Chapter 31
“A spouse is a bond between families. You know what an arranged marriage is, right?”
Kiara silently nodded, and he continued without pause.
“On the other hand, a lover is a purely personal bond. Love, liking someone, that kind of silly stuff.”
Ael paused briefly, then let out a short, bitter laugh. Kiara stared silently at his face.
But Ael’s eyes remained fixed on the ceiling; he didn’t even glance in her direction.
He continued, a hint of humor in his tone.
“…Maybe that’s why so many nobles in the capital, always obsessed with family names and lineage, think it’s perfectly normal to keep lovers even after they’re married. From where I’m standing, it just looks like they want to screw whoever they feel like.”
His words were blunt and sarcastic. Embarrassed by the harshness, Kiara quickly averted her gaze from him.
“W-well, in Altnebra… it’s not like that.”
“Yeah, Altnebrans are like that, stubborn as hell. Damn it.”
Cursing under his breath, Ael roughly ran his hand through his hair, then covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
He had come to occupy Altnebra under the command of his elder brother, the Crown Prince.
Of course, the official reason was to suppress the rebellion, but in reality, it was a scheme to dethrone the king who had ruled Altnebra for ages, King Blain, and annex the territory directly into the Empire.
‘At first, I thought it’d be easy…’
Ael rubbed his throbbing temples with the back of his hand.
No matter how battle-hardened he was, the occupation itself had been almost laughably simple.
His Golden Lion Knights were, after all, the Emperor’s own knights. Compared to that, the Altnebra forces led by King Blain were nothing more than a ragtag militia from some backwater.
Maybe it was the excitement of the long-awaited royal marriage, but their focus was sloppy.
The real problem came afterward.
‘…Now that I think about it, this marriage to the witch was part of it.’
Ael glanced at Kiara through half-lidded eyes, his hand brushing over them. She looked back at him, curiosity shining bright in her flushed eyes, as if silently asking for more explanation. That look made Ael speak again.
“So, a soulmate. What did I say earlier?”
“A soulmate is… of the gods’.”
Kiara answered hesitantly, as if afraid of getting it wrong, her voice barely above a whisper. Ael nodded in acknowledgment.
“Right. The gods. Meeting and parting is the domain of the gods.”
The words sounded cryptic. Kiara tilted her head, frowning. Ael, still watching her beneath lowered lids, noticed a faint crease of thought forming on her smooth brow.
Seems she’s seriously thinking it over.
Smiling inwardly, Ael straightened up and sat again.
“Someone you might meet your whole life or never meet at all. Someone you can only meet by the will of the gods. So meeting your soulmate is considered incredible luck. Those who find theirs hold it dearly.”
Kiara’s expression was dazed. She still wasn’t quite sure what exactly a soulmate was, but honestly, she had trouble believing Ael was hers. The lofty talk about divine destiny and fate felt dubious. But more than that, it was Ael’s attitude that seeded doubt in her.
‘If he really cherished me so much…’
Isn’t he a little too careless? Setting that aside, hadn’t he and his men often talked casually about killing her? Saying things like that, and then telling her she might never meet her soulmate in a lifetime.
As if hearing the doubt stirring inside Kiara, Ael let out a short, amused chuckle.
“Of course, there’s no rule that you’ll get along perfectly with the soulmate you meet that way. Maybe that’s why storytellers and bards sing songs about soulmates who end up as mortal enemies, like a family curse. They literally call it the joke of the gods.”
“Uh…”
“Though usually people get along just because they’re soulmates, I’m not one of those ‘usually’. I don’t even believe in it to begin with.”
The way Ael said it so nonchalantly struck Kiara as deeply unpleasant, almost as if he meant, How could I possibly share feelings with someone like you?
Someone like a witch.
Kiara, as if trying to shake the thought from her mind, hurriedly asked him.
“If you don’t believe in it, then how do you know we’re soulmates?”
“Didn’t you see it yesterday? The wound.”
Ael tilted his head and pointed to her hand with his index finger.
“Oh! Right. The cut…!”
Only then did Kiara remember the sword wound and carefully opened her palm to look.
‘Now that I think about it, it didn’t really hurt… huh?’
Kiara stared down at her hand and jumped in surprise. The wound from the sword cut had vanished entirely, leaving only a faint reddish scar like a soft stain. What had happened? Had she dreamed it all? Or was it… something else?
“Ah, Ael’s wound is…”
She suddenly remembered that he’d had the exact same injury on his hand. As if on cue, Ael held out his hand.
“Look here.”
On his palm was a similar faint scar where the wound once was — freshly healed, pale but unmistakable.
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