Incompatible Interspecies Wives chapter 165

165 – The Backstory (1)

Even amid the cheers of countless people, I could not relax my expression.

Someone might be willing to give everything for this position.

A chance to rise in status.

Who would refuse that?

“But why, I wonder.

All I feel is sadness.

There wasn’t a shred of joy.

Perhaps I knew that I had received the title in place of brother Adam.

Maybe I was feeling the enormity of the void left by my brother.

Or perhaps I was anticipating what would happen next.

Slowly, I turned my head to look at my wives.

They, too, seemed to be speculating on how our relationship would change, their eyes overflowed with empty tears.

****

After all the announcements, a festival erupts in the capital.

Every citizen sang, calling out the names of their heroes.

Food that had been saved is now released, and everybody starts to fill their stomachs.

Glasses clinked all over the place, and laughter was soaked into the air.

Except for us.

I walked into my lodging.

Without saying anything…Ner and Arwin followed me.

– Thud.

The door closes naturally.

I stood there, saying nothing for a while.

After moments of silence, Arwin opened the door.

“…Congratulations, Berg.”

In Arwin’s voice that spoke, there was not even a hint of elation.

I turned around to face them.

Sure enough, it was Arwin with a forced smile.

“I didn’t even think that you would become a head of the household. Really… congratulations.”

“…”

” …this means my name will change too. Arwin Riker…? Even though I’m losing my old surname…I like it very-“

” -Ah.”

I cut Arwin’s words off with a short sigh.

Arwin closes her mouth at that sigh. Her pupils began to shake more and more.

As if to anticipate my next words.

Ner also started to persuade me, licking her lips.

“… I, I will be a lot of help.”

“…”

“…It’s a new household. There will be many dangers moving forward without help. I’ll make sure to be careful.”

“…”

“Ah, right. Also, congratulations. I really didn’t even…expect a little. And…and…”

I wanted to stop this whole joke of a conversation.

We were already anticipating the future that was coming to each of us.

There was still a turmoil of emotions within me that was making me hesitate…but somewhere, there seemed to be a sense of relief that it was okay to let go of all this pain.”

“…us.”

The moment I opened my mouth, Ner and Arwin fell into silence.

“The first reason I got involved with you was…to survive.”

I recalled my conversation with Adam.

The reason I accepted this proposal…I remember after a long time.

I calmly told them.

“…now it seems like we can survive on our own.”

Everything changed when we became nobles.

It would be nice to have the power of Blackwood and Celebrien, but there was no problem without it.

It meant they no longer needed to stay by my side.

“…so.”

So I said.

“Let’s get divorced, both of us.”

Arwin’s eyes lose focus.

She stood there, unable to understand my words.

“…huh?”

“…return to your hometowns, both of you.”

Ner began to slowly shake her head.

“…please.”

She continued to plead with me in a desperate voice.

“…please, Berg.”

“….you’re saying…to break up…?”

Arwin made sure to confirm my intentions.

“…”

I swallowed once and nodded slightly.

“Now let’s all…go our separate ways.”

I knew from the beginning that the proclamation of parting would hurt.

As much as I was prepared, I spilled out the words I had to say.

“We both achieved our objectives, right? You survived the war, and now we have survived….there’s no need to be forcibly entwined.”

Ner whispered to me after a moment of silence.

“…Berg.”

“…”

She speaks to me like a child asking for help.

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. Break up…? We’re…breaking up like this…?”

“…”

“…what the hell is going on? I….can’t live without you…”

I continued speaking.

“Your clans also gathered in the capital, didn’t you? Let’s break up at this point. When the Red Flame goes back to Stockholm…don’t follow us.”

A few days later, I declared a departure.

Perhaps I anticipated this situation even before I came to the capital.

“…I’ll let your parents know.”

I firmly emphasized my words.

“…From now on, we are not a couple. Don’t ever look for me again, and don’t come near me without reason.”

I made sure to let them know.

There would be no more natural meetings between us.

At the time of our divorce, we were no longer such a relation.

Ner was holding back her tears while taking heavy breaths.

She had her trembling hands on her chest.

Arwen’s empty eyes looked at me.

“…Why…?”

She mumbled something.

“…What?”

“…At whose discretion…?”

She had the same insensitive expression as when we first met.

“… Whose decision is it to divorce…?”

She questioned me with her hardened expression.

“Why can’t I look for my husband…? Why can’t I approach you…?”

I shrugged and answered coldly.

“… You should know why.”

“No!!”

Arwen screamed out all at once.

This was the first time I’d seen her raise her voice like this.

Arwen’s emotions, which had burst out in a second, crumbled into pain.

For Arwen to reveal her feelings to that extent, it was also a first.

Arwen came toward me and knelt down for a moment.

She grabbed my hand.

“…Please don’t, please. Don’t do this… Don’t leave me.”

“… “

“Berg… You were the first happiness I experienced… The blessing like you in my life was a first… So please don’t do this… I’ll give you my all….”

“… “

“…We, we don’t have time for this. The time we have together is not long… 60 years is not enough now… Even a few hundred years with you would be insufficient…”

I clenched my fist and then relaxed, looking at Arwen.

“You’re free, Arwen.”

“… What…?”

“You can meet someone better than me. In your long life… You will soon forget the time you spent with me.”

– Thump… Thump….

Tears like gemstones slowly rolled down from Arwen’s eyes.

It was as if she was trying to figure out my sincerity, looking at both of my eyes alternately.

“…How could you say that…?”

Arwen, shedding tears, asked me while holding onto my hand.

“… How could I forget you…? The past few months with you… meant more to me than 170 years of life…”

Suddenly, Ner was staggering towards me.

Her entire face was drenched in tears.

“…Berg.”

More than ever before, she pronounced my name with utter clarity.

“…I’d rather you get angry.”

Her pained smile showed as she grasped my arm.

“…I’d rather you curse me….even hit me….even step on me….it’s okay…”

“…”

“…because I’ll be okay… Just stay by my side…and don’t speak of divorce…”

Ner could not take her eyes off of me.

Her tail desperately coiled around my thigh.

“…This can’t be the end of…our love…”

Laughing as if it were some kind of sick joke.

“There’s so much… I still want to do with you… but all that’s left is… regret…”

I wanted to break free of this repeating cycle.

They were both trapped in these roles, too.

I had to become diligent not to prolong this pain.

With a bow of my head, I tore away from Ner and Arwin.

-Thud.

With a feeling of despair, they had easily fallen away from me.

Arwin’s hand slumped powerlessly to the floor, and Ner, even though being pushed away, clung onto me again.

“…Aah…! Berg, please-“

-Swoosh.

At that moment, I unfastened the necklace wrapped around my neck.

Arwin’s leaf from the tree of life.

I placed the withered leaf that had long since shriveled up on the desk.

Arwin stared at it, unable to move.

But I continued my actions.

…In each hand, our wedding rings were removed.

All the vows we’d made when I put this ring on are cast aside.

Vows that I tried so hard to keep…

If it weren’t for the unfortunate events that unfolded… I would have strived to protect them until my last breath.

“…What…are you doing?”

From noble mtl dot com

Ner inquired weakly.

-Tick.

I also set down the two rings on the desk.

Gritting my teeth, I extended my hands towards them.

Ner and Arwin just stared at my outstretched hands.

“…The rings.”

At the short word, Arwin clenched her fist and Ner hid her hand behind her back.

Ner shook her head with a tremble.

“…No.”

She scattered tears in the process.

“…Even if I die, no. Absolutely…absolutely no, Berg.”

I didn’t retract my outstretched hand.

“No…! I said no…!! I hate…! Please, Berg!!”

Ner began to crumble gradually.

She shrieked out in desperation and concealed her left hand.

She tried not to take off our ring.

Ner violently shook her head; her confused eyes landed on the ring behind us.

She hastily moved her body and picked up her and my ring.

Then, she forcedly grasped my left hand and attempted to make me wear the ring.

“Don’t take off… sobbing… sob… sob…quickly… put it back on…! I said, wear it…!!”

It was a contradictory action to her past self who desired so much to take off the ring.

No matter how violently she behaved, I was not shaken by her strength.

However, it was certain that my heart was getting more strained.

“…Just stop…!”

Ultimately, I gritted my teeth and whispered.

Startled at my voice, Ner dropped the ring.

The ring disappeared somewhere it rolled into.

Ner’s shocked eyes were fixated on me.

That whisper shook them more than any shout.

I put an end to our relationship.

I left Ner and Arwin alone and started walking.

And I stopped at the door…and I told them.

“…I sincerely wanted to make things work with you.”

As if Ner and Arwin had no more strength left, they couldn’t follow me.

“Even if you don’t like me…I wanted to try.”

They, who couldn’t love me from the start.

They, who intended to betray me.

“…But now, I am tired.”

In the end, the weakened me…whispered my wishes to them.

“…Live happily.”

As there were still matters left to address…this conversation would not be the last.

Perhaps as a couple, this conversation would have been the last.

****

Arwin froze in the same place for a long time, then thought to search for Berg belatedly.

She took the global leaf and the ring that Berg threw out and went outside.

To look for Berg, she turned her head back and forth, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Tears kept rolling down.

A few people around checked on her condition and started whispering.

Arwin, who used to care about her past reputation, had no room to think about it at the moment.

“Berg…Berg…”

Whispering the name of the man she loved, she hurriedly moved her legs.

She started searching all the places where he might be.

How much had she run around?

Finally, Arwin’s bluebird found Berg and chirped, letting her know.

Just the news that Arwin had found Berg gave her a surge of emotion.

Berg, who announced an unacceptable goodbye and left.

Arwin, knowing that the fault was all hers, could not accept the separation from him.

“Haa…haa…”

Finally, Arwin spotted the back of Berg.

She located his broad back.

He sat alone in an untouched clearing, burying his face in his hands.

His shoulders seemed to quiver slightly.

Berg, who left with a stern expression.

In a place where he was left alone, he was suffering so much.

Arwin couldn’t stop her tears at the sight of Berg struggling.

The guilt was overwhelming, knowing that she was the cause of it all.

As she approached Berg in that state…she suddenly realized.

That she was the cause of Berg’s pain.

That she could not console Berg at all.

That she had no reason to approach him.

Berg had cut the ties of their marriage himself.

He had announced that he no longer wanted to be together.

Berg, who had been struggling to improve their relationship, was now pushing her away.

What it meant was all too clear.

Would approaching him now be for his sake?

Wouldn’t she just receive more hurt and…more hatred.

Arwin was experiencing a new kind of torment.

The torture of not being able to reach out and help the person she loves when they were struggling.

“….Ah….ah….”

All she could do from afar was cry.

Berg, who always helped when she was in pain…Arwin was not even able to reciprocate.

-Step, step…

Then, someone approached Berg.

A woman walked to the lonely Berg without hesitation.

Her face was also full of tears.

Arwin was forced to watch the woman approach her husband, her love.

Eyes the same color as Berg.

Hair the same color as Berg.

The same war hero… of the same race.

She was a saint.

Arwin felt as if he was suffocating as he looked at the saint.

His heart ached as if it was being torn apart, making breathing impossible.

‘…No.’

Arwin thought.

She… she might have been the only one who could heal Berg’s pain.

Knowing full well that sending blessings was the right thing to do…but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Only a severe pain tormented Arwin.

The saint knelt down in front of Berg.

Berg, burying his face in his hands, showed no reaction.

‘….Bel.’

The Saint whispered Berg’s nickname.

Berg’s trembling shoulders stiffened, and he lifted his head.

The two race individuals locked eyes for a while.

The two childhood friends were face to face after a long war.

That beautiful situation hammered Arwin’s heart.

“…Ah…ahhh…”

Could there be such a severe pain?

It was the greatest pain Arwin had ever experienced.

The saint whispered again.

‘…why have we…got so many wounds…?’

Berg couldn’t respond.

He just stared at the saint quietly.

‘We had enough just to be together…’

Berg must have felt as though he had returned to before the start of the war.

All the relationships he had built up were being stripped away.

Not only his brotherly Adam, but also his own marriage with Ner.

Everyone was unable to stand by Berg’s side.

At that moment, the Saint, shedding tears drop by drop, asked Berg.

‘…why were you crying…Bel…?’

Arwin, who couldn’t see Berg’s face, didn’t know what his expression was like.

But the fact that the man who had never cried before was crying made Arwin’s heart ache bitterly.

‘…why are you…in so much pain…?’

The next moment, Arwin held his breath.

The saint slowly reached out…and wiped Berg’s tears away.

She who should never touch anyone was the first to reach out to him.

Berg accepted her touch as warmly familiar.

The depth of their long-established connection was palpable from that single gesture…

Berg and the saint were exchanging profound glances.

Soon, the saint spoke.

‘…If you’re struggling, you may cry more, Bell…’

The saint delicately held Berg’s face with both hands.

Berg did not push the saint away this time.

Arvin knew why.

From the beginning, Berg was the one who had pushed the saint away for their sake.

Berg, who had even cast aside precious loved ones at one time to uphold the pledge they made.

…But now, there was no reason for him to do so.

There were no pledges left to protect.

The saint continued.

‘…You can cry… I’m here now…’

She carefully cradled Berg’s head in her arms.

Berg, powerless, was drawn into the saint’s embrace, his face buried in her chest.

‘…I’m sorry…I promise…I won’t leave you again…’

Watching this, Arvin pleaded.

“…….Please…”

Contradictory emotions overwhelmed Arvin.

He had hoped for Berg to find peace… but not like this.

He might not have even realised he was being punished for these selfish feelings.

‘I love you… Bell…’

Berg, without any ring on his finger, clenched his fist.

That trembling fist.

It seemed like he was enduring, now cut off from Ner.

But the saint, she kept whispering.

‘…Let’s start all over again, from the beginning. Like when we only saw each other…’

Tired, Berg searched for something to lean on… He slowly unfolded his fist, and just as slowly…

…very slowly embraced the saint.