Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 141
Alpherg looked approvingly at the young man who had fearlessly jumped into the flames to save the scribe responsible for the accident.
‘I once worried that he might stir up unnecessary competition.’
A young man with exceptional divine power could make the existing priests uncomfortable.
However, Canopus had adapted flexibly and earned a good reputation among the worshippers.
“Reverend Canopus, as a reward for your efforts, you are invited to participate in the imperial service.”
“Your Holiness, I am still too inexperienced to receive such an honor. Please reconsider.”
“Hoho, what are you saying?”
High Priest Alpherg laughed heartily, though he had already decided that accompanying the royal event would be a sufficient reward for the young man.
He firmly waved away Canopus’s modest refusal.
“Now, go and rest, Canopus. You’ve earned it.”
“With a grateful heart, I shall take my leave. May you have a peaceful night.”
Canopus left the High Priest’s chamber with his usual humble demeanor. But as he stepped into the corridor where the moonlight cast long shadows.
“Haah…”
The refined and pious face twisted into an arrogant smile.
“In the name of Adamant, how can they commit such vile acts?”
That scoundrel was killed by a monster in the library.
Taking bribes and falsifying oaths sworn before God without any shame.
<Everyone does this to some extent! We’re short on funds with just divine power donations! Please, drive the monsters away…!>
He didn’t need to recall the rest of the plea.
He had simply used the appropriate flames to erase the marks left by the monster’s bites.
“This land deserves to be punished.”
A corrupted temple, the imperial family that overlooked it and made decisions favoring the great nobles.
And his half-brother.
<If I were your mother, I would be very proud of you.>
Except for the woman who said this with a tearful smile. Everyone else.
“…”
Canopus looked quietly at the oath document he had taken out of his pocket.
A document forcibly stripped of the woman’s oath with divine power…
He wondered what expression that woman would make when he exposed Izar’s deceit.
* * *
It felt like being enchanted by a rainbow.
Throughout the night, as she slept in Izar’s arms, Freesia had that thought absentmindedly.
As promised, he didn’t force himself on her. He merely held her from behind, refusing to let go.
‘Didn’t he say I had a severe sleep habit?’
There were so many things she had yet to tell him.
Her lifespan. Her powers. Her past life. What Atria and he had talked about.
But she hadn’t been able to say any of it yet.
‘Because it’s unbelievably blissful.’
The person she loved was treating her as his wife. The happiness was so overwhelming that she felt like she was drowning in a lake.
‘Let’s enjoy it just a little longer…’
Maybe the next day he would become cold again. Who knew if he’d suddenly cool down and tell her to get lost after speaking his mind?
Despite preparing herself for that slim possibility, he didn’t tell her to leave. She had secretly drunk tea brewed from wild carrot seeds just in case, but Izar didn’t push her for intimacy.
*
And then, something even more surprising happened a few days later.
“I want to see you shoot a bow.”
“…!”
“To enjoy yourself at the imperial palace, you should know how to shoot.”
Izar took her to the practice range in the mansion’s garden.
Usually, knights would practice swordsmanship or shoot arrows at the targets there, but today, it was empty.
‘Alone with him in broad daylight…?’
It was even more unbelievable than consummating their marriage. But what was more surprising was their closeness.
‘Why am I in a position where I’m held in his arms?’
She understood that he wanted to check her posture and the strength with which she pulled the bow, but she hadn’t expected to be pressed so closely against his chest.
“Focus on looking ahead.”
“…!”
“Why are you losing strength in the hand drawing the bowstring?”
Freesia felt increasingly wronged.
‘Then just take your hands off my waist!’
She wanted to complain about his teasing actions, but the weight of his presence and the way his hands gripped her waist made her vision blur.
Recalling how those hands had caressed her made her almost moan.
“Ugh.”
And just like that, her strength left her arm, which should have pulled the bowstring taut.
The arrow missed the target by a wide margin.
“Oh…”
“Haha.”
Izar laughed quietly in her ear as he looked at the pathetic curve of the arrow.
“I find it hard to believe you’ve ever poached pigeons.”
“I… I was better than this.”
“Really? Then why are you struggling with a good bow?”
“Because…”
Freesia couldn’t answer and hung her head low. Izar silently licked his lower lip, watching her neck turn red.
She quickly lifted her head and protested in a pouty voice.
“If you step back a little, I can do better.”
“Are you sure?”
He deliberately tapped her waist, enjoying the way she flinched slightly.
“If you do well just because I step back, it’s pure coincidence.”
“That’s not true…”
“Try again properly.”
He enjoyed listening to her stammer, unsure of herself.
Even if she could shoot better with him stepping back, he had no intention of doing so.