Sheila’s back vanished beyond the front door.
Daggart was still gripping me, his expression hard.
“Daggart, let go of me. Sheila’s leaving.”
“She is.”
“At this rate, the divorce papers will reach the Guild.”
“They will.”
His calm, clipped replies only irritated me more. And yet, for some reason, I couldn’t shake his hand off.
Even now, Sheila was slipping farther away.
If the divorce went through… what would happen to me?
Would I really have to return, starting tomorrow, to a house with no one there—no Sheila?
That couldn’t be right. Sheila was the one who belonged in that house. No one else made sense.
“I never even thought about divorce.”
“I see. Then start thinking about it now.”
I married Sheila believing we’d stay together forever. That sword belt she gave me made me believe it.
From the moment I wore it, strength flooded my body. I achieved more than anyone else. Minor wounds healed without potions, fatigue never lingered.
My sword felt light, endlessly swingable.
I saved comrades in desperate moments and was thanked for it.
When I returned to town, people praised me. Women gathered around me.
When I waved, shrill cheers followed. The elderly thanked me. Children looked at me with shining eyes.
At first—before marriage, and shortly after—I knew it wasn’t my own strength. I told myself it was all thanks to Sheila, because she had given me that sword belt.
But before I realized it, a different thought took hold.
If I hadn’t been there, we might all have died. Of course people should thank me.
The townsfolk’s praise was because I was there. The women came seeking the night because I was the greatest contributor.
I was strong. I was important. I was the best.
So it was only natural they gathered. I indulged them because it couldn’t be helped.
Even then, I hadn’t crossed the final line.
And then there was Chiara.
Unlike the others, she only watched from the shadows, content with that. What began as a game—how to make her fall—somehow became a family.
Still, it was only something temporary, only while I was in Marseilles.
People laughed and said that for a hero, having a lover or even a child at an expedition site was a kind of badge of honor.
Knights having lovers or familiar prostitutes where they were stationed was normal.
So I never thought I was doing anything wrong.
Sheila was the one true partner. The capital was home.
No matter what distractions I indulged in elsewhere, when I returned, Sheila would greet me with a smile and say, “Welcome back.”
I ignored her wish for a child. But she prepared my bed, fed me good meals, and kept the house. Knowing she was there let me leave without worry.
Even now—while signing the papers, after signing them, even watching Sheila walk out with them—I still felt like this was all a dream.
Like I’d wake up, sit at the table, and warm food would be waiting.
“This is a dream.”
The moment I said it, I was punched.
It hurt.
Not just my cheek. My chest felt crushed, as though my heart were being squeezed tight, sharp pain pricking me from the inside.
“That hurt, didn’t it? This isn’t a dream,” Daggart said coldly. “You had a hidden child. Your wife saw it and demanded a divorce. You signed the papers. None of it can be erased.”
His gaze pierced me, his words digging into my chest.
I felt detached, unable to grasp reality.
“Oh, good. You’re still here.”
“—What the—! Asti!? Where did you—ah, teleportation.”
The adjudicator appeared out of nowhere and handed me documents.
“Congratulations. Your divorce from Sheila has been finalized.”
“What—!?”
I snatched the papers and checked them.
It was true. The divorce was complete.
“And about the compensation—whether you’ll pay in a lump sum or installments, please inform the Guild.”
Sheila had demanded eight hundred gold coins.
I didn’t know the standard, but it wasn’t an amount I couldn’t afford.
“If I pay it all at once… I’ll lose any connection to Sheila.”
If I paid in installments, I could see her each time. If I begged her then, maybe she’d soften. Maybe she’d smile at me again.
“She seemed to prefer a lump sum,” Asti said calmly. “We know you have sufficient savings. Though, of course, you also have Chiara and the child to support.”
Eight hundred gold coins was a year’s pay, including expeditions.
For five years… had Sheila been managing the household and saving it all?
For what purpose—
“Leon, don’t you think it’s time we had a child? I want you to reduce your expeditions.”
Her words echoed in my mind.
If we’d had a child… would she have stayed?
The child she wanted.
If only that had existed, would she have never left me?
“Sheila and I… we need to have a child…”
If she would come back, I would do anything.
Even a child. She wanted one, so we should have one.
“Leon, the divorce is already finalized,” Asti warned. “Don’t get any strange ideas.”
His caution passed right through me.
“Leon, transfer to Marseilles,” Daggart said. “Chiara and Lilia are waiting. I’ll speak to Zain. Sheila isn’t coming back here. Give up the capital.”
I barely heard him.
I had to get Sheila back.
“She might return. I won’t give up this house. I need to go after her.”
I stepped forward. Daggart grabbed me. The adjudicator blocked my path.
“Calm down. It’s late. You don’t even know where she went. Tomorrow—”
I shook Daggart off. He was thrown aside.
The adjudicator’s eyes widened, and he immediately traced a sigil beneath my feet.
“—Gah…!”
Gravity pressed down on me, forcing me to one knee.
But wearing Sheila’s sword belt, I braced myself and stood.
“You’re kidding me…”
“This is because of this…”
I touched the belt at my waist. The charm she’d given me on our first expedition together.
“Daggart!”
“Asti, send us!”
“Wait—!”
If he sent us now, Sheila would be gone by the time I returned from Marseilles.
“Don’t… get in my way!”
“Asti!”
I roared, trying to throw Daggart off again, but the adjudicator unleashed another spell.
“The one in her way… is you!”
His voice rang in my head.
The next moment, the scenery changed.
I was no longer in my house in the capital, but standing before the officers’ quarters of the Marseilles garrison.
“Daggart, why did you interfere?”
He had released me and was clutching his abdomen, likely in pain.
“Leon. You’re no longer connected to Sheila. Accept reality.”
“I have. I signed the papers. That’s why I’ll start over with her.”
“What about Chiara and Lilia?”
Again, those two.
The shackles around my feet. The obstacles between me and Sheila.
“If we’re family, they’ll understand.”
“Leon…”
I turned away from the look in his eyes.
“We’re family…”
Sheila had been family too.
I thought she’d understand. I believed she would forgive me.
But she didn’t.
This was the result of ignoring her, of betraying her.
I understood it in my head, but my heart refused to follow.
When I returned to the capital, she wouldn’t be there.
We were no longer family.
I couldn’t accept it.
Her smile, her tears, her warmth—each memory dissolved into the air.
“…What now?” Daggart asked quietly. “The barracks? Or—”
There was only one place I wanted to go.
And I didn’t want to admit it was gone.
Only after losing it did I realize how vast its presence had been.
Nothing could replace it.
Daggart left me sitting there without another word.
The cold air cleared my head, but I couldn’t bring myself to go to Chiara’s house either.
I headed for the barracks.
There, a warm meal and a prepared bed awaited me.
“Leon, welcome home. Dinner’s ready.”
As I touched that warmth, and finally understood I would never feel it again, I choked back sobs while I ate.
