Following the heartbreak, Lilia's mother locked herself up in a room for days and refused any offer of food. It continued until a scream so loud she felt it was heard all over the estate broke out. The novel did not mention exactly how Lilia's mother died. It turns out that it was death by falling. Lilia saw the horror-stricken face of the maid from afar. She was in her room's veranda and saw how the countess' back was angled in an abnormal way and pools of blood surrounded the body. Guards and servants surrounded the incident while some took the body away.
That was when Lilia heard the door to her room open and large hurried stride came before she felt a pat on her shoulder and a forceful shove away from the incident's direction. She was face to face with Count Horace and saw his sad panicked state. He didn't say anything to her. She too couldn't say anything back so she just stayed quiet.
He kneeled down to her height and his large hands enveloped her in a hug. For the first time in years, she felt the warmth of a human being. She was petrified at the sensation and then felt tears on her neck. She did not know how to console him so she just stood there as he cried and cried until she felt her dress's collar was soaked. She tried to summon the waterworks as well but she was not as good of an actress just yet. Her eyes thus remained dry.
"Papa? What's wrong?"
Alice stated as she stood by the left opened door holding her doll. Count Horace let go of Lilia and using his sleeves, wiped his tears away.
"It's nothing, child, come let's get the two of you ready for dinner, okay?"
"Okay!"
Alice responded enthusiastically while Lilia can only reply with a nod. She understood that Alice shall not know nor hear of the incident as her young mind is still too pure. At dinner, the atmosphere was gloomy and silence ensued when their father choked out…
"Lilia, from this day onwards, your mother will not be joining us for dinner, breakfast and any other time."
"I understand, papa." Anyways, the gory scene from before didn't really bother her much. It's not like she never watched any horror movies from her past life and she was expecting the countess' suicide for days now because of Alice's arrival. She was actually worried he will tell her how the countess became one of the stars in the sky and other tales. She wouldn't know how to react to that. Thankfully, he didn't.
"Does that mean she also became one of the stars in the sky?" Alice asked this as she got a part of her night's fill in her mouth.
"Yes, she did" Count Horace responded. The dinner thus ended with a merry Alice, a gloomy count, and an emotionless Lilia.