Chapter 14 (Part 2)

“If you had told me beforehand…”

“I didn’t want you to cry even one day sooner. That’s why.”

“……”

“……I’m sorry.”

Sobbing, with her face buried in Edarson’s chest, Ellenia found nothing wrong with his words and could only cry.

If I had known earlier about my husband’s departure, I would have been unhappy from that moment until today. I wouldn’t have been able to show my husband a smiling face and would have cried every day like a fool.

I was living a happiness that wasn’t truly mine for a while.

Since coming to Tarnu, there hasn’t been a moment I wasn’t happy, but even more so when I was in bed with my husband, feeling each other’s bodies.

If that proves I’m a temptress, a harlot, and a lowly witch’s bloodline, I will willingly climb the pyre.

As her trembling shoulders gradually calmed down, Edarson loosened his arms and looked at his wife’s face. It was good to imprint her small form in his embrace, but it was also good to capture her face in his eyes.

Her young face, tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, was stained with despair and sadness. He gently stroked her cheeks and hair, tucking her tear-soaked hair behind her ears.

“How will I sleep when you leave?”

“I will definitely come back.”

“But you said it’s a dangerous battlefield. I heard everything.”

“Really. I will surely return.”

“……”

Ellenia buried her head again.

Seeing his wife so distressed by their separation gave him a sinister pleasure, but it was more painful to see her saddened because of him.

Because that fair and clear face, from now on, perhaps forever, he might never see again.

He gripped her shoulders tightly.

“I plan to take the Sword of the Wheel.”

“……What?”

The treasure vault of Tarnu, which she had entered only once on their wedding day. The shabby sword on the altar was certainly called that.

Ellenia stopped crying and looked up at her husband.

Tears no longer fell from her red nose, making her all the more lovable. Showering kisses on her face in his mind, Edarson revealed the resolve he had long harbored in his heart.

“Do you remember the words that Tarnu could be revived?”

“……Yes.”

Ellenia nodded slowly.

She remembered the words spoken in that stone chamber, but she had thought they were symbolic. The scriptures she had transcribed hundreds of times were full of such symbols.

“They say if you stab the heart with that sword, the soul transfers to someone with the same eye color who breathed their last at the same time.”

Ellenia looked up at Edarson’s face, her expression showing she didn’t understand a word. It was only natural. He himself could hardly believe it.

“My parents also reunited through that sword. It’s not without reason that Tarnu has few descendants.”

“That’s…”

“That’s why they call us unbelievers.”

Ellenia’s eyes trembled. She couldn’t believe it, but she wanted to. The voices of the soldiers camped in the yard for the final preparations didn’t particularly wish for a return.

Wouldn’t it be a glorious end with the lord?

We’ll hold out as long as we can to make those royal bastards sweat!

If they knew Ellenia was listening, they would have kept their mouths shut…

“Then…”

“There will be no death for the greatest warrior of the East, Edarson. But even if it happens, I will return for you.”

“Really, is that truly possible?”

Seeing the faint spark of hope on his young wife’s face, Edarson continued to feign confidence. In his heart, he had already imagined subduing the foreign army within a year and returning triumphantly with a title like Count of the Border.

Losing half his soldiers to the harsh winter in the first year and being defeated in two years was much more likely…

But the hopeful face of his wife, even while half-doubting, made him forget such bleak predictions.

“My great-grandfather waited 20 years for my great-grandmother. She died young from a plague and reincarnated as a newborn. With no promise of her return, he fathered a child outside, and when she came back, that child became Opellus.”

Remembering Opellus, the collateral line of Tarnu who camped in the East Hall every rainy season, Ellenia nodded. She had avoided the men of her husband’s age among them because their gazes were so sinister. Now she understood their brazenness had such a story behind it…

“My mother also died giving birth to me.”

“No wonder, none of the previous lords in the portraits had your hair color…”

“My mother’s old hair color was the same as mine.”

Ellenia wore a bewildered expression for a long time. She couldn’t believe Edarson’s words, but they were somewhat convincing. Indeed, Tarnu indeed had few descendants, and none of the previous lords in the portraits she had glimpsed had hair that could have been passed down to Edarson.

While she thought about this, the tears that had pooled in Ellenia’s eyes dried up.

“Finally, you’re showing me a face without tears.”

“…What if it’s always a miracle that only happens to them?”

Tears welled up again.

Why was it so gratifying to see his wife doubt his return? Edarson’s heart swelled with the proof that she desperately wished for his safe return.

“If you look at the records of the family head in the treasure vault, the 13th head…”

As he spoke and looked down at his wife’s face, Edarson lowered his head and stole a kiss from her lips.

He was in a hurry. After all, he wasn’t sure either.

Instead of wasting time, he wanted to memorize the feel of her soft lips, the sensation of her small teeth on his tongue and lips.

Though it was said to be three days, in reality, they had to leave for the capital in a day and a half. The nights were short, and the days were short.

The lord and his wife did not leave the bridal chamber until the day he had to depart. Previously, the maids would have made sly faces when bringing meals, but now they quietly placed the trays at the door with swollen eyes and left.

In such moments, the sounds seeping from the room were either moans or laughter. It was all the more pitiful.

For two nights, the lord and his wife cried and laughed, sharing more conversations than in the past three years. Her chatter was so lovely that Edarson felt sorrowful about leaving her.

“What about light green eyes? What about teal? The color of early summer grass and midsummer grass are different, but aren’t they both green?”

Surely, he wouldn’t forget this voice. He would remember this voice that whispered to him, seeking assurance.

Edarson hugged his wife, who was leaning against his chest, even tighter. The distant crackling of the fire sounded mournful.

“Would I ever do anything careless for you?”

“That’s true.”

Without looking, he knew one of her dimples had deepened. Pressing his chin against her head as if to remember her sitting height, Edarson grasped the hand that was tickling his leg.

He pulled her to lean against the pillow and knelt on one knee in front of her.

Seeing his serious expression, tears welled up in Ellenia’s eyes again.

Though they had made love several times as if anticipating future abstinence, and though they moaned, cried, and laughed, they could never fully forget that the time of separation was approaching.

As her eyes reddened again, Edarson’s heart ached once more. He never let go of Ellenia’s hand.

He stared at her palm, which barely filled half of his. As if trying to memorize the lines on her palm…

“I will definitely protect you.”

Edarson slowly lowered his head and kissed her palm.

“I will definitely return for you.”

Muttering against her palm, he kissed it again deeply. Then he pressed her fingers to cover that spot.

Two kisses in the palm of her hand.

It was a thin deception to hide the fact that he himself couldn’t believe his promise.

Beyond the window, where he hadn’t drawn the curtains back after their outing two days ago, dawn was breaking.