Chapter 47. Goodbye, Louise

2023.11.16.

The priests began the prayer for eternal rest.

The Crown Prince couple quietly paid their respects, listening to the sound of the prayer.

“I thought it would be better if you decided what to inscribe on the gravestone.”

In the middle of the prayer, Clade whispered very softly.

Yuan nodded several times.

Looking at the blank white gravestone, Yuan quietly thought.

‘Louise.’

“…And thus we pray for the eternal rest of Louise Pelliese.”

‘Goodbye.’

Behind her trembling shoulders, Clade’s large hand gently wrapped around her. It was comfort that was neither cold nor hot.

Yuan quietly lowered her head.

‘Goodbye, Louise.’

Words of apology. Words of gratitude. They all felt utterly meaningless.

‘Don’t feel sorry for me anymore. Not about our parents’ death. Not about your illness. You don’t need to try so hard to care for me or worry about me.’

I will become this person’s real family.

And this time, I’ll do my best to protect our new home too.

So please, sister, rest assured now.

Go to a place where you no longer have to carry the burden of looking after me.

I’ll do my very best here.

Until you can look at me with pride.’

‘Wait for me just one year. Within a year, I’ll find a way to call you back. I’ll come get you.’

In this place you brought me to.

***

After the hastily-conducted funeral.

Clade left Yuan in the care of Mr. Mazarin and moved toward another part of the vast cemetery. He seemed to want to visit other gravestones while he was here.

“He’s probably going to see the late Emperor and Empress.”

Mr. Mazarin said bitterly, casting a wistful gaze in the direction Clade had disappeared.

“They’re buried here too.”

Yuan flinched slightly and glanced through the open carriage door at the snow-covered graveyard.

It was well-maintained, yet somehow looked desolate.

That the late Emperor and Empress rested in such a place…

“They were originally supposed to be buried in the royal cemetery.”

The late Emperor and Empress had always wished to be buried in the red-brick mansion.

They wanted to be laid to rest in the modest family graveyard beyond the maze-like garden at the mansion’s rear, so they could remain with the house forever.

But due to their royal status, it was difficult to bury them in such a private place. They were first interred in the royal cemetery, and later, under pressure from Emperor Igor, were reburied here in the family graveyard of Marquis Rev, the Empress’s maternal home.

Listening to Mr. Mazarin’s voice, thick with the weight of years, Yuan imagined how Clade must have felt.

Even if it were possible to exhume the remains of the late Emperor and Empress and rebury them in the garden behind the Black Mansion, would Clade truly do it?

Could a man who never wanted to experience any more death in that place bear to go through it again?

Lost in such futile thoughts, she remained dazed until, after quite some time, Clade returned, carrying a chill in the air, and climbed into the carriage.

The carriage departed without delay, and neither Yuan nor Clade spoke a word to each other.

Yuan kept staring at the floor, but then, for the first time, lifted her head slightly and looked at Clade seated across from her.

He was resting his chin on his hand, silently gazing out the window.

It had been a while since he’d left the mansion grounds—ever since he’d gone hunting near the estate with Emperor Igor—but was he truly unaffected by being so far away?

Warm sunlight caressed his half-mask and beautiful face as it passed.

As sunlight caught and slipped through his long eyelashes, his crystal-clear eyes shimmered with an indifferent light, as if he were merely observing a familiar daily path.

He looked so peaceful that Yuan stared at him for a long while.

Peaceful, yet somehow melancholy.

“I’m sorry.”

His glittering, indifferent gaze turned toward her.

She felt she couldn’t just let it go, even though he asked her nothing.

Above all, she wanted to share this strange emotion with him.

Looking at his lightly closed lips, Yuan spoke.

“My sister… I didn’t tell you about her.”

Yuan apologized for having hidden Louise’s existence from him.

“I’m sorry. Yesterday, and in so many ways… I’ve only caused you trouble.”

And for all the other things too.

For having justified her place in the mansion as if blaming him for Louise’s death.

For the fact that, ultimately, her lies had brought Emperor Igor Euphris to the Black Mansion, forcing Clade to endure what he did.

Whether she’d already apologized, hadn’t yet, or whether the truth could never be spoken—

Yuan sincerely apologized for everything.

After compressing and compressing countless thoughts into just a few words,

“All I can say is…”

“…I’m truly sorry.”

That was all.

She didn’t want to cry and seek pity.

Yuan stubbornly clenched her eyes, refusing to let the tears fall.

Then she shifted her gaze from his tightly closed lips back to his eyes.

He wasn’t looking at her.

His eyes, which once seemed to shine with their own light, had already merged with the scenery outside.

Yet his lips—

“Don’t worry about it.”

With that single, casual phrase, he extinguished all her anxiety.

It was the driest, kindest reply in the world.

The carriage floor seemed to tremble slightly as it rolled over the neatly paved stone road.

Yuan continued staring at Clade, who still looked so peaceful, as if entranced.

‘Like this, we really do seem like a family.’

Going together, in broad daylight, to visit the graves of our family.

Having awkward moments, yet never asking each other anything.

An ordinary moment for others felt like a miracle to Yuan.

Two hours later, the Crown Prince couple arrived at the Black Mansion.

Butler Gustav had lined up the servants in neat rows along the front steps.

As the carriage carrying the master smoothly passed through the iron gate, crossed the garden, and finally arrived at the entrance, the servants called out as if they’d been waiting.

“Welcome back, my lord!”

Clade stepped out of the carriage without a word and glanced over them one by one.

Yuan also stepped down with the butler’s help, looking back and forth between the servants and Clade with teary eyes.

The servants stared at Clade in disbelief—he had walked out of the mansion in broad daylight and returned on his own two feet.

Clade waved them off indifferently with a casual hand gesture.

Yuan followed closely behind him. Just as they were about to pass through the open front door, Clade suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“About the west wing.”

Yuan flinched.

“What exactly are you doing over there that I keep hearing strange noises?”

Hena, who had been preparing to take his coat, Butler Gustav, and Yuan exchanged glances.

Clade narrowed his eyes, studying them, then took a step back.

Now that it had come up, he looked ready to head straight to the west wing.

“Wait, just a moment!”

Yuan blocked his broad back with both hands and gently pushed him back.

Clade snorted in disbelief.

“Are you pushing me right now?”

“Please give me just one week!”

“What?”

Clade, relaxing his posture, handed his coat to the butler and furrowed his brows.

“In one week, please take a walk with me to the west wing!”

Clade swept back his hair, gave a cold laugh, and flatly refused.

“What kind of trick are you planning?”

“It’s not a trick!”

“Move aside.”

“A gift! It’s a gift!”

Clade’s footsteps halted, breaking free from her grip.

Seizing the moment, Yuan quickly added,

“It’s a gift. A surprise gift! So please, just wait until next week to see it.”

“A gift?”

His eyes seemed to say, What could you possibly give me as a gift?

Yuan felt a bit of pride sting, but desperately replied—she didn’t want him to see the west wing before it was clean.

“Yes. So please, just wait and see.”

Yuan clasped her hands together and pleaded earnestly.

***

“They’re all keeping quiet as if they’ve made a pact.”

“…….”

“Without a shred of fear.”

“Since Her Ladyship said it’s a gift—”

“So the mistress is now the master too, is she?”

Clade dryly laughed and leaned back in the rocking chair.

His wife, who had begged for just one week, hadn’t shown her face in three days—what could she possibly be so busy with?

Compared to before, when she would personally bring him one of three meals and even serve him at the table unless something special came up, she had changed completely.

“The servants all follow Her Ladyship closely. They’re truly doing their best to treat her as the true mistress.”

“But they stay silent toward the actual master.”

“Let’s say they’re cooperating with Her Ladyship because they wish for Your Highness to be happier.”

Another dry chuckle returned from Gustav. Accompanied by a cynical reaction: “Happier? What a laughable notion.”

“What time is it?”

“Since you asked five minutes ago, it should be about 3:35 now.”

The butler Gustav’s sharp reply earned a disgruntled look from Clade.

The elderly butler added with a practiced, innocent smile,

“Shall I ask Her Ladyship if she’d like to have dinner with you?”

“…Why?”

“She seems to be waiting only for the sun to set.”

“Waiting?”

Clade glared outside, where dusk hadn’t even begun to fall, then turned a sharp gaze toward Butler Gustav.

Seeing the butler’s faintly amused face, his insides suddenly twisted.

“Why would I be waiting?”

In the end, he stood up.

Seeing him head toward the bedroom door, Butler Gustav maintained his smile.

He wasn’t surprised to see Clade heading out.

“Going for a walk?”

He simply opened the door quietly.

The polished leather indoor shoes paused briefly at the open doorway.

Beyond the door, widely opened by the butler, hazy sunlight, like gold dust rubbed onto the floor, poured onto the mahogany wood.

Clade swiftly swept back his golden hair, which sparkled even brighter than the sunlight. His disheveled hair instantly became neatly arranged.

Then—

He strode firmly out of the bedroom.

***

The servants, who had still been whispering in disbelief about the reclusive Crown Prince’s recent outing, now stood with their mouths agape and eyes wide.

Because in broad daylight—

Without even wearing his mask—

The master of the Black Mansion was calmly descending the second-floor staircase like a panther stalking a small animal.