Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 53
Jealousy and its companion
Thump.
The head of a six-eyed wolf fell with a dull thud.
It was the leader of the monsters that had been troubling the farmlands of the Deneb domain for a while.
As Izar was wiping the repulsive blood off his sword, Marquis Deneb approached with a deeply grateful smile.
“Thanks to the Duke’s arrival, a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Such a creature appearing is a first in my time.”
“With the leader dead, their numbers will likely die down soon.”
“That’s even more fortunate…”
The Marquis let out a sigh of relief, but Izar silently looked back at the monster he had killed.
To Izar, who governed the neighboring domain, Deneb’s lands were known to seldom produce monsters.
‘Only creatures as small as rabbits should show up.’
However, the origin of this wolf monster was baffling.
Such a dangerous monster appearing out of thin air and nesting…
‘Is someone interfering with the monsters?’
Izar momentarily entertained the thought but soon shook his head, dismissing it.
Since Adamant endowed magic upon humankind, there had never been a case where such a violation of nature was possible.
This incident, then, must surely be a minor anomaly.
At that moment, the Marquis spoke up with a smile.
“It’s embarrassing to have asked for so much from Your Grace during your honeymoon.”
“It’s a price for using the spring. Don’t worry about it.”
“Haha, and seeing Your Grace getting along so well with your new bride makes us all happy.”
“……”
These people of Deneb must all have something odd about their brains. Could it be that the mild climate makes them grow flowers in their heads?
‘To think my relationship with a woman I’ve left behind looks good, what nonsense.’
Yet, even amid these thoughts, Izar’s fingers were fidgeting with a roughly made thread bracelet.
Not that he liked it.
It’s just that its texture somehow soothed him after dealing with the grotesque monster.
Just like how priests count the beads of a rosary during prayer.
When it was time to return to the Deneb castle, the evening had already set in.
‘Well… since this is likely the last time we’ll be together anyway.’
There was no need for him to kill time in the banquet hall with the knights, avoiding everyone.
So, he went up to the guest bedroom, just like last time.
“You’ve returned, Duke.”
“……”
The greeting that welcomed him upon opening the door was trivial, but somehow, it made his ears tingle.
‘It’s because that woman’s voice is so quiet.’
He decided to find the reason elsewhere.
The sight of her white nightgown fluttering around her thin ankles was also irksome.
‘Not that it doesn’t suit her.’
It’s just irritating that something meant to be seen once demands a second look.
Once this woman stirred a strange sensation in him, his gaze kept drifting to odd places.
But as Izar turned his gaze away, he frowned upon noticing the side table.
“What’s that?”
“Ah.”
On the side table, a small plate was piled high with blushing fruits.
At that moment, the shepherdess’s face turned a shade of red.
Izar suddenly realized that when this woman’s face flushed, her ears and the delicate skin of her neck reddened together.
Even her small lips, disproportionate to her eyes, turned a bright red…
And the words she mumbled made his temples throb.
“Sir Deneb gave them to me. He said to eat more if I want.”
“Deneb… told you to eat ‘more’?”
“Yes. I told him it’s my favorite fruit.”
“Ha.”
Izar looked at the shepherdess with displeasure before striding beyond the screen dividing the bedroom and the bath.
‘Right, she seemed to like that.’
He had seen her gobbling them up like a child at the spring.
‘But still, who looks at such a common fruit from the wilderness with such fondness?’
The shepherdess treated those insignificant raspberries as if they were delicate glass art that needed to be handled carefully with both hands.
His movements became rougher as he pulled off his constricting shirt.
‘Such a ridiculous woman.’
After looking at him with those eyes.
For a moment, breathtakingly dazzling, as if capable of twisting his thoughts.
Was there some kind of magic in her eyes, brimming with tender affection that inflated one’s ego when looked upon?
And she used those eyes for just any fruit?
Just ordinary food?
…Or was it because of the person who gave her the fruit?
At that thought, heat rushed to his skin as if doused in cold water.
‘Don’t pay it any mind.’
She was a woman to be dismissed in the near future.
Nothing but a woman to be removed from his sight.
What does it matter what becomes of her hereafter, or if she harbors feelings for another man?
Yet…
Izar bit his lip. Hard.
A new kind of anger seethed within him, unfamiliar and intense.
Since inheriting the title of duke at ten, he had felt the burn of anger countless times.
But this kind of fury was a first.
With his clothes changed, he pushed the screen aside forcefully and walked towards the shepherdess.
The startled woman blushed slightly as she saw him. The first time he saw such a look, it wasn’t bad because it was amusing, but now it was different.
He decided to give her a cold reminder.
“I understand you might miss your days on that hill, but it would be wise to come to your senses.”
“P…Pardon?”
“Think about how it looks, happily accepting things from a man who is not your husband.”
“It’s not that I eagerly accepted it, it was just given out of kindness.”
“As if Arcturus isn’t already known for having a wife who eyes other men.”
“……!”
