Incompatible Interspecies Wives chapter 169

169 – The Flow of Time (1)

We set out for Stakfin.

Ner, and we couldn’t meet Arwin after that.

Our farewell with them happened in the blink of an eye.

Throughout the journey to Stakfin, I couldn’t get them out of my mind.

Even when I tried not to think about it, their faces came to mind.

Since becoming a couple, we’d never been apart.

Even when completing any task, we traveled around together.

Their warmth was always within reach.

But now it was different.

Divorce.

We’ve become complete strangers to them.

We no longer have a reason, let alone the ability, to lightly call each other.

There are no more shared beds, no more strolls together.

We could neither hold hands nor embrace each other.

I may never see them face-to-face for all my life.

This was the path I had chosen, and I was used to farewells, but the sudden distance from them felt awkward.

There is no regret in my choice.

But I was not accustomed to it.

Even though I had hinted, the members of Hong-Yeom Dan seemed awkward about the fact that I was divorced, just like me.

There were many members looking at me with full confusion.

I didn’t make an effort to resolve their confusion.

Because in the process of resolving it, I would have to inevitably explain Ner and Arwin’s action.

It was a secret I had to keep.

Gael and Cien followed us.

For some reason, it felt natural.

Was Gael worried about me because I lost my brother Adam, or anxious about my separation from my wife…no, my ex-wives, he kept supporting me.

He even promised to secure the base of our newly-formed family.

As for Cien… she had nowhere else to go because she quit being a saint.

To begin with, I had no reason to push her away anymore.

She might have given up her status along with her saint title, but it was not bad to have the hero of the human tribe in our region.

…I had to admit, part of me was relying on her.

I, who lost everything, needed someone to lean on.

Cien’s presence didn’t feel awkward.

Maybe because I knew her since she was 11.

Or maybe because I was once closer to her than anyone else.

I wasn’t sure why.

It seemed that Cien heard about my divorce rather late.

Then she seemed to understand why I clung to her a few days ago.

At some point, she began to look at me with a pained expression.

As if expressing my pain for me, she kept coming closer with seemingly comforting intent.

Seeing her, who prioritized my feelings more than anyone else, I felt a sense of comfort I couldn’t define.

Gradually, I could grasp what our long relationship was like.

After much travel, we finally arrived in Stockholm.

Finally, we arrived at our hometown.

The news that I received the dictation brought a festive atmosphere to the village that had circulated the rumor.

“Commander…congratulations!!”

“So we’re the villagers of Commander Berg now?”

“We believe you will lead us well!!”

I greeted the villagers lightly and accepted their cheers.

There were people who questioned the absence of Ner and Arwin, but they shut their mouths at the hint from those around them.

Everyone seemed to implicitly know what had happened to us.

****

Ner had exhausted herself with crying and falling asleep repeatedly until she found herself arriving at the Blackwood estate.

Her tears were now dried up.

The unbelievable reality only gave her the feeling as if she was in a dream.

She was just numb, unable to comprehend that Berg had left her behind.

“Waaaaah!”

Towards the Blackwoods returning to their hometown, various people poured out applause.

Ner let the sounds of their cheers pass in one ear from inside the carriage.

It’s just a story that doesn’t ring true to her right now.

Nothing could move her hardened heart.

As she was sitting like that, her father in front of her called her.

“…Ner.”

Gibson gently laid his hand on her knee.

As Ner weakly lifted her eyes to look at him, Gibson spoke to her in a pained expression.

“…Listen to the cheers.”

“…”

“…They are all calling for you.”

At his words, Ner weakly turned her head to gaze outside.

She began to listen to the sounds sent by the citizens.

‘Lady Ner! Lady Ner!!’

‘Ner Blackwood!!’

“…”

Ner didn’t understand why these people were calling for her.

This too was a factor that made her doubt whether she was dreaming.

With a hardened expression, Ner was sensing a slight confusion to which Gibson explained.

“After you left for the Crimson Flame… the evaluation towards you slowly changed.”

“…”

“Everyone understands that we could rise again thanks to you. Everyone… is feeling gratitude towards you.”

“…”

Ner recalled the moment when she rode on a horse with Berg as her name was being cheered.

That cheer could be received because Berg raised her up.

While riding on the horse with him, the moment when the flowers were scattered.

That beautiful moment slightly stirred her heart.

“…”

But soon even that emotion subsides.

Perhaps it was because she cried so much that she felt numb to everything.

She blankly stared at the ground again.

The more silent she was, the clearer the cheering from outside echoed.

‘We are glad you are back safely, Lady Ner!’

‘You should meet new people now and be happy!’

‘Congratulations on the divorce!!’

“…Huh…”

Ner’s emotions began to stir at those words.

Only then did Ner realize.

It wasn’t that the pain had dulled, she was just avoiding it.

She couldn’t accept that she had broken up with Berg.

As Ner blinked through the sorrow and the anger, Gibson filled in the explanation.

“It’s just – we didn’t mean any harm. You’re back safely…we’re just celebrating that. A lot of people were worried about you…”

“…”

The cheers continued unending, entirely against her feelings,

‘Congratulations on your divorce!’

‘Thank you for saving us single-handedly!!’

‘There won’t be any sacrifices ever again!’

-Plunk!

Ner plugged her ears.

She could no longer bear to hear them.

“…no …”

She muttered all alone.

“… I… I didn’t get a divorce…”

Tears streamed down her face, stinging her raw from all the wiping.

“…Berg’s going to come back…”

She whispered her hope.

“…Berg will come…”

****

10 days had passed since arrival in Stockpin.

She had no clue as to how the time had flown.

Suddenly when she came to, 10 days had passed.

She lay quietly in the bed, looking to the side.

The spot where Ner, or Arwin, would normally lie.

“…”

Only the hollow silence flowed in the room.

The sunlight coming in through the window. The sight of the white bedsheet.

The emerging body odor. The chirping of the birds.

Within that peaceful room, her expression gradually soured.

She wasn’t sure exactly how time had flown… but the separation was still hard.

Either choice would’ve been painful.

She thought that breaking up with them was the lesser of the two, but it wasn’t like it didn’t hurt.

The wound was still fresh.

She bowed her head, trying to ignore the pain.

She had things to do.

Rising up from the bed, she headed to the office, just like Adam had earlier in the day.

There was no drastic change for me.

I raised a family and became a noble… but the things that made up my world had not changed yet.

The house was the same, the place I lived was the same.

The attitudes of the retainers and the residents who deal with me were still the same.

This was just as comfortable for me.

If there was any change, it was only in my sense of responsibility.

There existed a new territory that had fallen under my jurisdiction.

Although it might be nothing but forest, it was clearly our domain.

There were new tasks I’d never imagined for myself.

The more it was, the more I realized the position I was in would have been Adam’s.

A duty that fell to me without any grasp of any feelings.

My capacity seemed far too small to take the lead.

The more this was so, the more Gael’s help became a great strength to me.

Gael who greeted me as I stepped into the office.

“You’re here, Berg.”

“…have you been working since early morning again?”

“I promised I’d be your strength, so it’s only natural.”

“…”

“…and also, it’s my atonement for Adam.”

Gael seemed to be blaming himself too for losing Adam right before his eyes.

In the meantime, I heard in more detail from Gael about Adam’s story.

The names of Adam’s siblings, and even the locations of their graves, all of it.

The more I knew, the clearer became my sense of purpose that I should achieve the dreams my brother failed to realize.

I didn’t know how to change the perception of the human race, but I made up my mind to achieve it.

It’s a dream that Adam devoted his life to achieve. I had a duty to fulfill it, as I received salvation from him.

Thinking about the human race…Perhaps the break up with Ner and Arwin helped to fuel this strange dream.

I didn’t know if it was my excuse to dampen the pain given by the break-up.

“…Ha.”

I let out a sigh and sat down on the chair.

Gael handed me a document and said.

“Berg. This is a list of people who applied to become your valet. Have a look.”

“…A valet, you mean?”

“Yes. You’ll need one too now.”

“… I have retainers-”

“-Retainers won’t be dressing you, carrying your luggage, or filling your glass, right?”

“…”

Is this what nobility is like?

Everything is still awkward for me.

…Honestly, I didn’t even want things like that.

However, accepting Gael’s words that I needed a valet after all, I took the document.

I still couldn’t read perfectly, but now I knew more than what I didn’t.

Traces of what Arwin taught me remained with me.

Would I imagine it every time I saw a text from now on?

“…”

Gale spoke to me, who was thinking about something else.

“Berg. Don’t skip the training of the members.”

I shook off thoughts of Arwin and looked at Gale.

He spoke in a situation where the number of leaders had drastically reduced.

As I looked at Gale, he explained.

“Now, the mercenary corps, like Adam, who can’t see the future, will start to fall one by one. Among the mercenaries being disbanded, some will find the right way to live, but some will not lose the habit of wielding a sword and start robbery.”

I remembered the mercenary corps I had faced so far.

It was strange to think that they would all disappear one by one.

Gale went on.

“From now on, it’s your job to catch such criminals. Well, it would be fine to delegate it to Baran.”

“….”

“In the first place, strong force can also be a power, so there’s no reason to neglect training and give up that power.”

I nodded.

I took over the land and began to write a number of documents that needed to be prepared.

My mind was filled with recent farewells.

Adam. Ner. Full of thoughts of Arwin.

One by one, they rummaged through my thoughts and disappeared.

It was not easy to do the unfamiliar paperwork in the process.

How long had I been writing like that?

I went looking for paperwork to clean up again.

In the process, I saw a letter envelope stamped by various families.

“…What is this?”

“Check it out yourself.”

-Tearing sound.

I tore open the envelope with my hand.

Gale, who was about to hand me a letter opener, clicked his tongue.

“…I think you need to change that habit first.”

I pushed Gale’s regret behind me and read the letters.

It didn’t take long to figure out what they were about.

It was a strategic marriage proposal.