I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 193
After the funeral had ended—
Crown Prince Viren was lost in sorrow.
Their deaths had been unexpected. Who could have imagined it? That two princes would breathe their last on the same night.
It felt as though his chest had been slashed repeatedly, leaving a stinging pain.
He missed his mother more than ever today.
Perhaps his grief had weakened his heart. Dismissing all his guards, Crown Prince Viren headed toward the grave of his mother, Queen Echinacea.
Queen Echinacea’s grave was well-maintained.
After a recent grave-robbing incident, Crown Prince Viren had overseen the reorganization of her tomb. Not trusting the caretakers alone, he had also stationed several royal mages. It seemed to have had the desired effect.
Servants who noticed Crown Prince Viren quickly bowed their heads in respect as he approached.
“…”
Kneeling before Queen Echinacea’s gravestone, Crown Prince Viren bowed his head.
He thought that, in front of his mother’s resting place, he might feel a bit more at peace. But as he sat quietly, staring blankly at the gravestone, his heart only grew more tumultuous.
Everything felt dark.
He didn’t want to think about anything. Not the two younger brothers who had abruptly passed away, nor the unsettled public sentiment so soon after the end of the subjugation campaign, nor even the kingdom’s alliance with the empire…
There was much to think about, and his worries were endless. His head throbbed with a dull ache, as though it might burst at any moment.
‘Mother…’
Crown Prince Viren clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture and closed his eyes tightly.
‘Mother… What am I supposed to do now?’
He cried out desperately in his heart, but the only response was the cold winter air. The darkness ahead remained as impenetrable as ever.
Viren knelt before the grave until his fingers grew stiff from the cold.
After some time, he finally rose and began to walk away, his steps heavy.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
As he approached the main gate of the cemetery, a shadow fell across Viren’s path.
Who would come to find me here?
The peace he’d been on the verge of reclaiming was, in the end, interrupted. Unconsciously, Viren’s brows furrowed.
When he looked, he saw a young man dressed neatly, observing him with a calm, steady gaze. The man was wearing black mourning clothes in tribute to the princes’ deaths.
Viren recognized him instantly.
“Rufus Inferna.”
The hero who had severed the head of the Demon King Audixus and brought peace to the kingdom. How could he not recognize him?
“For what reason have you come to see me?”
Unable to reveal his reddened eyes, Viren deliberately turned his head away. A steady voice followed him as he did so.
“First, allow me to offer my deepest condolences for the loss of the two princes.”
Ha.
Viren sighed inwardly.
Had he come to console him?
He felt a surge of self-contempt. Here he was, occupying the position closest to the royal throne as the new crown prince, yet accepting consolation from others.
Viren clenched his fists tightly, steadied his breathing, and lifted his head with a hardened expression.
“I appreciate your condolences. However, I would prefer to be alone right now…”
“I have found it.”
The man’s cold voice dropped like shards of ice.
“Found it? What?”
“I have found Queen Echinacea’s cursed sword, as promised.”
What?
Viren’s head turned sharply toward Rufus, his wide eyes filled with shock.
Rufus extended an object wrapped in black cloth toward him. With a trembling hand, Viren reached for what Rufus offered.
He could feel something cold and heavy beneath the cloth.
Staring at it in a daze, Viren hastily unwrapped the cloth. He was so hasty that he nearly tore it.
“This is…”
There was no mistaking it. This was the treasure he had searched so desperately for after Queen Echinacea’s grave had been desecrated—the last relic of his beloved mother.
In his hands lay Queen Echinacea’s sword, from the hilt to the tip, crafted entirely of silver.
“As promised, I present to you Queen Echinacea’s sword, Your Highness.”
Rufus spoke in a calm, steady tone.
“…”
Viren, still staring at the sword in his hands, found himself at a loss for words.
Just a few days ago, Rufus had privately told him that Queen Echinacea’s sword was in Prince Tarek’s palace.
When he heard this, Viren thought Rufus was greatly mistaken.
For months, Viren had tirelessly searched for the sword. He had questioned everyone present during the grave-robbing incident, summoned royal mages skilled in advanced magic, and ordered them to trace the sword’s whereabouts. But all efforts had yielded nothing.
The cemetery guards had been found dead, and there were no remaining witnesses. Despite all their efforts, the royal mages failed to locate the sword.
So, when Rufus suddenly claimed to know where it was, Viren could hardly believe it.
He had already searched Prince Tarek’s palace. Though he couldn’t thoroughly investigate every corner without just cause, he had quietly bribed insiders to confirm whether the sword was there. Yet he had found no trace of the sword in Prince Tarek’s palace. Thus, Viren never imagined that Rufus would actually bring him Queen Echinacea’s sword.
Even if the sword had been in Prince Tarek’s palace, how could Rufus, an outsider, locate the item that Viren himself had been unable to find?
But Viren had no choice now but to acknowledge that he’d been wrong.
It had been a complete misjudgment.
