?"
The group strongly suspected the Doctor—matching the man in the basement photo,
and given Curiosa’s attempt to silence Lady Renia permanently.
"You mentioned feeling observed after receiving the necklace," Philip said. "He was likely testing his creation."
The theory held merit.
But what had the Doctor sought to gain? A necklace that drained emotions to create obedient dolls...
Yet while the children’s vessels appeared empty, they’d recalled feeling happy at the mansion.
Contradictory evidence.
Could Curiosa’s homunculus reference connect? Who was this Doctor collecting rainbow fragments for?
No satisfying answers emerged—until Lady Renia approached:
"Remember when I asked about rainbows days ago?"
She held an old journal salvaged from rubble.
"My mercenary logs. Detailed records of contracts, locations, and events."
Her fingers stopped flipping pages.
"Ah, found it. My memory was correct."
Ray and Philip took the journal.
"......"
"Uh...... uhh... uhhh...... ...huh?"
Ray stayed silent while reading; Philip’s jaw gradually dropped.
"It’s quite famous among mercenaries."
