Rachel Cecile (レイチェル＝セシル Reicheru Seshiru) was a minor character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. She was a part of the Vessalius Dukedom, the wife of Xai Vessalius, and thus mother to Oz and Ada Vessalius. She died in a carriage accident shortly after Ada's birth, though rivals to the Vessaliuses the Nightray Dukedom are suspected of having had a hand in her death. Since Rachel's death, Xai has been completely cold, distant, and uncaring towards their children.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for Pandora Hearts.
Read at your own risk.
Approximately 25 years before Oz escapes from the Abyss, Rachel had been pregnant with her and Xai's first child. She gave birth to their son—and he was stillborn. Xai took his dead child and went to perform the christening alone, no other soul aware of where he had gone in that short period of time. When Xai did this, he switched out his deceased infant for Oz. Rachel was never the wiser to this, as Xai never told her to protect her heart. Thus this makes Oz not blood related to any of the Vessaliuses.
Personality[]
Rachel was said to have been a wise and stern woman, though the full extent of her maternal prowess remains unseen. Having quickly picked up on the fact that Oz was not her true son proves that Rachel had been perceptive, though her willingness to hold back her queries shows that she trusted Xai no matter how confusing his tactics seemed to her. Rachel was also very understanding and loyal, having supported Xai even after learning the truth about Jack and B-Rabbit - acting as Xai's rock when times seemed to get hard up and until her demise - being the main reason that Xai even accepted Jack's proposal to allow Oz to replace his stillborn child.
History[]
At an unknown point Rachel married an heir to the Vessalius Dukedom, Xai Vessalius. Rachel became pregnant with her first child in June and gave birth to a son on December 26, not remaining conscious long enough to learn that her son was stillborn. While Rachel was sleeping, Xai stole their son from her arms and stormed off into the night without any word of where he was going and what his intentions were. When Xai returned, he has said that he'd wanted to celebrate the christening of his child by himself. Though in reality, Xai had switched the child for another, as Xai wanted to spare Rachel the pain of losing her child. The child whom Xai switched for his own was the fetal form of Jack Vessalius, who had been rejected from the Abyss because of the power he had been exposed to 100 years before and whom was able to live without dying as his body aged in reverse in a continuous cycle after aging to the form he was when exposed to the Abyssal power. Xai never told Rachel of what he had done, and so Rachel would never know that the child named Oz Vessalius was not hers. However, unbeknownst to Xai - Rachel immediately picked up on the fact that the baby she held was not her own, though she kept this to herself.
After six years of happily living with Oz and helping him grow, Rachel became pregnant once again in October, later giving birth to a girl, whom she named Ada Vessalius, on June 2. Shortly after Ada's birth, Rachel got the truth out of Xai about their child, deciding to maintain support for Xai and become his anchor as he followed his beliefs.
Unfortunately, mere days later, Rachel was caught in a runaway carriage gone awry; losing her life in the process. As far as some of the Vessaliuses were concerned, the Nightray Dukedom was responsible for Rachel's death, however nothing was ever proven.
Xai later believes that Rachel's death was somehow orchestrated by Jack, as Xai believed that their son was also killed by Jack, because the doctor who had overseen the procedure was one of Jack's followers. He believed that the doctor had killed his son in order to allow Jack to join the Vessaliuses once more; thus Xai formed a revenge against Jack over the deaths of his son and wife, despite Jack not having a part in Rachel's death.
Appearances[]
- Retrace X: Malediction (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XIII: A Lost Raven (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XLVI: Persona (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LXXX: Oscar Vessalius (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LXXXI: CHILDREN (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LXXXII: Wish (Mentioned only)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- There is no known picture of her shown or seen throughout the series. She is one of the few characters in the series to only be mentioned in memories and history.