Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 181
Mixed feelings
During the journey in the carriage, avoiding her husband wasn’t too difficult. The men guarded the procession and the carriage, and Freesia only needed to shut herself away with Thea.
However, things changed just before they arrived at the capital, as the sun set and they had to stay at a proper lodging.
‘No matter how large the lodging is, it’s impractical to use separate rooms in a situation like this.’
Maybe if they were an older couple, long tired of each other.
Freesia suppressed her resistance this time and quietly followed Izar. Yet, before they entered the room, it seemed as though he was hesitating for some reason.
Especially when his gaze lingered on her earlobes.
Though the scar from when her earrings were torn out had healed, she knew his golden eyes sometimes rested there, as if concerned.
Even now, he seemed prepared to offer separate rooms if that’s what she wanted.
“If you want…”
“No, it’s fine.”
The thought that this was his way of being considerate annoyed her to no end.
‘As if I’d blush over something like this, like I used to.’
Even after dismissing the attendants so it was just the two of them, the room remained steeped in silence.
Having already changed into her shift dress, Freesia quietly watched Izar remove his outer garments one by one. Unlike the days in Deneb, nothing separated them now.
In the stillness, the nature of their relationship hit her anew.
‘Back then, I had to chatter to get a response from him, sometimes even teasing him.’
Pinching her nose playfully or demanding kisses—those childish antics had once been his form of affection. But now, when she stayed silent, the emptiness of their relationship was laid bare.
‘Honestly, the only reason he’s holding onto me now is pride.’
When he finally removed his shirt, however, she involuntarily grimaced.
‘So that’s what he’s been hiding under his armor…’
A large scar stretched diagonally across his body, from his left lower back to his collarbone. Though not grotesque, the scar tissue’s coppery hue starkly contrasted with his otherwise pale skin.
‘To think the burns from the dragon were that severe…’
Seeing it now, she marveled at how he had even survived. If she hadn’t been kidnapped back then and had been there with him, she likely would have wept endlessly, as if the injury were her own.
“Did it hurt much?”
The words she forced out sounded dry, almost like someone else’s voice.
Izar nearly laughed upon hearing them. The fact that this woman showed concern for him felt more rewarding than the honor of his family.
Yet, recognizing how superficial her question was, his reaction turned into a self-deprecating sigh.
‘She doesn’t realize it, but…’
Having once seen her eyes shine with genuine emotion, he could immediately tell—she had no real interest in his wounds.
While he sat there, absurdly tense, parched as though his throat was burning, she seemed completely unfazed.
Still, it had been so long since they’d had a conversation that he didn’t want to let this chance slip away. With some bitterness, he replied,
“It’s already healed. It doesn’t matter.”
“…I see. That’s a relief.”
“And… a message arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
Izar handed her a letter he’d received by courier.
“They’ve confirmed your true parentage. The Imperial Crown Prince personally verified it.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince himself?”
Why would he go so far?
Perplexed, she opened the letter, which was filled with incomprehensible details at first glance.
It mentioned how she had given a drop of her blood to Viela for further confirmation of her powers, leading to the discovery of a new method for verifying bloodlines.
And the conclusion was…
“When we reach the capital, you’ll have to visit the imperial family.”
“……”
“As a new member of the imperial bloodline.”
Freesia looked up from the letter. Izar was closely watching her reaction.
If she’d heard this news during the naive and blissful days of her past, how would she have reacted?
‘I might’ve been happy. Finally learning who the person my mother waited for all those years was.’
Perhaps her parents had truly been in love. Maybe if her father had survived, he would have ridden a beautiful white horse to find his lost lover and daughter, just as her mother had murmured with her severed tongue.
But now, it all felt meaningless.
The new title Izar addressed her with only felt alien.
“I see.”
“…That’s all?”
Izar, who had quietly anticipated her reaction, sounded deflated as he asked.
Even if she disliked speaking to him, he had hoped for some excitement at news of her confirmed parentage. After all, she seemed to have hoped the Duke Antares wasn’t her father.
“Aren’t you happy to know your bloodline?”
“Not really. It doesn’t change the fact that my parents weren’t in a proper marriage.”
Freesia now understood why Izar was so reluctant to let her go, and she smirked inwardly.
Even if he despised being married to a bastard from the Antares family, a bastard from the imperial family wasn’t so bad.
“But I’m sure His Majesty the Emperor will hate this. Should I reply that I’ll live quietly like a rat?”
“Hate it? Ha… not at all.”
Izar smirked bitterly, certain of one thing.
Though the Emperor might be in denial right now, when he finally faced Freesia, he would surely want to keep her by his side for the rest of his life.
“If you said you wanted to separate from me, the person who’d be happiest would be the Emperor.”
