YWDBH 09

Chapter 9 — A Strange Request

A little later—

“If there is anything you wish to pack, please go to your room for a moment. I will wait downstairs.”

“Yes… then just a moment.”

Elodie stood still for a second, watching Leonis go down the stairs first with her mother in his arms.

Then she suddenly came back to her senses.

I have to hurry before Father changes his mind!

She ran straight to her room, quickly packed only a few simple things, and rushed back out.

Her personal maid, who had followed after her and asked to be taken along as well, received the luggage from Elodie.

But just as Elodie was about to head to the carriage, she stopped.

The carriages Leonis had chosen were the two largest and most luxurious golden carriages in the Castiel estate.

Even Elodie, the duke’s daughter, was only allowed to use them once or twice a year, and only when invited to imperial banquets. Duke Gont Castiel treasured them greatly.

And the horses tied in front of them were also his most beloved high-class thoroughbreds, sleek and proud animals worth as much as an entire mansion.

Is this really alright?

Elodie glanced back toward the mansion.

Her eyes met her father’s, who had been secretly looking out from inside.

His gaze passed over Elodie indifferently—

then landed on the golden carriages and horses.

His eyes grew so wide that they looked ready to burst.

“Th-Th-That…!”

Holding the back of his neck as his face turned red, he looked ready to collapse.

Toward that sight, Elodie slowly lowered her head in one last farewell.

Well… why not? I’ll just think of it as part of my marriage dowry instead.

That thought made her feel lighter.

“Please, get in.”

Standing in the front carriage, Leonis held out one hand toward Elodie, who was standing between the two carriages.

“Ah, I was…”

Elodie hesitated.

She had intended to ride in the back carriage, where her mother had been placed.

At that moment, her personal maid, Lian, who had been quietly following behind her, spoke up.

“My lady, please ride in the front carriage. Since you two will soon be husband and wife, of course you should ride together. I will take good care of the Duchess in the other carriage, so please do not worry.”

“Lian, will you really be alright?”

Even in the middle of this hurried escape from the duke’s house, Elodie felt deeply grateful that Lian had chosen to follow her without hesitation.

But at the same time, she worried about Lian riding in the carriage with her mother’s body alone.

“Of course. The Duchess was like a mother to me too. She took me in when I was young and had nowhere to go. I owe her so much.

I’m grateful that I can at least stay by her side on her final journey.”

“Thank you, Lian.”

Elodie looked at her with tearful eyes, then leaned in and whispered something into her ear.

“…You understand, right? If anything like that happens, you must secretly tell me first.”

“What? Surely not something like that… Y-Yes, I understand.”

Leaving behind the bewildered Lian, Elodie walked toward the front carriage.

Leonis, who had been waiting, once again held out his hand.

“Could you move this into the carriage for me first?”

Sheltering something precious inside her shawl from the especially strong wind that day, Elodie carefully took it out and handed it to him.

“You brought the lily of the valley with you.”

Leonis looked down at the small flower pot placed in his hand with unexpected eyes.

“Ah… well… among the gifts I received today, there was nothing else really worth taking with me.”

Elodie made that excuse, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Today she had received countless precious jewels and glittering gifts—

but everything valuable had already been taken to her father’s room.

The only gift left in Elodie’s room was this pot of lily of the valley.

But that was not the only reason.

In the hurry to pack, she had brought only a few of her mother’s treasured belongings and some clothes.

Even so—

she could not leave this flower pot behind.

In her previous two lives, Elodie had not shared many connections with Leonis.

But the one thing linking them both—

was always this lily of the valley.

She quietly remembered their connection from her past life again.

In her first life, Leonis had never proposed to her.

After insulting her at the imperial victory celebration, he neither apologized nor attended her birthday party.

In her second life, Leonis appeared at her birthday party for the first time.

He handed her a flower pot holding only a small seedling with a few green leaves and said only,

“Happy birthday, my lady. A pot of lily of the valley.”

Then he left.

And now, this was the third…

Since she had already received his sudden gift in her past life, Elodie had been able to stay calm at his visit this time.

But something had changed.

Unlike before, the lily of the valley in the pot had bloomed softly and beautifully.

And then there were his words—

“Do you know the meaning of lily of the valley?”

“You will surely be happy.”

Those words from Leonis, as if they held some hidden meaning.

To Elodie, who had desperately searched for the answer behind her repeated regression, they had felt like a clear hint.

In the end, it had only been her own assumption running too far ahead.

But unlike the previous life, perhaps these delicate yet brightly blooming flowers could become a sign that this life would be different.

Perhaps, just as Leonis said, the day would really come when even she—who had repeated only misfortune and misery—would finally become happy.

With that thought in her heart, Elodie had brought the flower pot with her.

But she could not tell Leonis her honest feelings.

They were not close enough for that.

No—

they would probably never become the kind of people who could share such thoughts.

So Elodie kept quiet.

A little later, helped into the carriage by Leonis, Elodie sat down in her seat.

Even after the carriage had been moving for a long time, she said nothing, only stared at the pot of lily of the valley in her lap.

Leonis noticed that the corners of her eyes were growing wet, yet he kept looking out the window.

After hesitating several times, he finally spoke.

“…You have my condolences regarding your mother.”

Elodie lifted her damp eyes.

When their eyes met, Leonis’s face stiffened awkwardly.

Seeing that, Elodie gave a faint smile.

“Thank you. Mother will be alright. I believe that.”

Leonis looked confused by her unexpected answer and spoke again.

“Yes, she will be alright… I mean, I also hope she may rest peacefully somewhere without pain. We will bury her well in the Rihart family cemetery.

No, perhaps placing her in our family cemetery would be a bit… Then perhaps beside it… no, rather a little farther away…”

Unlike before, when he always spoke to her with sarcasm and sharpness, Leonis now seemed strangely awkward as he tried to be polite and considerate.

Even if she was the daughter of his enemy, it was clear he did not know how to behave toward someone who had just lost her mother.

But in the way he tried so sincerely, Elodie felt that she could see his true heart.

For him, even allowing a member of the enemy family to be brought onto Rihart land must have taken great patience and effort.

Elodie looked at him again with gratitude in her eyes.

“Thank you, truly. And may I ask one favor? It may sound a little strange… but it is related to how my mother is to be kept.”

“Yes. Please say anything.”

Leonis nodded.

“Could we not hold Mother’s funeral right away, and instead keep her in a separate room for a while?”