From Corpse to Crown: Reborn as a Mortician in Another World-Chapter 70: Alice’s Decision

Lucian nearly pushed the Loom off of the table when he heard Alice’s voice.

"What does the Loom say? Is it going to solve your problem?"

The Loom was pulsing faintly in his hands like a heart struggling to keep its beat. The woven square hadn’t vanished. It was still a complex Penance Glyph, and Alice’s name glowed softly in the center.

The Loom’s design was complete. It was surrounded by the elegant lines of borrowed life, griefcraft, and forbidden bondwork. Lucian hadn’t spoken in an hour since the Loom revealed the cost.

He hadn’t even asked Gethra for water.

"Ah--I don’t know yet, I’m still translating the complete glyph. Gethra’s been helping me all this time."

Gethra nodded and tilted her head in Lucian’s direction. "It’s difficult to translate some of the more advanced ones. Sorry it’s taking us a minute."

Alice nodded and walked back, not even sparing the Loom a second glance. It made Lucian feel much worse. She trusted him with her entire being, and Lucian was about to tell her a horrible truth.

Merry and Cadrel had left the sitting room to help the cook prepare food for the small community underground, and Alice was in charge of chopping vegetables. He watched from the doorway as Alice spoke and laughed with Merry, who was pouring some spices into a pot.

Cadrel was keeping the fire going, and Lucian took one last look at them before walking back to the sitting room with Gethra.

+

She looked at him with pity in her eyes. "It’s such a heavy cost. But I trust you’ll do the right thing."

Lucian blew a raspberry and heard a surprised Gethra laughing. "Sometimes doing the right thing sucks."

"I know that all too well."

+

Dinner was delicious as always: creamy stew, freshly-baked bread, and pats of lightly salted honey butter. No matter how bad things got, the chef was determined to let everyone get a hot meal.

Merry being one of the living morticians (apart from Lucian) was a definite plus, as it ensured the food was flavorful. Normally, Lucian would eat while listening to everyone else’s conversations. But now, he was too upset.

He tried finishing his meal first, figuring out what he would say. When Alice looked up and caught his expression, she didn’t hesitate. "Are you okay?" she mouthed.

Lucian tried to smile through his discomfort and nodded. "I tried to drink the soup right away and it was too hot." She smiled and replied, "Aww! I’m sorry to hear that."

Carefully, Lucian tried to enjoy what remained of his meal, and mentally practiced what he was going to say.

+

He spoke with her while drying the dishes. Lucian tried to talk, but his voice broke before he spoke.

"Do you mind if I talk to you in private?"

Alice nodded, her stitched mouth quirked up in curiosity. "Of course."

They sat beneath the prayer glyph carved into the Annex’s old gate. The sandstone still glowed faintly under moonlight. A faint breeze blew and stirred the threads of the Loom, wrapped safely inside its leather case.

Alice waited for him to speak first.

Lucian toyed with the leather case’s clasp as he started talking.

"I think I broke something when I brought you here."

Alice blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Rosa decided to give you control of her body when you wanted to live. But that wasn’t the way things were supposed to go. Your mom kept your soul asleep inside Rosa, instead of letting you pass on."

Alice nodded. "Yes. The Marionette, my ’mother,’ wanted me to continue living. And then Rosa was made. She had a childhood, I think? Lived a long time before she became a vessel."

For a moment, Lucian tried not to feel disgusted at how easily she said ’vessel.’ Rosa had still been her own person, and allowed Alice to use her body. He wondered if she never wanted to return now.

"But...you were supposed to pass on. That was your ending. Still...I let you live in Velrithane. You’ve been helping me, learning glyphs, and helping out with meals. Like it was always meant to be this way."

She tilted her head.

"It hasn’t?"

"No," Lucian whispered. "You weren’t supposed to exist here."

He swallowed.

"And the Code has noticed."

Alice blinked slowly.

She didn’t cry.

Didn’t even look hurt.

Just... quiet.

After a long pause, she asked, "Do you want me to go?"

Lucian stared.

"What?"

She shrugged faintly. "If I’m the mistake, then I can unmake myself. It’s okay. Really. I had a few good weeks of being ’myself.’"

His heart slammed into his ribs. She wasn’t supposed to try and make this easier on him!

"No!" He grabbed her hands. "Alice, this isn’t your fault. It’s mine. All of this is mine. The mistake was mine. I’m the one who couldn’t let go."

"I know," she said.

"I don’t want to lose you."

"Do you? Or do you not want to lose me because I remind you of Rosa?"

Her hands were warm and alive, but she also had a good point. Did Lucian want to keep Alice by his side to honor Rosa’s memory? Her sacrifice?

"I...in the beginning, yes. Rosa decided to let you take over, and...before that, I sacrificed a memory to keep her body from decaying."

He felt Alice’s fingers tremble, and her hands trying to wriggle free from his grasp. Lucian let her.

"I see. Well...I’m not Rosa anymore. Maybe I never was. She gets quieter every day."

Lucian’s breath caught. Rosa just not being there had never crossed his mind. Alice though, continued talking. She stared out into the moonlit city of Staesis.

"Maybe...I’m meant to be something else. A being the Loom helped shape. And if that’s true, then maybe you can pay with a previous version of me."

Lucian looked at her, a bit confused. "What...do you mean?"

She placed her hand gently on the Loom’s wrappings.

"What if I can change the thread?"

He truly didn’t have words for what he was feeling right now. Lucian had come to tell her that she would be sacrificed. Instead of accepting her fate, she offered a solution.

She wasn’t going down without a fight. Alice was alive because of Rosa, and she wanted to make the most of it.

+

Deep underground, away from the gilded doors and a cage of protocol, Elian Morrow rested in his chamber. He turned his head and saw the empty page in his Grimoire once again.

It once bore his orders: to locate Lucian, subdue him, and return him to the Crown.

Now it was blank.

He remembered the Queen’s voice. The Spymaster’s tone. The scroll with his name written across it.

He hadn’t been surprised.

He’d only felt extremely tired.

Elian stood slowly, crossed the room, and opened the wardrobe.

Inside: traveling boots. A cloak lined with ink-silk. The false sigil he used once while training in the outer provinces.

Tools of escape.

He was going to die. They’d already decided that.

But if he had to die—

Then he would choose how.

Elian tightened the strap on his belt and whispered, "I will not be your scapegoat."

He turned to the Grimoire.

"You followed every order."

The Shadowrite flared red in answer.

Elian placed one hand over its cover.

"Now we follow mine."

+

It was a rare day for the Spymaster. He’d actually had enough time to curl up in his pocket dimension and think about his next move. His room had spiraling silver mirrors, hanging masks, and elegant statues of screaming creatures.

He stared into a basin full of shadow water, and using one hooked finger, swirled its liquid surface. "Find the Marionette."

The mirror showed him a beautiful young mannequin in a gown of ink and ghostly thread, moving along a snow-laced path. Her cloak was stitched with fur along the edges. All five of her children held a basket with their doll-like hands.

The Spymaster knew that beneath the gray silk, it was full of mysterious ritual objects.

She was heading into the north woods.

Straight toward Gabriel, the Messenger.

The Spymaster didn’t blink.

"She always did like to tie her own knots," he murmured. "But this one is fraying."

He sipped from a cup of blue tea.

"Pity. I rather liked the daughter better."

He snapped his fingers once.

In the mirrors to his left, the image shifted to Alice, tracing a glyph with thread only the Loom recognized.

The daughter’s thread is awakening.

And the mother... was on a path to the Messenger.

The Spymaster stood and said in a serious voice, "Time to trim."

+

Inside his room in the Annex, Lucian stared at the Loom. It pulsed faintly on his nightstand. Just as Lucian was about to fall asleep, he heard the unmistakable sound of the Loom unfolding itself.

When he opened his gray eyes, he saw a full-sized Loom in the middle of the room. Next to Alice’s thread...another one appeared. Gold and gray with blood splatters.

"Elian."

The Loom spun once, and then two threads crossed. His own pale blue one, and Elian’s. One was bound by guilt.

Another had betrayal tying him down.

Lucian exhaled and said softly, "You’re coming, aren’t you?"

His Grimoire flipped open and that was all the confirmation he needed.