Chapter 1: Divorce Declaration

It has been seven years since the divorce.

I return to Yeongji, a place I swore I would never come back to, and witness the devastation that has unfolded.  

As I search through the blood-soaked floor, a familiar figure catches my eye.  

If I’m not mistaken, it looks like my wife.  

Well, to be precise, my ex-wife.

“…”

Near the end of the war, my then-wife lay collapsed by the riverside, drenched in blood.  

By the time I fought through the surrounding enemies and found her, she had already lost so much blood that her survival was uncertain.  

“…Ugh.”  

The stench of blood stung my nose, 

And my chest tightened even more.  

It was said that she had been ambushed by enemy forces during an operation and had fought fiercely.  

Crawling through the sea of blood, I looked at the woman lying there.  

“…”

The moment I saw her, words failed me.  

Her face was drenched in blood, and her neck and upper body were stained red.  

If she hadn’t barely managed to open one eye, it would have taken me longer to recognize her.  

With great difficulty, Yuria opened her eyes slightly and looked at me, her lips parting.  

Her unusually long eyelashes trembled.  

“…So… you’ve been… well, I see.”  

Her voice, usually cold and composed, was now weak and drained.  

I tightly grasped her falling hand.  

The temperature of her hand in mine was unnaturally cold.  

“Why… why did you do this?”  

Pushing forward in such a state, especially after the recent battle where most of her subordinates were still recovering, was akin to suicide.  

She, who always emphasized calm and rational judgment, had done something so reckless.  

No one could understand why.  

Her usual composure was nowhere to be seen.  

“…I just… did something… that felt like you.”  

“…”

I ignored the pain in my chest.  

My lungs felt like they were full of holes, and my vision blurred.  

Still, I hoisted Yuria onto my back.  

“What… are you… doing…”  

At that moment, I didn’t even know why I was doing it.  

“Just be quiet and stay on my back.”  

I simply did what I wanted to do.  

With Yuria on my back, I ran.  

“Yujin…”  

She called my name from behind.  

Her pleading voice still tickled my ears.  

“…Stop. Please… stop.”  

Her faint breath brushed against the back of my neck.  

She was someone I had hated intensely.  

Wasn’t she the one who called me disgusting and avoided me, even hiding her face?  

So why now?  

Why did I feel this dizziness looking at her now, as if she were uttering her last words?  

What was this suffocating feeling in my chest?  

“We’re divorced. So, I’ll do as I please.”  

“…”

Thud.

A heavy impact came from behind.  

But it didn’t hurt.  

It was a sign that her life was fading.  

Reluctantly, I stopped and set her down.  

After catching her breath for a moment, she spoke with great effort.  

“If you were going to do as you pleased… you should have pushed me away back then.”  

“…What?”  

“At first, I disliked you. A reckless man like you. And you were indifferent to me. But after that incident… even as I pushed you away, I wanted to keep you by my side.”  

“What are you trying to say?”  

“But… you were relentless. You never once… looked back at me. That’s why.”  

“…”

“Even after I suggested divorce, doing this now… must seem ridiculous, right?”  

“I never laughed.”  

“…Sorry. Did I ruin the mood?”  

“What…?”  

“Will you… look at me now?”  

I hesitated for a moment.  

The moment I fell silent, she let out a faint laugh.  

From the slight movement near her shoulders, it seemed she was indeed laughing.  

“If… there’s a next time for us.”  

“…”

“Please divorce me. As quickly as possible.”  

“What… are you talking about?”  

“I’m sorry. I was afraid you’d leave me… so I kept trying to keep you by my side. That was all.”  

“Are you serious…?”  

“If there’s a next time, I’ll be… a little busier. You…”  

“…Ria?”  

“…”

No answer came.  

Only her cold, stiffened body and the fallen head resting on my back remained.  

I gently laid down her smiling corpse.  

Next time, huh?  

Walking alone toward the wide boulevard of the vast city, I thought to myself.  

I walked through the fallen bodies and reached the front of that place.  

Everyone else had declared that she and I were not a good match.  

They weren’t wrong. Not just them, but even I would say the same. 

In a world where bloodline equates to privilege, she only needed a temporary son-in-law, and I needed a place to stay. 

In a relationship where just being by each other’s side was enough, we were good for each other.  

That’s all it was.  

Just that kind of story.  

Yet, despite that, we couldn’t love each other.  

She committed unforgivable acts against me.  

Starting with indifference, the harassment from her family members was beyond counting.  

Did you feel disappointed in that?  

In the end, we drifted apart and grew to resent each other.  

When we divorced, I secretly rejoiced.  

But… why does it feel so miserable now?

“Even now… will you look at me?”

“You’re still… making me sway until the end.”

On the road leading to Velstain Avenue.

I walked at my usual brisk pace, as I always did. 

Then, I shook a small box I had taken from her embrace.

The sensation of something falling into my palm.

A shiny object that didn’t match my bloodstained hand.

Two dazzling rings.

Engraved on them were my name and hers.

The truth she could never convey.

Her genuine feelings.

“…”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. I smiled bitterly and looked down at the rings.

“What… Did you want it from me?”

The ring felt unfamiliar on my finger, gripping the sword.

But it didn’t matter.

There was no need to get used to it.

Soon, I would see.

I tightened my grip on the sword hilt.

Looking around at the enemies surrounding me, I mustered the last of my magical energy.

///

“…?”

My right eye felt bright.

The vision I had lost returned, and the sword hilt in my hand had disappeared.

The nerves in my body, which had been unresponsive, now felt alive and noisy.

“Where… is this?”

It was a familiar room.

How could I forget? 

It was the room I had lived in for years.

I had lived apart from my wife, Yuria, in a different mansion.

Back then, I hated it. How could I like living apart from my wife?

But now, thinking about it, it might have been her way of caring.

…Though, it ended up going in a bad direction.

My reflection in the full-length mirror was just as it had been before.

My two eyes, intact.

My skin, free of burns, smooth and white, and my hair neatly combed.

‘…Is this a dream?’

I scratched my head.

It didn’t feel like reality yet.

I had clearly seen her die.

I had been surrounded by enemies on the avenue and died just moments ago.

The awkward sensation on my ring finger was still vivid.

At that moment, a short knock sounded, and someone stepped inside.

“…”

Before me stood a beautiful woman, looking at me.

She must have been around twenty-one.

A flower that had just bloomed, yet her beauty was already extraordinary.

Her pale skin and large eyes.

Her slightly exposed hair was as black as ebony, but her eyes had a clear, serene quality.

Even in the shadow of the dark robe, her eyes shimmered brightly, and every small movement exuded grace.

My wife, Yuria.

The young version of her had somehow come close and was standing still, staring at me.

Not at anything else, but at me.

She remained silent.

Just staring at me intently.

Her quiet, motionless presence made me slightly nervous.

Just as my face was about to flush.

“Do you know what day it is today?”

When I asked the question.

Yuria sighed deeply, shaking her head from side to side.

“Haa… I wondered what you were talking about. At least keep track of your own schedule.”

Her realistic reaction left me in awe.

‘…Wow, this feels so real.’

For a dream, it was unbelievably vivid.

The sensations, the scent, everything felt real.

But I was aware that this was a dream.

There was no way she could return like this after dying.

And I, who had realized I was dead, couldn’t possibly forget that.

Unless some god intervened and sent me back to the past, this couldn’t be possible.

If anything, it was more like the flashbacks people see just before death.

The kind of flashbacks people experience in their final moments.

Having reached this conclusion, I looked at Yuria.

“…Why aren’t you getting ready? Today is an important day. There’s no time to waste, so hurry up and get your sword.”

She said, looking at me with cold eyes.

Whether in the past or now, she was a woman who always controlled me.

She confessed her feelings only when I was about to die, but I had known about her interest in me for a long time.

Of course, there were moments when I liked her too.

But I started to dislike her after she began ignoring me.

She ignored me.

Excluded me from family matters.

Didn’t even consider me part of the family.

She drew a line and lived her life.

No matter what happened to me, she remained indifferent.

Even on the day I lost my right eye, if she had stopped it, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.

Despite all this.

How could I genuinely like a woman who had to control everything to feel satisfied?

That’s why she must have said this.

“If… there’s a next time between us.”

“…”

“Please divorce me. As quickly as possible.”

Her final words echoed in my mind.

In the end, she and I were destined not to be together.

‘…Since it’s a dream anyway.’

Maybe I should do the things I couldn’t do before.

Looking back at everything I endured.

She was infuriating.

Hiding her feelings until the end, toying with me?

“Can’t you hear me? There’s no time for this now—”

Slap—

I slapped Yuria’s cheek.

The burning sensation and her widened eyes.

Her head tilted to the side, and her frozen expression was quite a sight.

“Today, I’ve thought a lot.”

For me, it’s been over ten years of being together.

Now that I’ve reached the end.

As per her final wish.

“You didn’t really like me, did you? Right?”

“Leah”

“It was just a marriage of convenience, wasn’t it?”

Even the cold Yuria seemed a bit surprised by this statement, looking at me with a flustered expression.

Suppressing her small whisper of ‘That’s not true,’ I continued.

The glove that symbolized our marriage in the family.

“Yuria.”

I took off the glove that represented our union and threw it out the window.

“It’s time for us to part ways.”

With the cold dawn wind.

“Let’s get a divorce.”

The luxurious glove flew out the window.

“…Are you… serious?”

For the first time, her composure broke.