1. Husband’s Funeral

The funeral of Duke Hilbert was held on a drizzly Friday.

“To have a funeral before even having a wedding ceremony. How pitiful.”

Someone’s voice interjected between the solemnly echoing requiem.

“Such bad luck. Just as she was about to improve her situation by becoming a duchess, her husband died.”

“Bad luck? She was married for at least one night. That’s why she’s sitting in that seat.”

The voices pretending to worry about the widow were clearly audible to the woman in black silk mourning clothes sitting in the front row.

“Yes. Even as a widow, she’s still a duchess, so her situation has improved.”

The woman wrapped in layers of black mourning clothes and veils remained as still as a statue. Except for the occasional shaking of her form beneath the veil as if crying, there was no movement at all.

That woman was Celia, the twenty-one-year-old widow who had just lost her husband.

“I wonder what she looks like?”

A voice filled with curiosity was heard.

“What does her appearance matter? I heard the late duke bought a poor woman from somewhere.”

“My goodness, was that rumor true?”

“True? How else could a daughter from an unheard-of family occupy the inner chambers of a ducal family?”

The chapel where the funeral mass for the recently deceased Duke Hilbert was being held was a sea of black. While most had somber faces, some were dozing off, others were lost in thought, and some, like the women sitting in the back, were endlessly gossiping.

Although it was a place to honor the deceased, it seemed difficult to find anyone truly mourning. Most of those attending the funeral were there to fill seats, considering their relationship with the Hilbert family. With the death of the head of a centuries-old ducal family, everyone wanted to show their face.

Unlike a wedding, no matter how lavishly a funeral is held, the deceased can never be the true protagonist.

So, more people were interested in other matters than in mourning the deceased.

Especially the gaze focused on the woman who’s sitting closest to the coffin where the dead duke lay, the Duchess of Hilbert, was beyond imagination.

The gathered women lowered their heads and moved their lips, eagerly exchanging stories.

“The duke bought his bride with money? How disgraceful.”

“I guess after his sickly wife died, he longed for the warmth of a young woman.”

“With the Hilbert ducal family, there should have been many families willing to offer their daughters, so why……”

“Why? With Young Duke Eugen standing firmly in place. Even if she bore sons one after another, they wouldn’t inherit a penny, would they? Who would want to push their precious daughter into the position of a duchess in name only?”

“In fact, the deceased wasn’t even a true Hilbert, anyway.”

With each conversation, the slender shoulders of the woman sitting in front shuddered repeatedly. Seeing this, the women smiled softly and continued their conversation.

At the front, the bishop was reciting a prayer for the deceased, and everyone in the funeral hall had their heads bowed with sorrowful faces. It wasn’t just those noble ladies who were pretending to pray while gossiping with bowed heads.

“But now that there’s a new duchess, the inheritance will become complicated. She’s not just a mistress, but a formal wife. Even though Lord Andro inherited the title as a son-in-law, it’s awkward to push aside his wife……”

“For just one night, she inherited that enormous fortune? My goodness.”

“It’s truly a Cinderella story, isn’t it? She might have married after completing all those plans.”

“If not, how could she marry a duke old enough to be her father? I could never do that.”

The conversation flowed more and more explicitly. It was just particularly audible because they were close, but most of the people at the funeral were most curious about where the enormous wealth of the Hilbert ducal family would go.

“Still, with an official heir already in place, she can’t even dream of it.”

“Come to think of it, didn’t the groom die on the wedding night? Then… did they properly consummate?”

“Oh my, how indecent.”

The suppressed laughter in response to someone’s question was clearly audible, and hearing this, Celia’s body shrank even more.

She didn’t want to pay attention to the words from behind, but even amidst the grand requiem, the guests’ chatter pierced like knives.

They might have thought they were whispering, but her hearing wasn’t so poor that she couldn’t hear the chatter right behind her.

There was a reason they were gossiping like that. Since it wasn’t particularly wrong, Celia felt as uncomfortable as if sitting on thorns.

Her hands, gloved in black lace, were clenched so tightly that blood couldn’t circulate. She knew very well that although everyone sat with solemn faces, they couldn’t hide their curiosity towards her.

Throughout her time sitting in the front row, which was reserved only for the deceased’s immediate family, she felt uncomfortable with people’s gazes.

It was inevitable that she became the subject of such blatant mockery. She could only think it fortunate that her face wasn’t visible behind the layers of veils.

If only this moment would pass quickly. Celia endured this hellish time silently.

“Shh. How frivolous.”

The noblewoman sitting in the middle raised a finger to her lips. The other ladies, who had been chattering excitedly until now, looked around in confusion at this sudden display of decorum.

“Oh my.”

The firmly closed doors of the chapel opened, and a tall man with black hair entered through the gap. The noble ladies collectively held their breath at the sight of the man. At the same time, the grandly echoing requiem abruptly stopped.

Not just the music, but everything in the chapel came to a sudden halt. As if time itself and the flow of air had frozen, an unexpected silence fell.

The guests’ gazes were fixed entirely on the man walking down the aisle between the chapel seats.

As the solemn funeral ceremony was suddenly interrupted, even the woman at the front who had been praying with her head bowed raised her head. The head of the woman wrapped entirely in black veils, front and back, naturally turned towards where everyone’s gaze was directed.

At the end of that gaze was a man all in black.

As the man dressed in a black suit for the funeral passed under the chandelier hanging high from the chapel ceiling, his jet-black hair looked particularly dark.

But his unwavering eyes were cold and blue. His face was like a delicately crafted sculpture. If not for the black mourning clothes, it wouldn’t have seemed strange if large wings had sprouted from his back.

The moment the man passed by where they were seated, the noble ladies began to chatter excitedly, now on a different topic, as if a spell had been broken.

“My, he seems to have become even more handsome.”

Poking the side of the noblewoman who murmured in awe, another lady chimed in.

“When has Lord Eugen ever been unattractive?”

“Still, how can he be so consistent?”

It wasn’t just the noble ladies watching the man walking down the middle of the chapel. All the women at the funeral, and even the men, were looking at him.

“It seems he rushed back to the country for the funeral. He had been wandering abroad, only occasionally showing his face.”

“He never quite recovered after his mother passed away. They said he was studying abroad, but it seems the emotional wound was deep.”

“His expression doesn’t look good.”

“Of course not. It’s his father’s funeral. How sad.”

“Now that Lord Eugen has returned, everything will go back to normal.”

The ladies’ eyes, filled with admiration, scanned the profile of the man who would now become the new Duke of Hilbert.

“It should have been the position inherited by the true heir of the Hilbert bloodline from the beginning. If only Lady Violetta had lived a little longer, we wouldn’t have had to see such a spectacle.”

The noblewoman clicked her tongue regretfully, glancing sideways at where Celia was sitting.

“Was it already ten years ago?”

“That’s about when Lord Eugen left too.”

“Now that he’ll inherit the title, he’ll stay in the country. It’ll be interesting after a long time.”

“As soon as the mourning period ends, there will be a flood of invitations to balls at the Hilbert ducal house.”

By now, their voices were full of excitement. He had completely changed the gloomy and chaotic atmosphere in the chapel in an instant.