Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 98
Not long after the Duchess left, rough hands hoisted Freesia up. Every step sent searing pain through her legs and strained muscles screamed in agony. It wasn’t until the maids dropped her somewhere in the darkened garden that she let out a moan.
“Ugh…”
“Hah, this should be good enough.”
The maids whispered among themselves, then sneered at Freesia, who had managed to raise herself slightly.
“Now, bastard lady. Fix yourself up nicely, yeah? We’re heading back inside.”
Freesia bit back another groan. Among the maids was Anna, the one she had asked for help to see Izar before dinner.
“Thank you, Anna, for helping me.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“Take this, even if it’s not much.”
“Oh my, you didn’t need to.”
Despite accepting her expensive jewelry, there wasn’t a shred of mercy from them.
‘It’s not surprising.’
She couldn’t recall a time anyone around her had been kind since she became aware of things.
From her mother, the Antares family, the people in the Arcturus estate, the capital’s nobles, to the manor’s servants, everyone despised her.
Except for Izar, who had saved her that day at the lake.
‘I have to recover quickly…’
She had to return to his side. Even if he didn’t care for her now, he wouldn’t stand by and do nothing after what had happened to her.
‘But first, I need to get up…’
At that moment, she heard the low voices of men. Being near the garden close to the banquet hall, it was a convenient spot for them to sober up in the night air.
“…I heard the bastard is resting here.”
“Haha, what are you going to do if you find her?”
“What else? Just say hello.”
“Where exactly do you plan to say hello? Are you insane…?”
The vulgar conversation that blurred the lines between nobility and commoners sent chills down her spine.
‘I need to get out of here.’
Unlike in the capital, the villagers had shunned Freesia, fearing she might inherit her mother’s madness. That noisy concern had fortunately suppressed the men’s desires. That ostracism was both the start of her loneliness and her shield.
Because her mother was mad.
Because her mother’s tongue had been crudely cut out, leaving a blunt stump.
Now, her own safety depended on her ability to endure the horror and pain inflicted upon her.
“Haha.”
As she struggled to move, Freesia let out a stifled laugh.
So, Duchess Antares was the one who cut out her mother’s tongue.
She hadn’t known. No, she had vaguely suspected, but she hadn’t wanted to know so explicitly.
If her mother’s tongue had been intact, she wouldn’t have gone mad to such an extent. Her madness stemmed from fear and the frustration of being unable to speak.
At least her childhood wouldn’t have been so painful…
“Terrible woman.”
Freesia whispered, her voice suppressed by pain.
A bad, cursed, wicked human being.
She couldn’t comprehend how someone could claim that seeing her husband’s bastard was somehow a personal affront. If anything, the ones who benefited the most from Freesia’s existence were them.
‘I won’t let it go.’
She didn’t want to taint the limited time she had left with hatred. Her life had been overwhelmingly exhausting, and for her last remaining year, she wished to be free from such negative emotions.
‘But it’s not possible.’
She just wanted to maintain her dignity, even slightly, but those around her couldn’t stand to see even that and kept trampling on her.
It was as if they were determined to make her as vile as they were.
“Ugh…”
But her legs refused to hold her, and she ended up slumping against the building’s exterior wall. She didn’t care if the dress, something that would have made her faint during her shepherding days, got filthy.
<If people see you in this state with men…they’ll think you sold your virtue. They’ll assume you spread your filthy legs.>
No, that would be the end. If they found her like this, she’d be discarded immediately.
She managed to hide behind some bushes, but she was too dizzy to gather the strength to pull the cumbersome dress around her.
‘This is…too much…’
Rustle.
The sound of someone pushing through the bushes sent chills down her spine. Someone was coming, clearly knowing she was there.
‘Who…?’
She struggled to lift her darkening vision and saw a man walking towards her. Fear surged, but she recognized the silhouette as familiar. There was only one person she knew with such a tall frame…
‘Could it be?’
Her heart began to pound wildly, as if it had suddenly come back to life.
‘Could it be that Izar has come to find me?’
The tears she had been holding back since the ‘warehouse’ incident began to prick at her eyes. In this incredibly wretched situation…
“Ah…!”
Incredibly, she felt a surge of happiness. Izar had kept his promise.
<May I ask you to stay by my side?>
<Alright. As long as I’m not in the middle of an important conversation.>
No promise was made in the name of their briar baby.
But this time…just this time…
“Iz…”
“Madam?”
“…!”
“Madam, why are you here…!”
She had been about to smile through her tears when she lost her words. She looked up at the man’s face, full of bewilderment.
How could she have mistaken him?
How could she mistake a man who felt so completely different from head to toe for Izar?
The one who had come to find her was Albireo Deneb.
Not her husband…
“…Why.”
“Madam, please wait here for a moment. I’ll go get someone…!”
“Why did you come?”
“To fetch someone, what—”
“Why…”
