Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 215

It was Freesia herself who had advised Canopus to observe the Kreiter territory. She remembered how, in the third year of her marriage, the land had experienced several uprisings.

Following her advice, Canopus had kept an eye on Kreiter, and given the current situation, he seemed confident that an attack would bring it down.

‘Internal discontent must have been festering for quite some time. That’s why someone inside was willing to open the gates for Canopus and his men.’

The emperor and the other lords would be desperately ignoring this truth. They were likely just praying that the Arcturus family would join the effort and help resolve the crisis quickly.

They believed that once the young duke, the hero of the hunting festival, stepped forward, the problem would be solved in no time.

Thinking of Izar left a bitter taste in Freesia’s mouth, and she frowned.

‘He’s been acting strange lately.’

He was still as annoyingly clingy as ever, constantly hovering around her and looking after her. Since his presence helped ensure that the baby was fed properly, Freesia hadn’t forced him away.

The baby needed to grow as strong as possible—just in case something unexpected happened.

However, even as she tried to avoid giving him more attention than necessary, she found herself unconsciously checking his expression after they sat together for the portrait sessions.

‘Is it just my imagination, or does he look as if he’s given up on something?’

When giving instructions to the knights and vassals, his expression remained firm, but to her, he seemed like an instrument with a broken string.

‘Why is he like this… making me so uneasy?’

He hadn’t shown any joy when receiving the emperor’s decree, which could have been seen as a chance to bring glory his household. Even when she tried to compliment him with ‘They’re entrusting this to you because you’re the only one capable of handling it,’ his reaction had been lukewarm at best.

She had always thought of him as someone who prioritized the family’s honor and duties above all else. But now, his unexpected behavior left her feeling anything but relieved—if anything, she was unsettled.

‘Could it be that I’m seeing a side of him that I don’t know or that I’ve been forcing myself to ignore?’

But the strangest thing, especially now that her ‘final plan’ was progressing steadily, was this:

‘Why hasn’t he asked me about the future?’

***

The preparations for the expedition were completed late at night.

By noon the next day, Izar would lead the knights to the troubled territory.

This mission wasn’t a simple monster hunt, which meant Izar had plenty of headaches to deal with. He had to ensure that the duke’s castle wouldn’t be attacked in his absence and that no internal problems would arise.

“Haah…”

In his bedroom, Izar sat alone, covering his temples and one side of his face. His worsening headaches, coupled with the overwhelming uncertainty of the days ahead, left him sighing heavily.

‘I keep wishing I could know the future.’

There had been moments when he wanted to ask Freesia about it.

But instead, Izar ran his fingers over the scar beneath his left eye. The wound, which he had deliberately allowed to remain unhealed, felt different from the rest of his skin.

It was something Freesia had given him. Perhaps it would be the last mark she left on him.

‘And proof of how much she despises me.’

She had claimed she’d inflicted it out of frustration due to the pains of pregnancy, but Izar had already figured out her true feelings.

Freesia loathed him. She couldn’t even stand the sight of his eyes.

‘So maybe what she truly wants is for me to die.’

Izar couldn’t dismiss the possibility that Electra had brought up.

‘The possibility that Freesia is conspiring with that bastard Canopus…’

In her previous life, Freesia had lived for about three more years, which meant she could have told Canopus everything that had happened during that time. It wouldn’t be surprising if she had.

That could explain why the wealthy Kreiter territory had crumbled so easily without putting up any resistance. The extra precautions he had taken to strengthen internal security before leaving had been due to such suspicions.

But despite it all, Izar had decided not to ask Freesia anything.

‘If what you truly desire is my death…’

If that was the only way for her to forgive him, and if it would ease even a fraction of her pain, then he would have no choice but to accept that fate.

But he swore that even if it meant strangling his cursed half-brother with his bare hands, he would drag him down into the abyss together.