The next day, I entered the dining hall and was about to greet Lilien, who was immediately visible, when I was startled.
Lilien’s complexion was pale, almost white like flour.
The atmosphere inside the dining hall was heavy and cold. It was clear that something serious had happened.
“Is something wrong?”
I looked at Edmund, who was sitting across from Lilien. He, too, had a serious expression as he gripped the back of his chair while reading a newspaper. As if sensing my presence, he turned to look at me.
“Count.”
“Lady Etricia…”
Their reactions made my unease grow even stronger.
Lilien received a letter from Rail, then grasped both of my hands. She looked at me with trembling eyes and finally spoke with difficulty.
“Please don’t be shocked. Baroness Antra…”
As soon as her voice continued, I felt my mind go blank.
The funeral proceeded solemnly under a gentle drizzle. Noblewomen who had been close to Baroness Dien during her lifetime came to pay their respects.
Though some of them still seemed uneasy about the commotion at the banquet hall, etiquette dictated that they attend once they received the death notice.
Unfortunately, I, too, had received an obituary from Baron Dien and was obligated to attend.
Standing at a distance, I silently observed the funeral proceedings. Antra’s cause of death was a heart attack—she passed away in the middle of the night, unaware of her own demise. It was an abrupt and absurd death.
I could feel the eyes of Baron Dien’s relatives and mourners glancing at me. At first, they speculated among themselves that stress and emotional turmoil had been the cause, but in the end, I heard whispers blaming me.
Despite the divorce and the bitter ending, there were conservative opinions that I should still attend the funeral prayer as a show of respect for my former mother-in-law.
Ignoring the murmurs, I kept my posture straight and watched the proceedings with detachment.
‘Who would have thought that Antra would die so suddenly?’
To be honest, there was a time when I wished for her death. It wasn’t on a day when she grabbed my hair or slapped me—it was on an ordinary day when she insulted me, mocking my father. At that moment, my sorrow transformed into a fleeting wish for her demise.
I had been shocked by my own dark thoughts and suppressed them, but the fact remained that I had harbored such a wish. Attending this funeral was not just a matter of social propriety but also a way to cleanse myself of lingering guilt.
‘Is this finally the end of my entanglement with Antra?’
I had done my duty. With that thought, I turned away after witnessing Baron Dien clutch the coffin while weeping.
But just as I was about to step on the damp grass, I halted.
Under an old tree, seeking shelter from the rain, I saw Verita and a man standing beside her.
Narrowing my eyes, I watched them closely.
Something about Verita’s demeanor seemed off. She was glancing around nervously, as if deliberately avoiding the eyes of the mourners.
Biting her nails, she stood anxiously before shaking the man’s arm.
Even from a distance, the man was noticeably tall, with long black hair that looked as if it had been carved from the midnight sky. His eerie presence drew glances, but he seemed unfazed.
Annoyed, the man pushed Verita’s hand away and walked toward a secluded area.
Verita quickly followed him into the rain. Though I couldn’t hear their words through the downpour, she seemed to be calling out to him desperately. At a glance, it looked like a lovers’ quarrel.
I furrowed my brows.
‘A new lover? Did she give up on Devon because he had no future?’
If a woman attends the funeral of her lover’s mistress’s mother, it’s no surprise that a fight would break out.
Shaking my head at Verita’s pitiful life choices, I turned away. The rain was falling harder. It was time to return to the people who were probably worried about me.
“Lunox!”
“……”
“…Lunox…!”
Haa—. With bloodshot eyes, Lunox tilted his head toward the sky, sighing irritably. Then, with cold eyes, he turned to look at Verita, who was chasing after him.
When she finally caught up to him, he suppressed the fire burning in his chest and gave her a forced smile.
“Verita, didn’t we already finish this conversation? Baroness Antra Dien died of a heart attack. How could that be your fault?”
Panting, Verita clutched her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. Wiping her damp forehead, she looked at Lunox with trembling eyes.
“L-Lunox, please, tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
Verita bit her lip and lowered her gaze. Her wet hair trembled under the falling rain.
“Baroness Dien’s death… it’s connected to you, isn’t it?”
“What?”
Ha. A chuckle escaped Lunox’s lips. Running a hand through his hair, he smirked.
“What nonsense, Verita? First, you blame yourself, and now you want to pin it on me?”
His smooth, gentle voice carried a sharp edge.
Lunox narrowed his sleek, dark eyebrows.
“Oh, poor Verita. You’ve been through so much in such a short time that it’s driven you to paranoia. Baroness Dien’s death isn’t our fault.”
“N-no, I know. I didn’t leave that night—I stayed outside the door and listened.”
“And what did you hear?”
Lunox let out an amused chuckle and reached out toward Verita.
But before he could brush her wet hair back behind her ear, she flinched and stepped away.
“Ugh.”
Verita squeezed her eyes shut and trembled.
“You showed her the purification stone and asked for her soul.”
The smile vanished from Lunox’s lips. The warmth he had feigned was washed away by the rain.
Verita sensed the shift in his demeanor and began stepping backward.
“L-Lunox?”
He stared at her, devoid of emotion, like a predator watching a prey too weak to even bother killing.
“Yes, you’re right.”
“…What?”
“Just like you said. Because you took me to Viscountess Dien.”
Verita’s face instantly turned pale. She collapsed to the floor and buried her face in her hands, muttering that she knew this would happen.
Lunox knelt on one knee to match her eye level and smiled widely, showing his teeth. But unlike his smile, his sharply cut eyes pierced through Verita.
“Just like you said, Viscountess Dien died because of you and me.”
At those words, which placed even more blame, Verita’s shoulders flinched. Her eyes, full of fear, trembled between her hands.
“C-could it be that the monster appearance this time is also related to you? It wasn’t just a natural disaster? Viscountess Dien said she wanted to kill my sister, and there were reports that my sister nearly died because of a monster…”
“Hm. How clever of you to put that together, Verita.”
“What on earth happened, Lunox?”
“You really want to know? It’s a story that might shock someone weak like you.”
Lunox didn’t seem to care about her answer. He immediately began speaking, as if he had always planned to. He intended to make Verita a full accomplice.
“I made a contract with a monster sealed in the purification stone, using the power from the spirit filled with Viscountess Dien’s strong grudge. Then, I told it to stay somewhere the Viscountess’s daughter-in-law might visit. But your sister survived anyway—she’s lucky, isn’t she?”
“W-wait… Then, are you saying the monster escaped the purification stone on its own?”
“That’s right. When the monster died, the Viscountess’s heart, which was bound by invisible chains, also stopped. I didn’t expect it to happen in the Buell territory, though. Too bad, huh?”
Tsk. If only the Lebron Mine had been destroyed, what a shame.
Lunox clicked his tongue and rubbed his chin lightly. He lowered his gaze from the air and looked at Verita, whose tear-streaked face was shiny with sorrow. His usual gentle and warm expression was gone, replaced with an irritated look as he raised one eyebrow.
His blood-red eyes pierced down at trembling Verita, filled with despair.
“Verita. Thanks for the fun.”
“Why are you talking like you’re leaving, Lunox?”
“Because I am. I’ve lost interest in the capital.”
“T-then what about me…?”
Ha, Lunox narrowed his eyes and mocked her. Her shadowed, pale face showed a mix of guilt, the weight of knowing the truth, and fear of being exposed. So keeping silent about all this was simply expected. He had no reason to stay near Lilien anymore.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“W-what?”
Lunox was cruelly indifferent to others. Even if the woman in front of him, once called a friend, died—he would only care if it gave him pleasure or entertainment.
To him, the world was wide, and there were many places to go.
This time was no different. Even the last bit of fun he had hoped for had ended meaninglessly just as he was getting bored.
With eyes full of deep boredom, Lunox blinked and flicked Verita’s hair, as she sat there looking like someone completely abandoned.
“Take care, Verita.”
“N-no, wait!”
Verita, her face pale and weak, grabbed the hem of Lunox’s pants.
