Chapter 8 — Two Bodies
“Mother!”
Holding her mother’s cold body on the bed, Elodie burst into tears.
“Tch, useless. Mother and daughter are both equally worthless. There is no need for a funeral. Just bury her somewhere in a corner of the Castiel family graveyard.”
After hearing the news of the Duchess’s death, Gont arrived late, looked once, and then gave that order to a servant in annoyance.
His voice was so cold and merciless, as if he were telling them to throw away a dead insect.
He had wanted to use her as the last card to control Elodie and Leonis.
But now that she had died, everything was ruined, and his temper twisted with frustration.
“Elodie, I do not even want to see you anymore, so get out! You are no longer my daughter.”
“Father, please… at least let me hold Mother’s funeral before I go.”
Elodie grabbed the edge of Gont’s clothes and pleaded.
“Move! Then take your unlucky mother’s corpse with you if you want! I do not want to see either of you!”
Gont shoved Elodie away with all his strength.
Under that cruel push, Elodie was almost thrown toward the bed where her mother lay.
“Ah, Father…! Hngh!”
Her chest struck the sharp corner of the bed rail. Elodie let out a short cry, then collapsed over her mother.
After that, she did not move at all.
“W-What is this? Elodie? Are you dead too? No… no, that cannot be.”
As Gont hesitated and slowly approached her—
“Move.”
Leonis strode in, pushed Gont aside with his shoulder, and lifted Elodie into his arms.
Until the official funeral was held, only family members were allowed to go near the dead according to the empire’s customs, so he had been waiting outside the door.
But after hearing the commotion inside, he could no longer stay still.
“Wh-Who are you? What rude fool dares—during mourning!”
Gont, who had fallen to the floor, glared up in anger. But when he faced Leonis, whose whole body seemed to give off killing intent, he hesitated.
And when he saw Elodie hanging limp in Leonis’s arms, his heart dropped.
“Is Elodie really dead too? What am I supposed to do now? This has become troublesome.”
Rather than worry about his daughter’s life, he was worrying about himself.
What happened inside his house could be silenced among the servants.
But now that Leonis had seen everything, there was no way this would pass quietly.
“Lady, wake up! Elodie!”
Leonis shook her gently and called her name.
When there was still no response, he bent toward her face to check her breathing.
In that moment, his anxious face and Elodie’s pale face came very close.
Then—
Flutter.
Elodie’s long eyelashes slowly lifted.
The moment she saw Leonis leaning over her, she flinched.
And in his deep red eyes looking down at her, she saw relief.
Maybe it was only her imagination.
No, of course it had to be her imagination…
And yet, that brief look of relief comforted her.
“You truly are a woman who never lets anyone rest easy for even a moment.”
At Leonis’s voice, which sounded almost like a scolding, Elodie gave a weak smile.
He did not ask if she was alright.
He did not say he was glad she was alive.
And yet that blunt sentence warmed her heart.
It was strange.
It should have meant nothing more than you are troublesome.
Leonis looked down at her for a moment like that, then leaned even closer.
The scent of wild forest clung to his breath.
Elodie unknowingly held her own breath.
As a strange expectation rose inside her, she slowly closed her eyes—
Then he whispered low beside her ear.
“Will you leave this house with me, right now?”
Elodie’s eyes flew open.
For a moment, she felt embarrassed at the foolish expectation she had just had.
But even that was quickly forgotten, as hope for life began to rise in her again.
“…Can I bring Mother with me too?”
“Of course.”
Leonis nodded, then turned to look at Gont behind him.
Gont had not been able to see Elodie’s condition because Leonis’s broad back blocked his view, and he had been staring over nervously the entire time.
“I believe I heard you say earlier that you were driving Lady Castiel and the Duchess out of this house. If that is the case, I assume you have no problem with me taking both of them.”
“Ah, w-well, that is… E-Elodie, what condition is she in…?”
Gont stammered.
He could not even bring himself to ask whether Elodie was dead.
He had no idea what Leonis was planning, and it made him deeply uneasy.
“If you hand the two of them over to me, I will keep what I saw just now a secret.”
“R-Really…?”
Gont blinked nervously.
It would certainly be good if Leonis kept silent.
But could he really trust him?
“I swear on my honor as a knight.”
Still holding Elodie with one arm, Leonis lowered the other hand to the sword at his side and spoke solemnly.
For a knight, an oath was a value and honor more absolute than life itself.
In fact, because of that oath, Leonis had not killed Gont—the man responsible for his father’s death—even though he had long burned with rage and hatred.
No one knew the weight of such an oath better than Gont himself.
“If you are willing to swear… fine. But why would you take two corpses with you… what use are they?”
Gont asked suspiciously.
It was not because he cared for either of them.
He only disliked the idea of handing over proof of his own crime.
“Do not worry. I will take care of Mother’s funeral.”
At that moment, Elodie’s voice came from behind Leonis’s broad back, and Gont nearly fell over from shock.
“El-Elodie… you were alive! You wretch. How dare you deceive me when Elodie was perfectly alive!”
Gont said, trembling.
“Sir, please put me down now.”
At Elodie’s words, Leonis seemed to hesitate as he looked between her and Gont.
“Please… Mother first…”
But when Elodie continued, he nodded, carefully set her down, and walked toward the bed where the Duchess lay.
Watching him, Elodie straightened herself and faced Gont.
“Father, Sir Rihart never said I was dead, did he? Even if that may have been what you wished.”
“N-No, my child. Of course not.”
Gont forced a gentle voice, all while nervously watching Leonis.
“Anyway, as you have permitted, my mother and I will leave the Castiel house. During all this time…”
She could not bring herself to say, Thank you for everything.
So Elodie swallowed those words and lowered her head instead.
“Then… goodbye.”
Leonis carefully lifted the Duchess in his arms and walked over to Elodie.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yes.”
“N-No, wait… that is… you are leaving right now, just like this…?”
As the two of them walked side by side toward the door, Gont only waved his hands helplessly and opened and closed his mouth.
He certainly had told them to get out at once.
And he had given permission for Leonis to take them.
But he had not expected them to leave immediately without even looking back.
As Gont stood there in confusion, feeling as if everything he once held and controlled was slipping through his fingers like sand—
Leonis suddenly paused and looked back.
“Since you are kindly lending us two carriages, I will gladly accept them.”
“…What? Wh-When did I say that?”
Gont shouted after him.
But Leonis had already started walking again, and Gont’s voice only echoed uselessly through the corridor.
