The Story of Gothic Lady Who Met a Grave Keeper in Another World - Chapter 11

 No doubt about it, she’s a harlot.

 Pulling back to his room and sitting on the floor, Thorden held his head in his hands.

 Not afraid of his nakedness, she washed his body and even familiarly shaved his beard.

 She is a woman of high standards of education and education, but her hands are soft and smooth, her appearance is good, and her behaviour is quiet and graceful.

 If that is not a prostitute with a high standard of education, who is it then?

 No, wait.

 Eri is a rare person.

 In other words, she came from a place with common sense different from the world where Thoden lived.

 Then, in the world where Eli lived, it was natural for women to offer such services to men. If that were the case, her fingers would have been rougher.

 A service performed only to a specific, limited number of people.

 There is no doubt that Eri presented this offer to him.

 That’s what makes it so terribly hard.

 What did Sciuto tell Eri?

 Did he tell her not to upset Thoden?

 Is that why Eri gives Thorden such lavish service like that?

 But that doesn’t make sense.

 That forte…

 With that look in her eyes, it was like–

“Like a mother …”

 At the mention of the word, Thorden felt half nauseous.

 Mother.

 It was the most abhorrent existence for Thorden.

 At the same time, it is the existence that he craves the most.

 The world’s reason has brought up the “seal of the gravedigger” on Thorden’s body since he was a child.

 A gravedigger is a caretaker of the dead, chosen from this world.

 It doesn’t matter where you were born or raised.

 One day, out of the blue – whether you were a child or an adult – the world branded you a gravedigger.

 My mother tried to hide it.

 She tried to hide the grave mark that had appeared on Thorden’s body.

 But young Thorden innocently manipulated the carcasses of dead animals.

 The dead are attracted to the gravedigger and afraid of him at the same time.

 Therefore, the gravedigger stays in the cemetery and keeps the wandering dead in the cemetery.

 “Thorden.”

 Mother looked at Thorden with fear in her eyes.

 “I’m sorry. You…”

 You’re not my son anymore.

 When his mother turned away with these words, Thorden did not follow her back.

 The moment she brought him to the cemetery, he felt as if the soles of his feet were melting into the earth.

 It was a restful feeling as if he had returned to the bed where he had left his body for so many years – it was more comforting than the scent of his mother’s chest.

 He spent ten years with the old grave keeper, and since the death of the previous generation, He has been managing this cemetery alone.

 This is the generational change of grave-keepers.

 If an adult is branded as a grave keeper, he will find the cemetery of his own volition.

 If a child is branded as a grave keeper, the parent leaves the child in the care of the grave keeper.

 Thorden is the latter.

“I wish you would have stayed here.”

 he thought as he stared at his mother’s back as she left.

 I wish she wouldn’t go. 

He can’t pursue after himself. Because this is where he belongs.

 But I wanted her to stay by my side.

 Thorden hugged his shoulders and clawed at them.

 That’s when it happened.

“Thorden, Thorden.”

 Eri knocked on the door of Thorden’s room.

 With a shudder, Thorden jumped away from the door.

 After he jumped out of the way, he realized that he had done it. The poorly constructed inward-opening door would open on its own with the slightest jolt.

 Eli, who had mistakenly thought that Toden had opened the door, peeked out.

 When he hurriedly pushed it back and violently closed the door, Eri let out a small scream and there was a loud thud.

 When he opened the door, he found that the impact of his pushing it back had caused Eri to stumble and fall.

 Thorden turned blue.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry ……! I didn’t mean to–!”

 He jerked as he tried to help her up.

 She was wearing a skirt that had rolled up as a result of her fall, bare ankles, and, because she had no other shoes, a pair of black, suspiciously high-heeled pumps over her bare feet.

“I’m not wearing shoes,” she said. 

 Frowning painfully, Eli rubbed her ankle.

 These heels.

 If you lose your balance a little, it’s no wonder you fall down.

 Did she twist it? Would she be able to stand?

 Eri’s foot had been injured the first time they had met.

 It was the same leg that had been bitten by the walker.

 Thorden bandaged it up.

 Her legs were soft, plump, and smooth.

 The shackles must have suited her.

“Thorden? –I’m sorry. —I’m–“

“Oh ……, oh …… I’m …… not, I’m not, I’m not, I’m not, I’m not trying to ……”

 Can you help her up?

 I can’t.

 I can’t touch her.

 If you touch her, it’s over.

 Thorden realized for the first time.

The “noble girl who needs to be protected” and the “strange old slave who has been educated to be a prostitute” are two different people in Thorden’s head. If he could not control himself she —

 Eri Himeno cannot escape.

 She has no choice but to stay here if only Thorden is so inclined.

 A horrifying desire crawled up Thorden’s back.

 He wanted to vomit.

 He couldn’t stand his own ugliness, his own filthiness.

 Thorden ran out of the house, leaving Eri behind.

“Thorden!”

 Eli shouted behind him, but he shook her off and jumped on his horse.

 His beloved horse, which had sleepily pulled the cart during the day, galloped through the cemetery like the wind.