Chapter 7
“My goodness, to think His Highness the Crown Prince would come in person.”
At the spirited voice from beside her, Eleanor snapped back to her senses.
The Crown Prince, Renatus, really was stepping down from the carriage.
Dressed in a black uniform, he turned his head absentmindedly—and his eyes met Eleanor’s. At that moment, she recalled seeing him at the imperial palace not long ago.
When she had stumbled after witnessing Marquis Klein’s affair, he had caught her. For some reason, it felt as though her arm still burned where he had held her.
“…How did His Highness the Crown Prince end up coming here personally?”
Even if the imperial family was forming an in-law relationship, the Crown Prince had no particular ties with her mother or the Marquis Klein.
If the imperial family wished to show their condolences, it would have made more sense for Prince Cosimo to come instead.
More than anything, for someone who had lost his own mother under unpleasant circumstances, this could hardly be a comfortable place.
As Eleanor absentmindedly stroked her arm and murmured, Marquis Klein, who had been listening, scoffed.
“If His Majesty the Emperor sends him, does the Crown Prince have the option not to come?”
“Why would the Emperor…?”
Eleanor quickly realized. Empress Julia must have requested it of the Emperor. And since the Emperor, who was not particularly fond of Renatus, had no reason to refuse the Empress’s request…
The moment Eleanor understood, a hollow laugh escaped her.
To please his second wife, he would demean his own son. And that same woman’s slander had driven the Crown Prince’s mother to a dishonorable death.
It was something everyone tacitly acknowledged. Eleanor couldn’t even begin to imagine how much hurt and humiliation the Crown Prince must feel being here.
As she felt a faint sense of sympathy for him—so similar to her own family situation—Renatus began walking toward her.
Eleanor couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Even in such a humiliating situation, he did not lose his elegance or composure. His striking features shone beneath the simple uniform, and his commanding presence, like that of a victorious general, proved his noble bearing.
Even without the imperial crest on his carriage, one could feel the aura of an emperor from him—it was almost understandable why the Emperor would feel jealousy and distance himself from his own son.
“I greet the little sun of Mestre.”
“My condolences for the deceased, Marquis Klein.”
After giving a brief nod in response, Crown Prince Renatus turned to Eleanor.
“How great your grief must be, Lady Klein. Your mother has surely gone to a better place.”
“…Thank you, Your Highness.”
Eleanor found it strange that his polite tone did not feel insincere. If anything, as someone soon to be tied to the Empress’s family, he should have been her political enemy.
Yet, at least in this moment, he sounded genuinely saddened by her mother’s death.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person. Thank you for being here.”
“My father sent me. It is an important matter, so it is only right that I came.”
With a faint, ambiguous smile, Renatus soon made his way into the temple. Eleanor and Marquis Klein followed behind.
Before long, countless visitors began pouring into the funeral hall. Eleanor grew busy receiving them alongside the Marquis.
“My deepest condolences. Please take care of yourself.”
“Your mother was such a gentle and kind person. Though she had been ill, to think she would pass so suddenly… I can hardly contain my sorrow.”
Hearing people offer condolences under the assumption that her mother had simply died of illness, Eleanor found it difficult to maintain her composure.
Fortunately, just as she was reaching her limit, the priests entered and the funeral began.
“First, let us observe a moment of silence in remembrance of the deceased.”
As Eleanor lowered her head, the orchestra began to play a piece her mother had loved in life—a piece she used to play herself while seating young Eleanor beside the piano bench.
Eleanor bit her lip tightly, trying not to cry. It wasn’t unnatural to cry at a funeral, but if she started now, she feared she would never be able to stop.
“Next, the deceased’s husband, Marquis Klein, will briefly speak about her life.”
Marquis Klein calmly rose from his seat and stepped onto the altar. Taking out a prepared sheet of paper, he began to speak in a sorrowful voice.
“My wife, and the mother of my only daughter, Elina Klein, was the person I loved most in this world. Born as the only daughter of the noble House of Klein, Elina and I first met 25 years ago at a debutante ball…”
Eleanor struggled not to make a dumbfounded expression as she listened.
Her mother, who had always been referred to as nothing more than “your mother,” was finally called by her name again—only after her death.
And “the person I loved most in the world”?
The man who had locked that very person in a cold basement while she was ill, who had driven her to take her own life out of humiliation—
And yet here he was, shamelessly pretending to be a devoted husband before others.
There had to be limits to having the heart of a beast. Eleanor clenched the fabric of her dress tightly as her anger surged.
By the time Marquis Klein finished his speech and returned to his seat, he wore a satisfied expression, as if proud of having done well. It made her sick.
The rest of the ceremony proceeded in its usual, familiar manner. For that brief time, Eleanor buried the hellish rage and hatred within her heart, focusing solely on praying for her mother’s peaceful rest.
She would be the one to carry out revenge. All she wished was for her mother to forget the suffering of this world and find peace.
“Lastly, those who wish to say their final farewells to the deceased, please come forward.”
It was already the final part of the ceremony. People who had known her mother stepped forward one by one, offering their last goodbyes through the transparent glass coffin.
Marquis Klein remained seated, and Eleanor hesitated to go.
She was afraid.
If she went forward and said goodbye, it would mean truly acknowledging their final parting.
But in the end, she took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Fidgeting nervously with her fingers, Eleanor finally faced her mother inside the glass coffin.
Unlike the last time she had seen her, her mother’s face was now clean—without a single trace of blood.
“…Ah…”
A sound like a sob escaped Eleanor’s lips.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, but her trembling eyes were already spilling tears.
Through her blurring vision, she tried to take in her mother’s face as she began to cry.
“Mother…”
It felt as though she might rise at any moment, call out “my beautiful daughter,” and embrace her warmly…
As though she would ask why she was crying so sorrowfully, gently wiping away her tears…
But her mother simply lay still inside the coffin.
Only then did Eleanor truly realize that she was saying goodbye.
The guilt of not being able to protect her, the sorrow of having to bury her in the cold ground alone, the crushing sense of loss of becoming an orphan—
All of it surged at once, tightening painfully around her chest.
“Mother, Mother…!”
Eleanor collapsed before the coffin, her sobs echoing across the altar like those of a grieving child. Those watching could not hide their sympathy.
Only one person—Crown Prince Renatus—watched her with an expressionless face.
After the mourners had left, the temple fell into an eerie silence.
Marquis Klein had told her to take her time and left first, leaving Eleanor alone to compose herself.
Once she felt somewhat calmer, she stepped outside. A few mourners still lingered, chatting among themselves.
Eleanor decided to walk around the temple grounds for a bit.
As she made her way to the garden behind the temple, she noticed smoke rising from somewhere.
A man was smoking a cigar in the flower garden.
As Eleanor narrowed her eyes to identify him, the man turned his head.
Their eyes met.
It was Crown Prince Renatus.
Upon noticing her, he casually extinguished the cigar.
Whether it was his finely shaped fingers or his practiced ease, the gesture appeared strangely elegant.
Watching him quietly, Eleanor spoke.
“I didn’t know you smoked cigars.”
Renatus gazed at her for a moment before replying—
“Would you like to try?”
