2 – 2. Empty Beside

“What did you say?”

“I said, let’s get divorced.”

He answers Rianna’s question, as she asks again, while he puts the collected ring into his pocket.

The blowing wind felt particularly colder.

It wasn’t just a feeling, was it.

Unable to give a suitable explanation, he just brushed it off as a feeling.

Disappointment dripped from Rianna’s distorted face.

Though she possessed hair and eyes like flames, her face, once cold as ice, was finally shattered.

“You’re not going to ask a cheesy question like ‘why’, are you?”

Rianna, breath held, clamped her mouth shut.

Her eyes twitched slightly; I’d hit a nerve.

“We’re not living a married life you could call a marriage, are we?”

Separate rooms, dwindling conversations, no consideration.

“I think our feelings have cooled enough to let each other go.”

To be honest, I was confused at first, too.

It didn’t make sense, Rianna, dead, still wearing her wedding ring.

Did she still harbor feelings for me, perhaps?

Or did she only come to cherish me after we’d separated?

Many doubts arose.

But only after spending this day, I realized, none of that mattered.

‘Whether Rianna had any lingering attachments, that wasn’t important at all.’

What’s more important is—

‘I don’t, anymore, love you.’

A smile, liberating, washed over me.

The knot, tied from a past life, was finally unraveling.

It wasn’t just Rianna’s heart that mattered. My heart mattered too.

Because we are husband and wife.

“Isaac…?”

She whispered, softly, taking a step closer.

“You’ve suffered enough, putting up with a worthless husband all this time.”

I wanted her to shake off any lingering regrets or resentments.

So it wouldn’t be a burden when starting a new life.

‘Isn’t this enough?’

Having called myself a worthless husband, surely it’s enough.

Rianna’s twisted expression gradually returned to normal.

She exhaled a short “Hah,” then spoke, utterly businesslike.

“Father said it’s about time we started having children.”

“A child?”

The utterly out-of-the-blue content left me momentarily blank.

A thing unheard of in my previous life.

In my previous life, I’d be missing a leg to that chandelier right now, propped up at the physician’s.

Whatever the case, Rianna continued,

“While you’ve lacked faith in the eldest son, Loengreen, it seems Father intends to confirm him as the next heir in this upcoming Sword Oath Tournament.”

Loengreen, the eldest son.

A year older than Rianna, the eldest daughter, and he’d tormented me often.

And he was also the reason why, four years into my marriage with Rianna, we had no child.

Because, in place of the untrustworthy eldest son, there was a possibility of her, the eldest daughter, inheriting the family.

‘The very notion of considering passing the title to the eldest daughter when there’s also a second son…’

It signified Rianna’s capability, or perhaps the ineptitude of the men of Helmont.

“Father has finally made up his mind, then?”

“Even though he claims to only judge by skill, Loengreen is much better than me, I suppose. If I were to become head of the house, it would be a political confirmation of Loengreen’s incompetence.”

“So, now to have a child?”

“In the event that you were chosen as the head, pregnancy would limit you in many ways. But now it seems he’s decided firmly on Loengreen.”

“Ah.”

“So we don’t have to keep separate rooms now.”

Watching Rianna casually unwind the story, a suspicion crept in.

“Were you, by any chance, tense all this time to tell me that?”

“I wasn’t tense.”

Even more expressionless, her face set, Rianna looked at me.

“What do you mean you weren’t tense? Didn’t I tell you before? When you’re tense, you look angry.”

“……”

At Isaac’s words, Rianna poked her own cheek with a finger.

Her tightly pursed lips, silent, confirmed that she had been tense.

“Oh, I see, well, that’s good.”

“Good?”

At my words, Rianna’s blank expression wavered again.

“The timing is perfect. Go meet a dependable man, not me. That’s how you can live.”

If, heaven forbid, a child came, wouldn’t even divorce become impossible?

“Divorce typically casts a shadow on the wife. But if the fault lies with the husband, it isn’t always so straightforward.”

“……”

“If he has a kleptomania, or a taste for blood, or some perverse s*xual proclivity. Just put forth any reason, and those around you will see you as the victim.”

“……”

“Besides, you’re Helmunt’s eldest daughter. A slight imperfection won’t be an issue.”

“Why?”

Rianna, who had been silent until now, finally could not hold back and opened her mouth.

“Are you so desperate to divorce? What is the reason?”

“Because I no longer want to remain in Helmunt.”

There was no hesitation in the reply.

It even felt like she had been waiting for it.

“……”

“Rianna. Helmunt is a name that seems like a beautiful rose to others, but to me, who holds it, it is nothing more than thorns embedded in my hand.”

That was everything that needed to be said.

I no longer wanted to be here, knowing that the pervert Alois was secretly watching us from below the balcony.

“I had some wine tonight and feel quite tired. I’ll go in and sleep. Let’s tell father-in-law separately.”

I turn inside.

Looking at the banquet hall, a mess after today’s event, I smile bitterly.

‘The servants will have a hard time.’

I feel sorry for them.

But, this is the last time.

“Wait.”

Rianna suddenly seized my wrist.

Stopping, I glance back at her, asking.

“Yes? What is it?”

The conversation had ended with a feeling of relief.

For the best possible conclusion, I gave her a gentle smile.

In contrast to my smile, a rare hint of unease was visible on Rianna’s face.

“I’m sorry, but divorce is not possible. Father will not allow it.”

“He never did fancy a commoner son-in-law who couldn’t even wield a sword properly. He’d be pleased, more like?”

“That’s just… out of nowhere. Father thinks we’re getting along fine.”

“No way. Even the head of the house has some sense, surely.”

“……The social circles aren’t as simple as you think. Me getting splattered with mud doesn’t make you clean.”

“Hah.”

If I kept listening, she’d be explaining all day, it seemed, so I sighed, stopping Rianna’s lips.

“Rianna.”

The smiling glint vanished from her eyes.

A cold gaze, sharp and cutting, pierced straight through the woman before me.

“Your brothers call me a bug who can’t hold a sword right. Getting dragged into sparring sessions to be beaten down is a normal thing now.”

“……”

“To your younger sister, I’m a useful servant. I’ve handled all the errands, big and small, even the secret ones.”

“……”

“My father-in-law doesn’t give a damn about any of that. He doesn’t pay me any mind at all. A son-in-law who can’t swing a sword isn’t worthy of being called a Helmundt.”

“Isaac.”

“And lastly, the wife I thought would always be on my side… she chose to stand by and do nothing.”

“Isaac, that’s-.”

A sneer curled at the edges of my mouth.

The hollow laughter was laced with scorn.

“Gonna make excuses? Say there was a reason? Rianna, do you even know the least you should’ve said here?”

“……”

“It was ‘sorry’.”

Rianna’s lips clamped shut.

Apologizing now would be like stomping your own foot trying to put out a fire.

It was too late.

“You still don’t get it? Rianna, here in the great Helmundt-“

I had no place.

I pushed Rianna’s arm away roughly.

“And.”

A bitter smile formed as I rubbed my wrist.

The next words out were a tone I startled myself with – cold as ice.

“Husbands and wives don’t hold hands like that, it’s…icky.”

* * *

Rianna lingered on the banquet hall balcony for a long while.

“Sister?”

The voice of Alois, the third son, came from behind.

Rianna intentionally fought the urge to turn her head.

She didn’t know what expression she was wearing, but

she didn’t want to show it to anyone.

“Ha, haha. What a day of events, huh? Especially that chandelier suddenly dropping, that was quite the shock.”

It was true.

The chandelier had fallen right above Isaac.

If he hadn’t dodged with his quick reflexes, a major accident could have happened.

“How are you going to get back now-.”

“Alois.”

“Yes, sister? Is there anything I can help with?”

Alois had always been very devoted to her.

Rianna felt bad but, she found it unsettlingly uncomfortable.

“Leave me alone.”

“Sister? Did something happen with your husband today-?”

Rianna didn’t answer.

Her silence warned him not to speak further.

“I shall go in first, sister.”

With a polite bow, Alois left.

Rianna remained there a while, alone, standing like a statue.

And then,

When she had calmed down slightly, she could finally return to her room.

The room was much tidier than usual.

A single rose in her cherished pot was one of the things Rianna always carefully tended to, ensuring it never withered.

She tossed the scented candle and matches she had left on the table into the trash.

She sheds the dress she so painstakingly donned today.

A handmaiden should have helped, but the hour was late, and all had long been dismissed.

No, from the start, she’d forbidden them from even nearing her chambers today.

The full-length mirror catches her eye.

Inside the dress, half-ripped off,

A black undergarment of a provocative design she would usually ignore sits.

“……”

Without a word, Rianna goes straight to the bed.

Two pillows lay there.

One for herself.

The other.

Stays, desolate in its place, awaiting a master who will not come.