Chapter 158

NMRJKM Epilogue Chapter 1

The fact that Carlothian had come back to life turned the royal family upside down. No, rather than saying the royal family was turned upside down, it would be more accurate to say that Luciano and Dorothea were thrown off balance.

“So, he just came back to life?”

At that, I looked at Carlothian. He crossed his arms and said,

“Yes.”

Hmm, it seemed he wasn’t inclined to explain further. Since the person who had come back to life was keeping quiet, I just smiled and shrugged it off.

“…You didn’t use any dark magic or anything, did you?”

Luciano looked at me with a very suspicious expression.

Hey, hey. Get lost. Where do you get off saying such negative things?

The crown prince seemed taken aback and fell silent when I waved my hand dismissively.

I feigned a solemn expression, clasped my hands together, and looked up at the ceiling. My gaze was distant, and my eyes were unfocused. I tried to look as crazy as possible.

“Perhaps the Lord was moved by our love.”

Luciano looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His hair seemed to stand on end, which was quite unsettling. But…

“…Exactly!”

Our female protagonist, Dorothea, seemed touched by those words. She grasped my hands tightly and shed tears.

“I’m so glad you aren’t unhappy.”

The glistening in her eyes revealed how relieved she was. I responded to her face with a carefree smile.

“Indeed. After all the hardships until now, it seems like we’ve finally been rewarded for it.”

When I looked at Carlothian with a face that asked if that wasn’t the case, he gazed into the air with a strange expression before meeting my eyes.

“…I see.”

What a bland response. Whether it was God or the Devil, I was grateful to the world for giving him back to me. Otherwise, they would have had to deal with two corpses.

Of course, the fact that I had tried to hang myself was a secret from Dorothea. If she found out, it would surely cause another uproar.

“So, the news of the duke’s death spread widely throughout the empire. How do we handle that?”

“Exactly. That’s the problem.”

I raised a finger. The three of them looked at my finger. Oh.

“…How about creating a new religion called Denaves?”

“…What on earth are you talking about?”

Dorothea responded this time with a harsh tone.

“That would be heresy.”

Ah, now that I think about it, the empire was monotheistic.

“How about the incarnation of a god who died and came back to life after a few days?”

“You’ll face divine punishment.”

“Ugh.”

In fact, I had said that as a joke, so I folded my finger and made a clicking sound. Carlothian, who had been watching from the side, brought up a more reasonable suggestion.

“I was in a comatose state and recovered before the funeral?”

“Well, that would be the best option. No one would believe that he died and came back to life.”

But it’s true. It’s a shame. Denaves, who died and came back to life.

It would be interesting if he were given the title of the immortal duke. I looked at Carlothian with sparkling eyes. He raised one eyebrow in response.

“The immortal knight who does not die, Carlothian Denaves.”

“Rejected.”

Why do you dislike such titles even though you love me?

As I sulked, he pulled me in for a hug. I nestled into his arms, wrapping my waist in his embrace.

“Then how about ‘immortal’?”

“Rejected.”

“The strongest immortal in the empire.”

“Rejected.”

Three times, three strikes. That means I shouldn’t continue any further. I neatly gave up and rubbed my cheek against him, saying to Luciano,

“When is the emperor’s coronation ceremony?”

“Many palace attendants have disappeared, causing a lot of trouble. It’s not good to leave the emperor’s seat vacant for too long…”

“Take your time preparing. There’s no rush. The empire isn’t going anywhere, right? Of course, it might weaken due to foreign invasions, and the absence of the emperor will disrupt national trade.”

“…We’ll try to prepare as quickly as possible.”

“By the way, is there anything precious in the palace? Since my dear one died and came back to life, if there’s something good for his health, please bring it to me.”

Luciano looked at me as if to say, “What is this nonsense?” I opened my eyes wide and looked at Dorothea with sparkling eyes. I didn’t expect anything from you anyway.

“Well, I’m not sure what kind of medicine a person who died and came back to life should take, but there are plenty of herbs to stabilize the body. I’ll make sure to prepare some when you leave.”

“Thank you, Dorothea.”

“More importantly, Ariadeline, how’s your throat? I heard you always take painkillers.”

“As long as I take painkillers once a day, my throat is fine. Well, the best option would be to not take any at all…”

Taking only painkillers meant there was no pain. The problem was that my throat felt strangely dull, making it hard to sing as I wished.

When I smiled a bit bitterly, she furrowed her brows. I waved my hand to comfort her.

“Don’t worry too much about that. Just take care of Carlothian’s needs.”

“Of course. Anytime!”

Ahaha, look at this prince. You should learn from the angelic Dorothea. I giggled as I looked at Carlothian. Did I do well?

He smiled faintly and patted my head. Ah, my man’s hands are really big.

Luciano, who was watching this scene, sighed and asked,

“I understand that the duke has come back to life, so you can go back now.”

“Oh, that’s not all there is.”

“What else do you have to discuss?”

I casually placed the document I received from my dear brother in front of him.

“Compensation for me being framed as a traitor and for my brother working for the Imperial Magic Knights without receiving a single coin.”

“…What did you say?”

I smiled as sweetly as I could, trying to look like an angel.

“Did you think I would just let this go?”

Luciano’s face turned red for a moment and then pale again.

He patted his chest as if feeling a bit suffocated, then sighed and stared vacantly into the distance. Eventually, it seemed he decided to accept reality and nodded his head.

“…We’ll address this after the emperor’s coronation ceremony.”

“You made a good decision, Your Highness.”

Dorothea had a vague smile on her face, but she didn’t intervene. She probably thought it was something that needed to be done. Well, maybe not.

I beamed and slipped out of Carlothian’s embrace, taking his hand.

“Then we’ll be going now, Your Highness.”

“Go quickly….”

“I’ll come visit often.”

“Don’t come…”

“Haha, you’re so shy.”

I walked out of the audience room with Carlothian and down the corridor. With many court attendants gone, there were hardly any people in the hallway. They really need to find new staff quickly to return things to normal. Tsk.

It was fortunate that those holding major positions were not in the palace that day; otherwise, the country would have faced a real crisis.

“Since we’re out, do you want to get some fresh air?”

“Shall we?”

Carlothian and I got into a carriage and headed out of the palace towards the noble district.

“Ah, huh? No?”

“Am I seeing things?”

“Could you slap my cheek for me?”

As I linked arms with Carlothian and stepped onto the street, people began to murmur. I proudly held my chin up.

Hey, my baby didn’t die!

As I grinned, Carlothian let out a deep sigh. I wondered if I looked funny or pathetic in my exuberance. Either way, it didn’t matter. I am the happiest person in the world right now.

“Where shall we go? I think it would be fine to tell the servants to wait in the carriage and take a walk in the park.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

“Or should we get you some new clothes?”

“I’m fine with my clothes.”

“Do you know how surprised I was that you have so few outfits?”

For your reference, I was currently sharing a dressing room with Carlothian. This was after he declared that he wanted to use the same room.

‘Carlothian has so few clothes compared to mine.’

It was only natural to get new outfits for official events, but it seemed he only had just enough for that. After being away for so long and coming back to life, shouldn’t he treat himself a bit?

“No, I want to get you some clothes. Let’s go!”

I took his hand and entered the men’s tailor shop. The owner of the shop, who had already been watching us from the window, was startled to see us and greeted us.

“Oh, welcome!”

“We’re here to get some clothes fitted. Is that alright?”

Normally, you would need an appointment for such a tailor shop, but with the power we had, it was a different story. For a duke’s family, they should make time even if it’s unavailable. As I expected, the tailor nodded vigorously.

“Th-this way, please.”

“…It’s fine, really.”

I widened my eyes and looked up at him.

“I want to fit you, though…”

“….”

“I want to see you in the clothes I pick out…”

He cleared his throat and confidently walked inside. I giggled and followed closely behind him. The customers in the shop looked at Carlothian as if they were seeing a ghost.

What, why? Is it the first time they’ve seen someone come back from the dead?