Their Tale

Chapter 7

The funeral was held not long after that.

How nostalgic as it was, Keith found himself standing in front of a coffin, again, even in his second life. He was surrounded by weeping collateral families and vassals that came from other territories. 

In front of him was a painted portrait of a beautiful red-haired woman with delicate features.

It was a picture of his mother.

Keith was just staring at the portrait of a person he cherished wholeheartedly with a pair of hollow eyes. 

The atmosphere during the funeral was heavy, tense and doleful. There were sounds of cries, sobbing and murmuring from the relatives and vassals that Keith did not even bother himself to care.

However, despite those conspicuous noisy background, Keith did not hear a thing. It was not like he wanted to, he just could not hear anything. 

For Keith, it was all silent.

This was not his first time standing in front a coffin of his cherished ones. This was not his first time losing someone important to him.

Thus, something like this was not new to him. 

And yet, he could not help but feeling hurt again as if it was his first time experiencing the loss of his cherished ones. No matter how long he readied himself for his mother's death, his heart was still stinging with pain. Just like how he could not forget those moments of pain, the wounds that were buried deeply in his heart seemed to be torn and shredded. Little by little, the same old scars were hurting again.

Although he could not hear the noises from his surrounding, somehow, the voices of the people in other departments who were speaking without knowing he was there were going through his mind. The record kept playing in his mind, splitting up the reality and the old memories.

"Hey. That snake Kim Rok Soo didn't even cry when the person who saved his life died. How can someone be so emotionless?"

"...Who knows. At least team leader Lee Soo Hyuk picked a good successor before he left. Kim Rok Soo is very good at his job."

"He may be an emotionless bastard, but at least he is good at his job."

An emotionless Keith was standing still with his heavy and slumped shoulders. 

As the record stopped playing, Keith finally noticed his brother beside him who was trying so hard to hold back his tears but failed miserably.  His brother was clinging to his side—clenching to his sleeve so tightly that the fabric ended up crumbled.

Despite the effort to stay as a mature older brother, his emotions betrayed him. Tears were dropping from his reddish-brown eyes. Cale lowered his head, letting his tears flowing out like a river without stopping as he bit his lower lips.

Slowly and gently, Keith took the hand that was gripping his sleeve and held it. He did not even frown when Cale clasped his hand very hard and tightly—as if did not want to let his hand go. 

Keith knew that he should say something to comfort his brother but his voice just won't let out. His throat was throbbing, the same way his heart was aching. 

No matter how much time passed, Deruth was still there—rooted in spot as he stared at the fresh dirt covering the coffin of his wife's grave. He was shedding tears, grieving and mourning for the loss of his wife.

He did not notice that Keith and Cale was standing behind him. Although Cale seemed to calm down after some time passed, his hands and legs were trembling. His cheeks were all red, the same goes for his nose. His teary eyes were puffy, as a result for crying too much.