The man Violet had chased was not Ioannis.
He was a soldier with a similar build.
Violet apologized to him and moved on.
"....."
With her head lowered, Violet walked without knowing where she was going.
creak
She drew the sword from her bosom. When she held this sword, the confusion in her heart quieted, even if only a little.
"Hey!"
Someone called out to her. It was Benedict.
He stopped his bike beside Violet.
"Are you alone?"
She nodded.
"You look drained. You’re eating properly, right?"
"I am receiving nutritional support."
Violet’s voice
"Then... did you fail at your work?"
"....."
"Ah."
Sometimes silence was an answer of yes.
Benedict said,
"You should come back to the delivery department..."
"I cannot do delivery work."
"...Wouldn’t it be better not to cling to Doll work and look for something else?"
"...."
"Haa, I don’t know either. Hajins said there won’t even be a salary this month, didn’t he? Looks like the company’s in rough shape!"
Benedict started the bike.
whooosh
A sudden shower fell.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the air turned damp.
"Ah...!"
Erica, looking out the window at the company, gasped.
Violet was walking back completely soaked by the rain.
Her expressionless face made her seem mechanical.
Erica went outside.
When Violet spotted Erica, she said at once,
"Question. May I ask one?"
"...Yeah."
"Am I unsuitable for the position of Auto-Memories Doll?"
Violet’s question was sharp. It was also a question aimed at Erica.
Hearing it, Erica’s shoulders trembled.
"That... I don’t..."
"I was not asking about you."
Erica’s brow furrowed.
"...You’re not a fit. But why do you want to do this job in the first place?"
"I want to know what it means to [Love]."
Erica sneered. How trivial.
Not money, not honor.
Just love? To go through all that trouble for love?
Erica found Violet ridiculous.
"That’s all?"
"That is all."
Violet answered as if it were only natural. It was the attitude of someone who believed nothing held value except [Love].
Erica was taken aback.
"I understand it as a word that expresses a specific emotion, but Major... I want to know why you said such things to me."
The dark clouds parted, and sunlight spilled down.
Her wet platinum hair shone brilliantly.
"Even if I am not suited to it, I still want to continue this work."
Erica’s gaze wavered. Then she realized it.
Love might be trivial to some, but to Violet it was everything.
For just a little while, Erica felt as though she had come to understand the girl named Violet.
Back inside the company, Erica and Violet entered together.
Erica said,
"There are towels in the changing room, so—"
-I think that girl, Violet, is not cut out for Doll work.
By chance, Iris’s voice drifted from the writing room.
"We’re a new company now, but Cattleya’s requests never stop coming. Still! If our reputation gets dragged through the mud here... just as the company is finally starting to get on its feet, we might have to ask Violet to quit..."
Hajins, hearing Iris, said,
"No, just a little longer—"
Bang, Erica opened the door. Then Violet came in behind her, and Iris turned her head.
"Hey!"
"Erica, and Violet too... why are you both in such a state?"
Violet and Erica both looked like drowned rats.
Erica bowed deeply at the waist. Then she began to pour out her words in a rush.
"I think it would be better not to send this child away. Violet is accurate and fast at typing, and she handles tasks like writing addresses and names, as well as preparing ledgers, very well. If she learns more... she’ll be able to write letters."
Erica pleaded desperately. Her attitude was so different from when she had first treated Violet coldly that even Hajins and Iris were startled.
"Please. Let her continue."
"That is contradictory."
Violet said,
"You said this assignment did not suit me. That is contradictory."
*
Evening.
Erica, off work, walked along lost in thought.
Then she stopped in front of a typing machine shop.
She looked at the typing machines and dolls on display in the window. The doll had platinum hair and blue eyes.
Originally, the typing machine was invented by the printing authority, Dr. Orland.
Dr. Orland’s wife was a novelist, but after losing her sight, she could no longer write novels.
For his wife’s sake, Orland invented the typing machine. It came to be called the Auto-Memories Doll.
Perhaps the one who was not suited to being an Auto-Memories Doll was not Violet, but Erica.
She turned the question around.
Why had Erica become an Auto-Memories Doll?
As a child, she read the novels written by Dr. Orland’s wife and dreamed of becoming one herself.
Writing a letter that could move someone’s heart was her dream. It was the reason Erica had become an Auto-Memories Doll.
But at some point, she lost that dream and began living crushed beneath reality.
She became cynical, doing repetitive work like copying and addressing, fretting over her salary.
"I want to know what it means to love."
"That is all."
Violet Evergarden had returned to Erica the dream she had lost.
She had brought light to a bleak world and shown her the path ahead.
Not a worldly goal like money or honor, but a girl who walked forward together with Erica toward an almost dreamlike hope.
That was why Erica had fought so hard for Violet.
*
Whether because Erica’s desperate plea had worked or not, Violet remained at the company.
"There. Violet, stand up."
"Yes."
Violet rose to her feet.
A blue jacket, a white dress with frills, brown boots.
Her hair was rolled up on both sides.
"Mm! I knew my eye for this wasn’t wrong. It suits you well."
Hajins was satisfied.
Dressed up, Violet looked like a living doll.
"Ah, and one last thing."
Hajins handed Violet a wooden box.
"Sorry it took so long. Open it."
"I will."
Violet opened the wooden box, and a black brooch gleamed with an enchanting light.
"This is it."
Violet said, sounding excited. Her cheeks turned rosy.
"It’s the brooch Major gave me!"
Violet could not hide her delight.
She was happy like an innocent girl. Even without smiling, everyone could feel it.
Iris and Erica looked at each other.
For the first time, the girl who had always seemed mechanical looked human.
What kind of person was this Major, for that child to react like this?
"Yeah, it was out at the black market. Looks like someone stole it from your luggage."
Violet clutched the brooch tightly.
It seemed as though the emptiness inside her had vanished.
The unease in her eyes had returned to calm.
"...."
Hajins could not look at Violet with only positivity.
It was good that the gloomy girl had regained her liveliness, but... only when it involved Ioannis.
She was a child who needed Ioannis that much.
He worried what reaction she would have if he told her he had died in battle.
Late at night, Hajins and Cattleya drank together.
"Hey. Who is that Major the girl keeps talking about?"
"Ioannis. A friend I’ve known since military academy. From the Basileus family."
Hajins sipped his drink.
"Ah... that great house?"
"Yes."
"And what kind of connection did that child have with such a great house..."
"Ioannis was an officer. Then he ended up taking Violet under his care... and they came to rely on each other."
"...Where is that man now?"
"He died."
"..."
"He fell in the final battle."
Cattleya stared at Hajins.
"Hajins."
"Y-yes?"
"It’s obvious when you’re lying."
Cold sweat broke out at Hajins’s temples.
"What are you talking about? L-lying?"
"Don’t underestimate a woman’s intuition. I’ve spent enough time with you. I can tell when you’re lying. You’re not the kind of person who could talk that calmly about a friend dying."
"...."
"Haa, fine. It was a lie."
There was no point in lying any further. Hajins gave in quickly.
"So he’s alive? Then why did that man leave Violet behind?"
"...That guy feels guilty toward Violet. Guilty for using a child as a weapon."
Hajins lowered his ice into the whiskey glass.
"He said that as long as he’s alive, Violet can’t be free. That she’ll spend her whole life bound, waiting for orders. I didn’t like it either, but... now I can understand it."
"That girl... she has been thinking about the Major far too much."
Having spent several days with Violet, Cattleya could understand Ioannis’s words.
"Cattleya. This is a secret. Don’t tell anyone, ever. Especially not Violet."
If Violet heard this, she would think she had been abandoned.
If that happened, things would become irreparable.
"...All right. But when are you going to tell her the Major died? You have to tell her, don’t you?"
"Haa..."
Hajins sighed as though just thinking about it gave him a headache.
"That’s what I’m worried about. I’m thinking four years from now."
"How old is that child now?"
"Ioannis said she was thirteen."
"...Won’t seventeen still be too young? I’m worried whether she’ll be able to accept it."
"I don’t know. They say time is the best medicine. I’ll just have to look after her from the side..."
*
A few days later.
An anonymous investor poured a huge amount of capital into CH Mail.
"I-is this right?"
Cattleya rubbed her eyes, thinking she had misread the investment record.
But the countless zeroes were real.
"Could it be that they meant to invest in a railway company and accidentally put it into ours...?"
"...That can’t be it."
Hajins looked over the investment record.
He was just as uneasy about the massive investment.
This money would be a lifeline for the trembling CH Mail.
But it was too much. Such a huge investment in a postal company, not even a high-value business...
"No, I didn’t ask for this much..."
He had asked Ioannis for investment under Violet’s name.
Honestly, it had been half a joke.
Even if Ioannis didn’t invest, he had planned to take good care of Violet anyway.
"Still, what a strange thing. How about we all eat at a restaurant today?"
"Cattleya... this is investment money. Not money for us to spend at a restaurant."
"Isn’t investment in us the same as investment in the company? Dolls need oiling, or else they get stiff and type more slowly."
Cattleya playfully mimed typing in the air.
"...Maybe so?"
After a moment’s thought, Hajins nodded.
Well, the most important thing in the postal business was the Auto-Memories Doll. Wouldn’t the welfare of the Auto-Memories Dolls be the same as the company’s growth?
And so the company dinner was decided.
Cattleya happily went out to finish her work.
Hajins took a letter from the drawer.
It was a letter from Ioannis.
-
I’m sorry to ask you to do something difficult.
But I believe that if it’s your company, you’ll surely care for Violet and guide her well.
The investment money is from my own savings. I hope the company grows with it.
-
Ioannis knew the future.
That was why he knew the future of the postal business was not very bright.
And yet he invested without hesitation.
-
Please teach Violet about love.
I don’t know many emotions, but I believe you all can teach her.
Introduce Violet to good men on dates. That way, she’ll be able to understand the feeling of love, won’t she?
And these are the pictures I drew while traveling.
-
Ioannis had sent several drawings along with the letter.
"Oh, these are better than I expected."
Cliff faces carved as if cut by a blade, a vast salt plain, an endless field.
The pencil sketches of the landscapes carried a strange sense of comfort.
"The wall was looking a little bare anyway. This is perfect."
Hajins framed a few of Ioannis’s drawings and hung them on the wall.
He had gotten them from an acquaintance when the company was being rebuilt.
Cliff and field paintings hung there splendidly.
"Mm! Very nice."
Knock, knock.
Just as he was admiring them, someone knocked.
"Come in."
The one who opened the door and came in was Violet.
"I have a question regarding the Auto-Memories Doll training school that departs tomorrow."
"I see."
Hajins quietly moved and hid Ioannis’s letter. He tucked it completely into his back pocket.
"Just get to the school by 8 a.m. tomorrow. I’ll give you a map, so find your way there. Ah, you know there’s a company dinner today, right?"
"Yes."
Violet gave a short bow and turned around. Just as she was about to leave,
she looked at the framed picture that had just been hung up.
How many seconds had she stared? Feeling some inexplicable pressure, Hajins asked,
"W-what is it?"
"It is a picture I have never seen before."
Hajins felt he had put it up for nothing. What if Violet recognized it as Ioannis’s drawing?
"I-is that so?"
"It is a well-drawn picture. And..."
"A-and...?"
"...I do not know. I keep wanting to look at it."
Violet stared blankly at the picture.
"I see. By the way, did Ioannis usually draw things like this?"
"No. The Major spent most of his time on my training and work."
That was a relief. Hajins let out a quiet breath of relief inwardly.
Violet turned her head and looked at Hajins wordlessly.
"What is it...?"
Violet simply stared back instead of answering.
Her eyes were bright.
They had always been bright, but now they shone especially vividly.
It seemed as though she was saying she wanted that picture.
"...Do you want just that one?"
-Nod.
Hajins hesitated. This picture had been drawn by Ioannis. There was no name on it, but giving it away so casually felt dangerous.
"I don’t think that would be possible... sorry."
"......"
Violet lowered her head. The corners of her mouth dropped just a little.
It was an unmistakably dejected face.
Hajins panicked. He waved his hands frantically.
"N-no, that’s not what I meant! Take it, take it, Violet. I’ll hang it up for you later, so take it for now!"
"Thank you."
Violet’s mouth returned to its usual angle.
Violet hugged the picture to her chest and trotted off toward the attic.
Her steps were lighter than usual that day.
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