81 – date(1)

* * * *

Again and again and again-

The sound of high-heeled shoes fills the silent hallway.

The figure of Lilithiana appears reflected in the moonlight coming through the window and disappears when it is swallowed by the shadows.

As if it was natural for the imperial princess to move without sleeping at this time, the ladies-in-waiting to see Lilithiana off lined up along the aisle and bowed.

again.

As Lilithiana stops in front of Berry’s bedroom, her simple black dress flutters by inertia.

Sup, whoa.

Lilithiana puts her hand on her chest, takes a deep breath, and carefully knocks on Berry’s bedroom.

Originally, it was a tomb that I would have headed alone, but I knocked on the door because I thought it was natural that if Berry was there, he would also be with me.

Even when she wasted all day at his grave, she was away from his grave for this amount of time every weekend.

Of course, it didn’t come all of a sudden.

After dinner, I promised to visit him around 1 or 2 in the morning.

It was easy to see that it was not a signal for men and women to do such and such.

Lilithiana’s expression was uncharacteristically serious.

kiik-

The gold-embroidered gate opened, revealing Berry.

Neat black suits and ties prepared in advance by the ladies-in-waiting.

It is often the same style as the clothes worn at funerals.

Berry also realized what Lilithiana meant by telling her to wait for such a late-night visit the moment she saw the black suit in her bedroom closet.

It was a very easy hint for him who knew the original work.

2 a.m., hour of the dead.

And a black suit that you would wear to honor the dead.

Finally, when I opened the door, I could see the black smoke dyed in Lilithiana.

‘I wondered why there was only one grave.’

Berry remembered that there were no other tombs around the place where the tomb originally belonged to him.

Despite the fact that there should be two more tombs according to his own thoughts.

However, the question was quickly resolved with the explanation of the exclusive lady-in-waiting who had good eyesight.

-It has now become a place where only great men of the empire are buried. It was difficult for those who were looking for it to be called a great man, so it was probably enshrined in the best place for people other than great people to be buried.

After that explanation, I asked if it was okay for me to make a tomb in a place where only the great men of the empire would be placed.

-The graveyard for the great men of the empire is quite large to be said to be a place for only one person. Even if you want to dig the ground next to it and put up a tombstone, the cemetery itself is originally owned by Finn, so it’s not a problem for us to discuss. The situation that the person enshrined in the grave would come back alive was not assumed at all.

That was a plausible explanation.

According to the maid’s explanation, it was logical that Berry could put other people’s tombstones there as long as he wanted to, but there was a problem.

If that happens, except for special circumstances like the case of Finn, most of them have to dig up already made graves.

That couldn’t be the case, so Berry drooled in pity.

‘Parents and children together… No, putting them together would be rather strange.’

In a way, thinking that it might be against the logic, I just hoped that the parents would be happy that their child was placed in a slightly better place.

“Are you ready, Berry?”

“of course.”

The current time is 01:30 am.

It is the time of the dead who can meet the dead in a little while.

Berry moves along following Lilithiana who nodded softly.

again and again. trudge.

Every step you take leads to a passage that unfolds like a decalcomani.

At each window, maids lined up and bowed, and the moonlight seemed to follow Lilithiana and Berry and illuminate the path.

After leaving the front door and passing the antique marble floor, only Berry can see two soldiers standing with spears in the dark.

It is common for noble figures to be buried in such cemeteries, so it seems that they were built day and night to prevent grave robbers.

Before long, the soldiers who discovered the princess and the state guest bowed and asked in a low voice.

It was because he didn’t want to disturb the dead loudly during the time of the dead.

“Are you here, Her Highness the Princess?”

“Okay, I don’t need guidance, so open the door.”

“Yes.”

Lilithiana walked on accustomedly, not caring at all about getting her shoes dirty on the grass.

Berry also silently walks along with Lilithiana with her head slightly bowed.

After walking for about 3 minutes, you will see two tombstones.

Lilysiana placed the bunch of roses in full bloom she had prepared in advance at an angle, as if leaning against a stone monument.

Berry was momentarily taken aback by the sight, which was different from the custom of honoring the deceased that he had originally known, but soon came to his senses and decided to honor them in his own way.

Two bows toward the grave. and silence.

This time, Lilithiana was taken aback, but she remembered Berry’s birthplace and just waited patiently for the act to end.

According to Berry’s words, he was destined to die in the not-too-distant future, whether or not he was possessed.

Liliciana, who had believed that Berry was the cause of everyone’s death even when she was a child, realized that she needed to find the body of Finn’s real parents after realizing the truth.

Fortunately, Finn’s biological parents were already found by the emperor in advance and secretly enshrined here so that no one would know.

From the time Lilysiana realized the truth, she constantly moved to apologize to them every weekend at the time of the dead, but Berry also thought that they might have a lot of guilt.

If it was Berry before he recognized this world as reality, he wouldn’t have cared, but the reason was that he didn’t.

And, as expected, Lilithiana could see the melancholy blooming in Berry’s heart.

Unlike others, a sin that has become impossible to repay.

He could have repaid Finn by granting her wishes and the Empress by saving her daughter’s life, but there was no way to repay Finn’s real parents.

It would be shocking to even steal the son’s body and occupy it.

Berry realized that there was a problem here that was truly unanswered.

But only one thing. There was one way to pay for this sin, and Berry swore, remembering the faceless man.

It’s like Ian, who sacrificed a curse on Irene’s grave and burned his anger against the demon, the culprit of everything.

“I will repay the early death that you have suffered because of me by catching and killing the man who brought you into such a fate. … You may not understand that, but in order to relieve your regrets even a little. At the same time as fulfilling your son’s wish, I’ll get his head.”

The dead man was silent, and he didn’t know if this was just a meaningless act of masturbation.

Still, Berry swore.

Lilithiana, who had been silently listening to him by his side, could also fully predict who Berry was talking about, so she just promised the same oath as Berry in her heart.

Because that was the only action they could take for them.

* * * *

The morning of the summer festival day was bright.

When I returned to the imperial palace last night, the time was already pointing to 4:00 in the morning, so I couldn’t sleep much, so my eyes were sore.

Still, I couldn’t decorate the first date of my life with tardiness as if it were natural, so I got up and rang the bell.

ttiring ttiring-

A knock was heard shortly after the bell rang. Judging from the fact that less than a minute has passed, it seems that there are always maids waiting around my bedroom.

kiik-

“Are you awake, Mr. Finn?”

“Yes. I think the princess has already heard about it, but would you prepare some bath water to get ready to go out?”

“…Are you saying you’re going to take a bath and leave? Not after you’ve been to the festival…?”

I wonder if Westerners don’t have a custom of washing their bodies in the morning.

Or is it the background of this era?

My maid-in-charge expressed deep doubts when I told her that I would take a bath again even though it had only been a few hours.

However, as a Korean, going out on a date without taking a bath is unthinkable.

With a very determined expression, I asked for the bath water to be prepared again.

“Yes, please prepare bath water. I want to meet the princess fully prepared.”

Then, my dedicated lady-in-waiting closes her eyes in dizziness.

The imperial palace did not have separate shower facilities like the academy.

So, like last night, we have to prepare a large amount of hot water.

Even if you simply take a shower, you cannot leave the bathroom empty even though the state guest washes himself.

The life mages and maids assigned to the imperial palace would suffer a little, but what should they do?

If you twist it, you guys are the princess’s lover.

I had to spend time retracing my memories of years ago and plotting a course for a date with Lily.

The best time to do that was while taking a bath.

Still, it’s a relief if it’s fortunate that you won’t come out in 10 minutes after just pouring water on your body like you’re taking a bath.

I suffered like that, but I noticed it again when I came out soon.

After struggling in the bathroom like that, what greeted me in the room was the uniform of an imperial knight embroidered with very nice decorations.

A little different from the knight’s uniform I dedicated to Finn.

I added one more thing to the lily note in my mind.

‘Lily wants to go on a date with a knight.’

He opened the brackets and wrote down a uniform fetish.

It might come in handy on the first night that comes someday. maybe.