Incompatible Interspecies Wives chapter 170

170 – Flow of Time (2)

Every letter was the story of them wanting to give me their daughters.

Gale, who had come to my side and read the letters I had put down, also stroked his chin.

“…It seems the news of your divorce has spread across the kingdom.”

“…”

The more they do, the more I feel the reality of breaking up with Ner, and Arwin.

“Even so… do they propose so soon?”

When I asked, feeling uncomfortable without reason, Gail answered.

“Well, it’s only natural they would want to. After all, you’re a war hero, enjoying the support of the people, a gentleman who secured his goals and safely returned the two women he was married to.”

“…”

At that, I looked at Gail.

He casually shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“…At least that’s how they see it. Plus, there are rumors that you’re handsome, strong, and that you were the childhood friend of the saintess. People have also discovered that you’ve become a noble now, why wouldn’t they flock to you.”

“…”

I sighed deeply, and set the letters aside.

The weight continually burdening my shoulders.

The need for more effort to become accustomed to that weight was evident.

In those moments, I would usually seek out my wives.

Refreshing my mood by taking a stroll with Ner, chatting or offering archery lessons to Arwen.

Sitting together and leaning on each other gave me strength, holding hands lying in bed equally provided comfort.

…Without all that now, perhaps I was having a harder time.

I scratched my neck and spoke to Gail.

“…I will get some fresh air. You too should take a break.”

Gail nodded slowly in agreement.

“Take as long as you need.”

I continued to sigh, pacing myself.

In what manner should I relieve this heavy-heartedness?

Should I train fervently?

Should I go to watch the nearby river?

Should I take up archery?

“…”

…What would Ner and Arwen be doing now?

Ha.

Though the bonds were severed, I found myself curious about how they were living.

– Creak. Thud.

Just like that, I left Adam’s house.

“…”

In the end, unable to decide, I considered taking a stroll around the village.

Just as I was passing a tree,

– Swish!

…A sudden splash from somewhere drenched me from the top of my head down.

“…”

My clothes were soaking wet.

At the pleasant cool sensation, I blinked.

Thoughts that had cluttered my mind momentarily faded away.

“No…No, it can’t…!”

Sara’s echoing voice.

“I know what I’m talking about!”

Paul’s voice exploded in response.

Looking in their direction, Cien was smiling at me from a tree.

Over the past ten days, she had surprisingly become close with the children in the village.

She smiled at me and soon spoke to Paul and Sara, who were next to her.

“You don’t know, Bell… ah, Captain Berg likes this.”

“…Really?”

Paul cackled in response to Sara’s innocent reaction.

“What does it matter, Sara! We’re having fun!”

Old memories come to mind.

When she and I stayed in Bartra, we played pranks by sprinkling water on others.

We didn’t do it too often, but it was a game she and I enjoyed.

Were we just like Paul and Sara?

Maybe Cien also recalled our childhood while watching the children.

Cien looked down at me and asked.

“Right, Bell? It feels good because it’s cool, doesn’t it?”

“…”

A bright smile behind the mischievous prank.

At her smile, I finally burst into little giggles.

****

How long has it been since he bid farewell to Berg?

Ner didn’t know.

He just spent each day shut up in his room.

He didn’t eat, he didn’t drink.

The fact that Berg was not by his side made him lose energy.

On a cold night, Ner only clutched the air when he instinctively moved to embrace Berg.

Even when he woke up early in the morning, he woke up alone in his room.

The scent of the man he loved, or his voice was nowhere to be heard.

And as such days passed one by one, reality seemed to catch up with him.

It seemed like he had to accept that Berg wouldn’t be by his side for the rest of his life.

It seemed like he had to learn that he wasn’t his match anymore.

Every time this happened, Ner held onto Berg’s ring with tears.

His scent still lingered on the ring.

The ring that Berg seemed to leave somewhere in the corner of the room, Ner cherished and held onto it.

“…Berg…Berg…”

Every day, he called out his name.

He tried to find the being that saved him.

There were days when he had to sit at the table with his family due to his father’s compulsion.

Ner did not eat, just sat at her place out of duty.

Ner clearly felt the change in the atmosphere around her.

Just as the changes that had occurred on the land, her family could not treat her carelessly.

Perhaps the difference was created by the changes in Gideon’s attitude towards her.

At some point, Gideon seemed to accept her as a family member, showing a dignified demeanor.

The other brothers seemed to be influenced as well.

“…”

But Ner understood that this was a trace of Berg.

Had it not been for Berg… she never would have received such treatment, even in death.

Berg kept his promise to protect her until the end.

Even after the farewell, Ner could feel it.

And that fact hurt her greatly.

Since she had done nothing for him.

How long had it been since she had parted with Berg?

Suddenly, Ner remembered that the memories with Berg remained in this Blackwood territory.

She went around the territory like a ghost, chasing those memories.

She would go to the garden and the space where they had been married.

She would sit at the waterfall where they had once rested and the room where they had spent the first night together.

Finally, Ner entered a forest within the territory.

She had been fasting and shedding tears, her body weakening considerably.

Just a slight movement brought her breath up to her chin.

Yet, she could not stop moving.

There was no place where the memories with Berg were more deeply engraved.

The place where she had made a soul bond with Berg.

Where they promised to live and die together.

But as Ner’s memory of the soul bond became clearer, she only cried.

“Ugh….Huh…ugh…”

Ner hadn’t made any specific promises with Berg against her will.

Although it was a tradition to promise in front of a tree, Ner had said it could be done in their hearts.

Was this the reason she was facing such a result?

Had it resulted in them not being able to continue their marriage smoothly?

“Why……why….”

Why did I do it? Why didn’t I perform the ceremony properly at that time?

Ner endlessly reviled herself in mutters.

She continued to blame her foolishness.

Ner kept wandering around the forest in this way.

But as time passed, her heart only hurt more.

She still hadn’t found the tree with Berg.

She had walked around all day … but she couldn’t figure out where she had tied her soul with Berg.

“Ah… aaaaa …!!”

In her frustration, she let out a beast-like growl.

Screaming with clenched fists to her chest.

But that did not bring about the tree with Berg.

It was that dark night when they had picked any tree, which was the cause.

Even then, Berg had cherished that tree.

For Ner, it was a moment she wanted to brush off, but Berg even left a mark on the tree with his knife.

That was the only hope Ner had.

She spent a long time wandering, looking for that knife mark.

-Thump!

“Ah!”

Then, Ner, who had lost her strength, tripped over a tree root and fell.

“…”

She didn’t have the strength to get back up.

She even imagined that it might be better to die just like this.

…Would Berg come to find her then?

If so, she felt like she could die.

But with the thought of wanting to see Berg again, even if just once more, she pushed herself to stand.

She wanted to rest next to the tree, where she could feel Berg’s warmth, even when resting.

“……..”

Soon, in front of Ner, who had lifted her head, she saw the knife mark.

She coincidentally discovered the mark Berg had made.

“…”

Ner slowly crawled towards that tree with empty eyes.

She couldn’t believe she was facing it with her own eyes.

A tree chosen nonchalantly.

A tree that seemed frail and was neglected.

“……..Ah….”

The linden tree with the knife mark was decaying.

Already having met death, it was falling apart alone in this wide forest.

“….”

Just a few months ago, she had bounded her soul with Berg in front of this tree.

They had promised to spend their time together.

The approaching time might have been the happiest moment of her life.

But that time had already passed, and the tree which was supposed to symbolize their relationship had also met with death.

In disbelief of the reality, Ner lightly touched the tree with her trembling hands.

-Thud…

The tree bark weakly shattered.

Ner looked down at her hands dusted with decayed wood powder.

“…It’s not true…”

She whispered, but the dead tree couldn’t come back to life.

She too, knew that truth all too well.

Her relationship with Berg… it could no longer return to how it was, much like that tree.

“Ah… Ahh…”

Finally, Nell collapsed as if cowering at the roots of that tree.

What if she had promised her love to a larger tree?

What if she hadn’t started writing that diary from the start?

What if she accepted Berg’s love?

What if she was more honest sooner?

All of these were things that were too late already.

Nell looked at that Zelkova tree and thought of its symbolic meaning.

‘Fate.’

She might not have realized that the dead tree had been foreshadowing her relationship with Berg from the start.

“…Ahh…! Ahhhhh!!”

Finally, Nell collapsed in front of it.

In a forest where no one could find her, she screamed her heart out.

‘I hope to return here.’

It was the moment where the wish she prayed to the tree was granted.