The Grave of Desires
The final breakfast at the Retinel inn was finished. After checking out, I carried all our luggage out with me. I had originally intended to go alone and return, but Winnie insisted on coming along, so I ended up bringing everything with us.
“…Still, couldn’t we have just retrieved the horses later?”
“Hehe, it’s tiring to carry heavy things around, isn’t it?”
“No…”
Is it not inconvenient to drag horses around? There are so many places you can’t enter on horseback. Even the cemetery we were heading to right now didn’t allow horses inside. It wasn’t a matter of permission; the paths were simply too narrow for a horse to pass through. We climbed the mountain and left the two horses with the gravedigger. Winnie, walking ahead of me, looked light on her feet, as if she were anticipating something.
“Your Excellency, I believe we have almost arrived.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Count Henry Mountbern of the Mountbern family snapped out of his thoughts at the guard’s words. It was quite a long distance, so he seemed to have had many thoughts during the journey.
“Are you heading straight to the city? Or will you do as you usually do…”
“Is the schedule very tight?”
“No, that is not it. The schedule is set for the evening, but…”
It was worth hurrying his steps. Having done this a few times, his loyal guard spoke tactfully, as if he were now accustomed to it.
“I will lead the rest of the men and wait in the city, so please, my Lord, take your time.”
“Yes, one must do as one always does before an important contract, shouldn’t one?”
Coming to Retinel and visiting the cemetery to find the grave of the maid who had cared for him. That was his Lord’s own routine.
“The guard will be as usual…”
“No, one is enough.”
“One is too few!”
Count Henry Mountbern had a habit of taking the bare minimum of guards whenever he did this. It was something absolutely unacceptable if it were for the sake of safety, but his will was so firm this time that no one could offer further remonstrance.
“I understand your loyalty, but don’t I deserve some time to reminisce alone?”
“…But.”
‘When he speaks like that, what more can I say?’
“And if you count me, there are two knights. Where could there be a creature capable of harming two knights? It’s not a mountain range where bear-like beasts roam, after all.”
He tried to increase the number of guards, but in the end, it was decided that he would take only the most clueless, youngest recruit. He was still dissatisfied, but continuing to oppose his Lord’s will was not the duty of a subject. He tried to brush off his inexplicable anxiety, thinking that since nothing had happened until now, it would be fine. As the Count said, there weren’t many things that could harm a knight.
“Then, go on ahead.”
“Please return safely.”
Count Mountbern and that recruit, who was like his squire, split from the group and headed toward their destination. He was indeed an unreliable fellow who hadn’t been a squire for long, but in this situation, he had no choice but to rely on that unreliable fellow’s loyalty.
Once the distance had grown quite large, the rookie knight asked him.
“Captain, where exactly is the Count going?”
“It’s a place he visits every time he comes to Retinel. Perhaps because he is still young, he has a soft heart, just like the previous Count. You know the second young master? No, the Count’s younger brother.”
“The second young master’s… grave?”
“You little brat. You have no filter.”
The rookie knight, who had been hit on the head for guessing recklessly, wore a look of grievance.
“Then whose grave is it?”
“That second young master… I mean, Sir Edward’s biological mother. Originally, that woman was the Count’s nanny and maid. She died giving birth to Sir Edward, though. Since she was the one who looked after him when he was young, he comes to see her whenever he visits Retinel.”
“…Then why is the grave here instead of in the territory?”
“…Who knows?”
That was something he had never thought about. It would be more accurate to say he had no interest in it.
“Don’t pay attention to useless things, and don’t let it be known that you heard this. You know what happens if you wag your tongue about a noble’s private life, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
‘It’s a relief he’s walking quietly.’
He acknowledged his loyalty, but what he needed right now wasn’t that; it was tact. Last time, when he had followed him all the way to the cemetery to guard him, he couldn’t do what he intended because he was self-conscious, and he had hated it.
As he drew closer to that place, his heart pounded violently. He was aware that this was an abnormal act, but he had no room to care about such things. Perhaps he had become addicted to this act; ever since he discovered it, he had barely slept with his wife.
He left his horse with the gravedigger and hurried his steps. Soon, Diana’s grave came into view.
“You, what is your name?”
“E-Eddie, sir! Count!”
Eddie… It was a name that reminded him of that damned younger brother, so he didn’t like it much. Calling him ‘Count’ instead of ‘Your Excellency.’ His behavior was also clumsy; under normal circumstances, he would have called the captain of the guard and reprimanded him. But today, this level of stupidity was just perfect.
What should he say?
“I wish to be alone for a while, so go take a walk around the area.”
“Yes? Th-that is…”
“Ahem. Eddie, I told you to do it, so why do you have so much to say?”
“Taking a walk in a cemetery is a bit… I don’t think it’s right, Count.”
“…”
He was cheekily talking back. He wished he would just tactfully clear out, but perhaps because he lacked any sense of awareness, he didn’t understand at all. In times like this, Count Mountbern missed his captain of the guard.
“And I am a guard knight. I cannot take my eyes off the Count for even a moment…”
“Don’t you know that the basis of guarding is the elimination of risk factors? Go around and check if there’s anything strange! Don’t even think about coming back for fifteen minutes!”
At the Count’s thunderous command, the rookie knight Eddie hurried away. Finally, he was alone. After looking around and confirming that he was completely by himself, Henry felt a sense of liberation.
‘I don’t have time…’
He had to resolve this within fifteen minutes, which wasn’t in the original plan. But there was no problem. His member was already swollen to the point of bursting with the sweet scent. He quickly reached into his pants and began to shake his member. Because it was the perfect size for one hand, like a handle, there was no problem with the act even inside his loose-fitting pants.
He remembered the day he had accidentally stopped by Retinel. The sudden memory of Diana’s grave, and the sweet scent that bloomed when he visited that place. That scent resembled the scent of Diana he had smelled when he was young. A soft and sweet scent that reminded him of her warm embrace and touch. He focused on the act, recalling her appearance from his childhood. As he felt the end approaching, he slipped his member out of his pants and aimed at the tombstone. Soon, with a pleasant sense of exhaustion, white liquid stained the black headstone.
After ejaculating, a sense of regret outweighed the emptiness. It wasn’t a place he could come to whenever he wanted, as it wasn’t nearby. From spring to autumn, he could only come once every few months by creating an excuse to visit Retinel. In winter, he couldn’t come for fear of running into that bastard Edward.
‘If only that bastard hadn’t been born…’
The one receiving his affection should have been Diana herself, not that pile of rocks. A corner of his mind thought, ‘What is the sin in being born?’ but the curse of ‘the one who ate his mother’ popped out of his mouth first. Although he had already sent his brother, whom he couldn’t even stand to look at, off to get married as if he were chasing him away.
“Edward, you dog-like bastard…”
“Why are you calling me? You beggar-like bastard.”
“Huh?”
And that brother was right in front of my eyes.
“You filthy bastard.”
What kind of insane act was that? It felt like my eyes were rotting at the unbelievable sight. I had never seen her, but Diana was, strictly speaking, the person who gave birth to me. No matter how much you wanted to insult the dead, what kind of situation was it to masturbate in front of her grave?
I surrendered myself to rage and lunged at him. The startled bastard tried to run away while pulling up his pants, but it didn’t look easy because his pants were down. I strode over and grabbed him by the back of the neck.
“L-let go of this! You lowly thing!”
There was no value in responding to the filthy words coming from his filthy mouth. *Thwack—* As my fist swung, I felt the sensation of having knocked out a few teeth. After that, he seemed to have come to his senses and kept swinging his fists, but he didn’t land any effective hits. Even if he was older than me, Henry was, strictly speaking, a knight.
Soon, a standoff ensued with both our arms entangled.
“If only you hadn’t been born!”
I was the one who should have been angry, but Henry was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. His state was not normal. He looked far too different from the man who had maintained a cold and ruthless posture even when he was bullying me.
Perhaps to break this standoff, Henry suddenly put strength into his arms and pushed me away. When I reflexively pushed back, he was pushed so hard that he landed on his buttocks.
“Ugh!”
But it seemed I was fine. Because his pants, which had fallen to his ankles due to the violent movement, caught his feet, Henry couldn’t control his body and fell backward like a rotten log.
*Thwack—* Having hit the back of his head against the tombstone he had defiled, Henry was merely foaming at the mouth and trembling.