Natalya shut the door to the Ace quarters and marched over to the stairs, carrying the cloak in her arm. She worked her way down the several flights of stairs in the Clubs castle, before striding through the halls on the main floor. Several maids stepped to the side as Natalya passed, but she paid no mind to what they thought of her pace.
She reached the doors to the outside terrace, and paused to open the cloak and wrap it around herself, covering her head and tying it at her neck. Once it was secure, she opened the door and went outside, closing it behind her. She grabbed the edges of the cloak with her hands and held it tightly against her, before stepping out into the rain.
Down the stairs she went from the terrace into the Clubs garden. The snow had fully melted, and the gardeners had been out recently to plant the bulbs for some spring and summer blooms. However, Nodiff was in the northern part of Clubs at the base of the mountains, so the rain would always linger far longer into the spring.
She followed the familiar winding path through the gardens to one of the corners, where the garden bordered the cemetery. It was reserved for burying all the Club Royals exclusively with the highest honours, and there will be a grave for herself inside some distant day. She approached the steps leading to the gates at the main entrance, and veered to the left edge to find her destination.
Planted on the ground just outside the cemetery, below several rose bushes against the gate, was her sister's tombstone.
Natalya sighed as she sat on the step just beside the grave.
"Hello Katya," Natalya greeted, "It's a rainy day today, and you have a few leaves on you."
She reached down and brushed the fallen leaves off the tombstone, clearing the text that showed her sister's name in memorial. She then glanced up at the source of the fallen leaves, which was the rose bushes bordering the cemetery.
"The rose buds are starting to develop," Natalya described, "It will still be a month or so before they bloom, I know you liked these white ones here."
She sat up straight again, and leaned back against the gate to the cemetery, holding her cloak in place to cover her from the light rainfall.
"It was another long day of meetings again. The villages along the rivers are recovering from the snowmelt, so a few leaders were here to discuss some reconstruction plans. And of course, Arthur and Francis both had different approaches in mind."
Natalya groaned as she shook her head, looking up skywards past the hood of her cloak.
"It really never ends, those two argue like cats and dogs. They are always bickering about something or another, it seems impossible to get them to agree on anything. They're great to work with individually, don't get me wrong. Francis has a way with people, like Arthur is diligent in business. But the moment you put them in a room together, they're always trying to one-up each other. Feliciano tries to mediate, but he's utterly useless in the matter."
Natalya sighed as she looked down at the grass again.
"It seems as though Feliciano is on a personal mission to make me smile. He just has this bubbly aura to him that makes him not afraid to approach me. He is very nice, and tries to include me in activities and socializing, which I know you'd appreciate having me do. I know that, if you were still alive, the two of you would be teaming up to make me show any signs of happiness."
Natalya chuckled, before glancing at the tombstone again and noticing the date of Katerina's passing.
"It's only been a few months since you passed, hasn't it? We're now at the end of April, and you passed away in December. Surely I'm allowed time to grieve, aren't I?"
Natalya paused for a moment to think about Katerina's death, of how it all happened, only for her mind to draw a blank. Was it a terrible sickness, or something more traumatizing? Did she pass in her sleep, or did she suffer?
"Katya, I can't seem to recall how you passed. I come out here to visit your grave everyday, surely I should remember what happened, right? Maybe Ivan would remember, but he would definitely scold me if I wrote to him in Zorora saying I forgot all about it."
Natalya huffed, reflecting on her brother's rule in Diamonds, only for her long-term memory to falter yet again.
"Katya, when did he leave us? I know being the King of Diamonds is a big deal, but did he really just leave you here in Nodiff with me? Was keeping you here in Clubs with me a big mistake, was it connected to your death somehow?"
Natalya focused on her memories again, trying to bring forward anything about the three of them being separated as they were. Surely Ivan became a Royal before she did, but when did she become the Ace of Clubs?
"Katya, am I losing my mind? I can't remember anything at the moment. I can't remember your death, I can't remember Ivan becoming King of Diamonds, and I can't recall becoming the Ace of Clubs. I must be overthinking this, right? Maybe I'll remember it later or something? I know it's crazy to think you can answer me, but any sign to tell me I'm going crazy would be appreciated -"
A strong gust of wind suddenly whipped past Natalya, making her cloak fly loose and her hood fall off her head. Determined to keep as dry as possible, Natalya quickly grabbed the edges and pulled everything back in close. She braced for the next gust, only for nothing to come afterwards in short order. She frowned in confusion as she released her grip on the cloak, and looked back at her sister's grave.
The gust of wind had knocked some new leaves onto the tombstone, obscuring the date of her death from Natalya's sight.