Chapter 30

While Iren was disguising herself, Jane drew scars on Iren’s arms and face with cosmetics. With a hat pressed down deeply, Iren no longer looked like the Duchess of Cardius but an ordinary commoner living in Sirencia.

“All that’s left is to nail the lid shut. Just wait a little. I’ll be quick.”

“Just a moment.”

In the coffin, instead of Iren, lay the navy blue dress she had worn, neatly placed among various jewels, ornaments, and flowers. Iren reached out and plucked a large, luscious sapphire that had adorned the chest area.

“Ma, madam?”

“Take it. This is all I can give you.”

“Oh, no, madam! I don’t want to take it. I didn’t serve you expecting a reward. I don’t want it. I won’t take it!”

“I wish you would accept it as a last gift. If I leave like this… it will be hard for us to meet again. Even if I want to give you something, I won’t be able to anymore.”

Iren pondered until just before taking the medicine what she could do for Jane. But no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t find anything suitable.

It was clear Jane wouldn’t accept money. Nor did Iren want to give something filled only with sentiment, like a letter.

She wanted to give Jane something useful that was in its complete form.

Iren placed the sapphire in Jane’s palm and wrapped her hand around it.

“You know, I don’t have good memories of my wedding. It was so painful to recall that I wanted to forget it altogether.”

“Madam……”

“But if there was one good memory, it was something you said to me. Remember? What you said when you saw me in the dress.”

Jane nodded tearfully as Iren smiled at her.

“If you remember, could you say it one last time?”

“……The sapphire…… The sapphire in the middle is so beautiful. It suits you so well, madam. The duke must…… sob, love you very much. To give such a big, beautiful, jewel……”

Tears fell from Jane’s eyes as she couldn’t finish her sentence. Iren squeezed Jane’s hand wrapped around hers.

“You’re not just receiving something from me. You’re giving me another gift too. The last memory with you. Then I won’t be tormented every time I think of the wedding.”

“Madam……”

“If things get tough, feel free to sell it. It’s yours, so use it as you wish.”

Jane couldn’t respond and just kept nodding her head repeatedly. Iren wiped away Jane’s tears and hugged her tightly before letting go.

No more words were needed. Jane wiped away her tears, closed the coffin lid, and began nailing it shut.

Bang, bang, bang! The sound of the hammer shook Iren’s heart. It seems as though it was announcing the death of Irelaide Cardius.

Iren placed one hand on her chest and the other on her belly, then took a deep breath.

Soon, the hammering stopped.

“Let’s go.”

Iren stepped out of the bedroom along with Jane, gasping for breath.

There was neither hesitation nor regret in her steps as she passed through the narrow corridor used by the servants.

* * *

Rain had been falling since dawn on the day of Iren’s funeral.

Lahart lay alone on the wide bed. The gentle warmth and faint presence that always filled his side were now gone.

Only the pitter-patter of the rain coldly circled the empty space.

“Master, the ceremony will start soon.”

Robben informed him politely from outside the door. Lahart immediately opened his eyes. He had just been lying with his eyes closed.

After Iren’s death, he hadn’t slept for a single moment.

He got out of bed and undressed. His well-trained, muscular body seemed too solid to feel any pain. But Lahart’s eyes slightly furrowed as he began to dress in his formal attire. Every time the fabric touched his skin, it felt as though his flesh was being cut by something sharp.

The pain that he hadn’t felt while Iren was alive began to resurface. It was the pain that reminded him of the time when he was trapped in the dungeon of the ducal palace, waiting for death.

He was used to such terrible pain. Lahart finished changing his clothes expressionlessly, as if nothing had happened.

“Have you come out, master? I will guide you……”

Robben, who was waiting in the corridor, stuttered for a moment because Lahart’s appearance was unexpectedly somber.

Lahart didn’t even look at Robben and started walking. Robben seemed to have something to say but soon composed his expression and followed Lahart.

The funeral was to be held in the temple within the ducal palace. The temple wasn’t a space dedicated to a specific god. There was no state religion in the empire.

However, spaces for solemn and sacred ceremonies like weddings or funerals were conveniently called temples.

Lahart stopped in front of the closed temple door. A white cloth symbolizing mourning was wrapped around the doorknob.

The last time he had crossed this door, it wasn’t a white cloth but a navy blue cloth embroidered with gold that hung there.

When one thing came to mind, the scenes he had completely forgotten lined up as if they had been waiting to resurface in his consciousness.

It took 5 years for the color of the cloth on the door to change. Had those 5 years been long enough? Or were they unbelievably short?

He didn’t know. His mind refused any further thoughts or feelings.

It felt as though he had become an idiot just a few days after Iren’s death. Lahart fiercely pushed open the heavy door.

* * *

The ceiling as high as the sky itself gave those who saw it a sense of grandeur and vastness. Even though it was the second time Iren saw the ceiling, her chest tightened as it had when she first saw it.

‘I never thought I’d see the ceiling of this place alive again.’

Iren sighed with a mix of self-mockery. To put it plainly, she was neither dead nor alive at this moment. It was a strange situation where she had become like a ghost, watching her own funeral.

“I didn’t expect her to pass away so suddenly.”

“I heard she wasn’t usually in good health.”

“What a pity. But she was young, wasn’t she?… How empty it must feel after enduring that long winter.”

“What will happen to the projects the lady was working on?”

“Exactly. She pleaded so much a while ago to plant the improved seeds. Why suggest it if this was going to happen?”

“Dear, what kind of words are you saying for someone who has passed away? Keep it down.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t like it either. Didn’t you grumble about changing to the new fertilizer the lady suggested, and now what is this?”

“Dear!”

Various conversations could be heard around. Iren pulled her white hood down deeper. No one paid attention to a woman with ordinary brown hair wearing clean but worn clothes, but it was a habitual action.

Even as people chattered about her death, Iren was remarkably calm.

She flinched for a moment when her work was mentioned. She had a strong sense of responsibility, so she felt regretful for not finishing her work.

But soon, she changed her mind. The agricultural research she had been conducting was meticulously recorded. An expert in that field would be able to continue her research without difficulty.

Moreover, it was the Duchess of Cardius who had died, not the Duke of Cardius. The people of Sirencia, who revered Lahart like a god, would still have him as their leader. It was rather a good thing for them.

Iren suddenly looked around. The attendees of the funeral wore dark and heavy expressions, but hardly anyone was crying.

“What do you think the Duke of Cardius will do?”

“What do you mean?”

“About remarriage. He can’t leave the position of the duchess vacant, can he?”

“Well… Isn’t the princess still unmarried? Could this be the chance for them to marry?”

“Haha. Even so, it’s unlikely the princess would accept a proposal for remarriage.”

Nearby, two men whispered their opinions to each other. From their clothes and manner of speaking, they seemed to be nobles.

Lahart became the duke shortly after there were marriage talks with the princess, that is, the current emperor’s sister.

If I hadn’t been there. If it weren’t for me, she would have married Lahart. Lahart would have been more successful than now, and Sirencia might have become a fertile territory with the support of the imperial family.

My death makes everyone happy. Maybe I should have died sooner.

Iren bit her lip out of habit. At that moment, the door opened violently. The murmuring stopped, and everyone’s gaze turned towards it. Soon after, gasps filled with astonishment burst out from various places.

“The duke’s attire…”

“My eyes aren’t deceiving me, are they?”

“My goodness! Black clothes at a funeral in Sirencia! How disrespectful…!”

Lahart entered the temple, dressed in a black formal wear. His attire, decorated with blue and silver threads and jewels, along with Lahart’s silver hair and gray-blue eyes, added splendor and elegance to his appearance.

It was a sight so beautiful that it could captivate the onlookers, yet it was a shocking sight for a solemn funeral.

Seeing him heading towards the altar, Iren covered her mouth with both hands. Her legs kept giving out, almost causing her to collapse several times.

She had to struggle not to break down and cry out loud. She had to bite her lip so hard that it might bleed.

That attire… that formal wear.

“Quiet.”

With a single word, Lahart plunged the temple into silence. He quelled the commotion in an instant and looked around at the audience from in front of Iren’s coffin placed on the altar.

“We shall proceed with the funeral of Irelaide Cardius, my wife and the other master of Sirencia, the Duchess of Cardius.”

His voice, dry and suppressed of emotions, weighed heavily on the shoulders of those present.

Iren covered her mouth and widened her eyes. She could not take her gaze off him. No, she was unable to.

How can you, of all people, be so cruel to me?

“I wish for you all to pray for my wife’s peace with solemn and devout hearts.”

Lahart smiled. The mourners lost their words at his hard-to-understand attitude, merely gaping.

“I don’t have the heart to do that.”

That outfit was the wedding suit Lahart should have worn, but did not, at their wedding.

Lahart turned around and then knelt on one knee in front of the coffin.

The elder of the Cardius family, in charge of the funeral proceedings, was at a loss but paid it no mind.