Kays Translations

Chapter 1: The Morning of Parting (1)

“Flora, I’m sorry…”

　My husband, Elliot, had only just returned from the battlefield. Before we could even share the joy of his safe return, he spoke in a voice and with an expression as though he were spitting out something bitter.

　Behind him stood several subordinates who had fought alongside him, and farther back stood a delicate-looking woman.

　His subordinates, dressed in formal knightly attire, all stared at me from behind him with solemn, unsmiling faces.

　—Am I imagining it, or are they glaring at me?

　About a week before our planned wedding, Elliot—then a low-ranking member of the Royal Order of Knights—was ordered to join the campaign against the undead beasts attacking the northern kingdom.

　Many northerners had been driven from their homes, and casualties were mounting. With anxiety spreading even through the royal capital, it truly was no time for a wedding.

　We held the simplest possible ceremony at a church, attended only by the two of us and a priest, and then I sent my husband off on his vital mission.

　From then on, I lived as frugally as possible, donated as much as I could to the church’s relief fund, and spent my days praying to the Goddess for my husband’s safety.

　I was born in an impoverished but modest viscounty in the rural south. The lord of the territory, Viscount Kadira, is my uncle.

　Three years after my uncle arranged for me to study in the royal capital, I met Elliot at the Royal Academy. Like me, he came from the south and was the second son of a baronet.

　When we met, Elliot was handsome but reserved and unassuming: a diligent, serious, and sincere man who never let the capital’s somewhat frivolous atmosphere sweep him away.

　After a modest and peaceful courtship, he proposed once 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 bought fabric with my savings and sewed the dress I would wear for the happy occasion.

　It was during those days that a horde of undead beasts swept into the northern kingdom.

　A year and eight months passed before my husband returned safely.

“Flora, are you listening to me?”

　I looked up at his hard, almost reproachful voice and met Elliot’s eyes. His brow was furrowed, and his expression was harsher than anything I had seen from the day we met until the day he left for war.

“…Yes.”

　It was all I could do to answer with a single word without letting my voice tremble.

　An awkward silence fell over the room. Then one of the subordinates behind Elliot stepped forward.

“Deputy Commander Elliot, if you’d like, I can persuade her.”

　Yes—Elliot had been a low-ranking knight when he left for war. In the midst of the campaign against the undead, however, his sword received the Goddess’s blessing and became a holy sword. He was granted the title of Holy Knight and, in less than a year, promoted to deputy commander of the Royal Order of Knights.

　From what I had heard, Elliot’s achievements on the front lines after becoming a Holy Knight were extraordinary. He was now hailed as a national hero.

“…No. I’ll handle this.”

　Elliot shook his head and held back the man who had stepped forward. Then he turned to me again and placed on the table the scroll he had carried since entering the house.

　Unless I was mistaken, the wax seal bore the royal crest.

　Without a word, Elliot broke the seal and spread the documents before me.

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

　I kept my head lowered and stared silently at the papers, trying to hide the tears that welled up despite my efforts to contain them.

　Two sheets lay on the table: a letter of divorce already bearing Elliot’s signature and a royal decree bearing the king’s name and seal.

“After the formal divorce proceedings, the marriage to Flora Kadira shall be retroactively annulled, and the marriage between Holy Knight Elliot Wolf Triss and Saint Emily shall be recognized.”

　—I suppose a letter of divorce is required because we once made our vows to the Goddess in a church. But to go even further and pretend the marriage never happened… His Majesty is merciless.

　As I read, the words crossing my mind felt strangely detached, as though this concerned someone else. Perhaps I still couldn’t accept that it was real.

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