Side Story 1: Honeymoon

The year Karl turned two, Eirene never thought she would come back here again.

The small rural village where she had stayed after leaving Clive. It had been a year since she went to Dervel. After the wedding, Clive had suggested going on a honeymoon, but they kept postponing it because Karl was still too young, and a year had passed.

The village was included at the end of the honeymoon destination list that Ulik had provided.

Clive, who was looking at the list together, scolded Ulik for it. But when Eirene said she really wanted to visit there again at least once, he readily chose it as their destination.

He also followed Eirene’s suggestion to go quietly with only a small number of escort knights. She wanted to bring Karl along, but Clive opposed it. He insisted they should spend their honeymoon like a proper honeymoon.

While he compromised on everything else, he wouldn’t budge on that point, so Eirene had no choice. The village was the same as before. It still had that simple charm that rural areas possess.

Even though she had stayed there for only a short time, perhaps because it was the place where Karl was born. A place that never left her mind.

Eirene first went to see the house where she had lived. There were signs that someone was living there. The small grassy area was much more neatly maintained than when she had lived there.

It was cleanly trimmed without a single weed sticking up, and there was even a flower bed in one corner that hadn’t been there before.

Looking at the various clothes hanging on the clothesline and fluttering in the wind, she could roughly guess who was living there.

“A man seems to be living there.”

Eirene said to Clive, who was looking with her.

“Is that so?”

“I don’t see any women’s or children’s clothes.”

“Today might just be the day for washing men’s clothes.”

Eirene was nodding when she spotted a man moving back and forth by the window. Her hand, which had been linked with Clive’s arm, slipped out smoothly. The person inside also noticed Eirene crossing the garden toward the door.

Before she reached the door, it opened first and someone came out. It was indeed a man, and a familiar face.

“Why is Siaran here?”

“Greetings, Miss. Ah, you’re not a miss anymore but Her Highness the Grand Duchess now.”

“What’s going on? Clive?”

Somehow she felt her husband would know about this.

“You asked me to send a doctor to this village.”

“And the doctor you sent was Siaran?”

She looked back and forth between Clive and Siaran. How did someone who had been a death row prisoner end up here?

No wonder she had only heard that his execution date kept getting postponed. But more than that…

“Siaran isn’t a doctor.”

He had sent a dark mage.

While Siaran probably wouldn’t use dark magic here, he still wasn’t someone who could substitute for a doctor.

“You weren’t a doctor either.”

“I had the ability to heal.”

“Don’t underestimate Siaran’s abilities.”

Clive wrapped his arm around Eirene’s shoulder and smiled.

“Please don’t worry too much, Your Highness. I’m simply helping the villagers at a basic level, and there’s a separate doctor.”

She glared at Clive. So he had sent a real doctor too.

“Don’t just stand there, please come in. It’s humble but clean.”

Siaran stepped aside from the door.

“Then excuse us.”

It was very different from when Eirene had lived there.

The interior was clean, like Siaran had said. There were so few belongings that it looked much more spacious than before.

Sensing Eirene’s gaze, Siaran brought out tea and said, “It’s plain, isn’t it? Since only men live here, we only keep necessary items.”

Men?

“You’re not living alone?”

“Didn’t His Highness the Grand Duke tell you?”

“Not at all. What is it?”

Eirene looked at Clive.

“You’ll meet him directly later.”

“Is it someone I know?”

When Clive didn’t answer and just drank his tea, Siaran explained why he was in the village.

Although he had been a death row prisoner, his sentence was reduced because he provided crucial information that helped eliminate Sebastian and the temple’s corruption.

Instead, he had to live in this village doing service work until he died.

“At first, I wondered if this was really okay.”

It was Clive who convinced Siaran after he refused several times. It was actually half-coercion.

“He told me to save twice as many people as those who died because of me. But using my pure power, not dark magic.”

So Siaran decided to follow Clive’s proposal. She had heard that dark mages who made contracts with demons met terrible ends.

She didn’t know how much Siaran had worked hand in hand with demons, but it seemed like he was trying to do work that would help him repay his sins even a little more.

In any case, it was he who had chosen dark magic. Eirene, who had been silently holding her teacup, remembered something she had always been curious about.

“But when you told me to develop my divine power, you said I might also be able to deal with evil spirits.”

“Evil spirits are out of the question, Eirene.”

“You’re going to deal with evil spirits?”

Both men looked at Eirene simultaneously.

“I’m just asking.”

Dealing with evil spirits when she didn’t even know what level they were.

“Don’t even think about such dangerous things.”

“I’m not a child, Your Highness.”

Sometimes she clashed with Clive like this because he tried to protect her too much.

“Anyway, it’s not allowed.”

Eirene sighed softly at Clive’s firm warning and said she understood.

She needed to give him an answer to ease his worries so she could hear Siaran’s response.

“Anyway, dealing with evil spirits will be Rafael and the temple’s job. It’s originally what the Pope and temple mainly do, but they neglected it for ages while satisfying their own greed. There were even cases where they chose Popes regardless of divine power.”

“Then does Rafael have such abilities?”

“The reason Rafael caught Sebastian’s eye was also because of his abilities.”

Right. Just like Eirene, Rafael’s family had also died because of Sebastian. If he hadn’t had divine power, would he have lived an ordinary life like others?

Honestly, she had blamed herself at times. Thinking that she, with divine power, was the problem. That she had killed her own family. Of course, she hadn’t thought deeply about it.

It wasn’t the fault of those with divine power, but the fault of those who dreamed vain dreams using others’ divine power.

Eirene, who had been lost in thought for a moment, raised her eyes at Siaran’s question.

“Have you used it recently?”

“In the capital, I only used it on people around me. Just healing minor wounds.”

“That level should be sufficient. If Rafael ever requests help someday, please consider it then.”

Clive’s expression hardened.

“I said no.”

“Clive. Someday, ‘if.’ It’s something in the unknown future.”

“Still, no.”

The atmosphere between Eirene and Clive turned cold.

Siaran actually seemed to like this atmosphere.

He had heard that Clive cared for Eirene tremendously.

Since it was such a remote place, he had heard it through someone’s mouth rather than rumors, but seeing it with his own eyes made him feel touched for some reason.

He felt he could now face Eirene’s family who had passed away first, especially Serenity who had worried so much about her sister.

* * *

The villagers still didn’t know Eirene and Clive’s true identities.

They only guessed they were nobles or wealthy merchants, because Clive hadn’t revealed his identity then or now. There was also Eirene’s request.

“Hello!”

Eirene greeted a woman hanging laundry.

“Oh my. Look who it is! Teacher!”

It was the innkeeper’s wife who had taken care of Eirene long ago, where Clive and Ulik had stayed.

The two women ran to each other and embraced. She touched Eirene’s shoulders and hands, checking to make sure it wasn’t a dream.

“It’s not a dream. When did you come? No, no, we can talk about that later. Where are you staying? You’ll stay at our house, right?”

“Yes. I came to stay at your place.”

“How long will you stay? You’ll be here for a long time, right?”

The woman gave Clive a brief nod of greeting and went inside holding Eirene’s hand. Clive, suddenly left alone, didn’t follow them inside but stood there rubbing his furrowed brow with his finger.

He hadn’t brought up what happened at Siaran’s house, but there was still some awkwardness in the air. He needed to resolve it before more time passed.

He hoped that Eirene, who was happy to meet someone she had wanted to see, had forgotten about earlier. Still, what wasn’t allowed wasn’t allowed.

When they returned to the capital, he planned to meet with Rafael.

He would provide even more support than now, but no matter what happened, he absolutely must not seek out Eirene – he needed to get that pledge.

Just when he thought he should tell Ulik about this, he appeared.

He approached slowly on horseback, having apparently found lodging for himself and the escort knights.

“What about Your Highness?”

“She went in first.”

“Aren’t you going in? Did you get kicked out again?”

“Who got kicked out?”

Ulik’s mention of something that had happened once brought back that day he didn’t want to think about.

The day he was kicked out of the bedroom.

Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to say he was abandoned rather than kicked out.

The moment he realized that Karl was Eirene’s first priority, there had been a slight argument and she had left, leaving only Clive behind.

It was resolved quickly, but it still hadn’t been erased from his mind.

“I stepped aside so people who haven’t seen each other in a long time could catch up comfortably.”

“Yes.”

“Really.”

“Yes. I believe you.”

Since Ulik seemed not to believe him despite saying he did, Clive turned his steps around. He might as well go inside and stay in the room. That seemed better than being alone with Ulik.

“You, your work has been lacking lately.”

Ever since he had compiled that honeymoon destination list.

“Why me?”

“Never mind. It was my mistake for assigning it to someone who isn’t even married.”

“How can you touch on someone’s painful spot and weakness like that?”

“Painful spot and weakness? If you’re going to lie, do it properly.”

Ulik was pretending to be hurt, grinning while clutching his chest. Clive could never get angry at Ulik when he was like this. He chuckled and went inside.

* * *

The conversation between Eirene and the innkeeper couple continued late into the night.

The conversation reminiscing about memories seemed endless.

Clive couldn’t participate since these were stories from a time he didn’t know, but he was satisfied just hearing about Eirene from that period.

Eirene looked truly happy. Of course, she had lived happily at Dervel too. But here, somehow. She was more talkative and laughed more.

He figured it was because at Dervel she had to show behavior befitting her position as Grand Duchess.

“It would have been nice if Karl had come too. What a shame.”

The woman frowned with a regretful expression.

“I’ll bring him when he’s older. The distance is far, and this trip is for us as a couple.”

“You should have let us know in advance. Then we would have paid more attention. I feel sorry that it’s such a plain room for a young couple to stay in.”

“No, I like it because it reminds me of the old days.”

The conversation never stopped. Clive participated in their conversation with smiles and brief nods while drinking tea. A cool breeze blew in through the window. When the night sounds grew louder.

Knock knock. Someone had come.

“Who could it be at this hour? There’s no one who should be coming.”

The innkeeper wondered aloud as he got up to open the door.

“Huff, huff. Is… is Ei… here?”

The breathless man’s voice was familiar.

When Eirene also got up and went to the door, the man smiled brightly and called out.

“Eirene!”

Kailro was standing there.