Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 166
Canopus savored the emotions that flitted across Freesia’s pale green eyes. As he had expected, there was suspicion and a hint of lingering attachment.
But faster than he had anticipated, resignation, anguish, and a fierce anger ignited in those eyes.
‘So, somewhere deep down, she knew…’
She must have known that Izar would erase her without a second thought.
When Freesia finally looked up at Canopus, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to contain the burning thrill in his chest.
Becoming the savior of a woman whom Izar had cast into despair was more exhilarating than he’d ever imagined.
“Now that you’ve shown me this… what exactly do you want from me?”
“Freesia, I believe what you and I want is the same.”
Canopus leaned closer to her and whispered.
“Revenge.”
“……”
“On the corrupted temple that abandoned you, the imperial family that threw you to Izar. And on the illustrious Arcturus family that abused you.”
Her small hands tightened around the marriage certificate.
The crinkling of paper should have been unpleasant, but to Canopus, it sounded as delightful as the chirping of a small bird.
Relishing the moment when Izar’s woman fell into his hands, he added,
“And don’t you want revenge on Izar as well?”
* * *
‘The day hell arrived.’
Those who were at the imperial palace during the event had come to refer to it that way.
While monsters had appeared in the capital before, they had never reached the palace, where the imperial family and nobles resided, making the shock indescribable.
In proportion to the terror, praise for the hero who saved the day spread far and wide.
The hero who stopped the hellish disaster from spreading further.
The man who killed a monstrous dragon, an ancient creature descended from the heavens.
“Your Grace! Sir, please, calm yourself…!”
But despite the praise outside, those near the man tried desperately to restrain him when he arrived at the palace.
One side of Izar’s face, along with his arm and shoulder, was heavily bandaged due to severe injuries.
Although he had only recently regained the ability to move, he walked forward with an unwavering, furious stride.
“Y-Your Grace!”
When he grabbed the High Priest by the collar as the man nervously loitered near the emperor’s throne, the wide audience hall erupted in cries of astonishment.
“Guh… Duke…! Wh-Why are you…!”
“I heard the priests pushed my wife out of the safe zone?”
The High Priest’s eyes trembled as he struggled in Izar’s grip.
The Duke’s lips were curled in a smile, but it made him look like a man teetering on the edge of madness, barely holding back his fury.
“While I was saving your miserable lives…! You had the nerve to claim that she was the cause of the monster attacks!”
“Agh…”
“When you offered that pathetic excuse for the monster outbreak, say it again, in your own words!”
The day before the hunting festival, when he had last met the High Priest, he had refrained from mentioning Freesia’s name.
And yet, within a day, he had twisted his interpretation and issued orders to his subordinates.
Izar threw the High Priest aside, watching as he choked and struggled for air, before lifting his gaze to the man sitting silently on the high throne.
Just as he had that day as a child, kneeling before the emperor after witnessing his father’s death, waiting for recognition.
Back then, the emperor had coldly ignored him, turning his back while the nobles murmured with a mixture of pity and scorn.
“…So, Your Majesty, I ask you to speak plainly.”
But this time, he wouldn’t let the old man escape his demand. He no longer cared to hide the gleam of fury in his eyes.
The last shred of restraint he’d clung to for the sake of dignity had been worn away.
Since the moment Freesia had been seized by monsters and disappeared, and he had slaughtered anyone who stood in his way, his mind felt like it had burned to ash.
“How much more must I endure to be granted forgiveness?”
“Ahem…”
“You forced that woman on me as my bride, and now you’ve driven her to her death…”
He had accepted the punishment for the sins of his family, believing that if he continued the sacred duty of slaying monsters, he could one day redeem them.
Time and again, he had saved various territories, and now, after thirteen years, he had even saved the capital.
But rather than receiving any reward, he had lost everything.
With a laugh twisted by resentment, Izar shouted,
“So now, in this very place, tell me what you intend to do to compensate for what happened to my wife!”
The emperor’s brow furrowed in response to the naked accusation.
This insolent young man was publicly tarnishing the emperor’s dignity.
“Tsk… It’s unfortunate that your wife went missing, Duke. I hadn’t thought you’d grow so attached to her.”
He had planned to grant a full pardon, considering how he had saved the lives of the imperial family and nobility, and even defeated a dragon.
And yet, all for the sake of a woman of no importance…
“The imperial family will, of course, take appropriate measures. If you truly wish, you may now conduct a proper marriage… Lady Atria would make an excellent choice, don’t you think?”
