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It’s hard to believe he’s really gone.
Sharon hadn’t said it even once, had only whispered the fact of his death to the night air and her grandmother’s ears one single time before everything else had collapsed. Pandora had fallen, and the government was in chaos, and the only reason scrutiny hadn’t fallen on her personally was because her grandmother had claimed that she was adopted only a few months prior, due to her lack of an heir, and knew nothing of what was going on—and though it burned, Sharon had gone along with the deception. She had ended her contract with Eques, severed her ties to both Pandora and the Abyss, and been presented to society as the new hope of the Rainsworth family.
And, since that day in Sablier, she had not spoken Xerxes Break’s name even once.
They hadn’t been able to have much of a funeral for him—after all, both Kevin Legnard and Xerxes Break were names known for criminal activity, now—but Sharon, her grandmother, Reim, and the former Duke Barma had had a small ceremony for him in the back garden. Xerxes had been buried by few people in an unmarked grave: a fate that she knew he’d expected, but one she’d sworn would be avoided.
And yet there was nothing she could do. She’d begun growing again; she would inherit the Rainsworth family’s remaining money and titles. Someday, she would be as respected as she was rich and powerful.
And yet there was nothing she could do for Break’s memory, nothing at all.
“...It’s hard to believe he’s really gone,” said a familiar voice behind her.
Sharon jumped and turned away from the grave. “Reim! I didn’t know you were here.”
“I just arrived.” He lowered himself onto the bench next to her. “...Five months, huh.”
“Yes,” she said. “...I wonder what he’d make of how we’ve handled things.”
“He probably would have already made a move to make it more entertaining,” Reim said with a slight smirk.
“Things have been plenty entertaining, ” Sharon said. “Hectic, dramatic…”
“Not very funny, though.”
“No, not at all.”
They remained in silence for a few minutes.
“The Baskervilles say,” Sharon said softly, “that after a century, a soul returns to this world with no memories of his past life.”
“I’ve heard the same. Do you…do you think that’s true?”
“I don’t know,” Sharon admitted. “I’ve always loved the idea of an afterlife where you got to see all the friends and family members you were separated from once more, and I want to believe that Xerx-nii and Mother are reunited, somewhere. But if what they say is true, and everyone does return, then I want to make sure that this world is a good place for him when he comes back—and when Mother does, and everyone else we’ve lost.”
Reim smiled. “Noble of you.” His hand moved over to rest on top of hers. “If there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
She smiled back. “I’m sure that I’ll be able to find a job for you to do,” she said. “And when Xerxes comes back—if he does—he will, at the very least, know our names.”