Chapter 56
Maybe I stared too long, because he turned toward me with a faintly sheepish look.
“Darling.”
“Change that nickname.”
The one who said it was Ken, walking in with a bowl full of meticulously trimmed vegetables.
“If you won’t, get out of my house.”
“This is Darling’s house, though.”
With the two of them standing face to face like that, it almost sounded like Sean’s “Darling” was meant for Ken, not me.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Apparently, we all heard it the same way.
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Both Sean and Ken wore identically unpleasant expressions.
Technically, Sean wasn’t wrong. On the official land registry, this cottage belonged to me. But the truth was, everything here — this cottage, the surrounding fields, even the stretch of the Mondsera mountain range just beyond — was Ken’s. I’d given it all to him.
I’d gone to war with not just the Emperor but the entire noble council to make it happen.
“I gave it to Ken. So it’s his.”
At my comment, Ken turned to Sean and smirked.
“So it seems.”
“Just taking and bragging, huh?”
They weren’t truly hostile to each other, despite the sour looks. There was no real animosity between them.
‘Isn’t the topic they’re arguing about kind of strange?’
Listening to their back-and-forth made me feel like I didn’t belong here.
“So, did you give her something?”
“I gave her Bittern.”
“Is that giving? You just dumped work and a kid on her.”
I couldn’t help but speak up.
“You two have really fallen out, huh.”
Both sealed their lips tight. Then it hit me why I’d felt so out of place all along.
“So why are you fighting over me? Did I do something wrong to either of you?”
Ken and Sean glanced at each other. It was Sean — the former High Priest, the one who preached love and faith — who finally broke the silence.
“Darling has done nothing wrong.”
“You get out.”
“We’re having a sort of wager about Darling’s marriage.”
My marriage? They’re betting on that?
“Me? With you?”
Ken looked just as surprised as I was. Sean turned to Ken and asked:
“Is that not so?”
“No….”
Ken seemed ready to deny it, but then he glanced between Sean and me, thought for a moment, and sighed.
“Not marriage, more like a relationship.”
Ken muttered something like, “So it wasn’t completely off, then.” Only now did I understand why Sean asked that random question yesterday. They were making a bet about me.
“So that’s why you asked when I’d get married.”
“Yes.”
No sooner had Sean answered than Ken turned to me:
“Are you getting married?”
“I said I’m not planning to.”
“Why not?”
Ken’s eyes went wide like I’d just said something utterly bizarre, and he leaned in so close that his upper body nearly pressed against me. He only stepped back when Sean tried to push him away with his staff.
“I don’t want to talk about it…”
Was I supposed to explain that I looked like a monster now, so marriage was the last thing on my mind?
“If you marry, maybe the curse could be lifted, right?”
“…Huh?”
Ken’s words threw me off.
“Th-That can’t be true, right?”
“Darling said that love, in your mind, is the love between spouses. So marriage could be the answer.”
“The love I think of is that?”
I asked, puzzled, and Sean looked at Ken. I glanced at Ken too, remembering his question when he came to the mansion for my coming-of-age ceremony, and how I’d answered back then.
“The first thing that comes to mind is conjugal love….”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
When I showed signs of remembering, both of them sighed lightly. People forget things sometimes — who remembers everything they say?
They seemed so at odds, yet they had discussed this before. I’d thought it had been five years since they last met. They’d probably talked since then, but just hadn’t eaten dinner together.
I shook my head.
“I don’t think getting married will break the curse after all. If you got married just because the curse might be lifted, wouldn’t that be the same as marrying solely to break the curse and not out of love? Even if you are in love, I don’t think the curse can be broken if the purpose is something like that.”
At my words, Ken lightly nodded and poured all the ingredients into the pot. Sean also added the smoked meat he had brought.
It was army stew, throwing in whatever ingredients you have and simmering until it thickens. After all, the ingredients supplied to the army were mostly high-calorie carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The longer they simmered, the better they tasted.
Ken murmured as he heated the ladle with magic.
“Not yet…”
The stew had just started being stirred, so there was no way the contents were cooked yet. What was he waiting for?
Sean entrusted the stew to Ken and sat down across from me. Ken frowned at Sean, but Sean didn’t seem to care, probably because he couldn’t see.
“Darling.
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
That’s how we were. Having spent our childhood together on the battlefield, we protected each other from danger and came to cherish one another more than our own lives.
At my words, Sean wore a slightly wistful expression. I didn’t know exactly what made him wistful, but it felt as if he regretted that he loved me more than I loved him.
‘Can that even be compared? Sean’s love feels more like the love Onra shows his creations.’
Divine love and my human heart can’t be the same.
Sean spoke in a somewhat deflated voice.
“I swear to Onra, I love you more than my own life.”
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