I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Chapter 503: There Was Love in the End

Despite everything, there was love in each step of the process.

Rochelle gently brushed Arthur’s hair as she stared down at the love of her life. She was no longer crying, but mostly out of exhaustion, dehydration.

There was even love in Irene’s actions as she delicately placed the rosemary and evergreen around her father. The fresh scent filled the chapel. She found herself unable to look at her father’s face as she did this, but the way she gently grasped his hand, there was love in that touch as well.

Even Celia, who didn’t have to be there, stood beside Irene and Rochelle and gently supported them through their grief despite having only known them for a few weeks prior to that.

The three women left the chapel. There was still love.

Commander Lothian helped Rochelle and Celia into the carriage. Before he shut the door, he and Celia silently communicated as she squeezed his hand and nodded at him. Her own silent promise that through the sadness, she was still his.

Of course, there was also love between the newlyweds.

Without needing to be told to do so that time, Irene climbed onto the horse with Henry and leaned into him while he took her back to her family home. She stared up at him, so thankful. Her eyes drifted closed, and she nearly fell asleep in his arms.

Even when they returned to the house, and Irene insisted she go to bed because she was so tired, there was love when Henry soon joined her. He had her favorite porridge cooling off in a wooden bowl and helped her into comfortable sleeping clothes so she wouldn’t be forced to sleep in what she had worn outside and to ride a horse.

When she was settled against the pillows, she felt extremely loved as he spoon fed her five bites.

"I can’t stomach much more than that right now," she admitted quietly. "Don’t you need to eat?"

There was love in Irene still remembering how easily hungry Henry was through the grief that filled her entire body with weight.

He finished off the bowl with her permission and then they slept without an inch of space between them. These times were hard, but no matter what, they had each other.

The following day, despite an entire village putting themselves in mourning clothing, the love was still present.

The Litharion family, which included Celia, Callum, and Henry, all went to the chapel so that they could begin the procession on foot. It was a hot day, but if there was anyone worthy of their efforts, it was Arthur.

The priest first blessed Arthur in both the Perodan scripture as well as the Sünstoian religious texts. It was his own way to show the love that the kingdom held for a hero.

The wagon was slowly driven through the town with Arthur’s heir sitting on the horse that brought it through. Arne looked particularly old that day, to Irene. As they walked along, she admired her brother and just how much he looked like their father. What once made her jealous now felt different.

More flowers were dropped into the wagon by each villager they passed. Irene’s heart was full knowing that there wasn’t a dry eye each place they went.

When they made it to the end of the village, which would take them over the bridge and to the Litharion’s private lands, the knights waited for them. The strongest in Chemois were all reduced down to Arthur’s adopted children. They felt they had lost one of their fathers. After all, he was one who used to take care of them when they were between Commanders and suffering because of the war.

As Irene passed Felix, she hugged him tightly after he dropped a few lilies over her father’s body. This wasn’t the first loss they had faced. It wouldn’t be the last either.

They finally made it over the bridge and through the front of the property and around the side of the house.

The knights’ final act of respect and love towards Arthur was digging his grave at the ancient graveyard that housed all the Sünstoian people who had died in Chemois so far. It was a bit bitter that the place he would rest was the very place he protected for quite literally his entire life.

The family took their place near the graveyard, and Henry was finally able to drop a few daisies beside Arthur. Irene did the same and was quick to turn and hug her husband.

Irene was trying to overcome this feeling of inescapable permanence. These were the last moments she would see her father ever again. She felt like she was being choked by grief as she clung to Henry and silently begged him to take it away from her.

Even though she shielded her eyes, she still witnessed her father being lowered into the ground. The last person he passed before being laid to rest was Rochelle.

Weapons that Arthur held dear in his life were placed beside his body in the grave. The Chemoian sword, which he had only just received, was placed beside him, and Henry felt grateful. It was a further sign of acceptance from his new family. They trusted that his sword would protect the patriarch of their family in the afterlife, and that was a massive honor.

The final step was Arne laying dire wolf furs over his father’s body, whispering a goodbye as he did so. It was the last time he would see his father ever again.

The moment the fur settled and Arthur was completely covered, Rochelle fell to her knees, and her tears dripped into the hole.

"You promised me, Arthur. You promised me," she uttered.

But Irene heard every word.

She recalled her father’s promise to her mother when he was an active knight that he would always return to her, but now he had to break the promise.

Rochelle remained there as dirt was put back in the hole and covered Arthur’s body. She held hands with Celia, who grieved alongside her.

Everyone stayed until the dirt was replaced, and then there was a stone stack erected over the grave the same way it had been done for Arthur’s family in the past.

The crowd was dispersed. No one saw Siverly come out of hiding and place a mana stone amidst the rocks that covered Arthur. His own quiet funeral, his own way of grieving.

It could be considered his own act of love, considering he had learned so much about Arthur over the past weeks. He had grown fond of the knight.

When Irene was finally able to go back to the guest house and despite it not even being evening, she turned to Henry and said, "I just want to go to sleep. You don’t have to go with me. There are people here who want to see you."

Even if that statement seemed to lack love, Henry knew better than to doubt someone who had just lost their father. He kissed her forehead before he went to his knights. He doubted it would be the first time he had to balance his wife with his duties to the duchy and the other knights. Yet he hoped she understood that he would always choose her first.