Kays Translations

Chapter 1: The morning of parting (1)

“Flora, I’m sorry. ……”

　My husband, Elliot, who had just returned from the war, cut me off with a look and tone of voice as if he were spitting out something bitter, not even giving me a moment to share the joy of him returning home alive.

　Behind him stood several of his men who had fought alongside him on the battlefield, and behind them was a beautifully-looking woman.

　All of them, dressed in full knight garb, stood there behind him, looking at me with straight faces and no smiles.

　–Is it just my imagination, or does it feel like they’re staring at me?

　It was about a week before our planned wedding that, Elliot, a low-ranking knight in the Order of the Knights, received an order to march out to subjugate the undead beasts that had attacked the northern part of the kingdom.

　Many people in the north had been forced to flee their homes and many were killed or injured, and with the unrest spreading to the royal city, it was not a good time for a wedding.

　We had a minimal ceremony at the church with only the two of us and the priest present, and then I sent my husband off to his important mission.

　From then on, I spent my days praying to Goddess for my husband’s safety, giving as much of my money as I could to the church as a donation, and living as frugally as possible.

　I was born into a poor but modest viscounty in the southern rural areas, and I am the niece of the lord of the viscounty, Viscount Kadira.

　Three years after my uncle arranged for me to come to the Royal Capital to study, I met Elliot, the second son of a baronet who was also from the South, at the Royal Academy.

　When I met Elliott, he was a handsome but calm man, not flashy, hard-working, earnest, and an honest man who wasn’t swept up in the somewhat frivolous atmosphere of the city.

　After a modest and peaceful courtship, he asked me to marry him when he had established himself as a knight.

　Although I was related to a Viscount’s family, I was a commoner, so after graduating from the academy I worked as a seamstress in the royal capital.

　Looking forward to my wedding day, I used the money I had saved to buy fabric and sewed a wedding dress to adorn myself on my big day.

　It was during these days that a large number of undead monsters invaded the northern part of the kingdom and caused an uproar.　

　It was a year and eight months before my husband returned safely to me.

“Flora, are you listening to me?”

　I looked up at the harsh, almost reproaching voice, and my eyes met Elliot’s, whose brow was furrowed and his expression grim, something I had never seen since we first met until he left for the war.

“……Yes.”

　I tried my best to keep my voice from shaking as I reply with a single word.

　An awkward silence fell over the room, and then a subordinate standing behind Elliot took a step forward.

 “Deputy Commander Elliott, if you don’t mind, I can persuade her.”

　Yes──Elliot was a low-ranking knight when he set out for the war, but in the midst of his battle to subjugate the Undead, his sword received the blessing of the Goddess on his sword, making it a holy sword, and was given the title of a holy knight. In just under a year, he became the deputy commander of the Royal Order of Knights.

　According to what I have heard, Elliot’s performance on the front lines since becoming a Holy Knight has been incredible, and he is now known as a national hero.

“…No, I’ll take care of it.”

　Shaking his head as he held back the subordinate who had stepped forward, Elliot turned to me again and placed the scroll he had been holding in his hand since he came to this house on the table.

　If I am not mistaken, the sealing wax belongs to the royal family.

　Elliot then silently opens the seal and unfolds the document out in front of him.

“As you can see, it is also a royal decree.. ……, but at the same time, it is also my true and honest feelings.”

　I kept my head down and stared silently at the paper in front of me, trying not to let anyone notice the tears that were welling up despite my efforts to hold them back.

　There were two sheets of paper placed on the table. One was a divorce letter already signed by Elliott, and the other was an imperial decree with the king’s seal.

“After the formal divorce process, the marriage between Flora Kadira and Elliot Wolfe Triss is retroactively annulled and the marriage between the Holy Knight Elliot Wolf Triss and the Saint, Emily, will be recognized.”

　─ ─ I guess since we made our vows to the Goddess in the church, you need a letter of divorce as a procedure. And yet on top of that, to go back further and pretend it never happened…His Majesty the King is so merciless.

　As I read the letter, I felt as if It was talking about someone else. Maybe I haven’t yet accepted the reality of this situation.

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