Chapter 10: Before the Wedding ⑨ ~I Want to Hear the Story~

That day, Edel appeared at the tavern in noticeably better spirits than usual.

As always, he sat with Theodore, holding a non-alcoholic drink while listening to adventurers’ stories, but something about his smile was different.

Edel was always personable, yet today he looked distinctly happier.

“What’s up, Edel?
You look pretty cheerful.”

“Oh, you can tell?
I got word that my wife is coming back tomorrow.”

“Oh, that rumored wife.”

Ever since his shocking confession the other day, Edel’s wife had become a topic of gossip among the adventurers who knew him well.

Even when they asked Theodore, who surely knew something, he only said, “It’s a secret,” which made her all the more mysterious.

Theodore had no choice but to say that, since he truly could not answer in any sense, but thanks to that, the imagined image of Edel’s wife spread as rumors.

“My son’s been restless too.
He really loves her.”

“…You have a son too.”

Well, they said they wouldn’t be surprised, but surely Edel hadn’t actually given birth, right?

…Actually, he kind of seems like he could have.

Eh, whatever.

Let’s just say Edel gave birth.

Theodore could practically read the adventurers’ thoughts, but he had already given up on correcting them.

He did not even know where to begin correcting things anymore.

If asked whether Edel’s wife, meaning Aria, had given birth to the child, he could only say no.

There was no need to explain complicated details like adoption.

If the adventurers wanted to believe Edel gave birth, then maybe that was fine too.

“Oh, I won’t be able to come here for a while.”

“Yeah, figures.”

Edel only meant that he would be busy with wedding preparations and such, but the adventurers took it upon themselves to read too deeply into it.

She probably won’t let you go, huh.

“Excuse me, but are you Edel?”

One member of a group quietly drinking in the corner suddenly spoke to Edel.

Theodore stayed alert, but sensing no hostility toward Edel, he did not intervene.

“Yeah, that’s me.
Do you need something?”

“Do you know a woman named Mireille?”

That was a name he knew all too well.

Mireille was not a particularly rare name, but the only person close to Edel with that name was his disappeared ex-wife.

“I do.
Did she do something?”

The man was well-dressed, but his presence, his aura, even his smell, carried the unmistakable air of the underworld.

As far as Edel had investigated, Mireille had not borrowed money from such places before they separated.

All of her debts back then had been settled by Aria, so it was no longer Edel’s concern.

After her disappearance, he honestly had no idea.

He did not know where she was, and she probably had no idea that Edel had married Aria.

“She ran off with our money.”

The answer was exactly what he expected.

It seemed Mireille had crossed a line she should not have.

On top of that, she vanished with the money.

That was impossible to defend.

Not that Edel wanted to defend her anyway.

“All I can say is, my condolences.
But sorry, we have nothing to do with each other anymore.
Even if she used my name, I’m not about to shoulder a stranger’s debt.”

“Yeah, figured.
We looked into it, and there wasn’t a trace of any connection between you and her.”

“Right?”

Aria had told him she erased all ties between them and Mireille, and Edel had discussed that thoroughly with Chronos.

For Edel, it was one thing, but for Chronos, she was his biological mother.

No one knew how he would feel if she appeared before him.

But now that she had abandoned him and was nowhere to be seen, the lack of connection did not bother him.

He had said, with a resolute expression, that he had parents now.

So even if Mireille used Edel’s name, it did not matter.

When Edel smiled gently, the man let out a sigh.

Indeed, according to their investigation, Edel and Mireille had no connection at all.

The ties were unnaturally, immaculately erased.

Even those who lived in the underworld had been shocked by how clean it was.

Suspecting the involvement of a powerful figure, they had investigated with extreme caution.

That was when they found faint traces connecting Mireille to the Margrave’s house.

So they came here just in case.

Hearing the name Edel had been pure coincidence.

Meeting him at all was nothing more than chance.

“I’m more surprised you didn’t deny knowing her.”

“I figured something troublesome related to Mireille would come up eventually.
Denying it would just make things more annoying.
Besides, if you were planning to do anything to me, you’d need serious resolve.”

“Looks like it.
Your guard’s pretty damn strong.”

“Yeah.
But he says there are plenty stronger than him, so he has to keep training.”

“What the hell.
Is he from some kind of hellscape?”

“Something like that.”

Within the border army, Theodore was still considered mid-tier.

There were plenty above him who could handle him with ease.

An army that fought bandits and magical beasts daily could, in a sense, be called inhabitants of a hellscape.

“We know better than to mess with places we shouldn’t.
That woman didn’t.
Anyway, sorry about that.”

As the man turned to leave, Edel suddenly grabbed his clothes firmly.

“Whoa!
What the hell!?”

“You look like you’ve had a lot of experiences.
You don’t have to go into detail, just tell me what you can.
I’ll buy you an ale.”

Staring at him with sparkling eyes, Edel made the man’s cheek twitch.

“H-Hey!
What is going on here!?”

When the man looked at Theodore, Theodore shrugged helplessly.

“Lord Edel is a minstrel.
He’s always looking for material for his songs.
You’ll probably get released faster if you just tell him what you can.”

“Isn’t a protagonist with a dark past kind of cool?
If someone like that showed up in a story, lots of people would be drawn to them.
So come on, tell me a little.”

Under the pitying gazes of those around him, the man reluctantly sat down across from Edel.

“So, Edel became friendly with that man?”

“Yes.
He seemed to take a liking to Lord Edel and said to contact him if we ever needed a favor.”

Having finally returned, Aria was receiving a report on Edel’s activities during her absence.

For the most part, he had only gone between the estate and the tavern, but taverns, with their many visitors, often led to unexpected encounters.

Regular adventurers, having heard rumors about Edel’s wife, no longer tried anything, but newcomers still posed a potential risk.

This time, however, it was a different sort of issue.

She had expected people connected to Mireille to appear, but it turned out to be someone unexpectedly interesting.

“He said he would not interfere with us, and that if they found her, they would handle it on their side.”

“I see.”

Leaving a faint trace of Mireille’s connection to the Margrave’s house had been intentional.

If left completely untouched, it could lead to trouble.

If someone could trace it, that meant they had enough power to negotiate.

If not, then whatever happened to Mireille would not affect them.

Frankly, Aria did not care what became of Mireille.

But she would not allow any harm to come to the Margrave’s house, or now, to Edel and Chronos.

“Still, Lord Edel has nerve.
I asked his name later, and he’s pretty well-known.
I don’t think anyone but Lord Edel could ask someone like that to tell him a story.”

Seeing a famous underworld figure mixed among adventurers, talking with Edel, was beyond strange.

The man’s subordinates in the corner did not know what to do and just watched after exchanging brief greetings.

“Heh.
That’s one of Edel’s good points.
When we first met, he spoke with me properly too.
No matter how powerful someone is, Edel always faces them as an individual.”

He might be nervous, but he was never intimidated.

He never wavered in treating people not by title, but as individuals.

“Is that what drew you to him, Lady Aria?”

“Who knows.”

She did not answer.

Her husband was oblivious and full of innocent misunderstandings, while his wife refused to say the crucial things.

It was, in many ways, a troublesome couple.