A Flower That Wilts When Caged
"I suppose you know Mother very well, Doctor?"
Selene was being dragged around by Delphine.
Confined, fed, transported. That might have been the most accurate way to describe it.
The moment she so much as set a foot toward the dining hall, Delphine seized her arm.
"You can't go alone. We go together. Always."
Shaking her head did Selene no good at all. Delphine already had her sleeve in a vise grip, so tight the joints of her fingers had gone white. Selene was immensely strong, and yet Delphine visibly overpowered her, holding on with even greater force.
It was no different in the corridors.
Delphine was always glued to her side, walking with her wrist clutched in her hand. The instant she showed even a hint of trying to widen the distance, Delphine yanked her back without hesitation.
Once, a passing cadre member tried to greet them. I happened to be there at the time.
Still holding Selene's hand, Delphine said:
"Don't look at her. Just keep walking."
I was stunned.
It was as though the two of them had been carved out of the world entirely, a universe of their own.
The same held true whenever Selene stood at a window and gazed outside. Delphine would drift up silently behind her and wrap her arms around her waist.
"It's dangerous here. Come back to the room." When Selene pleaded, "Just a moment…," she ignored her completely, spun her around by the shoulders, and steered her away.
Mealtimes were no exception.
She sat pressed so close their bodies touched, shadowing her like a warden. If Selene showed the slightest inclination to leave food uneaten, Delphine pushed it to her lips herself.
"Mother, eat more. You've gotten so thin lately."
I heard that at night, she locked the door and kept the key on her person.
"There's no telling who might come in from outside."
To anyone with eyes, it was nothing but an excuse.
Selene said nothing. She only nodded, feebly.
It was almost uncanny how completely she ceased to resist. Her shoulders sagged, and she moved wherever Delphine's touch led her, looking for all the world like a doll that had lost its strength.
My heart grew heavier the longer I watched.
Daughter or not, this had gone too far.
Selene used to be proud and radiant, always.
She never bent in any moment, no matter how dire. She was the one who held us all steady at the center.
Should I say the light in her had gone out completely now?
It seemed as if someone who had fought so hard to escape the darkness had ended up trapped in an abyss even deeper than before.
So one day, I went to see Dimitria.
"We can't just leave things like this. Someone has to step in, don't you think?"
She stopped mid-page, looked up from her documents, and met my eyes.
"There's no real way to intervene. And honestly, I do understand why Delphine is acting like this."
"Understand? Look at the state Selene is in right now. Does that look normal to you?"
"She isn't hurting her. She feeds her, protects her, keeps her close. That's all it is."
My frustration pushed my voice higher.
"The problem isn't that she's close! She's forcing her to stay, never leaving her alone for a second—she's cutting her off from the world entirely!"
"It's easier if you think of it as her way of protecting her mother."
I seriously began to doubt whether Dimitria and I were looking at the same scene.
"Protecting and imprisoning are completely different things! She has the right to make her own choices!"
"…I know that."
"Was being attacked once a good enough reason to treat her this harshly?"
"The attack isn't the problem. Selene herself is clearly hiding something—and that is what makes Delphine more anxious."
"Or maybe she genuinely doesn't know."
Dimitria let out a long sigh.
"Delphine is the one closest to her right now. If we pry them apart by force, something far worse will happen."
"So your answer is to just leave it like this?"
"For now, yes. Selene isn't objecting. She isn't pushing back herself."
"Even though she looks like she doesn't even have the strength left to refuse?"
"…Even so, there's nothing we can do at this very moment."
In the end, I fell silent.
Dimitria turned another page and said,
"Watching, for now, is the best we can do."
Was this really the best?
Later, I called Luna aside and asked her.
"Luna, what do you make of all this?"
Luna bowed her head slightly, as if carefully choosing her words.
"…Honestly? I'm worried too. Selene isn't herself anymore. She barely touches her food, and she talks less and less."
"You think it's best to just leave her be?"
"Delphine is taking care of her. Maybe things will get a little better eventually. Selene must have her own reasons for swallowing everything alone. I'd like us to wait a little longer and trust them."
Taking care of her?
I smiled bitterly to myself. Wasn't Selene withering away, little by little, right before our eyes?
I let out a long breath.
"Is this really right? Just because they're family, does that make any of this acceptable?"
Luna lowered her voice cautiously.
"I think of it as them finally getting to be together after so long apart. Delphine is like that because she never wants to lose her again."
"Being together and being dragged around and locked up are two entirely different things. Selene is only growing more exhausted as the days go by."
"I know. It weighs on me too. She used to be the one who smiled first, who was always so gentle…"
"Isn't there some way to fix this? Anything, even something small?"
Luna shook her head a little.
"I'll speak gently with Selene, and with Delphine too, whenever the chance comes. Just give me some time."
I couldn't press her any further.
Her eyes were sincere, and her worry was sincere as well.
But in the end, there was no clever answer to be found, and waiting alone didn't seem likely to improve anything.
We cannot leave this alone any longer.
I resolved to speak to Delphine directly and make myself unmistakably clear.
As it happened, I ran into the two of them in the corridor.
"Delphine. Selene."
Delphine gave a slight, expressionless nod, while Selene managed a faint, weary smile.
"Doctor…"
For just an instant, a light passed across her face—like a drowning woman glimpsing a savior.
Normally she would have barred me from so much as exchanging a word with them. Today, Delphine held her tongue.
Not stopping something meant either that there was no need to stop it, or that letting it happen was the better choice. There was no telling which.
I asked as naturally as I could.
"Where are you two headed?"
"To the dining hall," Delphine answered flatly.
"Off to eat, then."
"Yes."
Selene added in a small voice,
"…Delphine said we should go together."
Keeping my expression gentle, I continued.
"How has your health been lately?"
"It's fine."
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"…Thank you, Doctor."
It was only a brief exchange, but I could feel Delphine's gaze growing colder by the second.
I judged that I could delay no longer.
I steadied my breath and brought up the real matter.
"Delphine, could I have a word with you?"
She frowned. She didn't look pleased in the slightest.
"Right now?"
"Yes. It won't take long."
With a look of clear reluctance, she finally nodded.
"…Fine."
"I'd like to speak with you alone. Just the two of us."
Her eyes sharpened in an instant. For someone who wanted Selene at her side at all times, this request could hardly have been welcome.
"What could you possibly need to say to me so suddenly?"
"There are things about the current situation that need addressing. Between you and Selene."
Delphine's grip tightened hard around Selene's arm.
"Why are you meddling in our family's affairs?"
"I only thought someone had to say something before it got worse."
A silence fell between us.
Delphine stared at Selene for a long moment, then reluctantly opened her mouth.
"…All right. We'll talk separately, then."
She followed me without ever letting go of Selene's hand. Only when we reached the corner of the corridor did she turn and instruct her:
"Mother, wait here just a moment. Don't wander off."
"…Okay."
Only after Selene nodded weakly did Delphine release her hand and come stand where I was.
Not that Selene had gone far. She was well within sight of us the whole time.
"So. What did you want to say?"
I began calmly.
"Delphine, I wish you'd stop pushing Selene so hard."
"Pushing her?"
"You never give her a moment to herself. You hold onto her every waking hour. The way things are now—it's cruel. It's gone too far."
Delphine's gaze sank even colder.
"That's not your business to interfere with."
I didn't back down. I spoke with everything I had.
"Family is supposed to be someone who makes you happy, who tries to understand you, who endures alongside you. That's the only way that when hardship strikes again, you can overcome it together—through the trust you've built between you."
Delphine listened in tight-lipped silence.
"Selene is the kind of person who withers when she's caged. You know that better than anyone."
Delphine tilted her head, just slightly.
"I suppose you know Mother very well, Doctor?"