"Thank you for your kind words, Sir Henry."
Judith hesitated whether she should give the bouquet of lilies back to Henry or not.
"We are not accepting condolences at the mansion. It would be best to go to the family grave."
She tried to send Henry away with a very natural excuse.
"I have already been to the ancestral grave. I came here because I was worried about Madam who was left alone."
But it seemed he had not come simply to offer condolences.
"Would you like a cup of tea?"
It seemed as if he had a purpose. Her keen intuition whispered to her to get away from this strange man quickly.
Judith stepped inside the front door and prepared to close it.
"I'm sorry. Sir Henry, but I don't have any money to offer you tea."
"Then water is fine. Actually, I have something important to tell you."
Of course, there is nothing urgent to tell her. Henry came to find out the truth. He fiddled with the truth potion bottle inside his jacket.
But Judith was not as easy as he thought.
"Then let's talk here."
"This isn't the place to talk about this."
"I'm sorry, but this is a house where a woman lives alone, so I can't just let a man in. If you have anything to say, say it here, or else, please leave."
Judith and Henry were struggling with the door between them. When Judith tried to close the door, Henry quickly put his foot in.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, I'll just have to take a moment."
"Go back, or I will report you to the police."
"Ha."
When the word police came up, Henry couldn't help but laugh. Who would report whom to the police?
"Who will be in real trouble when you go to the police station?"
He muttered without realizing it.
It was a really small voice, but Judith was close enough to hear it. And isn't it normal for people to hear themselves cursing?
"What did you just say? You said I'd be in trouble if I went to the police station?"
Judith took a step towards Henry and asked aggressively.
"Why? Why would I be in trouble?"
Henry flinched back, licking his lips as if he was in trouble. Since it had come to this, he decided to confront it head-on.
"Because you are a suspect in Erne's murder."
That's also very powerful. Judith looked straight into Henry's eyes as he added his words as if he were interrogating her.
"I didn't kill him."
Henry was taken aback by her confident attitude of not being afraid.
Is she really innocent? Or is it an act?
He fiddled with the potion bottle inside his jacket.
I don't want to use force on a woman...
Henry was troubled.
"I guess you came to investigate Sir Erne's death. Well, it's very suspicious."
Judith, who was looking at his shaking eyes helplessly, sighed deeply and began to blow on her own.
"I know you're suspicious. But I'm absolutely innocent."
If you came to investigate Erne's death, you would say so.
Judith confessed the whole story without hesitation. There was no reason to keep it a secret. Judith was truly a victim.
Henry, who had been quietly listening to Judith's explanation, frowned and kept tilting his head.
"So, does that mean Erne died on the day of the wedding? His body was placed in a coffin and buried?"
"Yes."
"But... Erne's body was found in the forest a few days ago. So, after he was buried."
"Yes?"
They looked at each other with a puzzled expression as if to say, 'What on earth are you talking about?'
After collecting his thoughts for a moment, Henry asked Judith to first check Erne's face, saying that the man Judith married might not be Erne.
Judith nodded after thinking for a moment. Rather than continue to be suspicious of Henry, she needed to clarify the current situation.
In fact, Judith also thought that she should dig deeper into Erne's death, but she was so deeply in debt that she simply could not investigate.
She had no reason to refuse since Henry offered to do it for her.
"Let's go right now to check the body."
***
Henry took me to the morgue under the control of the capital's police.
The mortuary was primarily a place for bodies found in criminal cases, but Henry was able to temporarily entrust Erne's coffin to it because he had an acquaintance with the manager.
The mortuary warden led them to Erne's coffin. I covered my nose with a handkerchief. The smell was musty. No matter how well they ventilated the mortuary, the smell of death did not go away.
"We are trying to keep the temperature as cool as possible, but we cannot completely prevent the body from decomposing."
It must be because there is no refrigeration technology. I swallowed nervously in front of Erne's coffin.
"Then, I will open it."
A corpse that had already begun to decay. Honestly, I would be lying if I said it wasn't scary. I grabbed the handkerchief covering my nose.
'Just check the face.'
The coffin lid opened with a creaking sound.
Thud.
My heart sank at the sound of the coffin lid being lowered. The body was covered with a white cloth.
"Please check."
The manager returned to his seat after asking to be called when the inspection was finished, and Henry and I stood side by side in front of the coffin.
"Shall we open it?"
"..."
"Sir Henry?"
But Henry, who had been shouting out to check the body with curiosity, had a pale complexion that made him look like he could lie down in the coffin right away.
"Uh?"
And why are you suddenly making such a lisp, Sir Henry? This is not the time to be flirtatious.
I looked up at Henry. His hands, clasped together, trembled, and he bit his lips, then licked them with his tongue, unable to keep them still for even a moment.
You seem very scared.
"Shall I open it?"
"Oh. no. I can't let you do that, Lady. I can't."
Was it a bluff or a good thing? I looked at Henry, who was trembling and bowing, and let out a short sigh.
At that speed. I wonder if he'll be able to check Erne's hair even tomorrow.
"I'll just do it."
"I'm sorry. I'm just scared."
Henry stepped back, looking embarrassed. I took a deep breath and reached out to the white cloth covering the body.
How far has the decomposition progressed? They say that delicate parts like the lips rot quickly.
My fingertips, pale with tension, trembled. I grabbed the end of the white cloth and slowly lifted it.
Blonde hair that looked like it had been broken by sunlight was revealed, and then transparent green eyes stared at me without focus, and those eyes looked just like the eyes of a dead person. No, they were a dead person!
"Ugh, ugh."
They say that when a person is too surprised, they can't even scream. I dropped the cloth and fell on my butt. As I pushed my butt back, I kept pointing at the coffin with my finger.
"I...Is he alive...?"
The tips of my fingers were trembling. No. is that thing's eyes open?
Are you saying that I made eye contact with Erne, Sir Henry? I grabbed Henry by the leg of his trousers, but he was already frozen in place.
"What, what, what is it?"
I felt as if my body was tied up, unable to move. The hairs on my body stood on end. My heart was beating so fast that I could hardly breathe.
We were nailed to our seats, unable to take our eyes off the coffin. The silence that weighed on our shoulders was broken when Henry, his legs giving out, slumped down and gave a short groan.
"...I can't breathe."
I spoke with a strained voice. The cloth that still covered more than half of Erne's face was not moving at all.
"He opened his eyes and thought he was dead."
"I definitely closed his eyes."
Henry said, squeezing the memory. Could it be that rigor mortis sets in and the eyes open?
I clutched my surprised heart and tried to think as scientifically and rationally as possible.
"Let's check it out."
Let's check quickly and go. That would be good.
I gathered all the courage I had and approached the coffin again. My heart pounded anxiously as if it was beating right behind my ears.
'But how can the eyes of a corpse that has been dead for several days still be so clear?'
I was puzzled, but I didn't think about it for long. I could think about it after I left. I squinted my eyes as much as possible to avoid eye contact with the corpse, gritted my teeth, and lifted the white cloth.
A white cloth fell smoothly down his manly chin, past his high nose.
"..."
As if he were alone in the halo of light in the dark room, his beauty drew silence and captured the gaze.
I was momentarily lost in his face, just as I had been momentarily freed from my fear when I saw the groom's face at the wedding.
It was beautiful and grotesque. The sculpted face, the empty, unfocused eyes, the face that looked exactly the same as it did at the wedding.
"Sir Henry, he is the man I married. But why didn't he rot?"
'Why didn't he rot?'
I definitely went to the grave that day. When was that? I pulled the cloth down a little more.
Then, his wide chest covered with short and long scars, thick arms built up through long training, and defined abs were revealed.
I forgot to breathe for a moment as the body seemed ready to come to life at any moment, even though it was motionless.
No matter how good the corpse preservation technology is, this is ridiculous. I couldn't believe that the man in front of me was dead.
I put my finger under Erne's nose, felt his pulse, and placed my palm on his chest to check for a heartbeat.
My black eyes shook repeatedly at the unbelievable sight.
Meanwhile. Henry was confused.
'What is that?'
Now he doesn't even know what's so confusing. Is it the same Erne's corpse that he found in the forest? Or Judith, who is checking Erne's body without hesitation?
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