Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 13
As if on cue, the crowd in the banquet hall parted to either side, like a scene from a fable. Freesia, observing from the high table, had a feeling.
‘Finally, you’re here.’
The other perpetrator who ruined the original wedding day.
Emperor Betelgeuse was approaching the main table with his entourage.
His hair was peppered with gray, and the wrinkles around his mouth showed the dignity of someone who had held a high position for a long time.
However, this day would leave Freesia with the worst impression of the Emperor.
The Emperor, with a pleased smile, first greeted Duke Antares and Izar.
“Haha, what a truly blessed day, isn’t it? Congratulations, Duke Antares.”
“Your Majesty honors me.”
“Likewise for you, Duke Arcturus. You finally have a lady of your domain.”
The Emperor was still smiling.
But his eyes betrayed long-standing grudges when he looked at Izar.
“I suppose you’re not too disappointed it’s not Lady Atria, Duke Arcturus?”
“…….”
“Isn’t it natural for a match to be made with the elder sibling?”
“It is an honor to follow your esteemed command in this marriage, Your Majesty.”
Izar responded neatly.
The Emperor frowned slightly, as if disappointed, but soon turned back to smiling and looked towards Freesia.
“So, this is the daughter Duke Antares found. The new bride deserves congratulations as well.”
Freesia’s heart raced for a moment.
‘It’s my turn to greet him.’
She recalled this moment from her past life, greeting the Emperor.
Back then, her mind had gone blank.
How could she, a mere shepherdess, not tremble in front of the father of the empire?
And at that time, the Antares family had purposely given her only a cursory lesson in etiquette.
Tension, lack of culture, the heavy dress.
Freesia, overwhelmed by all this, had embarrassingly fallen in front of the Emperor. The Emperor at the time burst into laughter.
〈Ha ha ha, it seems the bride is nervous. The groom must help her in many ways.〉
Members of the Antares family also laughed along.
They were the kind who would cut off their own fingers if it meant forever having the Emperor’s favor.
Naturally, making a spectacle of an illegitimate daughter was nothing to them.
So, the shame that day was solely on Arcturus’s side for having such a clumsy bride.
‘This is another part I need to correct.’
Freesia cast her eyes down and delicately held the hem of her dress.
Three years of being whipped into shape made her stance smooth and poised.
“To the sun of the empire, may you be blessed. It’s my first time greeting our glorious father.”
“Hoh…?”
The Emperor raised his eyebrows, seeing the bride’s graceful greeting.
“Well, well, Duke Antares. I heard you only recently found your daughter.”
“Y-Your Majesty.”
“It seems you’ve given the bride quite a harsh education? She already seems very noble.”
This was not the picture the Emperor had wanted to see.
As that implication became clear, the Antares family immediately tensed up.
Freesia could have left it there, but she decided to slightly alter her plan.
‘It would be tiring if those people start causing a commotion now. I don’t have time to waste or be disrupted.’
So, Freesia chose to speak up a bit more boldly.
“Your Majesty honors me. It was with my father’s help and the teachings of my deceased mother that I prepared.”
Freesia subtly brought up her deceased mother.
This made it so the Emperor couldn’t solely blame the Antares.
‘My mother was said to be a fallen noble.’
…Although the only proper things she taught were writing and dining etiquette.
Even if her mother had known higher culture, her mental state was too unstable to impart further knowledge.
Freesia discreetly observed the reactions around her.
Duke Antares had a bitter expression, and the Emperor’s face relaxed a bit more.
“I heard you’ve had a hard life, but it seems your mother taught you well not to forget your aristocratic origins.”
“I am merely grateful for your magnanimity in overlooking my inadequacies, Your Majesty.”
“Haha, truly an exemplary bride. I might start feeling sorry for the groom.”
It was clearly a backhanded compliment.
Freesia internally sighed in contempt. She could empathize with the pain of losing a family member. But using a stranger like her for a game of revenge made her seethe.
‘At least I’ve changed this.’
Originally, the Arcturus party, infuriated by her fall in front of the Emperor, had argued with the Antares family.
It was a pointless argument, but eventually, the Arcturus retainers had united in this sentiment:
〈We cannot accept that woman as our lady!〉
Freesia glanced sideways.
‘And Lord Izar.’
Her husband, thinking he was also fooled, left coldly without consummating the marriage.
With a look of contempt for having been deceived…
Izar’s gaze was still severe.
The displeasure of being put in this situation remained.
However, Freesia was sure that the same contempt that once filled those eyes was absent now.
‘There seems to be a chance for conversation.’
She saw a possibility of more calm discussions about the future.
That alone was exhilarating.
Especially when Izar leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“We have a lot to talk about later.”
“…….”
“Don’t just fall asleep out of exhaustion.”
Freesia looked down with trembling eyes, without making a sound.
“…Yes.”
This was about correcting each wrong stitch, one by one.
Until the end comes.
