Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 76
He almost snatched the shawl from the shepherdess. The woman flailed her hands in shock, but Izar had already thrown the shawl to Dike.
“Van Dike.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Find the one who matches these footprints. We’ll discuss your punishment later.”
“Understood.”
Izar, without saying another word, wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist and pulled her to his side.
“Ack…!”
However, Izar’s expression twisted in fury the moment he saw a fleeting sign of pain from her.
“Ha. Damn it.”
The awkward posture she had when leaning on the maid made sense now.
‘She must have twisted her ankle.’
Truly a troublesome being.
To require so much attention, to appear in his dreams, and now he had to carry her.
As he had thought once before, there was no disaster in his life apart from her.
His actions evidently startled her, as he could hear a muffled scream near his ear.
“Duke?”
“Stop struggling unnecessarily.”
He was dirty enough, and recently, his restless dreams had made him all the more aware of this woman.
From her breathing close to his ear to the awkward warmth of her hand clutching his shoulder.
Everything about the shepherdess tugged at his nerves one by one.
Yet, making no apparent effort to show it, Izar found the abandoned carriage. Thankfully, in this situation, the monsters hadn’t touched the carriage at all, allowing them to depart immediately.
He pushed the bewildered shepherdess into the carriage and followed her in.
Like that time in the mansion in Deneb, he knelt in front of her and grumpily chided.
“Your ankle is injured, isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
“Let me see.”
“…”
As she awkwardly lifted the hem of her dress, the dirty tights underneath were revealed.
Both remained silent for a moment. They couldn’t check the ankle without removing the undergarment that wrapped around her knee.
Finally, Izar broke the silence.
“Take that off as well.”
“…”
“Now.”
Prompted as if given an order, Freesia quickly lowered her head and fumbled around her knee.
Trying hard not to expose the skin beneath, her fingers, searching for the ribbon, froze with tension.
‘This is absurd.’
How could her face be burning in such a situation?
Many people were injured, and a servant bitten by a monster earlier had died…
But as the dress fabric rustled, the act of removing her undergarments in front of Izar felt absurdly thrilling, as if she was seducing him, making her ears ring to the point of deafness.
This was despite the fact that he was only trying to check on a minor ankle injury.
As the tights fell to the floor, Freesia hung her head low.
“I… I’ve taken it off.”
“…”
Without a word, Izar took out a clean cloth from the pouch at his waist.
He had been in this posture once before in Deneb, wondering why she was making such a fuss over something so trivial. The shepherd’s embarrassment seemed to somehow infect him, making even him feel awkward for no reason.
To hide this ridiculous embarrassment, he wrapped the bandage tightly on purpose. His scolding voice was quite sharp.
“Always getting injured, rolling around, spraining your ankle.”
“Uh, mhm.”
“You’re really good at this.”
“Uh…”
“Be quiet.”
Eventually, Freesia lost her strength, like a lamb that had lost its fight during a forced bath. Even her moans of pain seemed to annoy him.
‘I’m glad Izar is being nice to me.’
Would it be too much to ask for a bit more gentleness? As disappointment and regret began to surface, Freesia struggled to mutter.
“…Why did this happen?”
“…”
“I was told it’s safe during this season…”
Hearing the concern she echoed, Izar finally sighed.
“Perhaps we should ask the Temple in the capital.”
“Do they know something there?”
“It’s where those who claim to understand the will of the gods congregate, so they ought to have some excuse.”
Lately, they seemed keener on the scent of coins, though Izar didn’t add that.
…After all, it was thanks to the greed of the capital’s clergy that he had nullified his marriage to this shepherdess.
At the time, the situation was so absurd that he could only laugh out of anger and humiliation. But now…
Meanwhile, Freesia was lost in her thoughts and didn’t notice the subtle change in Izar’s expression.
‘What was I told when I was given a year?’
〈I pray for your wish and mine…〉
Were those words considering this anomaly? She suddenly remembered what the priest in Deneb had said.
〈Long ago, those blessed by Adamant could hear His voice. This was true for clerics with strong divine powers as well.〉
〈However, over time, that connection was lost. We only speculate now, but perhaps it’s a punishment for straying from the path of God.〉
‘A punishment for straying from the path of the gods.’
So, hearing that voice, was it meant to fulfill a duty in exchange for the year given?
‘It seems like I’m interpreting this too conveniently.’
But then, Izar’s soft sigh snapped her back to reality.
“There. All done.”
“Ah.”
“Just be careful when you move.”
His touch was harsh, his tone brusque, but the bandage was meticulously applied.
Freesia, having been injured many times, thought it unnecessary to go to such lengths. Even Thea could have done this instead.
‘What exactly is Izar thinking?’
Duty? Affection? Or a mix of both emotions?
However, as she hesitated and looked at him, a face she longed for flashed before her eyes.
It felt like a distant past now, but the face of that ‘husband’ who awkwardly fed her raspberries while holding her in his arms.
The man who silently cared for her in the bedroom, bewildered by her morning sickness and stomach pains during pregnancy.
…Although that time ended with deep scars, an unreasonable longing arose. So, before he could distance himself from her further, she cautiously reached out.
“Did you get injured, Duke?”
“…!”
Even if he might be displeased, she wanted to caress him while he was still close.
In her past life, she had dreamt of comforting him in this way, countless times as he left the castle due to monsters, with nothing but pure love.
