Chapter 53: Write a Name

Chapter 53: Writing a Name

After sitting with Mrs. Seymour for a short while, Karen took his leave and drove home.

Mrs. Seymour was currently caught in a state of spiritual desolation, a twilight where the fierce rage and hatred wrought by her husband’s betrayal were slowly ebbing away with the passage of time, only to be replaced by the jarring friction of unaccustomed solitude—the rhythm of two lives reverting back to the cadence of one, resembling nothing so much as a table deprived of a vital leg.

To remedy this, the counsel Karen had offered was simple: relocate.

A change of house, a fresh landscape, would serve as an effective means to sever the gravity of old domestic habits.

Such a prescription was hardly practical for the common sort, yet for Mrs. Seymour it posed no obstacle, for her coffers were deep.

Arriving back at the estate,

Karen carried his case of paints into the drawing room.

Aunt Winnie sat upon the sofa, balancing the ledger books, while Aunt Mary reclined opposite her with legs crossed, daintily enjoying a piece of fruit; meanwhile, Uncle Mason lay stretched out within an exquisite black casket that rested atop the embalming table.

"I do think the interior could suffer a few more embellishments—perhaps a small niche for a radio box, or a concealed compartment to harbor a pistol."

"Are you looking to deter grave robbers?" Aunt Winnie remarked without so much as lifting her eyes from her work. "It seems far more practical to simply furnish the cemetery keeper with an extra sidearm."

"My thought is that, should an unfortunate soul fall into a deathlike trance and awaken within the shroud, they might use the firearm to signal for succor. If it weren't for the impossibility of running telephone wires into the churchyard, I should quite like to install a telephone directly within the velvet.

Consider it: the kin of the departed must surely harbor a wish, a beautiful aspiration at least, that the deceased might by some miracle sit up again, would they not?"

Aunt Winnie continued to shake her head. "Our standard of service is exceedingly high; the earth is packed deep, the bullets would never pierce through, and long before he could discharge a round, he would have succumbed to asphyxiation."

"Hope, my dear, hope is what I speak of. Mary, if I were to pass, would you wish for me to suddenly sit upright within my casket?"

Aunt Mary took a crisp bite of her apple, shaking her head as she replied:

"I should rather plunge a blade into your breast whilst dressing your corpse, to forestall any such trance and banish the very possibility; I could not bear the thought of you suffocating in the dark—it is simply too cruel."

Uncle Mason froze for a moment, then sat upright in the box, turning his gaze toward her.

"That is indeed an excellent precaution, my love."

Presently, the upright Uncle Mason caught sight of Karen stepping into the room, and instantly gave a grand shout:

"Oh, heavens, look who has graced us with his return!

He comes bathed in a gilded luster,

His steps tread upon the crimson glow of twilight,

And about his form resounds a magnificent symphony,

Ah,

It is none other than my handsome nephew, Karen!"

With a single hand braced against the rim of the casket, Uncle Mason executed a theatrical vault outward; upon striking the floor, his footing betrayed him slightly on the steps of the embalming table beneath, forcing him to lurch forward in a clumsy, accelerating trot. As he descended the steps, his momentum prevailed entirely over his balance;

At last,

With a heavy thud,

He dropped straight onto his knees directly before Karen.

Karen could only sidestep out of habit, declining to receive so grand a homage from his uncle.

Aunt Winnie instantly dropped her steel pen and hastened toward Karen, but in her distraction, her high heel caught the hem of her own skirt; the fabric, being of superior quality, did not tear, but she was sent pitching forward across the coffee table, her hands scrambling to grip its edge to prevent herself from rolling off entirely.

Aunt Mary ought to have been the most composed among them, yet witnessing her husband kowtow to her nephew, followed closely by the ludicrous spectacle of her sister-in-law collapsing before her eyes, threw her into such sudden astonishment that the unchewed apple in her mouth slipped down the wrong pipe, lodging firmly in her throat. She could only clutch at her neck with both hands, straining to retch it forth.

Ignoring the plights of his uncle and aunt for the moment, Karen rushed to his aunt's side, tossing the paint box onto the sofa as he threw his arms around her from behind;

Forming a fist, he applied the flat of his thumb to her upper abdomen, delivering sharp, inward and upward thrusts.

The Heimlich maneuver,

Once, twice, thrice, four times!

"Ah!"

His aunt finally found her voice, spitting out the errant fragment of apple.

Karen exhaled a long breath of relief, wiping his brow with the back of his left hand, while his right retrieved the paint box from the sofa and set it properly upon the coffee table.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

Clutching her chest as she gasped for air, Aunt Mary turned her gaze upon Karen, unable to even compose herself before she burst out with eager impatience:

"Karen... yesterday... the date... how did it go?"

"My darling, are you unhurt?" Uncle Mason hurried over at once to inspect his wife’s condition.

Aunt Mary shoved her husband aside with a sharp gesture, keeping her eyes fixed on Karen, demanding his reply.

"Yes, quite right, how did the date fare?" Uncle Mason, seeing his wife out of danger, instantly redirected his fervor toward the matter at hand.

Aunt Winnie was occupied with smoothing her skirt, yet her eyes never wavered from Karen's face.

Karen had truly not anticipated that his family would harbor such an intense devotion to his romantic endeavors; it was likely born of that profound anticipation and sense of achievement one feels when the household's prized swine finally ventures out to harvest the neighbor's finest cabbages;

Truth be told, Karen found it rather touching.

"It went quite well," Karen answered, but sensing that such a brief reply would hardly suffice, he quickly appended: "We strolled through the amusement park, attended a cinematograph, and afterward dined together at the riverside Mame Couples Restaurant that Uncle recommended. The atmosphere was truly delightful."

"And then?" Aunt Winnie pressed.

"Indeed, what followed?" Uncle Mason echoed.

Aunt Mary spread her hands. "What else transpired?"

"And then, as the hour grew late, I escorted her home."

"Before she went inside!" Aunt Winnie demanded.

"No, at the very threshold," Aunt Mary corrected. "When you arrived at her gate, at the moment of parting, did anything occur?"

Karen moistened his lips,

Compelled to answer:

"I embraced her."

"Oh, marvelous!" Aunt Mary instantly clenched her fist and gave it a triumphant shake. "If a maiden is willing to permit your embrace at her very doorstep, it is proof positive that she has tacitly acknowledged your courtship!

For her mother may very well have been peering through a parting in the parlor curtains at that very instant!

In the future, if Mina should court and be escorted home, I shall certainly stand concealed behind the draperies to spy upon them; I shan't even dare illuminate the room, lest my silhouette betray me!

Yet Mina will undoubtedly know I am watching, so if under such circumstances she still consents to your embrace, the matter is nigh settled, for she is prepared to make the evolution of your affection manifest to her household."

"No, no, no, there remains a distinction: was it a mere embrace of courtesy, did you initiate it, and did she display a maidenly reserve?" Uncle Mason immediately began to dissect the minutiae.

"I embraced her twice."

"Aha! Master Karen! Splendid, marvelous, truly marvelous!"

Uncle Mason raised his palm, bringing it down in successive, heavy slaps upon Karen's shoulder, bearing the air of an old, battle-scarred general passing his legacy to the younger generation:

"Spoken like a true gentleman of the Inmeres line!"

Karen could only offer a polite, measured smile.

Aunt Winnie began to offer her prayers: "Thanks be to the Almighty, thanks be to the heavens, our Karen is in love."

Aunt Mary smiled and said,

"Like I said, our Karen used to be a bit introverted and dull, but now, what woman of any age could resist his charm?"

Karen really couldn't handle the enthusiasm of these elders, so he could only ask,

"Is Grandfather home?"

"In the third-floor study," Aunt Mary replied.

"Then I'll go find Grandfather."

"Mm-hmm, you should, you should." Aunt Mary then thought of something else and immediately followed up, "Oh, right, Karen, one more thing."

"Yes, Aunt?"

"How did you end up spending the night at Mr. Piaget's house right after your date with Miss Eunice?"

"Because they live on the same street, and Mr. Piaget is a psychology professor, so we..."

"You stay away from him from now on. Didn't his wife just pass away? Why does he keep coming to our house to look for you time and again?" Aunt Mary warned, frowning.

"Yes, indeed," Aunt Winnie chimed in. "I've heard that those highly educated people are very fond of that kind of messy behavior."

Karen's parents had died early, so these elders bore the responsibility of his parents. His food and expenses were a level higher than their own children's; they were genuinely happy for Karen's growth, but they feared even more that he would go astray, leaving them unable to face Karen's parents in heaven.

Karen knew they were misunderstanding; he and Piaget were truly just friends whose personalities and professions clicked, and besides, he now...

So,

Karen could only say, "Mr. Piaget's father is the Minister of Energy and Industrial Development of our country."

Aunt Mary: "Then you should communicate more with Professor Piaget; you should be able to learn a lot of useful knowledge."

Aunt Winnie: "A person like Mr. Piaget must have an excellent conduct."

Uncle Mason chuckled as he watched his wife and sister change their tunes.

"I'm going to greet Grandfather." Karen nodded to the elders and walked upstairs.

"You didn't even think about it; could a mere university professor afford to live on Rhine Street?" Uncle Mason laughed.

"Mason."

"Yes, dear?"

"The Mamu Lovers' Restaurant, why haven't you ever accompanied me there?"

"Uh..."

...

When Karen reached the third floor, he saw Purr sitting on the windowsill, repeatedly striking a pot of flowers before him with his cat paws. A shower of petals had already fallen along the edge of the sill.

This cat was here playing at sentimentality and moodiness.

"You damnable evil god," Purr turned his head, glaring at Karen. "How dare you treat me like this."

Watching his own junior get courted by the man before him, and when he wanted to tag along as a third wheel he was dragged back home, he felt wronged, deeply wronged, terribly wronged.

Karen walked to Purr's side, bent down, and carefully gathered all the petals from the windowsill into his hands, then sighed as he looked at them.

Purr froze for a moment:

"What are you doing?"

"These flowers, they are so pitiful."

"Huh? No, I am more pitiful than these flowers!"

"Show some mercy with your claws. Look at you, you've hurt them."

"Are you acting in a play?" Purr asked. "Can you be a bit more normal?"

"In a moment, I'll fetch a small trowel, dig a hole in the garden, and bury these poor petals."

"You... you... you... have you lost your mind!"

Karen slapped his own forehead,

letting the petals scatter to the floor,

and said apologetically:

"Sorry, I was still immersed in yesterday's atmosphere and couldn't snap out of it."

"Shameless! Despicable! Sordid! Evil god!"

Purr supported his body on his two hind legs, waving his claws at Karen:

"Is this the kind of sentiment you use to deceive my poor, innocent junior?"

"Yes, it is."

"Meow, meow, meow!!!"

Purr pounced toward Karen. Karen did not move, letting Purr cling onto his body, watching as the cat raised its claws against him.

Then,

Purr froze,

the claws already raised unable to strike down.

For a moment, the atmosphere grew a bit awkward, especially for Purr, whose cat claws extended, retracted into the pads, extended again, and retracted once more.

"Why didn't you dodge?"

"Why didn't you scratch?"

"You really are too shameless. You won't even dodge according to the routine to let me vent my anger!"

"Heh..."

Karen remained very calm;

Dis was right inside the study. Purr would have to be mad to dare scratch and disfigure Dis's favorite grandson at a time like this, especially when the grandson was currently in a relationship.

Everyone in the family feared Grandfather; well, so did the family cat.

Karen reached out, pulled Purr off his body, and placed him back on the windowsill.

Purr rubbed his claws back and forth on the windowsill,

saying with a hint of despondency:

"A handsome appearance, a mature soul—I don't think that junior of mine can resist it, but I am just so angry. How can you two, grandfather and grandson, be like this!"

Karen sat down by the windowsill, reaching out to pat Purr's head: "In fact, I haven't done anything yet."

"Heh." Purr grimaced. "Deceiving a nineteen-year-old girl just for a ship ticket, don't you think you're going too far?"

"I'm only sixteen."

"You know what I mean by age." Purr stubbornly dodged Karen's palm.

"You know that some things, neither you nor I can change." Karen pointed toward the study door. "Actually, I didn't really want to date this early either. I originally thought I still had plenty of time to attend to some of my personal matters."

Purr immediately raised his head, glaring at Karen:

"What do you mean, you don't want to be in a relationship? Is my great-great-great-great-grandniece somehow not good enough for you?"

"She is a very lovely girl. Walking with her felt quite comfortable."

"I don't think 'comfortable' is how one describes romance."

"Indeed, and I hardly think someone who has spent a century as a cat without ever being in love would know anything about romance either; I even recall a certain someone shouting and urging me to go breed the moment they saw the girl arrive that day."

"Fine, you can shut up now."

"You were the one who started playing the melancholy card first," Karen reminded. "Isn't it nice being a well-behaved, cute little cat? I still have plenty of ways to prepare fish."

Purr involuntarily swallowed, a pink tongue darting out to lick her lips,

yet she maintained a deeply solemn expression:

"I know all too well that I cannot change any decision Diss makes."

"Mm."

"And I can guess that even if my young descendant doesn't enter an arranged marriage with you, her marital autonomy wouldn't actually be in her own hands. The only reason I chose to run away from home back then was because my grandfather was forcing me into an arranged matchmaking session."

"You broke ties with your family just because of an arranged marriage?"

"That came later. My family obtained a truly extraordinary artifact, and the ambitious schemers within the clan intended to use it to expand our power. They even dreamed of establishing a family-dominated holy church.

So, I personally stole the artifact and destroyed it."

"Very well."

"Aren't you going to ask me why I did it?"

"Too lazy to ask."

Karen stood up, preparing to go see Diss.

Purr caught his trousers with her claws:

"One last sentence, then you can go see Diss."

"Alright, speak."

"I love my family dearly. Though I probably wouldn't recognize any of the current generation, they are the descendants of my brothers and sisters from those days. In them, the spiritual symbol of my concept of home is preserved. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"So, Karen, once you arrive in Wien, can you treat my family the same way you treat the members of the Inmoles family?"

Karen shook his head.

Purr puffed out her feline face.

Karen smiled and said, "The prerequisite is that they must treat me like family, just as the people in this household do."

With that,

Karen walked to the study door and knocked.

"Come in."

"……"

"How are things progressing?" Diss asked, looking at his grandson seated before him.

"It has only been the first official date," Karen reminded his grandfather.

Diss spoke with absolute calm, "In matters of romance, a single quarter of an hour is sometimes enough to determine the outcome."

Karen found his grandfather's logic rather sound. Under normal circumstances, romance was like two matching souls locking eyes; once the spark was there, it began.

As for those agonizing pursuits, the endless doting, the back-and-forth tossing and turning, and the bitter waiting—those were often nothing more than unilateral attempts to move oneself.

In the end, even if the "chasing" and "grinding" succeeded, it was usually because the other party simply had no better options and had to hold their nose and accept it.

It had to be said that the men of the Inmoles family seemed to always possess an immense, unshakeable confidence in this regard.

"So, what is your answer?" Diss asked.

"I believe it is a good beginning, for both of us," Karen said.

"Mm, very good. Invite her to the house for dinner in a few days."

"Isn't that a bit too fast?" Karen asked.

Last time, the rest of the family had been cleared out so they could meet under the guise of a home visit. But what his grandfather was suggesting now clearly sounded like the girl was coming to formally meet the elders.

Diss took a sip of his tea. "Her family will also help urge it along."

Karen nodded. "Understood."

The formidable patriarchs of both families had already reached a tacit understanding; the room for choice left to the younger generation was inherently minimal, if not virtually non-existent.

Even Karen, possessed of a wealthy mind and understanding of "free love," could only choose to go on the matchmaking date and take the initiative once he knew it was Diss's wish. Naturally, the girl's side had even less of a "way out."

Consequently, under such a premise, being able to encounter an partner who made him feel comfortable was truly precious and rare—even a stroke of immense fortune. He ought to be content.

"By the way, Grandfather, I know who that abnormal demon you mentioned, the one who is going to help clear up our aftermath, is."

"Oh."

Diss was visibly unsurprised by this; indeed, it was nothing to be astonished about.

"Is the Church of the Wall considered a taboo?"

"Strictly speaking, it is not. Because the primary inheritance of the Church of the Wall was severed long ago, the ordinary believers scattered across various regions do not suffer from any suppression or persecution.

However, there will always be a few who retain or inherit the true core of the Church of the Wall. Though their numbers are pitifully small, they have always been the targets of suppression by the Church of Order.

Because the true god of the Church of the Wall—Raelirsa—was personally suppressed by the God of Order."

The big boss had suppressed the opponent's big boss, so the subordinates below would naturally seek to eradicate the opponent's subordinates.

"Why?" Karen asked.

"Because Raelirsa presumed to paint the final mural for the God of Order, thereby enraging Him."

"So that's how it was."

Predicting when a deity would fall while they were at the height of their golden age was practically begging to be suppressed.

"Have you finished reading those books providing overviews of the various religions?"

"I have just finished the first reading," Karen replied.

"Look over them carefully, then select one for me." Diss drew out a purple bookmark and placed it before Karen. "Write the name of that church upon this bookmark."

Karen took the bookmark into his hand.

"Then I truly must examine them more closely, for I do not yet know which church interests me the most, nor can I say for now which one I prefer."

"No, you have misunderstood my meaning." Diss shook his head.

"Mm?"

Diss looked at Karen,

and said with profound tranquility:

"Choose the one you dislike the most."

Karen froze,

A chapter from the mythological narrative within The Light of Order he had read surfaced in his mind:

"When Ankara, the daughter of the God of Order, was a child, she grew angry over a trivial matter.

The God of Order handed her a bookmark, bidding her to write upon it the name of the deity she detested most;

Swiftly thereafter, that deity fell from grace and perished;

And then, Ankara smiled."