When I collapsed in the middle of the aisle, the entire hall erupted into chaos. The uproar grew even louder when someone cried out.
“He’s not breathing!”
At that, Bertram hyung’s mouth fell open further. He took one step forward, then hesitated — almost as if something in him had broken — and slowly made his way toward my body. His eyes were wider than I had ever seen them in all the time I had known him, and he sank to his knees before it.
Bertram hyung couldn’t say a single word, as though he’d lost his voice. Someone ran off to fetch a doctor. The guests murmured and pressed toward the aisle. Father stood there, utterly blank.
Father, dazed and directionless, soon grabbed a servant and said something. The servant then stepped in front of the crowd and announced,
“I’m very sorry, but we must ask everyone to leave. We will provide an explanation for this matter at a later time.”
“What on earth is going on?”
“Didn’t someone just say he wasn’t breathing?”
“Good heavens….”
The guests were bewildered, breaking rank, moving without direction and showing no intention of leaving — so the servant raised his voice once more and called out,
“Everyone, please exit the hall!”
The guests murmured among themselves but began filtering out through the doors one by one. I, in Edgar’s body, moved to do the same — but then changed direction and started toward my collapsed body, doing my best to arrange my face into an expression of appropriate horror.
I wanted to see Bertram hyung’s face up close. I was curious — what was he doing? What kind of reaction was he showing?
“You cannot approach.”
I was stopped just short by a servant, but I was close enough to see.
Bertram hyung sat before my body, unable to say a single word — and his eyes were trembling with an intensity I had never seen before. Looking at him like that, if I dared to draw any conclusion, it seemed like he was in a genuinely unstable state.
What was he thinking?
Were those thoughts about me?
I had no way of knowing, but the sight of him made me flinch. I had expected him not to bat an eye whether I fell, or whether I died.
A rattled Bertram hyung — it was a rare and extraordinary thing to witness.
I stared at him for a moment longer, then swallowed, turned, and slipped out of the venue. As I went, I glanced around to take in the scene.
“What in the world is happening?”
“He can’t be dead, can he?”
“My goodness….”
The guests had lost their bearings and gathered in scattered clusters, sharing their confusion. I observed that for a brief moment, then stepped outside the building.
I walked a few steps and stopped. I straightened my back and drew in a long, deep breath. The air tasted different — or so it seemed.
It’s done….
Everything had gone according to plan without a single hitch. My life as dim-witted Rowell was over. Now, I could live a new one.
There was a rush of elation — and alongside it, a faint unease that clung to my chest. But I tried to hold onto the feeling of relief. I wanted to feel as much joy as I possibly could.
Father’s line is broken now, and there will be no marriage tying our family to the Kildun household. As for Bertram hyung’s future — he’s a capable person, so I’m sure he’ll manage just fine.
It wasn’t my place to worry about them. Father and Bertram hyung — they would put those clever little heads of theirs to work, just as they always had, and find a way to sort this situation out. So I was done concerning myself with them. I had decided to leave this all behind.
I made my way to the roadside, hailed a carriage, and headed for Edgar’s house. As I sat there, feeling the vibrations of the carriage, a familiar voice reached my ear.
— Sir Rowell, can you hear me?
Hearing that, I let out a breath of relief. I had been told I would be able to continue communicating with Edgar’s soul, but right after using the magic, Edgar hadn’t been visible, and I had been worried.
Edgar wasn’t visible to my eyes, but his voice came through clearly.
I kept my voice as low as possible so no one would hear.
“Yes, I can hear you. Are you all right?”
— Ah, this is really something. It feels like I’m flying.
Edgar’s voice was bright and animated. I had briefly felt that sensation myself, so I smiled faintly and understood.
Then, wrapped in concern, I ventured,
“You don’t regret it… do you?”
— No, not at all. I feel good. My body feels astonishingly light, and my mind feels refreshed too. Though, since I don’t have a body anymore, saying my body feels light doesn’t quite make sense, does it.
“I’m glad….”
The hint of amusement in Edgar’s voice put me at ease. I felt a profound sense of gratitude toward him — and a deep, lingering debt.
— What about you, Sir Rowell? You don’t regret it, do you?
“No, I don’t. It’s just… such a relief. I’m even a little excited about what’s ahead. The anticipation is bigger than anything else.”
— That’s good to hear. It’ll be interesting, going forward.
“Yes.”
I answered with a quiet laugh. Edgar had said before that he didn’t intend to ascend — that he would stay on as a soul. It seemed like this was how things would be between us from now on — continuing to talk like this.
Until the carriage came to a stop in front of his house, I kept my voice just under the sound of the hoofbeats and carried on the conversation with Edgar. No matter how quietly I spoke, he could hear me.
When I stepped down from the carriage and stood before the door, Edgar said,
— There’s a key in the right pocket.
“Ah, thank you.”
Following his helpful guidance, I fished out the key and unlocked the door. From now on, this was where I would be living. I was grateful for this second chance I had been given, and I stepped inside.
And two days later, a letter arrived — an invitation to a funeral.
The funeral for Rowell Wigg will be held tomorrow. We ask that those who shared a connection with him in life come to pay their respects.
To: Edgar Tiras
The news about me was printed in enormous headlines in the newspaper. The tragic figure who had died during his own wedding ceremony. The fact that it had been Bertram Kildun’s wedding made the story spread even further.
Bertram hyung, as the eldest son of the Kildun ducal house, had been cursed from birth and was always the subject of society’s gossip, always drawing attention. I, in truth, had been nothing more than his counterpart.
Edgar and I had been close for some time, and in the three months before my death that closeness had become even more visible — so if I didn’t attend the funeral, it would surely look strange.
So I prepared myself and arrived at the cathedral where the funeral was being held. That something like this could even happen — it felt strange and surreal.
Today, my own funeral was being held.
Even without making any effort to arrange my expression, my face seemed to grow somber on its own. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant situation, after all. It was unlikely anyone would recognize me, but I found myself worrying anyway. I grew needlessly conscious of those around me.
The more unsettled my mind became, the more I tried to remind myself of the plans ahead.
After the funeral, I can enroll at the academy. Once this is over, I’ll have no more reason to be entangled with my family.
I tried to think of this as the final piece, and approach it calmly.
And so I entered the cathedral and settled into a seat at the very back. Familiar faces began filing in one by one. It wasn’t something to boast about, but I had never had close friends — I had spent my whole life following Bertram hyung around. There was no one I could truly call a friend. Everyone was merely an acquaintance.
Still, seeing faces I had known briefly, faces I hadn’t seen in a long time, taking their seats for me — I felt a small twinge of gratitude. And guilt, too. I was perfectly alive and well, yet I had caused this entire commotion, making them spend their emotions on it.
But having made my decision, I had to accept that guilt as part of it. I turned my gaze away from the people and looked straight ahead.
White flowers surrounded the casket. Thinking about the fact that my body was lying inside it — the feeling was strange.
The hall filled with mourners, and before long, Father appeared. He wore a solemn expression, stood before my casket, and bowed his head.
And then, Bertram hyung appeared.
Even from a distance, his hollowed face — the kind that comes from several nights without sleep — was unmistakable. I had stopped trying to make assumptions about him on my own, but I couldn’t help being curious.
What was he thinking right now? Had he been annoyed when I died?
Had he been sad?
I kept my eyes on Bertram hyung as he came to stand beside Father. I squinted, trying to make out his face in greater detail.
Bertram hyung stood there, completely still, simply staring into the space in front of him.
The priest began conducting the funeral. His measured, composed voice filled the cathedral.
“We gather here today before Almighty God. We entrust our brother to God’s mercy, and we commit his body to the earth. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
He spoke with his eyes closed, then lit a candle and continued.
“O Lord, receive this soul into your peace. Grant him rest in endless light and comfort. And bestow consolation upon those who stand in grief today. That when we too walk the same path someday, we may rest in your embrace with unwavering faith.”
The mourners, one by one, began clasping their hands together and lowering their eyes. I, too, slowly brought my hands together before my chest and cast my gaze downward.
The priest continued for a while longer in a similar vein. When his words came to an end, four or five servants stepped forward and lifted the lid of the casket. It was so the mourners could pay their respects to the body.
I sat in my seat, waiting for my turn and watching the scene — when Bertram hyung, who had been staring blankly into the air this whole time, opened his mouth.
“He isn’t dead.”
His voice rang through the solemn stillness of the hall.
The mourners stirred in confusion, exchanging bewildered glances with one another.
I felt the same urge.
What is he saying?
I stared at Bertram hyung with a furrowed brow, unable to understand what he meant by those words.
Hyung turned his gaze toward the inside of the casket, his voice steady and firm.
“The body hasn’t decayed in the slightest. The color is still there.”
At that, instead of letting my mouth fall open in shock, I clenched my teeth.
Oh no….
I hadn’t known what would happen to the body left behind after the magic was used. When Mother had passed, the funeral had been held on the very same day, so I had no frame of reference. And it was all so long ago by now.
I stiffened with tension and watched the situation unfold. What Bertram hyung was thinking — I had absolutely no idea.
And then he said it.
“She used magic and ran.”
Words shocking enough to make someone faint. The moment I heard them, it felt as though my body had frozen solid. The sound of my heartbeat pounded furiously in my ears.
“Bertram, stop this. Accept it. The doctor pronounced him dead.”
Father, his face heavy with complicated emotions, placed his hand on Bertram hyung’s shoulder and said that. At his words, the mourners wore expressions of quiet sorrow. They seemed to assume that he had lost me so suddenly and senselessly on the day of the wedding, and couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
In the midst of all of that, I was the only one in sheer panic.
How — how did he figure it out so quickly?
My body trembled with tension. I was sitting at the very back, and yet it felt as though every single pair of eyes in the room were fixed on me — an illusion, but one I couldn’t shake. My pulse was far faster now than it had been at the wedding.
Bertram hyung stepped forward, pulling away from Father, and moved to stand right beside the casket.
Hyung pressed on, unflinching.
“If this is a body that’s going to be cremated anyway, it won’t matter if I take it with me.”
In a situation where nothing was short of staggering, Bertram hyung reached his hands into the casket. And then he lifted my body out of it and took it into his arms.
“What does he think he’s doing?”
The mourners began to murmur. My mind was equally as loud. I wanted to ask the same thing. What are you doing right now?
Bertram hyung — dark shadows of exhaustion pooled beneath his eyes — wore no expression at all as he held my body in his arms and turned around, then began walking forward in long, deliberate strides.
“Bertram! What do you think you’re doing!”
Father cried out in alarm, but hyung did not stop. Following the carpet that ran all the way to the door, hyung walked out without a moment’s hesitation.
I sat there, completely lost, and stared after him as Bertram hyung passed right by my side.
At last, hyung drew close enough that I could see it all clearly. I could do nothing but stare, dumbstruck, as my body was carried away.
After that brief moment as he passed — Bertram hyung walked out through the doors, carrying my body in his arms.
