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“Little musical note, father and mother said that your smoking is not good at all.” Lorelei’s voice echoed word by word, carrying no hint of irritation or actual reproach. Meanwhile, the faint trails of smoke lingered around, showing no signs of fading.
On this side, Semmelweis had already lowered her hand, flicking the ash onto the balcony railing. She exhaled a puff of smoke forward before turning back to look at the girl.
“Sorry, I forgot.” She didn't want to question why even her parents were here this time, because the more she thought about it, the more she felt pathetic having to be reminded by the other person's parents instead of just her.
She didn't think Lorelei fully understood what cigarettes were, but perhaps those two had told her. Consequently, she no longer found any pleasure in the cigarette in her hand. She crushed it, causing the ash to spill all over her hand while another part fell to the ground. She wiped them away with her foot, letting them blow away into the wind to some unknown place.
Seeing her do this, Lorelei still maintained her usual gentle smile but immediately walked over to wrap her arms tightly around her. Semmelweis returned the embrace.
The two of them stood there like that for a while until the walkie-talkie at Semmelweis’s hip began to ring. Emil’s voice broadcasted steadily from it. “The research team captain wants to see your remarks regarding your condition after further transformation, so they have sent an invitation.”
“Tell them I'll be right there.”
“Understood,Cap.”
“Won't what happened just now affect the review?”
She didn't answer, only giving a slight nod of her head to ease her worries before kissing her gently on the lips and leaving. At that exact moment, the lingering taste of cigarette smoke still caught on the tip of her tongue passed onto the girl, making her cough violently.
Seeing this, Semmelweis left right away without saying anything more. Lorelei intended to follow her but was instantly cut off by the closing of the door. She planned to keep chasing, but then heard her parents' advice telling her not to go, because if she went, it would only make things harder for both of them.
She still listened to them, waiting until she could no longer hear any footsteps before gently opening the door to step outside. After peering around for a moment, she moved forward.
At this point, everywhere she looked, she only saw Laplace staff bustling in and out, even hearing them whispering to each other about it being time to clock out.
Hadn't she just waited for a little while? She wasn't too sure herself. While not looking carefully where she was going, she accidentally bumped into someone, spilling a bunch of pills everywhere, likely from the bottle the person had just been holding in their hand. Before Lorelei could even lift her head to apologize, she immediately recognized that silhouette.
Semmelweis didn't blame her at all, simply helping her up. When she offered an apology, the captain nodded in acceptance. She was glad that she wasn't smoking that thing anymore, but seeing those pills, she didn't know what to say. Her parents kept hovering around her ears, reminding her that she should try her best to advise the other person, but not to overexert herself.
Yet she only listened to the first part, while the latter part had turned into a symphony, blending into her usual everyday song.
The captain looked at her for a moment and then asked, “Have you been waiting for me in one spot this whole time or something?” She could never bring herself to use a harsh or reprimanding tone when speaking to her; even this incident didn't bring her any inner annoyance.
Before she could even say an apology or advise her on anything, she noticed Semmelweis’s hand stroking her head. She just gently rubbed her hair back and forth, making sure not to get caught in the curtains hanging nearby.
“Whatever, just forget about it. These pills were just handed to me by the staff after the examination. If you want, we can go down to the street and enjoy some music along with that cake you didn't get a chance to taste last time.”
Semmelweis really didn't let her say anything more, but she nodded in agreement and followed along. As she held her hand tightly while walking down the hallway to leave the headquarters, she softly hummed a melody like she always did for the both of them. Even when they arrived in front of the shop and the captain went to the counter to place the order, she was still singing.
To soothe what, she didn't know, but she just wanted to soothe anything within her reach right now.
She now had a spoonful of cake stuffed in her mouth; the chocolate cake had already been reduced to a half before she knew it. Semmelweis just watched her eat without saying anything more. Last time she came here while tracking down the whereabouts of the Easter egg case, she had run into Pavia and treated him to something like this. It was just that back then, she primarily had no interest in sweets, but right now, she simply didn't feel well enough to eat.
Or perhaps it was just her own excuse for her terrible state at the moment.
“Is it good?” she asked, tapping lightly on the table to create a bit of resonance.
Lorelei immediately followed the direction of the sound, turning her eyes toward her with a smile, saying softly that she was very grateful to her for this, and finally admitting that it was delicious.
Watching her eat like that, she felt the lingering pain all over her body from the earlier examination ease up considerably. Although she didn't want to admit it, she might still have to use other methods to reduce the pain if it didn't subside. She knew that she was very worried about her health, but now was not the time for her to be seduced by this nameless sensation. It could only be a temporary measure, since she had no idea about the dosage, unlike cigarettes or prescribed medication.
The person in front of her swallowed the last spoonful of cake, so she tilted her head to look at her for a while before smiling gently as usual once more.
Seeing this, Semmelweis returned the smile before standing up to lead her out of the shop. Right then, the walkie-talkie at her hip rang once again. She found this matter increasingly troublesome. Despite understanding the consequences of disobeying superiors back in Vienna, sometimes she didn't know if she should regret this choice.
She just lightly picked up the walkie-talkie, listening casually to the words Emil conveyed along with his anxiety, before answering briefly that she would still go. Before that, since it was on the way, the two held hands tightly for a while until she let her off in front of the infirmary with a certain nurse, then vanished into the right-wing hallway as usual.
As soon as the silhouette of that vampire was no longer in her sight, the nurse who had been entrusted with her was already holding her hand and looking at it. Seeing her looking back, she let go of her hand and signaled her to enter the room to rest.
She didn't know too much about her, only having seen her pass by this hallway or occasionally being looked after by other staff members. Looking closely now, she realized that her body was alarmingly thin, not to mention the heap of bandages on her arms.
Lorelei could sense the anxiety of the person in front of her very quickly, so just like many times before, she began to sing her usual song. Yet, she couldn't see any reassurance in those eyes; they were filled only with worry. So, she kept wondering why and continued to sing.
The more she sang, the more worried the person in front of her became, until she finally stopped, but the person still kept that same expression. She didn't understand what she was thinking or why she made that face, but she knew she was worried—but about what?
The only time Lorelei had ever seen someone show worry for her while her song was echoing was Semmelweis, up until now. But back then, she didn't have much presence of mind to question it, because perhaps the captain acting grumpy was already a regular occurrence.
Because of that, when meeting many other people, she always thought her singing voice could soothe them a little. But the person in front of her wasn't Semmelweis; this person wasn't her, but that didn't mean she could assume everyone was the same.
Perhaps she had grown too used to being the savior of others that she had forgotten the feeling of being saved?
The staff member in front of her now, seeing her staring intently at her, was still somewhat worried, but at least she hadn't suddenly continued to sing for no reason anymore.
She didn't have information about her, nor was she informed that she would be brought to this room, so she didn't understand her. Even though she could roughly guess that this was a routine matter, she had suddenly started singing and then stared at her intently as if she were the one to be worried about here.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes.” she said, curling her hands together, awkwardly weaving them together and then unraveling them again.
“That's good then.”
The two ended their brief dialogue and fell into a silence once more before Lorelei reached out her arms to tightly embrace the person in front of her.
She was somewhat flustered by the action but still returned the embrace.
“Father and mother told me to comfort others like this.” Perhaps it was a lie, or perhaps it was the truth, she couldn't remember clearly anymore; her desire to help people had always been too short-sighted.
“You've been raised well, haven't you?”
While the two were still hugging each other, a few light footsteps could be heard approaching from outside. She quickly said goodbye to the staff member before leaving.
When she came out the door and the door behind her had closed, that familiar figure was walking toward her step by step from afar. From a distance, that person noticed her standing right in the middle of the path but didn't bother to say anything. Therefore, she approached her on her own accord.
Up close, she realized that Semmelweis’s always-tired face looked even more wrecked today than usual.
Semmelweis just looked at her and intended to hold her hand to walk together until she threw her arms around her for a hug. She hadn't expected it at all but didn't resist. Initially, she thought she would sing, but no song came out.
Instead, she felt that this was much more comforting at the moment.
“Where did you learn this from?”
“I just thought you needed it.”
“I see.”