The Return of the Luna Duchess

03 Beholding the Future

After the blinding light faded away, I open my eyes and was grateful that I don't get to experience the annoying moment of having dark spots blocking my vision.

However, my eyes widened at the sight before me.

I'm back in Xiellieum.

More specifically, I'm back in the Luna Kingdom, the kingdom of Werewolves.

And even more specifically, I'm back at the pavilion in the private gardens known for being the coolest and breeziest location in the ducal estate.

But then, I also realize that I am not back in one piece.

I'm still dead.

It seems that I am a specter surveying the happenings before me like an audience watching a performance performing on stage.

I guess this must be one of the perks of being dead.

Though, I still am not sure if this is what really happens after death. I assume that all of this will be forgotten when, or if, I get to live again anyway.

I mean, that's what usually happens, right?

No one in Xiellieum, at least no one that I know of in the Luna Kingdom to have any knowledge when it comes to anything regarding what lies in store for people after death.

And as far as I know, there is also no word of it from the Bloodborne Kingdom, the kingdom of Vampires.

And well, I would have guessed not since immortality is more prevalent there.

Even though inhabitants from the Luna Kingdom also have long lives compared to Humans, even longer compared to those who reside in the Arcana Kingdom. Admittedly, the people from Bloodborne have an even longer life span thanks to them having superior restorative abilities compared to the other races.

Thanks to that, they are as close to becoming considered immortal beings in Xiellieum.

However, despite their lifespan and superior restorative abilities, they are not indestructible.

Still, the chances of people there dying left and right in Bloodborne to be able to make a study about life after death is slim to none. Which makes it understandable for the Kingdom to have little to no knowledge about life after death.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Arcana, which can also be referred as the Arcana Kingdom, is a place where Witches, Warlocks, Wizards, and other magical beings are born and reside.

They are beings who possess magical abilities superior to that of the Vampires and Werewolves.

However, I am also surprised to learn that a race full of people, who are considered the most curious, studious, and who deem everything on Xiellieum worthy of investigation, also don't have a clue as to what happens to someone beyond death.

They might have been researching it in the past and they might still be doing so now. However, in the end, there is still no sign, no news nor signal from them that they knew something about what comes after death.

Despite not being from either the Bloodborne Kingdom or Arcana, it was still my duty as the Duchess of von Hansen to be kept in a loop about what was happening and what was NOT happening in neighboring Kingdoms.

Therefore, I am privy to such knowledge.

Additionally, to be perfectly honest, it was also a way for me to secure some kind of outside network that even my Father won't be able to influence.

I...wanted to try and reach out. Find someone who could have helped me out of my predicament.

However, I never found anyone who could have helped me.

And I guess I couldn't blame them since my reputation as the Despicable Duchess became so well-known, that it even reached the ears of the inhabitants, citizens, and nobles alike, of the other Kingdoms.

Thanks to my reputation, I never got to receive a helping hand from anyone from the other Kingdoms.

It made me resigned to my fate that I will never escape my Father and his threats ever again. Worse, it only made me even more spiteful out of desperation and helplessness from my situation.

But that's enough tripping down memory lane. It's not as if reminiscing the past can make any difference in my circumstances right now.

Shaking my head at my wayward thoughts, I plant my fists on my hips and assessed the event happening before me.

It seems that I am, indeed, back in the garden, standing just outside the pavilion where I died.

I'm not sure what this is suddenly all about but it looks like this is probably happening just after my death.

I assumed as much because the table from the tea party I arranged is still here and I recognize the same faces of those who attended the party as well.

I don't know where I was before, that pitch-black dark place where I was at. I also am not sure why am I here.

However, there must be a reason why that flickering light appeared out of nowhere in the darkness. It could or could not be connected to the wish I made before all of this happened but that's neither here nor there.

What I should be focusing on is probably what is happening in front of me right now.

Surely, if suddenly found myself here, there could be a reason for--

Wait...I suddenly remembered something.

Before I came here and while that flickering light exploded right before my eyes, there was a voice.

What did that voice say again? Something about my future?

"Noooooooooooooooo!"

A wail catches my attention and not long after that pitiful-sounding, albeit a little exaggerated wail, sobs, and crying can be heard from the women in the pavilion. Even the women who were outside the pavilion, obviously not knowing what was happening on the inside but don't want to be left out, also cried.

I can't help but shake my head at the ridiculousness of it all.

For one, I already know where that pathetic wail came from. There's no mistaking that pathetic and phony act of hers.

And for two, seeing that a new Queen Bee has been established. Because of that, these ladies, who seek nothing but the approval of someone more powerful than them, will now follow the lead of said Queen Bee.

And that's none other than Olga Jameston. My murderer.

I narrow my eyes and I walk...wait, am I walking, or am I floating?

Still walking--floating--or whatever it is I'm doing, I look down at my feet and confirmed that I am actually doing both.

It seems that my feet seemed to be floating an inch above the ground. However, whenever I stop moving my legs for a moment and I also stop in place.

With that curiosity now satisfied, I continue on my way towards the pavilion, literally passing through the ladies who are all crying crocodile tears.

Other than that, it didn't take long for me to arrive at my destination.

I stop and watch as my dead body lay on the pavilion floor. An older man was kneeling next to my body, one who I recognized as the Head butler of the duchy. He was covering my face with a handkerchief, probably to respect the decency I have left.

The Head butler, I think his name was Alfred, looks up at my eldest son, who was still standing beside the tramp and watching my dead body with a blank but cold stare.

"I am sorry, Young Master. But...I can't identify the poison. However, I learned that not only it was a potent poison, it was also a fast-acting one, therefore..." the Head butler looks down over my body--was that a hint of melancholy that passed through his face?--before he look up at my son again, looking as impassive and as stoic as ever.

I might just have been seeing things. There's no way the Head butler feels forlorn about my passing.

"I am sorry. Even if I came here earlier than I arrived, I don't think it is still possible for me to save the Duchess. I am truly sorry, Young Master," his voice hitches a bit at the end before he clears his throat when my son merely nods his head in his direction, his gaze still on my corpse.

With an understanding nod--though I don't know if he really understood that my son never really cared that I died, or that he understood just that--the Head butler hefted himself from his kneeling position and stood up.

"I..." he clears her throat again, "will inform the Duke of what happened here and will send people to...prepare for the Duchess's eternal rest."

With a solemn nod, the Head butler takes his leave with slumped shoulders.

I watch the older man leave and it hit me that...I wasn't just imagining things. The Head butler really did feel sad because of my death.

But...why? Why would he feel sad because I died?

He and I never did get along. I was always so disagreeable whenever he and I interact. And as much as possible, I avoid interacting with the servants, lest I grow attached.

I never let anyone near me. Ever. Not even my children.

So...why...?

"Brother!"

I whip my head around just in time to see Keenan and Olga do the same.

My eyes widen and, against my better judgment, my vision misted over at the sight of a young man, just a couple years younger than my Keenan, running towards us.

The newcomer's short and fluffy black hair--similar to mine and a stark contrast to his brother, Keenan's, silver hair--sways in the wind as he runs in our direction. His red eyes are filled with tears and his face was contorted with despair and devastation.

"Kieran..." Keena breathes out.

Yes...it was my youngest son, Kieran jasper von Hansen, coming toward us.

I watch in awe as Keenan's whole face light up and his expression warms at the sight of his younger brother. Looking at my eldest right now, it made me think of something.

Did...Keenan ever look at me that way before? Like...has he ever looked in my direction and...lit up like the sun in the sky after a dark, gloomy, and cloudy day?

I'm not sure.

But if he did, I think it was already too late for me and it was lost on me since I was already in too deep with my persona as the Detestable Duchess.

Kieran's arrival at the pavilion takes my attention. As soon as he's almost standing before us, Keenan finally noticed that something is not right with his brother.

"Kieran, why are you cry--"

"Why am I crying?!" Kieran suddenly shouts, his voice echoing in the open garden.

It was so loud and so sharp, that it made the pretentious women around us stop their fake tears and stare at Kieran with wide, shocked eyes.

"Kieran--" my eldest tries again and reaches out towards him but my youngest cuts his older brother off by making a savage s***h in the air between them with his arm.

"No! Don't 'Kieran' me! Where is she?! Where is Mother?!" he cries.

"What? What are you talking about? Mother is here," Keenan is clearly confused as he gestures to Olga, who was slowly standing up from her position, regarding Kieran coldly.

"NO! Where--" my youngest gasps when he glances down.

Pinning his brother a look full of hurt and reproach, he rushes over, shoving Keenan aside only to stop and stand, body frozen stiff, at the sight of my dead body.

Kieran heaves out a big breath a moment later, as if expelling the air he unconsciously stored inside him. While he did so, his knees buckled and he crumples to the ground beside me.

And then...to my shock and surprise, he cried. No...not cried. He bawled.

"Mother...Motherrrrrrrr!!!!"

His sobs and his tears are not like the tears and sobs that the women who attended my tea party did. Kieran's cries were that of someone who's truly grieving and hurting at losing something or someone they love or care about.

His cries sound so gut-wrenching and painful, that even the women who were pretending to cry seem to cry for real now as they feel for the young boy.

And as if crying wasn't enough for him, Kieran slumped forward, draping himself over my dead body, curling himself into a pitiful ball as he sobbed, all the while calling for his mother.

Not Olga. But...me.

Does that mean that...my youngest, the one who I can't even remember and someone who has the haziest of memories in my mind, is actually someone who truly and deeply cared about me?

But...why?

"Kieran..." His name slips past my lips.

I can't help but take a step forward toward him, reaching out to try and touch him for the first time since he was born.

However, before my hand touches even the tip of his hair, everything suddenly dimmed around me. As if someone turned off the lights.

And when everything went back to normal, I turn my attention to my youngest from looking around the place only to gasp in horror.

Because right there in front of me, was Kieran.

However, Kieran is not crying anymore. He's not curled into a protective ball as he cries for my death.

Instead, he's lying down on the ground, blood and mud are mixing under him as he stares lifelessly into the sky.

But...I can't shake off the feeling that he's staring right at me.

I frantically look around me, trying to look for an explanation for the sudden change, and discovered that I am no longer at the pavilion but somewhere else entirely.

It seems that we're on the outskirts of town, heading towards the Kingdom of Arcana. It's also not morning anymore and looks about to be sunset.

But...why am I suddenly here? And why--

I swallow and blink my eyes rapidly against the onset of tears threatening to fall before completing my thoughts.

Why is my Kieran...dead?

"No, Keenan, I can explain!"

Turning around to my left where the voice originated, I see the usual duo back when I was alive, Olga, the tramp, and my son, Keenan.

However, my eyes widen at the sight. They are not the usual affectionate mother-son duo anymore.

Keenan was holding a sword toward Olga's neck. My eldest is spattered and painted with what seems like blood while Olga looks like a wet bedraggled kitten as she kneels on the ground.

"Why did you order to have Kieran killed?" Keenan asks in a tone that is just as frosty as the one he is fond to give me.

What he said finally sunk into my brain and I gape.

Olga...ordered to have Kieran killed?! But why--

"He was in my way!" Olga growls angrily, answering both my question and Keenan's.

She's spitting mad now that she knew her pitiful act won't work on Keenan anymore as she continues.

"He might find a way to bring that Duchess b***h back from the dead for all I know. And what better way to prevent that than to just get rid of him as well?"

She smirks and bravely spits on the ground by Keenan's feet. "Your brother was just as disgusting as your damned mo--"

With a smooth s***h in the air, Olga never finished her sentence as Keenan's sword literally cut through her words.

Not far from where we are, I gasp and cover a hand over my mouth when I saw the Duke's body laying not far from us.

Did Keenan also...?

"It's a good day to die," Keenan looks up at the sky with an empty smile on his face.

After that, he raises his sword high up in the air and plunged it into his chest. His mouth moves and even though I know he was dying and incapable of putting a voice in his words anymore, I somehow heard what he said.

"Mom..."

And then...darkness.