Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 36
“If you had any sense, you would have chosen a different method of discipline!”
“What…!”
Electra gasped, clutching her chest.
“’Sense’? How can you say such a thing?”
It was as good as screaming, ‘Why are you so utterly stupid?’ She had never felt such humiliation in her life.
Izar rubbed his face, holding back further harsh words.
“Just leave. And remember what I’ve said.”
“…”
Electra didn’t reply, gnawing her lip instead.
But when Izar’s eyes flashed fiercely, she felt as if she was standing in front of a large beast, her legs turning to jelly.
“Understood?”
“Understood… Izar.”
“And while this woman is staying in this castle, arrange a proper room for her.”
“…”
Electra didn’t respond to the command, but it was clear she had felt the impact of his words.
Outside, Mrs. Merope, the chief handmaid, waited uncertainly.
“Elder Madam…”
“Find a new place to lock that girl in.”
Electra spat out with tremors of fury.
Now that the state of the room had been exposed, if she didn’t send the woman to a proper place, Izar would condemn her severely again.
She had attempted to take the initiative, only to face a humiliating defeat right at the start.
As a woman who had reigned over this place, she was determined to repay this insult, no matter what it took.
First, there was one thing she needed to do.
“We need to send a letter to House Antares.”
***
Even after Electra left, Izar continued to gaze intently at the shepherdess for a while.
He had watched over her side like this even on the night that never consummated their marriage.
But the difference now was that back then, he thought her eyes resembled those of an old woman.
<It is as a village woman who admires you that I give this to you, Duke>
Now, he knew how beautifully those eyes could shine.
“…”
Izar took out the thread bracelet from his pocket and silently fiddled with it.
‘Thinking back… it was the same when I was eighteen.’
Was it already about five years ago?
Walking along the hill at dusk, he looked up at the shepherdess and by chance, saw her light green eyes shining in the twilight.
Even though she looked much thinner and more exhausted back then, he briefly thought how big her eyes were.
‘I was curious about what those big eyes held.’
And so, he ended up saving her when she foolishly fell into the lake. It was sheer luck that he was watching right at that moment.
‘She was always looking down, so I couldn’t really see anything.’
But the fleeting curiosity he felt at eighteen was crushed under more significant matters when he learned about the existence of the ‘half-sibling’ left behind by his mother…
As he was about to grimace with hate,
“…zar.”
The woman on the bed stirred and murmured softly.
He turned towards the door, intending to leave, after treating her wounds and moving her to a slightly better room.
‘And forget her this time.’
He planned to do just that until he could remove her from his life.
“…Lord Izar.”
But before he could turn around, the woman’s voice, breaking off, halted his steps.
She still had her eyes closed, moaning in pain.
“Don’t go…”
That last plea clearly reached his ears. Eventually, she fell back into a fitful sleep, interspersed with groans of pain.
The room filled with the scent of wild roses returned to silence.
***
Freesia had no recollection of ever crying.
Her mother, even in her madness, hated seeing her cry and prevented it with beatings.
Once she missed the age when it was acceptable to cry freely, she found herself unable to shed tears even when her eyes welled up.
So, on the day she had to let her baby go, tears didn’t come out either.
Even when people whispered about her being disgusting, she had no strength to argue.
<To be born to parents like us—happiness would forever elude that child anyway.>
Perhaps that’s why her ‘husband’ said those words.
Not because he didn’t love her, but because he found her, who didn’t cry for their child, utterly repulsive.
But in truth, Freesia also wanted to hold onto Izar as he was leaving that day.
And to plead with him while crying.
‘Lord Izar, don’t go.’
