Chapter 4: A Year Passes

It had already been one year since Harid departed for the battlefield.

The fight against the monsters had dragged on.

However, in the borderlands, they responded to the monsters by constructing defensive walls, and those were finally nearing completion.

Before long, the knights who had been dispatched would likely return home.

Fortunately, no notice of Harid’s death had arrived, and it seemed he would return safely.

“That’s wonderful news, my lady.”

“Yes, it is.
Still, a whole year already.
It feels both long and short.”

Electra had properly managed the baronial household.

Since it was not a large territory, most matters were handled through direct instructions rather than intermediaries.

By now, she could truly be called the head of the House of Carlson.

“…If I had nothing weighing on my heart, I could have simply thought of it as time passing until my husband’s return.”

No matter what, Electra could not forget that prophetic dream.

Thinking of Harid still risking his life on the battlefield even now, she felt guilty for doubting him.

That was precisely why she had managed the baronial household properly up to this day.

And… she had also left notes about daily duties so that the servants and the people of the territory would not be troubled.

She had even prepared letters of introduction for all the servants.

So that they would not be troubled even if ‘Electra were no longer here.’

Even if events unfolded exactly as in the dream, the people of the territory and the servants would have nothing to do with it.

It would simply mean that Harid betrayed Electra.

“…Simply, huh.”

While he was risking his life fighting right now?

And yet she was doubting him.
With no evidence, just because of a strange dream she had seen.

“Sigh…”

She hoped he would return safely.

That much never wavered.
No matter what happened, she did not wish for Harid to die.

But what if the husband she had waited for over a year returned with another woman?

And what if he asked her for a divorce?

Thinking about it filled her with anxiety.

As a wife who had sent her husband off to war, it was a completely misplaced worry.

Recently, there had been no personal letters from the battlefield at all.

There was still information about the overall state of the war, but compared to the royal capital, such news reached the rural Carlson barony somewhat later.

She had also heard rumors that vicious new types of monsters appeared every few months.

She did not even know how much of that was true.

What was Harid thinking as he continued to fight even now?

Was he thinking of the wife waiting for him at home?

He was not the type to cry and complain that he did not want to die, but without knowing real combat, one could not be sure.

If he broke down and cried on the battlefield, who could blame him for it?

In the end, she herself, unable to fight, could do nothing but wait like this…

“If he happened to meet someone on the battlefield…”

Would it really be so strange if his heart were moved by that person?

After all, love had not yet been born between the two of them.

Their married life had lasted only one day.

And she had even refused to consummate the marriage, making their bond all the thinner…

Right now, she was not a victim.

Rather, she was a wife who doubted her husband and did not even offer her purity.

“…………”

Perhaps the time had come.

As the days passed, her sense of guilt toward her husband only grew.

He might die, and yet she had been thinking only of herself.

What if he were to die on the battlefield?

If only she had at least conceived a child carrying his blood, that could have been her hope or salvation.

Even that possibility, Electra had cut off herself.

Even if that dream were truly the future.

Who, then, had betrayed their spouse first?

If one did not commit infidelity, could it really not be called betrayal?

…She knew this could not continue.

No matter how things turned out, she would continue to suffer like this forever.

If her husband returned unharmed, smiled at her, and said he had come back to love Electra.

What should she do then?

That should have been the most desirable outcome.

And yet, if that happened, she would surely be unable to forgive herself out of guilt.

What exactly had she been doubting him for?

This could not be right.

That was why Electra made up her mind.

She had already made the wrong choice once.

And so, Electra began to make preparations.

For the day to come.

However, her days of anguish would be brought to an unexpected end.

The reason was a piece of news delivered from the battlefield.

“Lord Harid has caught the eye of a female cleric-soldier on the battlefield and is courting her.
The two are said to be lovers and quite famous?
Lord Harid has achieved great feats…
He is even being called a ‘hero’…”

The very first thing Electra thought was, ‘What is he doing?’

Well, at least Harid… her husband, seemed to be safe on the battlefield.
That was good.

More than that, he was achieving great feats.

So much so that he was being called a hero.

Apparently, the reason was that he had defeated a particularly large monster.

Because of that achievement, there was even talk of him being granted a higher title.

Up to that point, it could all be considered good news.

But what was this about that hero having a lover on the battlefield?

When that man had a wife.

It seemed that in the stories circulating publicly, the policy was to praise the hero and the woman who supported him.

Taken alone, it could be dismissed as propaganda that ignored the individuals’ true intentions.

There was no stage yet where she could accuse Harid of anything.

Not unless he truly brought that woman back and declared that he loved her.

“…Ahaha.”

Electra could only laugh.

In the end, as long as she lacked certainty, nothing had changed from all the anguish she had suffered until now.

And yet, for some reason, her heart felt clear.

—Just as she thought…

Thinking that, Electra felt her heart grow lighter.