Come and Cry at My Funeral - Chapter 288

“That’s right…”

He had heard directly from Freesia what she had wished for from God.

That, in exchange for one year, she would be sent back to the moment just after their wedding.

But when he learned of this, he felt true despair.

“I hoped… Freesia wouldn’t come back.”

He missed her so desperately, and yet he remembered all too well what he had been like at the time of their marriage. He remembered what petty, despicable things he had done to that damn marriage contract out of wounded pride.

Despite despising bastards so much, he had done terrible things to his woman and their unborn child.

But did Freesia really remember any of that? At the end of her life, her memories had been in disarray…

〈Why, foolishly, would you come back to my side for a mere year…!〉

She should have done everything in her power to escape before Lady Antares arrived. She should have thought to leave before suffering any more abuse at the estate.

Even this time, he hadn’t been there at her side when she suffered such terrible things at the Antares manor.

In front of God, tormented, he pleaded.

If Freesia was to be given a year, then at least give his past self all his memories as well.

[I’m sorry, Izar.]

But God answered Izar in a bitter voice.

[With the strength I have left, I could only make a single request to that child, in order to prevent everything from turning to ashes…]

Adamant had already lost omnipotence because the faith of the Empire’s people had crumbled.

Other than tending to souls after death, he no longer had the power to intervene in the world of the living.

And so, to prevent the Empire’s utter collapse, he managed to barely send just one ‘agent of God’ to intervene.

At the very least, to avert the initial catastrophe. The death of Riegel, if nothing else…

But even God could not have known.

How stubborn Izar could be when desperate, or how deep the resentment he had bottled up was.

〈If you truly are a god, you should have taken it from me and given it to her.〉

If only he could see his woman again, he would have been desperate enough to kick aside all reverence for God and demand it, no matter what.

[…In that case, Izar.]

But God listened to even the insolent cries of this small creature. And God offered him a proposal…

“…Freesia.”

Even as he staggered through his muddled, tangled memories, Izar barely managed to get to his feet.

He still couldn’t recall everything in a logical order. The shock of watching her die, bleeding, was too great.

“Up. I have to go up again.”

He needed to return to the ground floor. How many hours had it been since he’d left the sleeping Freesia in her room? How much of her allotted time remained?

What had become of his pact with God? He had to go and check on Freesia right away. Was Nova still by her side?

But just as he was about to climb the stairs, a greater clamor and urgent shouting erupted from the upper floor.

“Milord! Milord, are you unharmed?!”

It was his new aide, Daphir Berenice. The usual cheerful look was nowhere to be seen. His face was pale with tension.

There was a red stain on the weapon he carried.

The all-too-familiar stench of blood filled the air. The muddled memories in Izar’s head instantly cleared at that scent.

“What happened up there?”

“A monster attack, Milord!”

Daphir hurriedly handed Izar his armor. Without hesitation, Izar grabbed his sword and stomped up. The upper floor, unlike when he had left, now reeked everywhere of blood.

Not only was there human blood, but the musty, rotten stench unique to monsters was mixed in, making it unbearable. The group that had escorted the Imperial Prince and the ducal knights were all fighting in defense, but the screams of people dying still rang out from outside the palace.

The realization that Freesia and his daughter were somewhere in the midst of this made his fingertips go cold.

“Where’s Freesia? And the prince? And Nova!”

“The young miss is evacuating with His Highness, and Her Highness is with us!”

While Izar had been down at the underground lake, monsters had suddenly appeared throughout the entire canyon, putting everyone on high alert. Only the most dangerous types they had ever faced had crawled out.

If it had been only monsters, they could have handled it.

Even though her life was running out, Freesia still had supernatural abilities. The sharp scent of white flowers mixed with all this horrible blood was proof of that.

But it was dangerous because the ones who had appeared in the canyon were not just monsters. The ones fighting with the knights outside the palace were unmistakably human.

And above all, who could have summoned this many monsters? Especially when spring was already long past…

Izar spoke the name of the rebel commander he had defeated at the end of his last life.

“Canopus.”

Yes, it was right here that Izar fought to the death against his own blood.