“Thank you for your words, Sir Henry.”
Judith hesitated, wondering whether she should return the bouquet of lilies to Henry or not, and finally spoke.
“We are not receiving visitors at the mansion for condolences. It would be better for you to visit the mausoleum.”
With this subtle excuse, Judith tried to send Henry away.
“I’ve already been to the mausoleum. I came because I was worried about the widow being left alone.”
But it seemed he wasn’t just there to offer condolences.
“Could you offer me a cup of tea?”
It seemed he had some other purpose with Judith, and her sharp intuition whispered to her: stay away from this strange man as quickly as possible.
Judith subtly stepped inside the gate, preparing to close the door.
“I’m sorry, Sir Henry, but my household isn’t well-prepared, so I don’t have any tea to offer.”
“Then water would suffice. Actually, I came because I have something urgent to discuss with you.”
Of course, there was no such urgent matter. Henry had come to uncover the truth. He fiddled with the vial of truth serum inside his jacket.
However, Judith wasn’t as easy to deal with as he had expected.
“Then, say it here.”
“It’s not something to discuss out here…”
“I’m sorry, but I live alone, so I can’t just let a man in. If you have something to say, say it here. Otherwise, please leave.”
Judith and Henry argued with the door between them. When Judith tried to close it, Henry quickly stuck his foot in the doorway.
“Just for a moment, Madam, please.”
“Leave, or I will report you to the security force.”
“Haaah.”
At the mention of the security force, Henry couldn’t help but laugh. Who was going to report whom to the security force?
“If anyone would have trouble with the security force, it would be you.”
He mumbled unconsciously.
Although it was a small voice, Judith was close enough to hear it. After all, people tend to hear insults about themselves very clearly.
“What did you just say? That I’d have trouble with the security force?”
Judith stepped closer to Henry and asked aggressively.
“Why? Why would I have trouble?”
Henry, startled, stepped back and licked his lips nervously. Since things had come to this, he decided to confront her directly.
“Because you’re a suspect in the murder of Sir Erne.”
That too, a very likely suspect.
Judith stared straight into Henry’s eyes as he added these words, as if interrogating her.
“I didn’t kill him.”
Her confident tone, with nothing to hide, made Henry momentarily doubt himself. Was she really innocent? Or was she acting?
He fiddled with the vial inside his jacket.
He didn’t want to use force on a woman… Henry was conflicted.
“So, you’re here to investigate Sir Erne’s death? Well, it certainly is suspicious.”
As Judith observed the uncertainty in Henry’s eyes, she sighed and began to explain everything voluntarily.
“You must be suspicious of me. I understand. But I’m truly innocent.”
If Henry had come to investigate Erne’s death, he should have just said so.
Judith explained everything. There was no reason to keep it a secret. After all, she was truly the victim.
As Henry listened quietly to Judith’s explanation, he frowned and tilted his head repeatedly.
“So you’re saying that Sir Erne died on the day of your wedding? And you buried his body in a coffin?”
“Yes.”
“But… his body was found in the forest just a few days ago, after he was supposedly buried.”
“What?”
They looked at each other, both confused by what the other was saying.
After thinking for a moment, Henry asked Judith to confirm Erne’s identity. He suggested that perhaps the man she had married wasn’t Erne after all.
Judith hesitated but eventually nodded. She needed to clarify the situation, especially since Henry continued to suspect her.
In fact, Judith had also thought that she should investigate Erne’s death further, but the enormous debt she owed left her with no time to do so.
Since Henry offered to investigate it for her, she had no reason to refuse.
“Let’s go immediately and confirm the body.”
***
Henry took Judith to the city morgue under the jurisdiction of the security force.
The morgue was primarily used for victims of crimes, but Henry was acquainted with the caretaker, so he was able to temporarily store Erne’s coffin there.
The caretaker led them to Erne’s coffin. Judith covered her nose with a handkerchief. The stale smell was overwhelming. Despite their best efforts to ventilate the space, the smell of death still lingered in the morgue.
“We try to keep the temperature as cool as possible, but we can’t completely stop the body from decomposing.”
Since they didn’t have refrigeration technology, that was understandable. Standing in front of Erne’s coffin, Judith swallowed nervously.
“Then, I’ll open it.”
The body had already begun to decay. To say that Judith wasn’t scared would be a lie. She gripped the handkerchief covering her nose tightly.
‘Just check the face.’
The coffin creaked as the lid was opened.
Thud.
The sound of the lid being placed down echoed, causing her heart to sink.
The body was covered with a white cloth.
“Please check.”
The caretaker said to call him when the confirmation was done, then returned to his station, leaving Henry and Judith standing in front of the coffin.
“Shall we open it?”
“………”
“Sir Henry?”
However, the confident Henry, who had so boldly suggested they check the corpse, now looked as pale as if he could lie down in the coffin himself.
“Huh?”
And why was he suddenly stuttering? This wasn’t the time for cute behavior, Sir Henry.
Judith looked up at Henry. His clasped hands were trembling, and his lips were being bitten, licked, and fidgeted with, unable to stay still.
He seems very scared.
“Shall I do it?”
“No, no, I can’t let a lady do it.”
Whether it was bravado or just kindness, Judith sighed as she looked at Henry, who was now leaning over, trembling.
At this rate, they wouldn’t even be able to check Erne’s hair by tomorrow.
“I’ll just do it.”
“…I’m sorry, I’m a bit of a coward.”
Henry, looking embarrassed, quickly stepped back.
After taking a deep breath, Judith reached for the white cloth covering the corpse.
How much had the body decomposed? She had heard that soft parts like the lips would rot quickly.
Her fingers, white from tension, trembled as she grasped the edge of the cloth and slowly lifted it.
Golden hair, as radiant as sunlight, was revealed, followed by a pair of transparent green eyes staring blankly at Judith. Those eyes, which looked exactly like a dead person’s eyes… no, it was actually a dead person!
“Uh, uh, uh.”
When someone is too shocked, they can’t even scream, or so they say. Judith let go of the cloth and fell backward, landing on the ground.
Scooting backward, she continuously pointed at the coffin with her finger.
“He, he, he’s alive….”
Her fingertips trembled violently. No, his eyes were open! She had locked eyes with Erne, hadn’t she, Sir Henry?
Judith grabbed the hem of Henry’s pants. But he had already frozen in place long ago.
“W-what is it?”
Judith couldn’t move as if her body were bound. The hairs on her body stood on end. Her heart was racing so fast it was hard to breathe.
The two of them were frozen in place, unable to take their eyes off the coffin. The heavy silence that pressed on their shoulders was broken when Henry, his legs giving out, collapsed with a short groan.
“…He’s not breathing.”
Judith squeezed out her voice. The cloth still covering most of Erne’s face hadn’t moved at all.
“It looks like he died with his eyes open.”
“I clearly closed his eyes.”
Henry strained his memory to say. Was it possible that his eyes had opened again due to post-mortem rigidity?
Judith, clutching her chest in shock, tried to think as scientifically and rationally as possible.
“Let’s finish checking.”
Let’s just confirm it quickly and get out of here. That would be best.
Judith mustered every ounce of courage she had and approached the coffin again. Her heart pounded so loudly it felt like it was beating right beneath her ears.
‘But can the eyes of a body dead for several days look that intact?’
It was odd, but Judith didn’t dwell on it. She could think about it after she was out of here. Judith narrowed her eyes, clenched her teeth, and slowly lifted the white cloth, trying not to make eye contact with the corpse.
The cloth slid down past the sharp bridge of his nose, over his masculine jawline, and fell smoothly down.
“……..”
In the dimly lit room, his beauty seemed to stand alone in the glow, commanding attention in the silence.
Judith momentarily lost herself staring at his face. Just as she had briefly forgotten her fear at the wedding when she first saw the groom’s face.
It was both beautiful and eerie. The face, as flawless as a sculpture, with hollow, unfocused eyes, looked exactly as it had on their wedding day, unchanged.
“Sir Henry, this is indeed the man I married. But…”
‘Why hasn’t he decayed?’
Why hadn’t he decayed?
She was sure they had buried him that day. And that was some time ago now. She pulled the cloth down a bit further.
Then, scars, long and short, were revealed across his broad chest, along with his well-trained arms and clearly defined abs.
There was no movement at all, yet his body seemed as if it could spring to life at any moment, causing Judith to momentarily forget to breathe.
No matter how good the preservation techniques were, this didn’t make sense. She couldn’t believe that the man lying in front of her was a dead person.
Judith placed her fingers under Erne’s nose, checked his pulse, and even placed her palm on his chest to see if his heart was beating.
Her dark eyes wavered in disbelief at what she was witnessing.
Meanwhile, Henry was confused.
‘What is that?’
He couldn’t even tell what was bewildering anymore. Was it that Erne’s corpse looked exactly as it had when they found him in the forest?
Or was it Judith, fearlessly checking Erne’s body all over?
