The First Vampire

Chapter 700: 698 Funeral_1

Three days later, the bulk of the Blood Knight Army successfully arrived at Winterfell City.

Simultaneously arriving was the remains of Marquis Garcia.

That afternoon, the remains were buried in the cemetery of the St. Hilde family.

Despite having just undergone a Caesarean section, Vera’s bloodline’s healing abilities were extraordinarily remarkable, enabling her to walk freely.

At this moment, she was dressed in a long black dress, standing mournfully in front of the grave.

“Almighty Lord of Glory, please bestow Your mercy.

...

Today we are here to offer prayers for Garcia Saint Hilde.

This brave and upright knight, your most devout believer, has completed his journey on earth, finally returning to Your embrace!

May You open Your arms, receive his soul, and grant him peace.”

With the prayer concluded by the emeritus bishop, four knights from the St. Hilde family gently lifted Marquis Garcia’s coffin and placed it in the dug grave.

Colin supported Vera on the shoulder, leading her to come forward and sprinkle a handful of dirt into the grave.

Immediately after, the attendants stepped forward and began to fill the grave with soil.

At this moment, Vera could no longer hold back, and her tears fell like a dam-breaking flood.

Colin took his wife into his arms and gently stroked her shivering back.

By the time the grave was filled, Vera had stabilized her emotions.

She took the white chrysanthemums that Colin handed her and placed them personally in front of Marquis Garcia’s tombstone, then bowed her head in silent prayer.

With this, the funeral ended.

People left one after another, leaving only Colin, Vera, and Lady Yelina.

Suddenly, Colin spoke:

“Vera, do you know? Inside Marquis Garcia’s grave, another body was also buried.”

“What?” Vera looked up in surprise, “Whose is it?”

“Midela Saint Hilde.”

“Aunt?” Vera became even more confused, “Shouldn’t she be buried in the Royal Cemetery?”

“The one buried in the Royal Cemetery is someone else. Here lies the real Midela Saint Hilde, your mother.”

“My mother?” With her mouth agape, Vera noticed Colin was not joking. She then turned to Lady Yelina, realizing something, “Grandmother, what’s going on?”

Lady Yelina sighed and spoke with a heavy voice:

“Vera, I’m sorry for concealing this from you for so long. It’s just that this thing concerns the biggest scandal of the Hilde Family over the past century. I really didn’t know how to tell you…

But since your husband has guessed the truth from small clues, I won’t hide it anymore.

Yes. Your mother is indeed Midela Saint Hilde!”

Vera’s eyes widened in surprise, her lips trembling. She was so shocked by the news that she didn’t know what to say.

Only then she understood what her grandmother meant by “scandal” –

She was the result of incest between siblings!

“How can this be? My father… He… How could he… My mother… His own sister… she was still underage…”

Listening to Vera’s confused questions, Lady Yelina explained softly,

“You should also know that Midela was engaged to the royal family at a very young age. When she was fourteen, we took her to Dragon City to meet the then Prince Reinhardt.”

However, Reinhardt did not leave a good impression on Midela, and after returning to Winterfell City, Midela told us that she didn’t want to marry Reinhardt.

But at that time, the North Territory was facing tremendous pressure from the trolls and urgently needed the support of the royal family. The family couldn’t break this important political alliance because of a little girl’s personal likes and dislikes.

I thought Midela was just acting out like a child. I believed that when she got older and understood her responsibilities and obligations as a St. Hilde, she would willingly accept the marriage.”

But what I never expected was that the reason she did not want to marry Reinhardt was because she had already given her heart to another!

Thus, these two naive young fools, in order to resist their families’ arrangement, actually came up with a shoddy idea to avoid the marriage—

they decided to let Midela get pregnant…”

Lady Yelina sighed again, continuing,

“Vera, you should remember that Midela was once quarantined for three years because of the white plague, right?”

Vera nodded, becoming enlightened, she said,

“So, my mother… was not quarantined because of the white plague, but because she was pregnant?”

“That’s right. After such a scandal, your grandfather was furious. He sent Garcia to the Sky Ice Plain to reflect on his actions on the most dangerous and hardship-ridden frontline, while also concealing the news of Midela’s pregnancy. He publicly claimed that she had contracted the white plague, and isolated her in the attic in the northwest corner of the castle, planning to let her reappear once the child was born.

But… no one expected… Midela to have a difficult childbirth… barely giving birth to you, she departed from this world…”

Reaching this point, Lady Yelina cried so hard that she could not speak. She reached out and touched Vera’s face, sobbing,

“That day when you also had a difficult delivery… I was terrified… I thought… the nightmare of that year was going to repeat itself…”

“Grandmother…sob…”

Vera hugged Lady Yelina, sobbing uncontrollably.

After awhile, the two calmed down. @@novelbin@@

Vera wiped away her tears and asked about her doubts,

“Grandmother, if my mother died because of childbirth, then who married Emperor Reinhardt?”

“That’s Yeliv, a noblewoman from the St. Chapman Family. After the St. Chapman Family was destroyed by the Church, a trace of their bloodline was secretly left in the North Territory, and it was always protected by the St. Hilde Family.

After Midela’s death, your grandfather did not want to give up on the marriage alliance with the royal family, so he brought in Yeliv, who was of the same age and looked similar to Midela as a substitute.”

Vera nodded silently, many of the doubts in her heart were finally answered at this moment, but this answer made her feel suffocated.

“So… that’s why father never married and kept fighting on the Sky Ice Plain his whole life, right?”

“Yes. After hearing of Midela’s death, Garcia completely changed. He blamed his sister’s death on his own rashness and ignorance, as a result, he fought like a madman on the frontlines, hoping to atone for his past mistakes.

In fact, I think his death in the Holy Light Cathedral this time was a kind of release for him.”

Colin listened in silence, not knowing what to say.

Marquis Garcia indeed made a mistake, but it was one that you couldn’t help but refrain from blaming.

If the old Duke hadn’t forced Midela to marry a man she didn’t love, if Midela hadn’t thought up such a foolish way to resist the marriage, if she hadn’t later suffered from a difficult childbirth and died…

Perhaps, the tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

“After Midela’s death, we secretly buried her in the cemetery, without a tombstone, without a funeral, until today, she can finally reunite with her beloved brother…”

The chilly autumn wind howled by, carrying Lady Yelina’s murmurs off to an unknown destination.