RAMHM - Chapter 5 < The Crazy Woman and The Crying Handsome Man >

A graveyard filled with silent chaos. The name I had hoped to be called by throughout the funeral came out of a man I had never seen before. I looked at the man who turned his head toward me, frozen. His wet face was distorted and messed up to the point of pitifulness. His sunken eye sockets and his intense red eyes glowed strangely under the gaslight and moonlight.

For a moment, my heart pounded and I felt goosebumps. It wasn’t just because of the unfamiliar red eyes. The man’s distorted face, howling like a wild animal that had its prey stolen, like a beast that had its child stolen, confused me. The person who had to cry so much that his face completely collapsed was not a man I had never seen before, but Noevian. The person who had to call my name right now was not that unfamiliar man, but my husband. 

The person I had to face right now was also...

'I have to meet Noevian first.'

I couldn't even properly know who this body was, and I couldn't face anyone else who knew my face. It was like an animalistic intuition.

“Adrienne...!”

The man stood frozen for a moment, then suddenly stood up. And at the same time, his wide shoulders swayed greatly. When I looked in a slightly brighter place, he seemed to have suffered a major injury. The front of his uniform jacket, covered with medals, was stained with reddish blood. The man staggered, blocking the spot with his large hand. I barely moved my frozen body and turned around as if this was my last chance. Fortunately or unfortunately, my newly acquired body was so healthy that I was able to run easily.

“Adrienne, Adrienne...!”

A pitiful voice that would never come out unless someone knew me immediately pierced the back of my head. I ran desperately like a madman. After that, I couldn’t remember how I got out of there. Was it the voice of the red-eyed man calling me, or the gravedigger standing at the entrance? 

I held my heart that was beating madly and panted as I got on the Count’s carriage that was waiting for me on the side of the road. Ignoring the coachman’s panicked cries, I knocked on the wall madly. The coachman, who had hesitated, immediately started the carriage with a shout of “Hey!” 

Outside the window of the fast-moving carriage, dim lights flashed past. As the lights that illuminated the darkness continued and my rough breathing became stable,

"Uh?"

I checked my feet, which were somehow empty. The white silk stockings were torn here and there, covered in dirt and grass, and two toes were sticking out. And the black shoes I had worn to match my clothes were all gone.

"Ha..."

I curled up, leaning my elbows on my knees, and held my head with my still trembling hands. I remembered how I had barely managed to keep my balance after almost falling while running. I think my heel slipped slightly into a small pile of mud at that time. The man I met in front of the tombstone had his eyes half-turned. He seemed a little crazy. That’s why I had run away even more desperately. 

His red eyes, flashing under the moonlight, were definitely like that. He tried to come to me, even as he held back the blood and staggered as if he would collapse at any moment. I took a deep breath as I brushed away the small, rough pebbles from my mud-covered feet.

“Who the hell... is he...”

I recalled the situation that I had not been able to recall because I was running around frantically. At the same time, I grabbed my head was suddenly starting to hurt, and tried to recall the man’s face in more detail. Who could he be? 

I had only attended a couple of parties after my debutante. The man who appeared in the empty graveyard was a handsome man who sparkled like the sun on a winter night and was so dazzlingly beautiful that my eyes opened for a moment. It was obvious that I could not have failed to remember such a handsome man, but I had no idea who he was. 

*** 

After arriving, I sat in the carriage in a daze for a long time before finally coming to my senses and entering the Count’s residence.

“Madam! Are you here?”

“Madam, your feet..!”

Marge and Jonah quickly followed me, probably worried about me who had been out without a single attendant. I took off my hat and collapsed onto the living room sofa. My body and mind were both tired and confused. The situations that were too overwhelming to handle in one day were so overwhelming that I thought my head would burst. 

My death. My new body. People who called me someone's husband’s mistress. My funeral. And a man I didn’t know who was sobbing there. 

Jonah, who accepted the solemn black hat worn at funerals, diligently rubbed my legs, carefully took off my torn stockings, and washed my feet. The water that had been brought in to wash my hands quickly became footbath water. My feet stung as soon as the warm water touched them as if they had been wounded. 

Marge must have sensed something had happened after seeing my condition, as she paced around in front of me absentmindedly.

“Have you met His Highness the Grand Duke, Madam?”

Ah. Yes, Noevian. 

When I heard his name, I remembered something I had forgotten while running away, and I came to my senses. Because of the beautiful beast-like man who suddenly appeared, I couldn't wait for Noevian until the end. 

When I realized that, I was overcome by an inexplicable sense of anxiety. The collapsed face of the man I had never seen before that had filled my mind the whole way was instantly erased.

'I... what should I do now?'

Only then did I recall Noevian's face at the funeral. Up until the last moment I saw Noevian, he had quietly endured the first day of the funeral without even giving me a single glance.

"Madam?"

“...”

I nodded quietly without saying anything. After all, I had seen Noevian. 

Marge, who was looking at my face again, saw my face where tears were drying up, and for a moment, she stopped talking and her chaotic actions.

“The Grand Duchess’ body too?”

"...Yes."

I barely managed to answer in a voice that was completely locked up. 

I saw it. I saw it clearly. Me, more beautifully adorned than when I was a sick person in the Grand Duke’s residence, and now, the reality that I no longer have a body to return to. 

From now on, whenever an important guest comes, Noevian will have to show my body to the guests who come to pay their respects, like a master who takes out a precious antique. 

It was ridiculous. For the past two years of married life, Noevian had been treated like a dog by the royal family, so it was difficult for him to stay in the capital for more than two days. He had to stay in the capital for 100 days without fail. 

After I died. That too was the duty of the royal family.

“...I thought you would be happy and smile, but why are you crying?”

I must have been crying the whole time. Marge spoke rudely and handed me a handkerchief. I buried my face in the handkerchief and quietly swallowed my tears on the sofa. 　

'You are young.'

Noevian’s voice, which always hugged me and comforted me, buzzed in my head. Yes, I was still young and ignorant, so I didn’t know what to do with the healthy body that was given to me right away in the morning. It was the body I had wished for my whole life. 

That was so embarrassing. I had gained a healthy body. But on the other hand, wasn’t it the case that I had lost everything? 

My husband was no longer the beautiful Noevian, and my name was no longer Adrienne Trovica or Adrienne Piretta.

How nice it would have been if this situation had been a fairy tale or a novel. Then I wouldn’t have been Countess Acacia. 

As soon as our eyes met, Noevian would have realized, as if by fate, that Adrienne was in this body. Then I would have run to Noevian, kissed him, and cheered that I had finally thrown off my sick body and been reborn into a new body. I would have screamed in joy, saying that the Lord had finally granted my wish. 

However, I clearly remembered the gazes of several noble ladies and young ladies who had come to pay their respects at the funeral and were looking at Noevian. Everyone looked healthy and beautiful. It wasn't a scene from a fairy tale. It was the reality I was experiencing. 

If my soul had actually left this world, I would have looked at him from heaven and smiled faintly, saying, "You're happy even without me, Noah." But seeing it right in front of my eyes made me feel sick.

'Ahhhh... That's funny.'

Unlike the burning emotions, the breathtaking laughter continued to burst out along with the tears. I was dead and in someone else's body. That was all the more sad. 

Marge watched me continue to cry with my face buried in her handkerchief, fidgeting, and eventually sighed deeply before sending Jonah out, telling her to bring me a cup of tea to calm me down.

'It's the first time I've seen Noah cry.'

It was a huge shock to me, having never seen him weak even once. I wanted to hit myself hard on the head for doubting him even for a moment.

'How can I be so stupid?'

The person who would have the hardest time was Noevian, who was struggling with the sense of loss after losing me, and who would be there to greet the mourners while my body was by his side. 

The shallow suspicions about Noevian, who had sent someone to invite the deceased's wife to the funeral, were erased without a trace. An expression that could not be made unless he loved me. Because I saw it with my own eyes.

“Madam! Madam!!”

And the reason my feelings of sadness suddenly changed was because of one mysterious card.

“Madam, there’s something like this in front of the house!”

Yes, I saw the handwriting on the card that Jonah brought in a hurry to prepare chamomile tea. 

"Keep your promise, B." 

The handwriting of the person who called out B, which was clearly Blie's initials, and asked her to keep her promise... was clearly the same as that of my husband, Noevian.

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