The same anguish

When I first read the manga, I thought fox hunting must be a social event organized by the Ardlay’s family which happened regularly (say yearly) because even the young characters (Archie, Stear, and Anthony) appeared quite familiar about what to expect. After all, fox hunting was a sport that originated in the United Kingdom in the 16th century and had been a popular tradition among the rich landowners for a few hundred years.

But in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), Albert admitted to Candy that he had been the one who ordered the fox hunting. I’m not saying that his family had never done fox hunting before, but it was clear that this event was meant as a debut for Candy — to introduce her to his relatives. This seems contradictory to his character because it’s well known to all Candy Candy fans that Albert loved animals and nature.

However, I was told that the author Mizuki had deliberately done so such that Albert and Candy would share the same anguish — Anthony died so young because of that fox hunting.

As mentioned in my previous post, in the CCFS epilogue, Candy described what had happened when Albert and she had been revisiting that part of the forest where Anthony had had his horse accident. When she had started crying, Albert had tenderly pulled her into his arms to console her. In her letter to him regarding this incident, she said (from spoilers),

“Your painful voice penetrated to my heart.
I learnt — you have been keeping the same anguish to yourself.
I’m sorry I cried so hard on your chest. I made a mess of your fine shirt.
No one can predict what is waiting around the bend — It’s no one’s fault …
Since then, I feel I was given a new life.
Albert-san, thank you very much!”

Based on this letter, I believe both of them had been affected afterwards, and that was why in my story “The Diary” I quoted this famous poem, “Spiritual Pain”, by Jean Varnier:

… Your pain calls out to me.
It touches my heart.
It awakens something within me
and I become one with you in your pain.
I may not be able to relieve your pain,
But by understanding it, sharing it,
I make it possible for you to bear it…

To me, what Albert and Candy had experienced together had made their bond even stronger, like their souls were connected and their hearts could communicate without words. At the end of my story, they got married.

For those who have read one of my earlier posts about my first drawing, I talked about picking up my pencil again back in February this year to sketch a picture based on their wedding night in “The Diary”. Today, I post my first attempt to digitally color this old pencil sketch. I know there are a lot more I could have done, but I hope you will like it. I’m still a beginner with digital drawing or coloring, so any constructive feedback or suggestions are more than welcome!

As usual, please feel free to share my post, but please do not use my image without my permission. Thank you in advance!