Chapter 279: What Money Can’t Buy (3)
Pomeranian was right when she said that time was running out.
Tsutsutsutsutsuts...
Suddenly, a large gate appeared in front of Juliet and Romeo.
The gates of death.
The gate was so large and heavy that it seemed to be incredibly difficult to open and close.
So once it was opened and once it was closed, there was no turning back.
Romeo looked back at Juliet with a sad face.
Juliet, too, weeps and looks at Romeo.
[I told you before, wherever you go, I will follow you].
That night in the pouring rain. The promise they made.
Romeo leaving to go where the dead deserve to go, and Juliet following him.
Then. Demian stepped between them.
"No! No! Never!"
Demian shouted in a seizure.
"Juliet, you are still alive! How can you follow a dead man!"
And Juliet replied in a sad voice.
[My father had said so that night].
Hearing his daughter's words, Damian took a half step back, as if in shock.
He had said something similar the night before.
'Juliet, you are the heir of the Bourgeois family, why would you entangle yourself with such a base and ignorant man?'
The memory of that night haunted Demian, and he stammered an excuse.
"Well, this is a different case! If it were a marriage, I'd allow it! The ugly father was all wrong, I admit it! But this isn't... this! Romeo's dead, and you're alive!"
[Only 'yet'].
"What, what?"
Juliet exclaimed, her eyes locking with Damian's.
[Without him, I'm as good as dead].
"Daughter!"
[It doesn't matter how many times you say it, I'm the same, and even if I woke up again, I wouldn't change].
With those words, Romeo touches Juliet's face with a sad expression.
Juliet wraps her hand around his, too.
Demian muttered in disbelief.
"My daughter, you are a living soul, and they say a living soul cannot go to the other side. Your body is still alive and connected by a strong thread. I don't know about Romeo, who is already dead, but you cannot cross the threshold of death...."
A moment. Demian stopped talking and looked up at Juliet as if struck by lightning.
"Ju-Juliet. You don't think...?"
[....]
And Juliet lifted her tear-filled eyes.
Soon. She knelt before her father.
[Father. Please let me go now].
Everything was the same as that night.
'I've listened to you all this time'
[I've been a proud daughter, never letting you down].
'So just this once.'
[Just this once, can't you let me do as I please?]
Whether the voice now echoing in his ears was from the past or the present, Demian couldn't tell.
All he could do was continue to shed tears that he thought had long since dried up.
"...Ah, yes, that's it, I crossed the river of no return, yes, that's it."
Hearing his daughter's voice, for just a moment, he feels illusory.
He thought he could make everything right.
But it was an absurd illusion because he hadn't yet felt the full weight of his mistake.
And now. Realization struck, and Demian felt the true weight of his actions.
"What are you going to do?"
Vikir asked briefly.
Demien voice cracking.
" ... hours. How long do we have?"
"About thirty minutes."
It was indeed a short time.
Demian hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded.
He quickly ran to the servants beyond the doorway and shouted as loudly as he could.
"Get ready for the wedding!"
* * *
The wedding preparations were done simply, but quickly.
There was Juliet, the bride, and Romeo, the groom. With Demian, the father of the bride.
And according to the family law that relatives cannot officiate, Vikir officiated.
Pomeranian was to hold the hem of the bride's dress and receive the bouquet.
Vikir adjusted his plague doctor mask once, then stood at the dais and spoke briefly.
"Always remember, I am here for you, not you for me. Live well the way you used to live."
Unlike the hours-long ceremonies usually performed by high ranking nobles, this was a ceremony that left out a lot, but included all the essentials.
Juliet and Romeo look into each other's faces and smile tearfully.
And then the bride and groom kiss.
Demian, who was sitting alone at the wedding table, cried as he watched that scene.
And then.
BAM!
Pushing his chair out of the way, he looked into his daughter's soul and said.
"Live well."
At the same time. he picked up the pillow next to him.
Where Demian's gaze rested, he saw Juliet's body lying on the bed, breathing quietly.
"Live well, daughter. Live well, really live well."
A trembling hand. Demian's grip on the pillow tightened.
He pressed the pillow firmly against Juliet's face.
It didn't take much force.
Juliet's body, weakened from lying down for so long, simply lay there, offering no resistance.
The only sound was the tiny gasps of breathing that grew smaller and smaller until they were no longer audible.
Chuug...
Juliet's body became even more limp.
Then something changed in Juliet's soul.
Her body became clearer and clearer. And she could finally hear Romeo's words.
[Oh, my God, Romeo, I can hear you now!]
Juliet smiled brightly in Romeo's arms.
And then.
Juliet and Romeo stood before Demian.
Romeo bowed ninety degrees to Damian.
Juliet bowed her head slightly in the manner of a noble lady.
[Father, we will live well].
"...What's the point of living when you're already dead."
Demian muttered in a somber voice.
His red, bloodshot eyes were already filled with tears.
Ding- ding- ding-
Twelve chimes of the Great Clock strike midnight.
Juliet and Romeo said their final goodbyes to Demian and then, holding each other's hands, they walked across the carpet to the distant door of death.
Eventually. The bride and groom have crossed the line.
The line on the other side that separates this world from the afterlife. They opened the heavy door of death, crossed the high ledge, and left for their own world.
...Thud!
The heavy, dull door closed as if it would never be opened again.
Death and life, the afterlife and this world are cut off.
....
A silence as quiet as a tomb weighs down the hall.
Demian lowered his head and muttered.
"...Be happy. Be happy, daughter. You two must be happy there. You must."
His face twisted and hardened. The restrained tears were falling thickly, dripping onto the red carpet.
... Just then.
BANG!
The gates of death suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
[Dad!]
Juliet, who had just kicked open the heavy door, stuck her head out.
[Hello Dad! hi! love you! I really love you! We will definitely meet again someday!]
Juliet was crying.
She was calling out to her dad with the most brilliant smile Demian ever seen on her face, and she was really crying.
At the same time.
...thud!
The door to death closed completely.
It slowly faded away, just as it had appeared, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.
And then.
bug-
Damien dropped to his knees.
He opened his nose and mouth wide.
"Huuuuuuuuuuu-"
His solemn expression completely collapsed.
His face was a complete mess, with tears in his eyes, snot in his nose, and drool dripping from his mouth.
He leaned against the bed where his daughter's body lay and sobbed like that for a long time.
"...."
Vikir only stood still.
Pomeranian came to Vikir's side.
"Samchun. Why is he crying?"
Vikir stared into Pomeranian's face.
"I don't know."
"And Samchun doesn't know either?"
Pomerianian's words made Vikir look away again.
'If death were to separate us, I wanted to be together even after it.'
Why? A woman's face comes to mind.
Vikir spoke in a low voice.
"There are things I don't know, of course."
"If you don't know, you have to learn!"
"Hmm. I didn't really want to learn originally, but...."
Pomeranian gave him a questioning look, and Vikir looked away.
And then he spoke briefly.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get to know it."
Just then.
After a long sob, Demian raised his head.
Vikir waited patiently for him to gather some of his emotions.
When he did, he looked up and saw Vikir standing like a ghost near Juliet's bed and asked.
"...Are you really alive?"
"If you're dreaming, keep it to yourself. It's settlement time."
Vikir said firmly, snapping him back to reality.
Demian nodded at the words.
"Right. I suppose it's time to settle our trade, but before we do, there's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
"Thank you."
It was a sudden thing. Demian bent ninety degrees at the waist toward Vikir.
After a moment of silence, he raised his head and spoke.
"You're the reason I was able to let her go, completely."
It was an ambiguous situation as to whether he meant was married her off or sent her to the underworld, but it was true in either case.
Demian said with a slight smile.
"Haha, I'm feeling pretty good now that I've sent my disobedient daughter off to wherever she's going. It's like a wedding or a funeral, isn't it? Marriage is a tomb, after all."
"Wipe your face and then speak."
"Oh, no. I'm sorry."
Demian pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears, snot, and drool.
Once he was back to his serious, solemn self, he asked Vikir straightforwardly.
"What do you want from me?"
"The head of the Bourgeois Family."
"Head of the family."
A conversation like lightning.
It was a cool transaction that was too quick.
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