Soul Bonded [Claude De Alger Obelia x reader ]

11. Touch Of The Wind

Everything happened in a blur.

The funeral started and ended in a blink of an eye.

You knelt before her tomb with silent tears. There was a numbness you couldn't describe. You felt detached from everything.

People from the villagers had come to pay their condolences but you knew better. They were like vultures who came to dig into the pain of others. Waiting to have their fills. Their leering faces, their sickening curiosity, everything made you sick.

'What kind of person finds pleasure in someone's grief?'

You could hear their murmurs as they discussed your loss and pain like a gossip topic.

"She's an orphan too now just like her mother."

"Do you think it runs in the family.. losing people in such horrible ways...."

"Not to be harsh but I think they are cursed. What are the chances of a daughter having the same fate as her mother..?"

"Well, her mother must have dabbled in dark art. Had you seen her bloodied clothes when she ran in the forest? The child is cursed..."

"I saw it too. What woman expecting a child would recklessly charge in a dangerous forest...?"

Those words bounced off you. You didn't care about their contemptuous comments. It was just an annoying buzz.

"Forget about the girl. Notice the noble lad, he still standing there. I wonder what his intentions are?"

"Hmph! He's a noble. All horrible arrogant bastards, I tell you. Nothing good comes out of them!"

"Probably to save his face...Why do think a nobleman would stay after killing a young child's mother?"

"Probably to shrug off his responsibility and wash his hands clean. What else?"

"Definitely. He's evening helping them with the funeral arrangements. Such pretense..."

"Must be nice to have so much wealth to put on a show while the poor toll away their life to fill one-time meal...."

Iseka growled under her breath. "If you're here to gossip over someone's grief, leave!" The crowd hesitated. "Is my voice not loud enough? Leave!  Shameless rascals! Just leave!"

A wave rippled through the crowd and everyone dragged their feet.

"That damn lady is losing her mind..."

"Senile old woman..."

"If you had kept your mouth shut..."

The villagers left grumbling. Some glared at Iseka as they went. Some even glared at the nobleman but flinched at the sight of the knights guarding him.

Right. The nobleman. He was the one who offered to help with the funeral arrangements. Iseka begrudgingly accepted his offer.

The reason was unclear why the man was going out of his way to help a commoner. A poor villager at that.

He was lord of the House Judith. A Marquis. He had no obligation to help you.

At least you thought he didn't. Apparently a commoner attacked his daughters while they were out shopping.

The man had recently lost his family. He blamed the nobles for exploiting the poor people to the point they couldn't afford one-time meals for their children.   Seeing the two little girls from a wealthy household, he took the opportunity to enact his wrath upon them.

Riots weren't uncommon. Especially with the sensitive atmosphere of the Empire. But it was rare for a commoner to attack a noble.

Nora who was present at the spot, tried to pacify the maniac, instead, she got attacked by him for shielding the little girls.