Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 167
Izar let out a hollow laugh, his last shred of reason slipping away.
“…Ha.”
To this old man, Freesia was nothing more than a disposable pawn.
A piece he could use to humiliate, manipulate, and finally discard once Izar became someone who couldn’t be ignored any longer, now to be replaced by a better piece.
There were days when even Izar had seen her as a living insult to his honor.
Freesia had been a constant reminder of failure and unending frustration. He had wanted to look away, to shift even a bit of the blame onto her.
But now, she was his one and only wife. Forever, even after this life was over.
‘And what Freesia had said was true.’
The minor difference in the type of monsters—no longer just the wolf-type—didn’t matter.
Every single day mattered with a ticking clock hanging over him.
He needed to find a way to stop that ticking time from slipping away, even just for a day.
But she was taken from him before he could do anything about it.
His wife, and by none other than…
〈This is the first time we’re meeting in person, dear brother.〉
…the half-brother he despised above all else.
“Haah…!”
His fury was so intense that he was enraged even at himself for allowing that man to infiltrate the palace.
But he was nearly driven mad with hatred toward the High Priest who protected that scoundrel and the Emperor, who had tried to frame Freesia as the cause of this disaster amidst the chaos.
As his anger reddened his vision, Izar reached for the sword at his waist.
“Izar, stop!”
The one who halted Izar in his fit of despair was Riegel. Although his arm had been broken in the hunting festival, it was a minor injury compared to the fatalities.
“Move aside, Your Highness.”
“Izar, please… calm yourself!”
Riegel gripped Izar’s shoulders tightly, beads of sweat on his brow. If this continued, a bloody rampage could tear through the well-organized palace.
Glancing at his grandfather, whose face was twisted in anger, Riegel sighed. Dislike the Duke as he might, it was unthinkable that he’d commanded the High Priest to blame the Duke’s wife.
‘Viela Alpheratz’s research hasn’t even yielded conclusive results yet.’
Ideally, Riegel would have waited until all was certain before revealing anything… but there were times when one had to speak up even if things weren’t perfect—especially now, before his grandfather issued another cruel order.
“Grandfather, please support the Arcturus family’s search for the Duchess.”
“Grandson. I am well aware of the Duke’s contributions, but many other families have also suffered losses—”
“The Duchess may very well… be of our own blood.”
“Haha, Riegel. What nonsense is this?”
The Emperor let out a laugh, but Izar stopped abruptly, looking at Riegel.
During the hunting festival, as he personally guarded the prince, Riegel had seemed as if there was something he wanted to say.
‘Could it be…?’
The thought seemed impossible, yet he recalled the mysterious origins of Freesia’s birth that no investigation had ever fully unraveled.
Her mother had once been active in the social circles of the capital…
‘At a time when the Imperial Grandson’s parents and the former prince were still alive.’
The Emperor must have had a similar realization, for he shot to his feet, raising his voice.
“Riegel. Even from you, I won’t tolerate such an outrageous claim!”
The Emperor’s grandson had uttered something explosive in the presence of not only him but also the other nobles. But Riegel didn’t back down.
“This is not a mere jest, Grandfather. I’m only speaking of possibilities at this point, but I have instructed Lady Viela of the Alpheratz family to find a way to confirm any blood relation.”
During the pre-festival, when he had secretly entrusted Viela with a task, she had already obtained the Duchess’s blood sample.
Initially, it was merely to determine the nature of her abilities, but combining it with Viela’s research on identifying family bloodlines might yield new results.
‘Fortunately, the Alpheratz family members were unharmed, so the research is still ongoing.’
Of course, even if the Duchess turned out to have no relation to the imperial family, that wouldn’t justify Grandfather and the High Priest using her as a pawn in their schemes.
But wouldn’t it be wise to avoid the possibility of unwittingly cornering his own granddaughter?
“So, Grandfather, please be cautious with your words to avoid future regrets.”
“Riegel, what are you talking about…?”
The Emperor’s face remained dubious, but his grandson’s earnest plea stirred a sense of foreboding in him.
He had only heard that the girl was ‘raised as a filthy commoner and therefore looks ridiculous beside the Duke of Arcturus’, and thus discarded her…
But who had told him that?
“…The Duke of Antares.”
A cold gleam flashed in the Emperor’s eyes. The Antares family had been absent from court, all heavily injured at the time…
Izar, who had been burning with fury, managed to calm himself just enough to speak.
“It is very likely that the Duke of Antares is not my wife’s biological father.”
“What nonsense is this!”
“Are you suggesting that he brought a woman unrelated to him to court just to curry favor with Your Majesty?”
Suppressing a bitter laugh, Izar watched the Emperor, who trembled with indignation. His heightened emotions had caused a faint stain of blood to seep through the bandages on his neck and face.
“Please add the imperial knights to the search party for my wife. And send those in the Academy skilled in tracking magic—all of them.”
Leaving the Emperor shaking with anger and suspicion, Izar turned and strode out of the audience hall.
