章節 133: Tomb
After staying awake for almost 24 hours, unable to sleep on the journey, all Rafael wanted was to jump into a nice bed and shut down completely.
They finally arrived at the large house Avice had been given by Threo. It was separated from the street by a small, neatly kept garden. After expressing their gratitude and bidding the coachman farewell, Rafael and Ella stood alone in front of what would now be their new life.
The sky was overcast, and the darkness made it difficult to see details, but Rafael could still make out that the house was large and well-maintained.
"You two! Get lost!" a soldier barked as he appeared, his hand resting on his sword as though ready to threaten. But before he could take any further action, a familiar voice interrupted him.
"Stand down, I'm back."
"Miss Ella? Is that you?"
"Yes. Now lead the way inside—we're freezing!" Ella commanded, her voice sharp with exhaustion. The soldier quickly led them to the front door, opening it for the two to step inside.
"Ugh, this is so much better," Rafael sighed. The inside was warm, though there was no light yet.
"M-Miss Ella..." the soldier stammered. Ella assumed he was just cold from standing outside.
"Make sure you wear something warm and stay near the fire. It's freezing out there," she said, not wanting to cause any disturbance by waking others. But then, a male voice broke the stillness.
"Ella?"
"Eruin? Is that you? I'm sorry if I woke you—"
Her words trailed off as her younger brother stepped out from one of the rooms. There was something off. His voice was subdued, almost choked with pain.
"Ella..." he said again, his tone so low it unnerved her.
"Eruin, what's wrong?"
Before he could answer, a small figure burst into the room. "Ella!" cried a young girl, sobbing as she flung herself into her older sister's arms.
"Adelaide! I'm back, little one. You don't have to cry anymore." Ella hugged her sister close, comforting her. But despite Ella's soothing words, Rafael noticed something unsettling—the distress in the girl's sobs, the tension in Eruin's voice. This was not the joyful reunion he had expected. Something was terribly wrong.
Adelaide's cries grew louder, her small body shaking. "M-mom..." she managed to choke out through the tears.
"What's wrong, my flower?" Ella asked gently, her voice filled with concern. She looked up and saw Eruin and their younger brother, Willian, standing nearby, both eerily silent. For a brief moment, she thought she heard one of them stifling a sob, but dismissed it as her imagination.
"You're all here... so where's Mother? And Bella? She would've been the first to greet me." Her tone was still calm, but Adelaide only cried harder.
It was then that Ella's chest tightened. Something was very wrong. Why was Adelaide crying like that? Why were Eruin and Willian so quiet? And where on earth was Bella?
"...Where is Mother?" Her voice wavered, a chill running down her spine.
No one answered. The dread in her stomach twisted tighter.
"Eruin, where is my mother? Will!" she demanded, her voice growing desperate as her eyes darted around. "Bella! Bella, where are you—"
"Silence! Do not say that name!" Eruin stepped forward, his voice laced with fury.
"What... what do you mean?" Panic began to grip her. "Eruin, please, tell me this is a joke. Mom! Bella!"
"They're dead," he said flatly.
Time seemed to freeze. The house, once warm, suddenly felt colder than the icy air outside.
"What? How? Who—?" Rafael stammered, his own shock mirroring Ella's.
"Bella killed our mother," Willian said quietly.
Ella's knees buckled, and her voice broke into a hoarse whisper. "No... no, that can't be true. Stop this. It's not funny."
"Ella, it's the truth. Mom is dead," Eruin said, his voice filled with sorrow. "Bella killed her yesterday."
Ella stood in stunned silence, unable to comprehend the words being spoken.
"How?" she finally croaked, the question barely leaving her lips.
Rafael, sensing Ella's inability to ask more, stepped in. "How did Bella die?"
Willian's voice was grim. "She slit her wrists after killing Mom. No one knows why. It happened right after her wedding ceremony with Icarus."
"We heard Icarus rejected her at the altar," Eruin added, "and maybe... that pushed her over the edge."
"No!" Ella screamed, pushing Adelaide aside as she sprinted deeper into the mansion. "Moooom! Bella!"
Rafael hesitated, watching Eruin. "This can't be the whole story. Tomorrow, we'll talk about this in more detail," he said, before chasing after Ella's echoing cries.
"Ella!" he called as he found her in the hall. "Ella, please, stop!"
"No! They must be here somewhere! Mom! Bella!" She clawed at doors, her voice breaking with each desperate scream.
Rafael grabbed her, pulling her into a firm embrace. "Ella, stop. Please, listen to me. They're gone... they're gone."
"Nooo..." she wailed, her body going limp in his arms. At first, she struggled, but when the words of her husband finally sunk in, she crumpled, her strength gone.
"You have to be strong, love. I know this is hard, but I'm here. I'm not leaving you again. And your siblings—they need you, too."
She sobbed like never before, her heart shattered. In just a few months, her entire world had collapsed—her home, her brother, her best friend, her parents. All of it was gone.
"I... I can't... I can't do this anymore..." Her words were barely audible between her sobs.
Rafael kissed the top of her head. "Ella, I'm here. Now that I'm with you, nothing bad is going to happen anymore, I promise."
"Can you... can you take me to my room?" she whispered, her voice fragile.
Rafael led her to her bedroom. "Why? Why did she do this? Bella would never hurt anyone... Something isn't right."
"I'll find out what really happened. And if someone else is behind this, I swear, they'll pay." His voice was steady, but inside he felt the weight of his promise.
She was exhausted, her eyes swollen from crying. "Please... stay with me. Don't leave."
He lay beside her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her as they drifted into a deep, exhausted sleep. Hours passed, and when they finally awoke, the sun was already high in the sky. Ella's grief was still raw, but the tears had stopped.
"I need to understand what happened," she said, her voice steely with determination.
"Yes. Let's go find your brother."
As they walked through the house, they asked a servant where Eruin was.
"Milord is at the King's castle, discussing urgent matters with one of the royal advisers," the servant explained.
"What kind of matters?" Rafael asked.
"I'm not sure, sir," the servant responded.
"Where is my mother's resting place?" Ella asked quietly.
The servant led them to a small garden behind the mansion, where a stone tomb stood. It was simple but solidly built. Rafael's eyes were immediately drawn to the heavy stone structure—sealed, with no doors or windows to peer inside.
They stood in silence for a long time. Rafael, unsure of what to say, chose to remain by Ella's side, offering quiet support.
"Do you think she's in Heaven?" Ella finally asked, her voice small.
Rafael paused, surprised. Wait, I thought you and your family didn't believe in Heaven...
"...She must be," he replied softly.
"Do you believe what they say? Is there really a Heaven?" Her voice trembled as she held back tears.
Shit, what do I say? Do I tell her the truth?
"You know," she continued, looking up at the sky, "my whole family gave up on God. If He's real, and there's an afterlife... she probably isn't up there."
"...Why?"
She knew the question coming, but waited for him to say it fully.
"Why did none of you believe?"
"If God is all-merciful and all-powerful, why did He ignore my parents' pleas? Their first child got deathly ill when he was only one. They called for the priests, but all they did was pray. When the child died, my father confronted them, and they said God had a greater plan—that He called our baby brother back to His side."
Holy shit...
"They had books on treating illnesses, medicines for symptoms... so why didn't they help my brother?"
Maybe it was beyond them, Rafael thought, or maybe they just didn't know enough yet...
"After that, my parents distanced themselves from the Church. They raised us without religion, and cut off all major funding to the Church in our city."
"Ella... I don't want to lie to you." Rafael turned to face her. "I don't have a religion. I don't believe in a higher power at all."
The percentage of people who still practiced religion in Rafael's old timeline was low. Even fewer believed in a higher being watching over them.
It all changed with what people came to call "The Awakening"—the moment when time travel was invented. There were many names for that phenomenon, but "The Awakening" became the most popular.
Before time travel, religions were still prevalent, and the majority of people either actively followed one or at least believed in God. But once the truth was unveiled for the world to see, everything shifted.
The first thing Chronotix Solutions, the company that developed the time machine, did after confirming its safety was to investigate religious figures. They wanted to study them, to know who these historical, almost mythological people truly were.
When the truth about those figures was broadcast, when the world saw what they really looked like and what their thoughts on various matters had been, faith crumbled. For many of those revered figures, the truth was darker. Some never even existed at all, having been fabricated as the focal point of their respective religions.
That day everything changed. Damn, Rafael thought, entire countries tried to wipe them out, but luckily they had the backing of more... open-minded nations.
When Ella heard Rafael's confession, she was taken aback. She had always felt some shame for not believing in the Bible, despite it being so common, so ingrained in society. It was something everyone was expected to follow, and to go against it felt wrong.
She couldn't help but laugh suddenly, breaking the tension.
"Hey, what's so funny?" Rafael asked, a little confused but amused.
"I'm sorry," she chuckled. "It's just... I remembered we got married—a religious ceremony, in a church, performed by a priest—and here we are, two non-believers!"
"... Hahah, yeah... that is pretty ironic," Rafael agreed, smiling.
Their shared laughter lightened the mood, and after a few moments, Ella's face softened into a gentle smile. For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt a brief sense of relief.
"Thank you... for everything." Her voice grew quieter, more sincere. "If you weren't here with me, I don't think I'd be strong enough to keep going."
Rafael's heart tightened as he watched her. He reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I'll always be here, Ella. I'll always be by your side. Your parents did what they believed was right for you and your siblings. Let's honor that, and continue where they left off. You're not alone—you still have your brothers, your sister... and me."
Ella leaned into his embrace, the warmth of his arms grounding her in a way nothing else could. She closed her eyes, letting the comfort of his presence surround her.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice barely audible but filled with gratitude and love.
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