37 – 37. Spousal Quarrel

“……”

“……”

Two red-heads lay side-by-side on the bed.

Even though they were sisters, they’d never laid like this together, so awkwardness hung in the air.

At most, Sharen being unilaterally beaten and knocked down during sparring might be the only memory of them lying together.

“……”

*Gulp.*

Sharen, especially, was coiled tight, the slip of tongue she’d had with Sylverna back at the tavern was gnawing at her.

‘What do I do? It doesn’t seem like Sister knows, does she?’

Should she speak now, beg forgiveness?

Was that the right thing?

‘But if I get hit here, I could really end up dead without a trace!’

There were only the two of them in the room, wasn’t there.

No one to stop Rianna.

Wouldn’t it be better to speak tomorrow, in front of people?

While her mind raced like she had some wild beast beside her, she heard,

“Can’t sleep?”

Rianna asked, her voice low, eyes still shut.

“Oh, uhm, no.”

“If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll go sleep somewhere else.”

“Ah, no! It’s not because of that!”

Sharen grabbed Rianna, who was slowly getting up, pulling her back down.

If she chases Rianna away now, tomorrow will be an absolute disaster.

“It’s fine sleeping with you, Sister! It’s, it’s just I have a lot of thoughts, that’s all!”

“……”

Rianna, with a slight pause, laid back down.

Then, with an awkward cough, she asked,

“What kind of thoughts?”

“Huh? U-uh, well…”

Hesitating, Sharen glanced at Rianna, testing the waters.

“Don’t you think Sylverna… might like Isaac?”

“……”

“I, I mean… I could see it happening, maybe?!”

Flustered, Sharen just rattled off the first thing that came to mind.

At her words, Rianna stared at the ceiling, face blank. Her blinking eyes gave away nothing of what she was thinking.

Very briefly.

“Clearly.”

A single word, tossed out like a stray breath.

Sharen’s eyes widen.

“Really? You’re that certain?”

“Yeah.”

Because Rianna had heard it herself, when disguised as a maid.

[I… think I, might like him.]

Silberna, whispering to Anna, shame clouding her words.

Hearing that, a jumble of thoughts had swirled, but the conclusion always landed on one thing.

“But it’s not something I can involve myself in.”

A hint of sorrow laced Rianna’s voice, and Sharen, without realizing, turns to look at her sister.

It was jarring to witness such an emotional display, something she’d never seen before.

“Sis?”

“I’m divorced now.”

“Ah, but you’re still his wife, for now.”

“For now, yes.”

“You never know! Isaac might change his mind and decide to stay.”

Sharen finds it strange, that she’s the one comforting Rianna.

Still, she wanted to keep saying these things.

“No, Isaac has already decided.”

“…Sis?”

At the sound of the choked voice, Sharen impulsively grabs Rianna’s hand.

“He didn’t even want an apology.”

Sharen feels a pang of guilt at that.

She, too, had a past of treating Isaac like a servant.

“Hey, sis.”

And she knows that Rianna had stood by and watched.

“But why did you just let our brothers torment Isaac?”

Sharen asks, confused. Rianna lets out a breath, like a sigh, then speaks.

“Does it even matter now, the reason?”

Rianna closes her eyes, slow and tight.

“I made a choice, and it just happened to be the wrong one.”

“…So you’re letting Isaac go now?”

“Yes, so you stop with that nonsense about having a thing for Isaac, too.”

It’s disrespectful to Isaac.

Rianna added.

Sharen nods her head lightly, then says slyly.

“Since you’ve let him go, Sister, I’ll confess something too, for my conscience’s sake.”

“…….”

“I… I told Sylverna. About you and Isaac getting a divorce.”

“…….”

“But since you’ve already let go, it’s no b- aaaH! IT HURTS! MY HaaaND! LET Gooo OF MY HaaaND!”

Sharen just couldn’t win against that grip strength.

“Liar, liar, liarrrrr!”

* * *

The next day.

Isaac and Rianna were called separately before the Marchioness for questioning.

“…….”

“…….”

The place they were led to was more like a dining area than an interrogation room.

The room itself was a little cramped, but lanterns warmly illuminated the space, and on the table there were simple snacks, like sandwiches and jerky.

There was even a bottle of alcohol, making it hard to believe this was really an interrogation setting.

The two of them sit side-by-side.

An odd, awkward tension fills the air from what happened yesterday.

When the Marchioness doesn’t arrive, Isaac clears his throat and finally asks Rianna.

“Yesterday, did you… sleep well?”

“Yeah, I slept in Sharen’s room.”

Rianna answers, her face blank.

It was actually the same way she usually was, so Isaac felt a little lighter.

‘That’s a relief.’

The woman had put herself out there so much, and Isaac, he was hung up on sending her away.

He felt bad for making her feel ashamed, but Isaac had no choice but to chase her off.

If she’d stayed any longer—.

“Ahem, well, good then.”

“Isaac? You sleep well?”

“Me? Slept like a log. Too tired not to just drop off.”

“Good, then.”

Rianna gave back the same reply.

Her eyes, devoid of a single flicker of feeling, kept staring at the entrance, like she was urging someone to hurry.

But no one came, so Rianna let out a soft breath and then glanced sideways at Isaac.

“If you need help, just say it.”

“Help?”

“Aura. I can teach you, if it’s here.”

“……”

Aura.

A type Isaac had absolutely no handle on.

[Aura? Are you playing games? When you reach the extreme, you need none of that.]

Remembering the Grand Master’s words, Isaac answered.

“Teach me.”

If the Grand Master were here, he’d be pouting, [Let *her* be your teacher.], but.

He wasn’t, was he?

Best to learn while you had the chance.

“……Alright.”

Rianna’s eyes widened slightly, seeing how easily Isaac agreed.

She barely managed to suppress a twitch of her lips into a smile when, finally, the door opened, and Uldiran Caldius stepped inside.

“Took a bit. Beasts are swarming around the barrier, see.”

He settled onto a chair and shoved dried jerky straight into his mouth.

He chewed, taking them both in with an ambiguous tilt of his head.

“Harder than I thought? I left you two together so you could have some tender time.”

“……”

“……”

“Hmm, was that too much consideration? Or was it nerves?”

Uldiran takes another swig of his drink and drawls out the question.

“No need to be nervous. Just answer what I ask, I’ve no intention of reprimanding you. Of course, I can’t say what Helmunt will think.”

He snatches another piece of jerky, and before putting it in his mouth, points it at Rianna.

“I, as ‘Rianna,’ accepted that you spoke, but you must know that Arundel wouldn’t take kindly to Caldias kneeling, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“…Kneeling?”

Isaac stares at Rianna, bewildered.

Rianna deliberately doesn’t turn her head.

“You’re saying she kneeled? Rianna did?”

“Didn’t you hear? She was desperate. Learned a bit about what romance is, I’d say.”

Uldiran laughs, a booming sound.

Isaac looks at Rianna with a dumbfounded expression, demanding answers.

“Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what our liege will say to you? He’s already furious that you came here secretly, you know?”

“I know.”

“Knowing that and doing… Ugh, fine. Whatever.”

Isaac props his chin up, answering curtly.

Seeing that, Rianna’s eyes narrow slightly, adding unnecessarily.

“I did it to save you, you know.”

“If it wasn’t you, the Margrave would’ve been fine.”

“Then the frontal defense would have weakened. The Margrave can’t just abandon his position.”

“If you are so good at seeing around you, then you should have seen your own situation better. What are you planning to do when you get to Helmunt?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Yeah, right. Like our liege will take that well.”

“It was to save you, I said.”

“Still, you should have kept it within the bounds of common sense. Do you even understand the scale of this?”

“Well, I saved you, didn’t I? That’s all that matters, right? If I hadn’t gone, the damage might have been worse. And you can’t even wield aura yet.”

“Is that how you’re going to put it?”

“Who’s the one talking in a provocative tone, right now?”

“It’s ’cause I worry, is all. If they knew Helmut was crawling around on his knees, they’d be real happy about that.”

“I knelt ’cause I was worried about you too.”

“Could’ve worried earlier, then.”

Their words ran parallel, a conversation of two ships passing in the night.

Uldiran watched them, blank-faced, and nodded to himself.

‘Is this how they worry about each other?’

Turns out, when you actually listen, they’re just worrying over each other.

‘Helmut is sure peculiar.’

Looked like they were catching up, so Uldiran decided to wait it out, snacking on some jerky.

* * *

Sylverna, having finished her shift, hesitantly stepped into Malidian Castle.

The interrogation had gone on longer than expected, hadn’t ended, so she came to check.

[No, why the hell am I going around saying they’re getting a divorce? If anything, I’m telling them to be careful too much, so they’re acting like idiots! It’s annoying!]

Sharen’s words from yesterday kept floating around in her head. Sylverna could hardly concentrate on her work.

Even today, Sharen had been all slumped and out of it, which made it clear that it wasn’t just drunk talk.

‘Getting a divorce?’

If that were true.

If it really was true.

‘Maybe… to me too…?’

“Miss?”

“Hyeolk?!”

Lost in her own thoughts, and not watching where she was going, Sylverna jumped back in surprise.

Anna stood in the hallway.

Arms crossed, she looked at Sylverna intently, and asked,

“Where are you going now?”

“Uh? Ah, no, I was just…”

Sylverna couldn’t finish her sentence, embarrassed, and Anna bluntly asked,

“You’re going to see Isaac, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes.”

“He’s in the middle of interrogation, though?”

“No, still, they’re my teammate. I’m going to go check on them at least.”

Silberna’s voice faded to a whisper. Anna strode towards her, letting out a sigh as she reached out.

“Unbutton a little.”

“Huh?”

Anna unfastened two buttons on Silberna’s shirt. Then, placing her hand on Silberna’s shoulder, she declared, firmly.

“If you’re gonna do it, do it right. If you’re going to snatch him, be decisive about it.”

“…Anna?”

“Girl, do you think opportunities like this are common? The man you’re pining over is married, but coincidentally, about to divorce? This is… literally a gift from the gods.”

“Anna?!”

“Go, quick! Rianna Helmundt might be pretty, but you don’t lose out to her anywhere.”

“R-really?”

“With *that*, you’ll have most men absolutely hooked. Especially, it seems like that’s the Helmundt’s weakness.”

Anna flicked her chin towards Silberna’s chest.

Silberna scratched her cheek, a little embarrassed.

But, pushed by Anna, she went into the guest room being used as the interrogation room.

“Just let it go this one time.”

“No.”

The interrogation room, she expected it to be grim.

Instead, three people were playing cards at the table, for some reason.

“…You used to let it go back then.”

Rianna puffed out her cheeks, and Isaac clicked his tongue in response.

“That was when I was a bachelor.”

“….”

“Unpuff your cheeks.”