The burial was held in the early morning, beneath a sky washed pale and colorless.
A thin mist clung to the cathedral grounds, veiling the iron gates and curling softly around the gathered crowd. The bells had begun their toll before dawn, and by the time the royal procession arrived, the streets were already filled.
They had all come.
Nobles in black coats trimmed with crepe. Ladies veiled in heavy silk. Soldiers standing rigid in ceremonial scarlet darkened with mourning bands. Even the common folk pressed quietly behind barricades, hats removed, faces solemn.
The King was gone.
And the kingdom felt it.
Inside the mausoleum, incense burned in silver censers, the smoke rising toward vaulted ceilings painted with fading saints. The coffin-draped in the royal standard and crowned with white lilies-rested above the open crypt.
Lucas stood at the head of the chamber.
Clad in formal clerical black, prayer book open in his hands, he looked composed, though the faint tightness in his jaw betrayed strain. His voice carried clearly in the stillness.
"We gather in sorrow," he began, "to commend the soul of our sovereign to eternal rest. A man who bore the weight of crown and country, now laid down from his earthly burden."
Nickolai stood beside Irene.
His posture was immaculate, his face carved into restraint. No tremor. No visible grief.
Yet the silence around him felt heavy, like iron.
On Irene's other side stood the Queen.
Her gloved hand gripped Irene's arm firmly-almost unconsciously. Beneath her long black veil, her breathing was steady but deliberate, as if each breath required intention.
Lucas continued the rites, his voice echoing softly against stone.
"Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."
The ropes were released.
The coffin descended slowly into the crypt.
The sound of wood meeting stone below was hollow, final.
A faint tremor passed through the Queen's body.
Irene steadied her as she support the Queen to walk forward.
Looking down at the coffin where the King laid, the Queen throw the sand inside.
"Goodbye..." she said her final farewell.
The ceremony ended in silence.
Mourners bowed their heads. Some wept openly. Others stood frozen, unwilling to accept the finality of it.
As the chamber began to empty, Lucas lowered his prayer book.
For a fleeting moment, his eyes lifted.
They found Irene.
The same as Nickolai.
His gaze follows her.
Irene, however, noticed none of it.
Her thoughts were elsewhere-far from the exchanged glances, far from the silent tensions that lingered in the air.
The King's passing had sealed the past in stone. The path she remembered from another lifetime had shifted, yes-but uncertainty still lingered like the morning fog.
The royal family separated into carriages.
Irene entered one with the Queen.
Nickolai took another.
YOU ARE READING
When Beauty Destroys The BL World
RomanceIrene was just a normal girl, waiting for her graduation day to set up her new journey. Her dream is to be a doctor and a good daughter for her single father. But all of that change when she tries to help an old lady from a robber, as she was push d...
