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Chapter 5: Rest in Peace
When I looked at Demetrio, the man who had been casually handed responsibility for me with a single “I’ll leave it to you” in Grandpa’s letter, he was pressing his temple with one hand, as if nursing a headache—not out of grief, but pure frustration.
He looked… irritated.
Um, was he okay? With everything?
My tears dried up almost instantly.
Honestly, was that letter really written by a king?
But the royal seal was right next to Grandpa’s signature, and the paper even had the royal family’s crest as a watermark.
There was no mistake—it was definitely from His Majesty himself.
***
“Here you are.”
The emotionless official handed me something: a maid uniform.
A black dress, white apron, and a lacy frilled headpiece.
So, this was what I was supposed to wear, right?
It said so in the letter too.
I didn’t own a single dress fancy enough for the royal castle, so honestly, this was a relief.
Besides, the frilly headpiece was cute.
Apparently, time was running short.
The official was clearly impatient, urging me to hurry.
Demetrio, however, calmly stopped him.
“She can take her time. Don’t rush her,” he said firmly.
That kindness warmed my heart—but still, the people waiting at the castle were definitely all high-ranking nobles.
The thought alone terrified me.
So I hurried to change clothes, and we set off for the royal castle.
***
The carriage we boarded was one reserved for the royal family.
Was it because Grandpa had been the king, and I was the one who received his letter?
“Here,” Demetrio said, offering his hand as he helped me climb in.
The seat was so soft I couldn’t relax at all.
I actually missed the old public carriages—just a wooden plank with a thin cushion that barely made a difference.
Sitting across from me were the official and Demetrio.
They explained that we were heading to the royal castle for the reading of the will, as mentioned in the letter.
I wanted to ask what exactly that ceremony was like, but before I could, the carriage started moving, and the atmosphere turned quiet.
The silence grew heavy, so I glanced toward Demetrio—only for our eyes to meet perfectly.
“De–Demetrio-sa… sama.”
“Just call me Demetrio-san, like before. And keep calling His Majesty Grandpa. He’d prefer it that way.”
“…All right.”
At those words, tears welled up again.
I wiped them away with the handkerchief Demetrio offered.
He told me Grandpa had passed away peacefully in his sleep.
“Well… it was a bit noisy at the time, but still a peaceful death.
He even had that irritatingly smug smile on his face until the end.”
Despite my tears, I burst out laughing.
That was so like him.
A noisy yet peaceful death—what kind of contradiction was that?
Only Grandpa could pull off something like that.
