She was clearly a child he knew, yet no matter how hard he tried, her name wouldn’t come to mind.
That fact weighed heavily on him, stirring an unshakable frustration, when the child took another bite of her ice cream.

Then, with her lips completely smeared with the treat, she smiled once more.

And again, a pain like claws tearing through his heart struck him.

It was then that the name of the woman he had forgotten came back to him.

Yuis.

The moment he recalled that name, the child burst into tears.
And in an instant, she turned into a mass drenched in blood and disappeared from Edric’s arms.

With trembling hands, Edric swept a palm across his face.
Then, like a madman, he ran through the sea, desperately searching for the child.

It felt as though she was beyond that distant horizon. He couldn’t be sure, and yet—he felt it. It even seemed as though the child had waved to him from the other side.

Without hesitation, Edric dove into the sea. Even as the water rose past his chest, then up to his neck, he felt no suffocation or discomfort.

Rather, it was peaceful. So peaceful that he wanted to let go of everything and surrender himself to it.
He wanted to close his eyes and drift away like that.

In that instant, a familiar, gentle voice held him back. A voice filled with warmth.

‘Let’s go back now, home.’

And in that moment, the entire scene went black.

So this is the end, he thought.
With that thought, Edric gladly closed his eyes and surrendered himself.

When he opened his eyes, it was hard to grasp what was real.
Pain flared through his right chest, shoulder, and down his arm.
But the woman sitting before him looked so familiar.
The black hair… the slender lines of her figure… it was unmistakable.

When the woman turned around, Edric stared at her with dazed eyes, a look one would give to something that wasn’t supposed to be there. And yet, in that very moment, the woman’s eyes also welled up with tears.

“…Edric.”

It didn’t feel real. Yuis couldn’t possibly be here. Recalling the final moments before he lost consciousness only made him more certain.

He had been shot and collapsed. He remembered closing his eyes, thinking it might be okay to die just like that. The vivid sensation of the bullet tearing through flesh and the stench of blood filling his breath still lingered.

Was this a dream?

But the sharp, burning pain in his right shoulder and chest was too real.

Yuis, seeing Edric’s face contort in agony, quickly reached for the call bell.
But Edric immediately reached out with his left hand and stopped her.

If this truly was a dream, it was one he feared waking from.
He didn’t want it to end.

The woman whose wrist he held looked at him for a moment then opened her lips, her voice trembling with emotion, as though she could no longer hold back the truth bursting inside her.

“I love you.”

At that moment, all the pain disappeared. Edric looked at Yuis as if he had forgotten how to breathe.

The woman spoke, her violet eyes fixed firmly on Edric.
There was no wavering in her gaze—only love, pure and unwavering.

It couldn’t be.

It didn’t feel real. Even when he closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, it wasn’t a doctor or a lieutenant before him. It was still Yuis.

Which meant this wasn’t a dream.

“…Edric, I love you.”

She said once more in that soft voice, and with it, the focus returned to Edric’s eyes. Those blue eyes—so deeply missed—finally looked into hers again.

Yuis stared into them as she continued to speak.

“…You once said you’d give me everything if I would simply remain in the position of the Duchess of Descartes, didn’t you? But, Edric… that’s not what I want. I… I…”

Her breath hitched, as though she were on the verge of tears. In a trembling voice, Yuis began to speak, haltingly. The sound of her voice carried the weight of tears—yet she didn’t stop.

Edric, too, looked at her deeply, waiting. His eyes, filled with gentle warmth, were focused only on her.

“I want to go back to Hetar with you. I want to hold your hand again and walk along the shore. I want to visit the cliffs we never got to see.…Walk through the park with you. Show you the rose garden when the yellow roses bloom. I want to laugh with you, sleep beside you, eat delicious food with you…I want to live my life with you.”

The grip on her wrist tightened—gently, but firmly.
Yuis moved a little closer to him.

She untangled her wrist from his grasp and wove her fingers between his, lacing their hands together. Then, climbing up onto the bed, she sat beside him.

Close enough that their breaths could meet, she looked into his eyes once more, pressing her sincerity into every word.

“In everything I want from now on, you’re there, Edric.”

His lips touched hers. A kiss so gentle and warm, it was like being pecked by the softest beak—
so much more tender than even the winter sunlight pouring in.

Edric brushed her hand with his thumb several times, then lifted his left hand to caress her hair.
He wrapped his arm around Yuis and pulled her into an embrace.

The moment she was in his firm hold, a sob escaped from between Yuis’s lips—one she could no longer hold back.

“…Let’s go home, Yuis.”

Even the pain in his chest seemed to vanish. All he could feel was the woman in his arms, the light in her violet eyes, the confession of love still lingering in the air. His heart overflowed.

Yuis had come back to him. She had returned to his side. She had come into his arms—just as he had always wished.

Edric tightened the arm wrapped around her waist. Then, pressing a kiss into her hair, he opened his lips.

“I love you.”

He could say it over and over again. Even if it meant losing forever, he didn’t mind. He no longer even wished to win.

“I love you, Yuis.”

It was a defeat more joyful than any victory. One he would offer his heart to willingly.

***

As Edric continued his recovery, an article was finally published, the armistice negotiations had reached an agreement. It was in the spring, when the first buds began to bloom.

An enormous amount of reparations, territorial concessions at the border, and even the humiliating royal marriage of the Princess of Hetar. The Emperor of Kalang secured every last one of them without letting anything slip through his grasp.

As the armistice negotiations dragged on, Hetar became the target of harsh international criticism. Though it had formed a Southern Alliance to rally neighboring nations, in the end, they were defeated once again.

The countries that had supported Hetar also suffered immense losses.
The Emperor of Kalang did not let them go unscathed either.
The longer Hetar held out, the more pressure he applied to the surrounding nations, and in the end, the King of Hetar had no choice but to raise the white flag.

Throughout the duration of the armistice negotiations, Edric remained constantly by Yuis’s side.

When she heard the news of Isaac, Yuis could not conceal her grief.

“Be happy, milady.”

The memory of Isaac’s gentle voice and bright smile, the man who had wished her happiness and helped her, even knowing it was not the right thing to do only deepened the sorrow in her heart.

As Edric looked at her tear-filled eyes, he cupped her cheek. The moment her tears fell, he wiped them away.

But even as her tears soaked his hand, they would not stop.

She hadn’t even had the chance to say thank you…

Edric was with her in that moment of sorrow. He held her close as she wept and quietly comforted her with countless stories.

From his first meeting with Isaac to the times they traversed the front lines together. How he had initially treated Isaac with prejudice because of his high noble status and how, in the end, he came to acknowledge him and accept him as his lieutenant.

Edric confessed that, without Isaac’s sacrifice, there was no guarantee of victory. That Hetar had fought with everything it had. And that without Isaac, Edric himself might not have survived.

The relief she felt over not losing Edric tangled painfully with the sorrow of losing Isaac, creating a swirl of confusion and self-loathing in her heart. Even as her emotions swayed uncontrollably, Edric remained steadfast, supporting her without fail.

After awakening, he recovered quickly. The doctor said his wounds were healing well, and even the scars were beginning to fade. It wouldn’t be an issue for him to attend the victory parade and celebration banquet.

Only after hearing those words did Yuis finally nod in agreement.

They would return now. Together, to their home.

This morning, Noah had come by. While Edric spoke with him, Yuis enjoyed her morning tea alone.

Fetchif had become a ruin. Everyone agreed it would take a long time to rebuild. Perhaps it could never truly be restored.

Some things, once completely shattered and broken beyond repair, may simply need to be left behind or thrown away.

Just like the shattered teacup, the one she once thought was her only desire that, in the end, she had to let go.