It was a document acknowledging Alvin as her successor. At the bottom of the document, the name Blair Seymour was signed with care. Cedric stared at that signature for a long time. And then, even longer at the woman in front of him.

Blair was flabbergasted.

“……ha,”

What’s there to be happy about signing a document full of only losing clauses. It seemed the Fitzgerald family had chosen the wrong successor after all. The man, folding the paper and tucking it inside his jacket, had a look of satisfaction on his face.

For a moment, the two looked at each other silently.

“……Come back safely.”

Blair sincerely offered her farewell. How many years would it be before she saw this man again? The sea breeze blew, scattering her long blonde hair.

“I will.”

Cedric answered without a moment’s delay.

“You have to come back without a scratch.”

When she forced out those words, Cedric chuckled and replied,

“It’s impossible not to get hurt when going to war.”

“Still, still come back without getting hurt.”

She didn’t know why something kept rising in her throat. So she just kept insisting.

“……I’ll try.”

The man answered with a serious voice. A moment of silence passed, and then the sound of a horn was heard. It was truly time to set sail.

“……Take care, Blair.”

Blair watched as the man spoke and turned towards the sea, his broad back draped in a black cloak, moving away from her towards the large warship. With each step he took, his figure grew smaller.

“……”

Blair licked her lips. For some reason, she wanted to make him turn around just once more.

She clenched her fists at her sides, hesitating. Then she shouted a little louder,

“……Still do it!”

Cedric’s retreating back stopped abruptly, and he turned around, striding back towards Blair.

“……Still do it.”

“……Blair.”

“If you’re still sorry for me. Listen to me.”

Cedric looked at Blair with an unfamiliar expression. The two had about a head’s difference in height. Blair’s gaze naturally fell on Cedric’s chest where he had carefully tucked the document earlier.

Blair kept her eyes fixed on his jacket. In fact, she knew there was another document he cherished more than the absurd contract she had signed today. That document, cherished by him, had every line filled except for the bride’s signature.

She moved her gaze up to meet Cedric’s eyes. His face was filled with curiosity as his brows slightly furrowed.

“……Do you know?”

She spoke calmly.

“If you come back without a single injury……”

“……”

A mix of hope, question, and anxiety filled Cedric’s golden eyes as he looked at Blair.

“I might want to sign somewhere else……?”

“……Blair.”

“It’s not that I’ll sign it. I mean I’ll wait and see.”

Cedric looked at Blair’s eyes, cheeks, lips. The brazen woman who made such an unreasonable demand turned her gaze away as soon as their eyes met. Her profile, defined by graceful lines and fluttering blonde hair, revealed an earlobe that had turned red at the tip.

“……I need to finish this quickly.”

“……”

“Wait for three years. I’ll finish as quickly as I can and then come back.”

Saying this, Cedric turned his back again and walked towards the ship. Soldiers in uniform followed him in line onto the ship. With a loud blast, the large ship headed out to sea.

It was the beginning of the war.

“……”

Many people came out to watch the departure of the Imperial Army fleet. Amidst the murmuring crowd, watching the ship turn into a dot in the distance, Blair thought,

She still couldn’t fully trust him. A defensive attitude was inevitable. So she just blurted out what came to mind in that moment, and this response was the best she could do now.

She knew it was absurd to expect a soldier going to war to return without even a scratch. But she always wanted to give him a difficult task.

Was it a petty revenge that lingered? Even if he accused her of being narrow-minded, she couldn’t help it.

Thus, the Eleanor Imperial Army headed towards the Litunia mainland.

The speed of change in the world was fast. In the wars of a few years ago, it took a very long time for progress reports to reach the homeland. Not this time. Thanks to a few who gained fame by publishing books about their exploits in the first battle and made a fortune, many war correspondents were dispatched to the battlefields during this war.

Although real-time updates were not possible, lists of the dead and wounded were reported in Eleanor newspapers without exceeding a month. Blair started subscribing to all kinds of newspapers published in Eleanor. Thus, three years passed.

6. A house piled with gray papers

The cool morning air brushed against her nose. The small village’s jerky shop always started its day with the young owner opening the door herself.

Creak.

Pushing open the wooden door revealed piles of gray newspapers in front. Blair’s mornings always began with pushing open a door that would hardly open due to stacks of papers.

Blair bent down to pick up the newspapers. They were quite heavy. Having subscribed even to those from newly opened newspaper companies, the variety of newspapers that were delivered kept increasing. When she was about to enter the store, a young woman’s voice was heard.

“Good morning, Blair.”

“Good morning, Marilyn.”

It was the woman who had moved next door. The redhead wrapped in a shawl greeted Blair familiarly. Behind Marilyn stood her husband with one arm in a sling, smoking a cigar with his uninjured arm.

Slap!

Marilyn slapped her husband’s back hard enough to make a slapping sound.

“Ah!”

“What are you doing smoking a cigar early in the morning?”

His wife glared at him as she snatched away the cigar and threw it on the ground.

“Especially when you’re not even in good health!”

He was discharged early due to the injury he sustained on the battlefield. And on the neighboring continent, the war was still raging.

“Oh, please. All soldiers smoke.”

“Now that you’re discharged, you can quit.”

Hmph! Snorting, Marilyn turned her body and bowed awkwardly to Blair, embarrassed by the unsightly scene she had shown, then went inside the house. Blair, who had unintentionally witnessed the neighbors’ quarrel, slightly nodded her head as if to say it was okay. Then the man glanced regretfully at the cigar thrown on the dirt floor before following his wife inside.

“……”

Living next to them meant occasionally and unintentionally witnessing their marital disputes. Marilyn, who moved to this village last year, was prickly and haughty. Somehow, every time she saw them, Marilyn was scolding her husband with her arms crossed, and her husband seemed to be floundering. To an outsider, it looked exactly like a marriage where only the husband was in love.

“……Huh.”

A smile formed on Blair’s lips as she remembered Marilyn before her husband’s discharge.

Marilyn always worried and missed her husband who was on the battlefield. That was how they became close. Marilyn approached Blair as she stood by the door looking at the casualty list in the newspaper.

「Goodness, are you looking at all the newspapers in the world?」

「……Not really.」

「Did a lot of your close male friends get drafted? These days, families are the first to receive telegrams about injuries or deaths.」

The newly introduced telegram technology was revolutionary. Soldiers were required to submit a list of family contacts before deploying, so they could be the first to receive news of injuries or deaths.

But even if Cedric Fitzgerald were to die screaming one day, that news wouldn’t reach her directly. They had no legal relationship after all.

“……”

Blair smiled silently as she did now. And then she seemed to ask Marilyn when she came to this village, what her name was.

Holding a hefty stack of newspapers, she climbed the stairs to the second floor. The coffee should be ready by now.

Creak, creak.

The wooden stairs made noise. She thought to herself that this house was getting quite old.

Thud.

Upon entering the second floor, Blair placed the stack of newspapers on the table and started with the top one, beginning to look through the casualty list.

Flutter.

The gray paper made a sound each time it was turned.

Flutter.

Three years had passed. Before his deployment, Cedric answered her question about how long the war might last, in which he told her he would return within three years. But the war was still ongoing.

Since Cedric Fitzgerald’s death hadn’t been reported during this time, he must be alive. But beyond that, she couldn’t know anything else.

Blair started to find this morning routine burdensome and annoying for some time now. She also disliked how much paper waste it produced.

‘……I should have signed that document.’

Turning each gray paper didn’t bring her joy. The paper was thin and powerless to inflict wounds, but somehow, for each page she turned, she felt like it was hurting her heart. She wished that bad news would come suddenly when she knew nothing about it.

She recalled their last moment before his deployment.

「……Do you know? If you come back without a single injury…… I might want to sign somewhere else……?」

She had said that then.

……Did he take it as a rejection?

Asking a soldier who’s heading to battle to return without a single scratch — thinking about it now, it was an impossible request. Marilyn’s husband ended up unable to use one of his arms forever. But she cried with gratitude just for him just returning alive. That’s what war is.

「What should I do, Blair? My husband got hurt. He can’t use his arm at all now. He’s been discharged and is on his way here.」

Marilyn clung to Blair and cried upon receiving the telegram. She sobbed about how sad her husband must be for losing his arm but eventually calmed down and laughed, saying at least he’s coming back alive.

「That’s right, Marilyn. Think of it in a positive light.」

She comforted her, then she realized she was envious of Marilyn.