Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 158
“Ha!”
Atria burst into a coarse laugh at the sudden accusation.
She was surprised that Freesia had caught on so quickly, but she could simply deny it.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did the madness from your mother run in your blood?”
“…I expected that response.”
Freesia lifted the corners of her mouth slightly.
Though her lips smiled, her mind felt as if it were being torn apart, like paper ripped at its corners. Why was everyone pushing her to such extremes?
Why. How.
She had done nothing wrong but be born as her mother’s daughter and live her life.
Then, everything happened in an instant. Before the sneering Atria could even get into position, Freesia had already drawn her bow, and then…
The arrow, released from the bowstring, whistled past Atria’s ear. The dull sound of it embedding into a tree trunk was immediately followed by Atria stumbling backward in panic.
“You…! Are you insane?!”
“Yes. It seems like it.”
Freesia responded calmly.
Her original plan had been to shoot arrows at this wretched woman and the Duchess of Antares amidst the chaos if a monster appeared.
Piercing an earlobe or a hand that had never done any labor would have been satisfying enough.
But now, even that wasn’t enough.
Freesia pulled the bowstring taut and whispered.
“Atria, prove it to me. That you’re not a beast.”
Let’s see how noble a person born into privilege could remain in the face of physical pain.
The next arrow hit Atria’s left shoulder.
“Someone help me! Now, ahh!”
“No one is coming, Atria.”
Sir Dike is faithfully following my orders. Freesia murmured quietly, hitting Atria’s ankle next.
“Ahhhh!”
Atria had once commanded for Freesia to rip her insides apart, yet now she was screaming over an arrow in her ankle.
Freesia stepped on Atria’s hand to keep her from crawling away. Even though she was smaller in stature, she had enough strength from herding sheep up and down hills to overpower her.
“The sheep I slaughtered were quieter. It seems even a noble-born lady is nothing special.”
“Ugh, aah…!”
“If you want to live, tell me. You, your mother, and who else?”
Freesia suspected Lady Electra. The Antares household wouldn’t have directly placed someone to tamper with the drinks at the Arcturus estate.
But she needed to hear it directly from Atria’s mouth to be certain.
“Who were the ones trying to ruin me if I got pregnant? Tell me everything right now!”
Atria struggled to lift her head, her face contorted with pain, but a victorious smirk played on her lips.
“Haha, even if you have a child, what will you do? Even if you give birth, you’ll just have another bastard like yourself.”
“What nonsense.”
“Augh!”
Freesia stomped on Atria’s hand again, causing her to stifle a groan. But her blue eyes still sparkled with malicious glee.
“Why don’t you ask the Duke? What exactly was the deal we had!”
“What are you talking about…!”
“How much must he have hated you… to have erased your name!”
The sharp light in Freesia’s eyes dimmed. Seeing her resolve waver, Atria continued her taunts through gritted teeth.
“There’s no mention of your name in the sacred vow he made before the great God!”
Name? On what document?
“You don’t exist, you worm. Neither will the child you bear!”
“…Lies.”
The foot that had been pressing down on Atria’s hand suddenly felt like it was submerged in ice water.
No name? Why? Freesia’s mind froze with confusion.
<You’re the only woman for me.>
But Izar had said that to her, hadn’t he?
Then what about her ‘husband’? The man who had taken her, waiting with her for the birth of their child?
‘Then what about my baby?’
The child she had been so proud of, thinking it would be different because it was a child of the ducal household?
‘Don’t believe Atria.’
But the memory of Atria brandishing a ring in front of her tear-filled eyes resurfaced.
<Don’t believe me? Then look at this.>
The ring bearing the Arcturus crest had gleamed in the candlelight of the bedroom. Such a ring even the Duchess Freesia couldn’t wear.
“…Izar’s ring. Why do you have it?”
“Ha, haha!”
Atria’s laugh was a mix of sneers and coughs.
“What, you knew about the ring? That’s right, he was supposed to…!”
But Atria’s shout was drowned out by a sharp, piercing metallic noise. Even Freesia, whose mind had gone blank, looked up at the strange sound that seemed to cover the entire sky.
‘What was that just now?’
Goosebumps rose all over her body.
But it wasn’t just the cry—a shadow, like a giant bird’s, swept over them.
No matter how large the bird, it couldn’t make a cry that paralyzed the nerves.
‘Could it be.’
Freesia turned away from the fallen Atria without another glance.
Other women she had left behind were hurriedly escaping with their knights, and soon Van came rushing towards her.
“Madam! Madam, are you alright?!”
“Sir Dike, what’s happening?”
“A flying monster has appeared, you must escape quickly!”
