To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 34

Alec and the doctor arrived at the church. They silently watched as the coffin was taken out of the carriage and brought inside.

“……”

“……”

“AL-E-EC!”

Tears in her eyes, Emily ran toward Alec and hugged him tightly.

“Ah…!”

“Alec, Alec! Help me, Father has been angry with me the whole time!”

Alec, still in pain from his injuries, grimaced as Emily clung to him.

“…Could you let go of me…?”

“Huh?”

“…My whole body still hurts…”

“Oh! I’m so sorry…”

Emily stepped away from Alec, and he sighed with relief.

“…What’s going on with your father?”

“Yesterday, when I returned to the estate, Father was angry with me… He told me, even though I’m supposed to become your wife, I need to discuss things with Paul…”

Alec’s eyelids twitched. He already knew from his father’s letter, but he still asked Emily.

“Who is Paul?”

“Huh…”

Seeing Alec’s unsmiling face, Emily became flustered.

“You don’t need to hide anything from me anymore, do you? I know everything. Paul is your fiancé, isn’t he!?”

“Ah…!”

“And I haven’t decided to make you my wife yet.”

“What!? But… we promised yesterday… You said we’d have a wedding, Alec!”

Alec grabbed Emily’s arm roughly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you already had a fiancé?”

“Huh… I… I couldn’t… I couldn’t tell you because I love you…”

Emily, her eyes filling with tears, tried to explain, but Alec didn’t console her. Instead, he continued to press her.

“Did you think just not telling me would be enough? You’ve been meeting with your fiancé this whole time, haven’t you? On the days you left the estate and didn’t return, you lied, saying you were going back home, but you were with him, weren’t you?”

“Ah… I’m… I’m sorry… But I was always thinking of you, Alec…”

“Don’t lie to me!”

Alec’s shout startled Emily, and she began to cry.

“Please, both of you, stop this! Today is an important day. The one who needs to speak to you both the most is Lady Sophia!”

“…”

“Hic… hic… Sister… Sister…”

“The one who should be crying is Lady Sophia… Do not forget that. Now, both of you, inside the church… Lady Sophia is waiting.”

The doctor urged Alec and Emily to enter the church.

Since the relatives and nobles hadn’t yet arrived, the outside of the church was still quiet.

There was another church nearby, where the sound of festivities could be heard.

“…That church over there… Is a wedding about to begin?”

The doctor hadn’t been able to attend Sophia’s wedding.

(…I couldn’t make it to the venue due to an emergency… In retrospect, maybe it was better that way… But I still have complicated feelings. I would have liked to see you as a bride…)

He was startled to see Emily clinging to him, sobbing softly.

“Alec is…”

Watching Alec walk ahead of them, the doctor blurted out, “Huh?”

“Lady Emily, Lord Alec is walking ahead…”

“…Can’t I stay by your side, Doctor?”

Emily looked up at him with teary eyes, and the doctor sighed.

“Let’s go. Your parents are waiting.”

“Ah… Yes…”

Emily glanced at the doctor with tear-filled eyes but, realizing he wouldn’t pay her any more attention, walked after Alec.

“…How can someone like her be your sister…?”

The doctor looked over at the nearby church, tears welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away and entered the church where Sophia awaited.

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Sophia’s funeral was held quietly at the church in the funeral hall.

Surrounded by white flowers in her coffin, Sophia looked as if she might wake up at any moment and greet her family with a soft “Good morning.”

“…Sophia… If only we hadn’t married you off, this wouldn’t have happened…”

“…Sophia, Sophia… These are your favorite flowers… Please, wake up…”

“Sister… I… I can’t live without you…”

Sophia’s family stood before the coffin, each voicing their thoughts and sorrowfully bidding her farewell.

“……”

Alec silently watched them, then turned his gaze to his late wife, Sophia.

Meanwhile, the doctor stood at a distance and overheard the quiet conversations of the nobles attending the funeral.

“What could have happened to the Marchioness at the young age of twenty, just as she was about to start her life?”

“I don’t know either. I was shocked by the sudden news.”

“I heard she passed away from an illness, but I had seen her working at the shop recently. I never imagined she would die so suddenly…”

“Speaking of that shop, I noticed a few months ago that the Marquess had stopped showing up, and it was the Marchioness who was working there. Where was the Marquess?”

“I saw him leaving for another country… but there was a well-dressed woman at his side. I thought it was the Marchioness at first, but the hair color was different.”

“What!? A woman?”

A nobleman sitting nearby raised his voice in surprise.

“Keep it down… It could have been a servant or a shop worker standing in for the Marchioness, couldn’t it? The Marquess was known to be very serious and never paid attention to other women before.”

“I saw the Marquess bring her to a banquet at a social event.”

“Wasn’t that the Marchioness?”

“No, no… Look, over there by the coffin, standing with the Marquess and the Marchioness’s parents. That woman. I heard she’s the Marchioness’s sister. She came to the banquet in her sister’s place, and I remember her smiling beside the Marquess… I wonder why he brought her. She didn’t speak with any foreign guests; she just smiled, while the Marquess seemed awkward in conversation.”

As the nobles discussed this, some began to cast suspicious glances toward Alec and Emily.

“Could it be that on that day, the Marchioness was working at the shop, and the Marquess brought her sister to the banquet…?”

“And when he traveled abroad with another woman instead of the Marchioness, could that woman have been… her?”

One of the nobles pointed directly at Emily.

“…Now that you mention it… Her build, her profile… Even her hair color seems similar…”

!!

“Could it be… an affair…?”

“No, no, that can’t be!”

“Then what about the Marchioness’s death?”

“But…”

Listening to the nobles question the circumstances of Sophia’s death, the doctor decided to leave before they could ask him anything.

The nobles had been informed that Sophia had died from illness. The doctor had done so in the hope that Sophia could rest in peace, away from any further gossip or scandal.

The noblemen continued to gossip about Alec, Emily, and Sophia without pause, while the noble ladies attending the funeral whispered about the same topic.

“Hey, what happened to Lord Alec’s face?”

“I was surprised too… Could it be a bruise? Doesn’t it look like he was punched?”

“…Yes, it really does… I wonder what happened.”

The young ladies at the funeral murmured amongst themselves, and other nobles, too, spoke as they glanced at Alec’s face.

“Madam, did you ever see Lady Sophia? I’ve never seen her once since she married Lord Alec.”

“I’m the same… I’ve never seen her at any banquets or tea parties.”

Overhearing their conversation, a nearby noblewoman chimed in.

“I saw Lord Alec and Lady Sophia’s sister, Emily, together at a recent banquet… I was shocked to see Lady Emily clinging to Lord Alec’s arm.”

“My goodness…”

“Not only that, when a young lady approached to speak with Lord Alec, Lady Emily stayed by his side, still holding his arm. The young lady eventually left without a word. Emily was whispering in Lord Alec’s ear, and the two of them smiled at each other as if… ahem, I’ve said too much.”

“What were they doing?”

“…I can’t discuss it here… If you’re curious, perhaps you’d like to join me at my estate this afternoon to hear the rest?”

“Of course, I’ll be there.”

“May I come as well?”

The noblewomen’s conversation about Alec and Emily grew livelier as the funeral neared its end.

Once the gathered nobles had departed, the church was quiet, with only Sophia’s parents, Alec, Emily, and the doctor remaining by her side.

“…This will be the last time I see my daughter’s face…”

Sophia’s father stroked her head, sorrowfully bidding his final goodbye.

“…Marquess…”

“Y-yes…”

“We’ll cover the cost of the funeral. The Marquess needn’t do anything.”

“What!?”

Alec was shocked by this sudden statement from Sophia’s father.

“F-father-in-law, but Sophia was the wife of the Parliss family. As her husband, I should cover the funeral expenses.”

“…Husband…”

Sophia’s father let out a sigh of exasperation, leaving Alec confused.

“…Yesterday, I heard that Emily is pregnant and that you immediately submitted divorce papers. I understand that your divorce from Sophia is already finalized.”

“!…”

Alec lowered his head, glancing at Emily, who stood beside her mother, staring down. He realized her father had already been told about the finalized divorce.

“I… I apologize… I intended to inform you sooner, but I hadn’t found the opportunity…”

“There’s no need to be so frightened. Though, I suppose it’s understandable, given that I’m the one who caused your face to look like that… I actually wanted to thank you, Marquess.”

“…Thank me?”

Alec lifted his face and looked at Sophia’s father in confusion.

“Thank you for divorcing my daughter, Sophia.”

“!?”

With a smile, Sophia’s father expressed his gratitude to Alec for ending the marriage.