Lucia

(1)

Translator: Miss Ruby

There weren’t many things to talk about between a grandparent and a grandchild that were meeting each other for the first time. After greeting each other awkwardly, they began to converse relatively easily through the common topic of ‘Amanda’. The father remembered his daughter, and the daughter remembered her mother. They found commonalities and differences, and even laughed occasionally.

“The pendant. Are you looking for it?” (Lucia)

Lucia thought her grandfather would ask her about the pendant. But even after they had been talking for a while, he hadn’t said anything so she brought it up first.

“…Do you have it?”

The Count looked a little surprised but his reaction was calmer than Lucia expected. The problem pendant that her mother took with her when she ran away. It was the reason why Lucia was able to meet her uncle in her dream.

[The pendant is an heirloom passed down in the Count Baden family for generations. I found out later on that my sister took it with her when she ran away from home. Maybe because she felt sorry for taking pendant, she left a short letter in the safe.] (Uncle)

[What did the letter say?] (Lucia)

Her uncle cleared his throat as if he was embarrassed and said.

[It said that she was going to bring back a nice husband.]

So there was a time when her mother was immature. Lucia was fascinated by the stories that she didn’t know about her mother. So, she met up with her uncle a few more times and soon, she invited him to her house.

The mansion of Count Matin was quite large and fancy looking. Her uncle looked awestruck as he looked around the mansion. It was perhaps from then on that he started looking at Lucia differently.

“I don’t have it right now.” (Lucia)

When Lucia was a child, there was a time when she fell off a tree and got seriously injured. Her mother entrusted the pendant to a pawn shop to pay for her daughter’s medical treatments. But her mother could not pay back the borrowed money so she was unable to pick up the pendant on the promised date. This was Lucia’s guess of the situation after putting things together later on.

One day, on the way to go shopping with her mother, Lucia discovered a pendant on display at a pawn shop’s window.

[Mom, this is yours, isn’t it?] (Lucia)

[Mhm. You’re right. I’m leaving it there for a while.]

[Why?]

[Because it’s precious to me. I don’t want to lose it.]

After that, Lucia sometimes saw her mother pause in front of the pawn shop. Her mother looked sad when she saw the pendant with a price tag attached to it.

With her innocent, childish mind, Lucia thought that her mother would be upset if she asked her more about the pendant. So she decided that when she grew up and made money, she would buy the pendant and give to her mother as a gift. But after her mother died, she forgot about the pendant.

Then, there came a time when she had to go to an auction house on an errand for Count Matin. It was antique auction day for nobles with uncommon hobbies. Count Matin asked her to bid and win a uniquely designed jewelry box that would show up there. It seemed like it was a present for currying favor with someone.

Why did they have to compete to buy all these old stuff? Lucia couldn’t understand. The jewelry box that she was supposed to bid for was scheduled to show up later, so she watched the fairly long auction with boredom. When the pendant showed up as an auction item, Lucia sobered up. She immediately knew that it was her mother’s pendant.

Lucia forgot her real purpose for coming to the auction house. She had no thought other than regaining her mother’s pendant at all costs. She actively participated in the bidding and eventually won the pendant. Because there were competitors who coveted a pendant with a unique design, Lucia only managed to snare it for a considerable price.

She used most of the money that Count Matin gave to her for the jewelry box but because she was so moved to have the pendant in her hands, the fear of the aftermath flew to the back of her mind. The pendant vividly brought back long-forgotten memories with her mother. In that moment, Lucia felt joy, something she hadn’t felt in a very long time, enough to forget all her sorrows.

[Lady. Would you please resell that to me?]

A middle-aged man approached her, blocking the road and abruptly asked her to resell the pendant to him. It was her first encounter with her uncle.

[That pendant is my family heirloom.] (Uncle)

[I’m afraid I cannot. I have no intentions of reselling this. It’s a keepsake of my mother.]

The middle-aged man was persistent. While Lucia argued with the middle-aged man, they eventually came talk about how the pendant somehow came to be at the auction house. Then they realized that the two of them knew the same woman as sister and mother. It was the first meeting of uncle and niece and it was through an unbelievable coincidence.

Her uncle was distressed and unable to speak for a while after hearing that his younger sister had passed away. His nose was slightly red but he didn’t shed bitter tears like her grandfather had. It was the difference between a brother and a father.

[The pendant is a legendary treasure. According to the words passed down in my family from generation to generation, when the family is in crisis, it will save the family and keep the family alive.]

Since it was such an important heirloom, Lucia couldn’t insist on keeping it. She figured that if her mother was alive, her mother would also want her to give it back. So she gave it to her uncle.

“My mother needed money urgently so she had to sell it. It’s a uniquely shaped pendant so I can find it easily.” (Lucia)

Although Lucia didn’t have it now, she knew when and where it would be at the auction. She was originally going to wait but she changed her mind. The future she saw in her dream was changing. The pendant might not be at the auction. So she was thinking of asking around and looking for it in antique markets. The present Lucia had the power to task someone with looking for something.

In her dream, her uncle was very happy to get the pendant back. It seemed he was weighed down by the responsibility of the family and wanted to lean on a superstitious family legend.

But her grandfather’s reaction was different. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“You don’t have to do that. If your mother made good use of it, then it has done well enough.”

“I heard it’s a family heirloom. Isn’t it precious?” (Lucia)

“Did Amanda say that?”

Lucia didn’t hear it directly from her mother but she replied, “Yes.”

“What heirloom. It’s just an old thing.”

Anyone from the Baden family grew up listening to the legends woven around the heirloom. When others heard it, they seriously believed the ridiculous story and kept the old pendant as a treasure.

At an early age, the Count also believed the legend surrounding the heirloom. However, his father regrettably passed away, he lost his wife, and he buried his daughter in his heart. What was the point of a legend?

For the family’s crisis? There had been numerous crisis already and there was an ongoing crisis even now. When the Count reached his twilight years, he realized the indifference of the heavens. He was too old to believe in legends.

“It’s just…What good would it be?” (Count)

The Count came to the capital to get back his mansion that fell into other people’s hands. He made up his mind to ask for a favor, something that he had never done before in his life.

But as soon as he knew of his daughter’s death, everything became futile. The years that passed without him knowing of his daughter’s death had passed in vain. What had he been striving to live for? It was all in vain.

“You grew up beautifully. Thank you for growing up well.”

The Count was comforted to see the flesh and blood and only trace left by his daughter. He consoled himself that even if it was now, he was able to hear about his daughter and see his granddaughter that he didn’t even know about.

‘I’m sorry, father. I’m tired now. I want to rest.’ (Count)

The Count let go of everything. He folded his plan to ask his friend for money. He gave up on the mansion that was passed down in the family for generations.

‘Let’s sell the title.’

If he used dark channels, he would be able to find someone to buy the title. Title trading was strictly forbidden by law, but trading between acquaintances was still done. A count title would be able to fetch a good price. It would be enough money for his two sons to make a living. He didn’t want to hand over the burden that he had carried his entire life to his sons.

“I should get going.”

When the Count stood up, Lucia was surprised and stood up too.

“You’re going? At least, stay for dinner…”

“It’s alright. I have an appointment in the evening. I’ll see you again next time. We know each other so we can meet anytime, isn’t that right?”

“…Yes.”

As Lucia watching her grandfather turn around and walk towards the door of the receiving room, her eyes filled up with tears. She met him for the first time in her life, and they only talked for a while but he didn’t feel like a stranger; it was as if she had known him for a long time. It was not a sad thing yet why did her heart hurt so much?

Hugo hugged her and spoke into her ear.

“I’ll see him off and be right back.”

Lucia nodded with tear-filled eyes. She wiped her tears as she watched Hugo walk away. She was thankful that he was here with her. Right now, she was just thankful for everything.