Night of the Abandoned Duchess - Chapter 23

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 23

It was her father’s funeral.

Even in everyday life, the contents of the letter did not leave her mind.

While packing for the trip home, on the ship returning to the Deccan Continent, from which he left four years ago, his death was all fuzzy.

“Father…”

Rosalind, standing on the deck of the ship, quietly watched the land gradually approaching. She hadn’t arrived home yet and had not seen her mother’s face, but her neck was already stiff.

If she put her feet on the ground and walked for a while, she would see her father’s castle. Not far from there…

Unknowingly, she thought of someone’s face and shook her head. Then, the sea breeze ruffled her hair, holding her hat in one hand and Leo’s hand in the other, firmly, as if making a promise.

“Leo, is the boat worth riding?”

“Yes! Cool.”

Leo lifted his tiny head and glanced at the man next to him.

“Is uncle having fun, too?”

“What is with the ‘uncle’? It should be Baron Albert.”

Rosalind spoke like scolding him and looked up at Albert with a grateful face.

“You didn’t have to come with me like this, but thank you. I’m just going to the funeral…”

“It’s said that even if we cannot share the happy things, we must share the sad things. And, the original plan was to stop by the Deccan Continent. My relatives live there.”

“Ah, are you going to visit your relatives?”

“Yes. To see my relatives, and also to work at the same time.”

Albert Herdin was a nobleman who ruled the village where Rosalind had settled.

The day she first got here after getting off the boat, she happened to meet him. He introduced himself as the lord of the small country village and asked her how she would like to start her new life on his estate.

He kindly helped her, who was wary of strangers. Upon learning that she was pregnant with Leo, she had no other options, and she was relieved by the warmth from Albert and the villagers, and Rosalind settled down on his estate.

When she was at a loss as to where to go, he was a grateful person she was grateful for who helped her without any conditions.

When she mentioned to Albert that she was going to her father’s funeral, he expressed that it would be better than a woman and a child going alone because it was a long way. He willingly agreed to go with her, saying he was on his way to visit her relatives, though she could tell that he was being considerate of her.

“Thank you.”

“What.”

Then, Anna gestured to Leo and whispered in the shape of her mouth.

’Master, come here. Come on!’

Leo glanced alternately between her and Albert’s faces before creeping away from the two of them.

“…All this time, I hated my father… but, it feels strange to be at his funeral. Not just because of my father, but there are many memories there. Both in a good sense and in a bad sense. That’s why it’s so unnerving.”

“Next time, please tell me about those memories.”

“If there is a chance.”

She smiled faintly.

Rosalind was neither as sad nor as happy as she thought. Would it be a little different if she looked at her father with the coffin lid covered…?

In fact, the reason she went to his funeral was largely because of her mother.

The face of her mother who took her side at the end, and the handwriting of her mother through their correspondence, were not forgotten. There were so many other things that came like a storm, and Rosalind was so worried about whether her mother would be okay.

She had been away from home and since that day yet she felt much closer to her mother, whom she had felt difficult and distant.

“As you said, if there is a chance… Can we have dinner together next time?”

At Albert’s soft voice, Rosalind smiled.

“Of course.”

“Ladies, get off first!”

Eventually, the ship had reached the destination, and the movements stopped with a shaking, Rosalind was escorted off the ship and she got off the ship.

As she set her feet on the land, she raised the hem of her skirt and greeted Albert politely.

“The funeral is in two days. I would be very grateful if you could come.”

The funeral was more shabby than expected.

It was difficult to believe that it was a funeral for someone who had dedicated his entire life to glory and wealth. There was only empty air in the castle, which was bustling with people while he was alive.

“Mother…!”

Dressed in a black dress, Rosalind gazed at her mother and clasped the hem of her robe. She was the mother she saw for the first time in four years. She wanted to go and hug her, though strangely, when she saw her mother, she felt like she was overwhelmed.

She paused for a moment, then moved slowly towards her mother.

Her mother’s face, seen closely, was pale. She reached out and groped her hand in sorrow.

“…How did this happen? Suddenly, it’s a funeral…”

Her mother’s eyes were moist. Even though there were no tears running down, Rosalind gently stroked her cheek, as if wiping the tears away.

“Not long ago, your father was investigated for embezzlement, and near the end of the investigation, the assailant… I didn’t even know there was such a thing. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid… I was going to tell you later when everything is all over.”

“But, what about the relatives? Why is there no one here…?”

“It must have been difficult to show their face because there had been a lot of investigation.”

It was explained that her father was investigated for embezzlement, and towards the end of the investigation, he was stabbed and killed by a man at night.

The sudden rush of stories made her mind infinitely complicated.

“What about the embezzlement…?”

Her father didn’t make any mention of his outside work to Rosalind or her mother, so she didn’t know what her father was doing. So, her father died in vain, attacked by an unidentified assailant, and he was investigated for embezzlement… nothing could be easily accepted.

“I didn’t know that such a thing had happened either, although one day your father was dragged out of the Imperial Palace. Someone sued for embezzlement.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t even know that. Even if it’s an investigation… I didn’t think it was going to be like this when an unidentified assailant suddenly appeared…”

Eventually, Helen couldn’t finish her words and covered her mouth with a handkerchief. The sound of her crying leaked out.

But, unlike her, who couldn’t hold back her crying, Rosalind did not shed any tears.

As if she was watching a play or a stage where the dancers danced, she just approached unrealistically.

Is it that her father, who was so hard-hearted and greedy, has died in vain…? Is it that there is no room for heartbreaking pain at her father’s death, or has she suffered so much pain and suffering from her father’s actions since childhood?

Rosalind only felt a strange feeling that his father’s last years, when he had worked so hard to collect everything, people, money, and property, were so futile.

Was she being too cold-hearted? When she saw her father with his eyes closed, would her mood change a little?

As she was immersed in thoughts of this and that, Leo, who was hiding behind Rosalind, pulled the hem of her skirt. He then poked his head to his side.

The funeral home, where strangers come and go, was a new place for him, and when he saw his grandmother, who resembled Rosalind, his eyes were wide open and he stared at her in wonder.

Helen, unable to take her eyes off Leo, asked Rosalind in a puzzled voice.

“…Rosalind, who is this child?”

“Actually, there’s something I didn’t tell you either.”

Taking a breath briefly, she opened her mouth and said that she didn’t know where to start talking.

It was time for her to start a long story.

“What, what is this?”

Suddenly, the tears in Helen’s eyes stopped. Instead, she felt as if she couldn’t believe it at all and was deep in surprise and wonder.

She stared intently at the little child hiding behind her daughter. The blonde, curly hair, white skin, and big eyes for a boy seem a bit like Rosalind. Helen then turned to Rosalind as she glanced over the little face.

“So, this kid… your child?”

When Rosalind nodded her head slightly, Helen staggered as she put her hand on her forehead, giving a sickly groan.

At the expected reaction, she simply rolled her eyes and rubbed the tip of her shoe on the ground for nothing.

She said everything honestly.

When she settled in, Rosalind found out she’s pregnant, that he was Kyle’s child, and that she was raising him by herself without telling him.

Helen heard those words, and she had a face that looked like she was going to run out of breath terrifyingly. She stared down at her as if to scold her loudly, and lowered her voice even further as she muttered, afraid that anyone would hear her.

“…Whatever it is! Is it sane to raise a child without a husband?”

“It doesn’t mean that a child must have a father to be happy. Leo doesn’t have a father.”

“Why doesn’t he have a father? He’s still alive.”

She stood still without answering, and then she slowly opened her mouth, “I ended everything with him four years ago. Leo is my child.”

“Rosalind, are you in your right mind or not…”

“Everyone, please be silent. I will start the bereavement ceremony now.”

At the Priest’s voice, her mother had no choice but to shut her mouth.

Soon, the bereavement ceremony was starting. A few male relatives came and put her father’s body in plain clothes into the coffin. The atmosphere was somber, and Rosalind watched her dead father placed in the coffin.

After a while, the people around her father began to put the white flowers one by one on the body. Fresh and slender flowers were embroidered on the dead body.

When all the procedures were finished, the Priest’s voice announcing the service resounded.

“The time has come for us to let one loved one go. Let us all pray for Lord Baron, who lived his life as a servant of a nation, as the head of a family, and as a son of god.”

She could see people’s heads bowing in an instant at those words.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────