His heart isn’t beating, Judith muttered with a trembling voice, while Henry struggled to pull himself together.
Should I call a doctor? Or the security force? No, I am the security force!
As confusion clouded his mind, Henry rubbed his throbbing head and saw Judith’s shaking hand about to completely pull away the white sheet.
“Wait a moment, Madam!”
Even in his disoriented state, Henry hurriedly called out to Judith.
“Please, protect Erne!”
“What?”
“He’s naked.”
“Ah…”
Judith dropped the sheet from her hand, and Henry managed to preserve his friend’s dignity.
***
‘Why was the buried corpse found in the forest?’
That part remained a mystery, but Henry and Judith had resolved their misunderstandings with each other.
For now, Erne’s body was moved to the Rainland mansion. Although Judith felt uneasy about keeping a corpse in the mansion, she had no choice.
Typically, without the security force chief’s approval, a corpse couldn’t be stored in a mortuary. Henry, using his connections, managed to keep Erne’s body there temporarily.
But that could only last for a day or two; they couldn’t keep it longer.
‘Reporting Erne’s suspicious death to the authorities would only cause a commotion.’
A corpse that doesn’t decay, especially if it’s the illegitimate son of the Rainland family?
The rumors tied to the Rainland mansion would only grow bigger, spiraling out of control. At the same time, the remaining Countess of the Rainland family would be exposed.
‘I might even be dragged in for questioning by the security force.’
In the worst-case scenario, Judith herself might be arrested and investigated. From any perspective, she was the most suspicious person in this situation.
‘And then I won’t be able to meet the delivery deadline, will I?’
It didn’t stop there. If word got out that the candles sold from the Rainland mansion were connected to this mess, orders might be canceled out of bad luck.
If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to pay the interest. If she couldn’t pay the interest, Smith would come, and Smith would drag her into the hellhole he had prepared.
Just thinking about what would come next made her head pound.
‘No way.’
Judith convinced Henry to move Erne’s body out of the mortuary. Fortunately, Henry didn’t want Erne’s body to be autopsied.
“If it were an ordinary death, maybe. But in this condition, they’ll just use the autopsy as an excuse for experimentation.”
More than anything, Henry said,
“I want Erne to rest in peace. I know an excellent medium.”
He was a fortune-telling enthusiast.
Henry believed that bizarre cases like this required help from the other side.
“Do you perhaps have some hesitation towards ‘them’?”
‘Them’ referred to the Shaltin tribe. As a desert people who lived by fortune-telling, they were incorporated into the Empire over a hundred years ago.
However, even after all this time, they had not blended with the Imperial people.
Even though the people of the Empire sought out the Shaltin tribe for fortune-telling, they also despised and oppressed them.
Some even openly expressed their hatred. Henry wondered if Judith was one of those people and thus asked her.
“Not really…”
Judith didn’t have strong feelings either way toward the Shaltin tribe since she wasn’t originally from this area.
However, just a little…
“Um, I know this might sound odd given the situation, but won’t an excellent medium be quite expensive?”
“……..”
Henry gave Judith a look that clearly said, ‘Are you really going to say something like that in this situation?’ Judith quietly raised two fingers and whispered, ‘I have a debt of 200 million gold.’
“I’ll cover it.”
“Sir Henry, you are truly a good person.”
***
The next day, Henry set out to find the skilled medium.
Erne still looked as if he were alive. *Rigor mortis hadn’t set in, and his eyes hadn’t clouded. Something had gone horribly wrong.
Judith, unsure of what to do, nervously bit her nails. She knew one thing: if Erne continued to exist like this, an unrotting corpse, it would certainly be bad news for her.
‘If only I’d found him alone, I could’ve buried him somewhere.’
But since Henry had witnessed everything with her, she couldn’t do that. As she bit her nails, Judith resolutely turned and headed toward the fireplace.
If Erne wouldn’t decay on his own, she’d have to make it happen.
“I’m sorry, Sir Erne.”
But please understand, this is all I can do. Judith threw the logs into the fireplace, hoping that warming up the room would help Erne’s body decay.
Judith was desperate, grasping at straws. She wanted this situation resolved as quickly as possible.
What if the medium Henry brings also fails?
“I don’t feel good about this either. If rumors spread about an unrotting corpse, it’s not going to help with property values.”
So, please follow the natural order of things, even in death.
Though she felt guilty, Judith couldn’t afford to give up her mansion worth 400 million gold, her title, or her candle business, which was on track for success.
In this strange world where nobility and capitalism coexisted, her title and wealth were both her sword and shield.
“………”
As she was about to leave, Judith hesitated. A sudden pang of guilt stopped her in her tracks.
It felt like she was abandoning a sick person.
Maybe it’s because Erne looked so alive?
“If this isn’t a living corpse, then what is?”
He was neither truly alive nor dead. If he had consciousness, she might suspect he was a zombie or a vampire, but that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t believe it.
Judith put her finger under Erne’s nose once more. She still couldn’t feel any breath.
Instead, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before. Mud had dried and clung to various parts of his body: under his chin, behind his ears, and on his shoulders.
Although she’d never prepared a body for a funeral herself, she knew that cleaning the body before burial was a common practice.
Out of respect, Judith decided to clean Erne’s body before the medium arrived to take him away.
“Excuse me, then.”
Judith brought a damp cloth and started to wipe Erne’s body. There was mud not only on his face and neck but also on various parts of his *torso.
“Did you roll around in the mud?”
She asked, but of course, the dead person don’t answer. Judith muttered to herself.
“Why is his chest so broad?”
Was it because of his naturally large frame, or did he train hard? Erne had a body that wasn’t meant to sleep on its side. His shoulders were broad, his ribcage was thick, his waist was slim, and his abdominal muscles were well-defined.
Since she was already wiping him, Judith examined his body carefully for any injuries. However, there were no noticeable wounds, only old scars.
One scar, in particular, ran diagonally from his lower abdomen down to his pelvis.
“Oh my…”
Following the scar, Judith gasped. She had gone too far down. This was the first time in both this life and her previous one that she had seen a man’s naked body, but she could tell that Erne was quite impressive.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry.”
Even though Erne showed no reaction, Judith’s face turned red, and she quickly pulled the sheet up to cover him up to his neck.
***
It was the 49th day since the wedding.
“His soul is trapped in his body. What an unfortunate man.”
After the fire in the fireplace had died out and a new day had dawned, Henry finally brought the medium. He said it took time because the medium wandered from place to place without a fixed residence.
“How suffocating and resentful it must be, unable to leave when he needs to.”
Judith had expected an elderly woman as the skilled medium, but it turned out to be a young man.
He had bronze skin and amber eyes, embodying the characteristics of the Shaltin tribe from the original story.
“So, is that why Erne’s body isn’t decaying, or rather, returning to the earth?”
“That’s right. I don’t know how it happened, but his body has become a prison.”
The medium explained in a grave voice that this was why Erne’s body wasn’t rotting, and his soul couldn’t escape.
Well, it sounded convincing enough.
“So, what do we need to do to set Erne free?”
“You need to open the door.”
“The door?”
“Yes, a person’s body has three doors.”
When a person dies, the three doors in their body open, allowing their soul to ascend. But for some reason, Erne’s doors hadn’t opened.
“Why didn’t the doors open?”
“This sometimes happens to people like Sir Erne, who have trained their bodies to the extreme.”
The explanation seemed a bit flimsy, and Judith tilted her head in confusion. But Henry, eager to agree, nodded enthusiastically.
Although it felt dubious, since the one paying for it was satisfied, Judith decided not to criticize further.
“Anyway, the important thing is that we must open the doors.”
The medium explained that if they helped open these doors, Erne’s soul could ascend to heaven, and his body could return to the earth.
“Would you like to open those doors with me?”
The medium extended his hands and whispered softly.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
Henry grasped his hands tightly and nodded fervently.
“How do we open the doors?”
“We need to perform a memorial ritual.”
Is he really suggesting an exorcism?
Wow, this is playing out just as I expected.
🍓 ;
*Rigor mortis is the postmortem stiffening of the body’s muscles, which typically begins several hours after death. It occurs due to chemical changes in the muscles after death, causing them to contract and stiffen. The process usually starts within 2 to 4 hours after death, peaks around 12 hours, and then gradually dissipates after 24 to 48 hours as the body begins to decompose. Rigor mortis is often used in forensic science to help estimate the time of death, although various factors, such as temperature and the individual’s physical condition, can affect its onset and duration.
*The torso is the central part of the human body that extends from the neck to the pelvis, excluding the head, arms, and legs. It includes the chest, back, and abdomen, housing vital organs such as the heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines. The torso provides support and connection for the limbs and plays a key role in movement and posture.
