Episode 18 – Funeral (1)

*

This morning, exactly 4 months and 2 weeks after I, who died 20 years ago, opened my eyes again.

I was invited to Daniel and Rose’s funeral and arrived at Robin’s mansion.

Right now, my feelings are fluctuating uncontrollably, and I can’t calm down at all.

The waves of emotions-excitement, joy, sadness, and fear-show no signs of subsiding.

Actually, I’ve been excited and intoxicated with a sense of accomplishment since I entered the city yesterday without any special inspection.

The meticulous and persistent inspections by the guards protecting the Empire’s capital were famous.

If I hadn’t avoided that inspection, I would have been exposed as undead without a doubt.

This inspection was also the reason I spent over a month in Flavis acting as Baron Salvie.

In fact, my initial plan was to approach the hero’s children, become friends with them, and enter the capital as their guest.

Since that was the best way to pass through the walls of Siorand safely without revealing my identity or status,

I had been acting as a mysterious rich man, throwing money around, and waiting for Maziel, the academy’s principal who was known for his greed, to call me.

But as the saying goes, nothing in the world goes according to plan,

I ended up passing through the gates while transporting their corpses.

Funnily enough, the person who trusted me and entrusted their bodies to me was Jennifer.

True to her quick calculations, she trusted the wealth I showed more than my identity.

The trust I gained has led me to Robin’s mansion now.

Today, I will finally meet Robin.

I will see with my own eyes just how valuable the wealth and glory he obtained by betraying me are.

But,

The lingering discomfort in a corner of my heart pricks at my nerves like a fishbone stuck in my throat.

Why? Why do I feel so uneasy and afraid?

According to doctrine, a proper funeral is one of the procedures for the Goddess to take the soul directly.

Therefore, it was said that the Goddess is watching over a funeral with proper procedures.

Am I, in my undead body, instinctively fearing the Goddess’s gaze as I watch the funeral?

Or am I afraid of the divine punishment that will befall me because of the prank I played on Daniel’s corpse?

[Haha, you’re saying something funny.]

[Ed, what you’re afraid of isn’t… the Goddess, is it?]

“Shut up.”

Yeah. Let’s stop with the excuses and nonsensical bullshit.

Didn’t I firmly believe that my revenge was the will of the Goddess?

What I’m afraid of isn’t the Goddess, but her daughter.

“Mela…”

I’m afraid of her, the her I’m bound to meet today.

Because if she looks happy, it will be too painful.

Because if she looks unhappy, it will be too sad.

If I see her, can I endure it?

Can I overcome the urge to rip off this ridiculous mask and say, ‘Your lover has returned’?

If I reveal all the truth to you, will you come back to me?

Even if you come back to me, can I be happy again?

Unlike my painless body, my tattered heart seems to be screaming incessantly.

The scream my heart makes the moment I face her might deafen me.

I stood still in front of the mansion’s main gate, thinking such thoughts.

Then, an old gentleman approached me from across the gate and greeted me.

“Welcome, Baron Salvie-nim.”

He must be the mansion’s butler.

At his greeting, the mansion’s gate opened.

At the sound of the huge iron gate opening, I steeled my heart.

*

The cemetery is on the outskirts of the city, but most nobles have a separate cemetery for their families inside their mansions.

Robin’s mansion also had a cemetery prepared on one side of the garden.

However, no one in this mansion could have predicted that Daniel and Rose would be the first to be buried there.

When I arrived at the cemetery, the deceased’s family members were already gathered and proceeding with the funeral.

A funeral attended by only a little over 20 people, including me, who came alone without Lara and Lily.

Everyone was wearing traditional mourning clothes that covered their faces, so I couldn’t tell who was Robin and who was Mela yet.

Two coffins placed on a high marble platform.

People in black mourning clothes were slowly circling around it, praying.

One of them slowly walked onto the platform where the coffins were placed, took off their veil, placed their hand on the coffin, and began to read a prayer.

Judging by the collar and accessories visible through the mourning clothes, and the way he skillfully read the prayer, he seemed to be a priest.

The priest was a young man with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Seeing his face resembling Robin and his eyes like Mela’s, it was clear that he was Mela and Robin’s son.

I felt suffocated in a body that didn’t need to breathe.

After the priest’s prayer, the men gathered and carefully placed the coffins into the pre-dug pit.

After the men who lowered the coffins stepped back, the undertaker lightly bowed and slowly began to shovel dirt onto the coffins.

Small sobs were heard from all around.

After a while, when the tomb was completed, completely covered in dirt, the priest said.

“From now on, I will call out each person’s name. The person whose name is called should remove their veil and come to the tomb. I will give you time to say your final farewell to the deceased. Then, first up…”

Robin and Mela’s son became a priest. Did he receive a lot of influence from his mother? Did he grow up to be a good kid then?

If I kill him, will Mela also be very sad?

The moment I had that thought, he called out a name.

“Count Robin Boldiras, the father of Daniel and Rose, and the owner of this mansion. Please come forward.”

The first person to remove their veil and approach the tomb was Robin.

I was a little surprised.

I expected it, but I was so unfamiliar with Robin’s appearance, now completely middle-aged.

In my perception, I remember talking to the young him just a few months ago, but the Robin before my eyes had his hair slicked back, and even his beard was well-groomed.

Honestly, if I saw him on the street, I wouldn’t have recognized him.

Robin seemed to be greatly shocked by the death of his son and daughter, his legs even trembling as he knelt in front of the tomb.

“Ah, ah, I still can’t believe it.”

Haha, satisfying.

No, this isn’t enough.

According to Lara, Robin cherished his children terribly, unlike Jennifer.

Well, Banata also tried to help while avoiding Jennifer’s gaze, so he must have a basic sense of responsibility.

Besides, if he had an inferiority complex about being from a commoner background, it’s only natural that he would cherish his children who would carry on his lineage.

Thank goodness he cherishes his children.

Not yet. Much more painful things will come soon.

‘I hope you show an even more intense reaction then, Robin.’

Robin stroked Daniel and Rose’s tombs once each and then stood up.

Seeing his distraught expression, I had to suppress the rising corners of my mouth by pressing down on my mask.

“Next, Jennifer Boldiras, the mother of Daniel and Rose, please come forward.”

Jennifer, who went to the tomb and removed her veil, stood in front of Daniel’s tomb with a stern expression.

Silently, she stared at Daniel’s tomb, then glared at Rose’s tomb and muttered.

“I shouldn’t have given birth to something like you.”

Even though it was a small voice, I clearly heard it.

Seriously, is that something you say at your child’s funeral?

Jennifer turned around as is.

“N-n-next…”

Oh shit, judging by his reaction, Mela’s son must have heard what Jennifer said too.

“Her Imperial Highness Princess Elizabeth Siora, Daniel’s fiancée.”

‘Huh? What did he just say?’

A woman who removed her veil slowly approached the tomb.

‘Oh my god, Daniel,’

It’s surprising that he had a fiancée, but she’s also the Emperor’s daughter,

As far as I remember, this country was definitely not an Empire 20 years ago.

According to Lara, the Kingdom of Siorand, Robin and Mela, and my hometown, absorbed the surrounding countries by promoting the achievements of the hero party and became the Sionesia Empire, and Siorand became the capital.

I remember the king who gave me training to become a thief for the party and the queen sitting next to him.

The king and queen would occasionally come to inspect when I was training, but one day the queen stopped coming because she was pregnant.

If that king became the Emperor, is that woman over there, Daniel’s fiancée, the daughter born to the queen who was pregnant at that time?

No, more than that.

‘Did this crazy bastard Daniel commit a forbidden love with Rose even though he had such a pretty and high-status fiancée?’

The princess named Elizabeth was a beautiful girl with brighter and clearer blonde hair than Robin and green eyes.

She looked down at the tomb without saying a word and turned around.

After that, several people’s names were called out one by one.

Most of them were high-ranking people working at Robin’s mansion, and they all shed tears and said their farewells to Daniel.

I was horrified by Jennifer’s actions, but it was clear that the main character of this funeral was Daniel, and Rose was closer to being an extra.

Considering Rose’s personality, it’s only natural that not many people would like her.

While I was listening to their farewells, someone approached me and quietly spoke to me.

“You are Baron Salvie-nim, right? Thank you for being here today.”

“…!”

I couldn’t answer for a moment.

It was such a familiar voice.

“I am Robin’s wife. Mela Boldiras. You can call me Mela.”

.