Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 108
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Freesia had been wandering in a dream ever since she collapsed. It was undoubtedly a dream she had seen before.
‘There’s no doubt about it.’
Sometime ago, Izar had called her to his bedroom for no apparent reason… They just slept side-by-side, and the next morning, she woke up with her eyes swollen.
She and Atria, in the bedroom of the Duke’s castle.
Atria looked down at her kneeling self. This dream always ended by reflecting the pitch-black sky.
<Hmph. My poor, beast-like sister.>
A clear voice sneered chillingly. Atria’s gaze filled her with an inexplicable shame.
As if she were exposed in nothing but the thinnest chemise.
<Tsk, what a sight… Such terrible taste, what is this?>
<What are you talking about?>
<You don’t know anything. And your child is nothing either. It’s just a beast cub, not a human.>
For the first time, Freesia screamed out loud.
<No! My child is human! Not a beast!>
<That’s why you don’t know anything.>
Even as Freesia screamed in desperation, Atria kept laughing heartily.
<It’s pitiful. Should have been born to a proper mother—both you and your child.>
Is this an old memory?
If so, why can’t she remember it at all?
When did Atria ever say such things to her?
Her chest burned with anguish. She needed to remember, but she feared she might lose her sanity.
Freesia groaned in pain, clutching her head.
The terrible voice of Atria had disappeared, but the pain in her heart did not. How long had she been alone in the suddenly darkened space?
At some moment, a warm touch was felt above her lowered head.
[O poor child, the sole one left upon this land who heareth my voice.]
When she looked up, she saw a being with an androgynous appearance surrounded by a crescent moon-like light, looking at her with pity.
The being’s dull silver hair was long enough to touch the ground, and even the melancholy eyes beneath the eyelashes held a mysterious allure.
Freesia asked in a voice filled with sobs,
“…For you to have bestowed such a blessing to someone like me, what is it that you want from me?”
Perhaps everyone in Celestica had seen this being in the temple murals.
And this being had also granted her another year of life. The voice was muffled as if heard from beneath a lake, but strangely clear at the same time.
[Mine own desire is but one—to alter the course of a future that once was. A future where all upon this land hath been consumed by fire.]
“Isn’t that the task of a great being?”
Strangely, she could not resist humans, but she argued vigorously against the voice of the deity.
“I just want to be loved by someone. That’s all I have ever wished for…”
She wanted to be loved, and she hoped that person would be Izar. He was her long-standing unrequited love and her cold husband.
She wished he would cry for her, regret neglecting her, and be so devastated that he couldn’t live without her.
Why was she being asked for such a difficult task, when all she wanted were such trivial things?
Of course, at first, she thought she was handling it quite well. But Izar still did not give her a chance, and in the meantime, she was still mocked like a beast by the Antares family.
But unlike the humans who beat her when she argued, Adamant laughed with a sorrowful tone.
[…Even I cannot heedlessly erase a soul once it hath been born. Neither can I now intervene in the world of mortals…]
Freesia did not lift her head even at the soothing voice of the deity.
Maybe it was because she knew this being would not hit her. Even if she acted like a petulant child, they would stroke her head.
And the hand that stroked her head remained constant with that groundless certainty.
[Thou art heading in the right direction. Therefore, I make this promise unto thee.]
“What is it…?”
[When thou usest thy power in the days to come, thou shalt surely know that I am with thee.]
The darkness, which had been as cold as ice, felt a bit warmer.
Freesia also lifted her head silently, looking up at the being who whispered to her.
[In the time that remains, achieve what thou desirest, whatever it may be.]
“…….”
The remaining period.
Whatever she wanted, regardless of what it was… It was infinitely merciful, yet still cruel in its limitations.
“……Then when the given time ends, what will happen to me?”
[Thy original span of days had ended once, and I did forcibly extend it.]
Adamant whispered as he kissed Freesia’s forehead weightlessly.
[So when thou comes to the end once more, return unto me, my child.]
“…….”
[Thy child, too, awaits for thee, cradled in my embrace.]
