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Translator: uly
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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A rugged stone path.
Men dressed in black mourning clothes walked along, bearing a wooden coffin on their shoulders.
"They're coming."
These were the survivors who had made it back from the tail end of the war's storm.
Their faces were haggard, pushed along by the heavy wind against their backs.
Inside the coffin they carried lay a great swordsman who had stood against the demon race's invasion.
Yet, despite this glorious return, no one had come to greet them—except for me.
If things had been normal, I would have been there too.
But not this time.
The woman in that coffin...
She had been my wife.
"..."
I silently received them.
They, in turn, gave a slight bow of their heads in greeting upon seeing me.
"We see you, Silent Sword."
Silent Sword.
A moniker given to me because I wielded my sword through words alone.
"We learned so much thanks to you."
"The books you wrote were a great help to the soldiers on the front lines too."
"Coming from knights like you, that's embarrassing to hear."
A wry smile crossed my lips.
All I could do—unable to swing a sword—was devise theories and put them to paper.
"Set her down here."
From behind me,
I spoke to them with a bitter smile as they approached the small castle's entrance.
"No one's here to welcome you, so you won't see anything good if you go inside."
At my words, they nodded with choked expressions and carefully lowered the coffin.
"Do you have somewhere to go?"
"..."
There was no answer.
But that wasn't strange.
"Well, who among us does?"
"Farewell, and stay safe."
They bowed to me once more before departing.
We probably wouldn't meet again.
All I could do was thank them for this final act of loyalty in bringing the coffin this far.
The burial spot I'd prepared ahead of time was a small clearing near the castle.
It wasn't far in distance, but with the sun setting and rising again, it had taken far longer than expected.
"Sorry about this. As you know, one of my legs doesn't work right."
Dragging the coffin with my cane had taken much longer than I'd thought.
I finally got it right next to the pre-dug pit.
Sweat beaded on my cheek like pearls, gleaming in the sunrise.
When it dripped from my jaw onto the coffin, I chuckled and brushed my hand over it.
"The most precious gem I can offer."
Creeeak.
I slowly opened the coffin.
Artificial roses adorned it.
And nestled among the flowers, a beautiful woman lay with her hands clasped, eyes closed.
Rianna Helmunt.
Eldest daughter of the great Helmunt family.
A brilliant swordswoman who had slain countless villains and butchered the Transcendent Race.
The woman I had truly loved.
My wife.
"Ten whole years, and you're still as lovely as ever."
I let out a hollow laugh.
Word was she'd spent a long time on the battlefield, but she looked as if she'd just returned from a ball.
A strong rose scent wafted from her—they must have used magic to preserve the body.
"I thought we'd have so much lost time to catch up on, but now that I see you... I have nothing to say."
Even with her body right there, the awkwardness had me staring blankly at the rising sun.
"Were you ever curious why I ran away?"
Five years of marriage.
In the end, I'd chosen to flee.
The reason was simple.
The Helmunt main family members who tormented me, a commoner by birth.
And Rianna, who had watched it all in disappointment—or so it seemed—choosing to do nothing.
"I resented you deeply. Did you resent me too?"
Even after a full ten years, here we were.
"Or did you laugh in relief?"
In the end, we'd met an ending too awkward to call a reunion.
"No question is as meaningless as one without an answer."
Still.
If I had to pick the one thing I was most curious about...
"You—"
To the very end.
Swinging that massive greatsword.
Even in her final breath...
"Were you a proud Helmunt?"
A woman who had lived solely for Helmunt.
Which made her the cruel woman who abandoned her husband.
"Heh, hahaha."
A chuckle escaped me.
Our relationship was long over.
This felt like putting a final period on it.
"At this moment, you must have smiled too, right?"
A farewell to the woman who smiled as beautifully as a rose.
She'd surely shaken off all lingering attachments long ago, but I wanted to give her this closure anyway.
"Farewell."
As I gently unclasped her hands to hold them...
A strange sensation on her finger.
Between the calluses etched from years of gripping a sword.
A single shabby ring.
Worn on her left ring finger.
The only wedding gift from me, a commoner—even after pouring in all my worldly possessions, it had been mocked as pathetic.
Our wedding ring.
The moment I saw it still on Rianna's left ring finger...
"..."
I was speechless for a moment, just staring at it in a daze.
"You..."
I let out a sigh mixed with lament, smiling bitterly.
"You mess with my head right up to the end."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hm?"
My right leg, which ached every morning without fail, felt perfectly fine.
The cane I kept by my bedside wasn't there, no matter how much I flailed my hand.
My body, creaking in my late thirties, moved as smoothly as if oiled.
"Where...?"
It was my room.
More precisely, the room I'd used in the Helmunt estate ten years ago.
Naturally, my wife and I had separate rooms, and I'd stayed in the guest quarters.
Back then, it had felt a bit hurtful, like they were drawing a line to say I wasn't family.
I looked at the mirror in the room.
It was Isaac.
Me from ten years ago.
Smooth skin and neatly groomed black hair.
The handsome looks I'd heard compliments about often.
And my legs—perfectly fine.
The disability I'd carried for ten years was gone.
"A dream?"
It felt exactly like a dream.
But even harder to believe was that I'd returned to the Helmunt estate in the past.
Clank, creak.
"Brother-in-law!?"
At that moment, the door opened, and one person entered.
Red hair symbolizing Helmunt, sharp features.
Tall and striking, he was Helmunt's third son.
Alois Helmunt.
"Alois?"
Just as I remembered him.
He was one of the very few in Helmunt who had been kind to me.
"What are you doing? Sis has been waiting!"
"Sis? You mean Rianna?"
"What's with you today? You worked so hard preparing with me yesterday for our anniversary!"
Anniversary?
Preparing with Alois?
The familiar words pieced together naturally.
'Our fourth wedding anniversary?'
It was one year before I'd fled the Helmunt estate.
"I helped, so she'll love it for sure this time. You worked really hard too, brother-in-law."
Right, that's how it was.
Isaac gave a hollow laugh as he looked at Alois.
The final effort to mend their broken marriage.
And also...
'The trap that sent me even deeper into ruin.'
From this day forward, Rianna—his wife—and no one in Helmunt would expect anything from Isaac again.
'The day my leg was ruined in the accident.'
That left him unable to wield a sword, earning him the name Silent Sword.
And...
The culprit who took his leg was now...
"Hurry up, brooo! Pleeease! Come on already! Sis is gonna get really mad!"
Urging him along.