Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Falling Curtain
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Like the curtain falling on a stage.
The sunset faded, and night arrived like darkness hidden behind the drapes.
The Mallidan Wall had been abuzz with the dramatic entrance of Rianna Helmunt.
But once the Great Horde launched its assault on the wall, the excitement fizzled out as if it had never been.
"You all worked really hard today. Get some good rest."
Recon Team 5, minus Jonathan who lay in the infirmary, wrapped up their day.
From the front wall, the roars of magic beasts and the urgent shouts of soldiers still echoed.
"...Shouldn't we go help out too?"
"Resting is helping. If we rest now, we give the folks fighting a chance to catch their breath."
"Oh."
"The attack isn't that massive anyway. We can handle it with room to spare."
Anna added that to reassure Sharen, who nodded in understanding.
Finally, Silberna's gaze shifted to the red-haired woman standing beside Isaac.
"And Rianna Helmunt."
"..."
"Thanks for the help, but starting tomorrow, we're moving to interrogation. Why the maid disguise? Why hide until now? All that."
"Got it."
Silberna scratched her head at Rianna's unflinching acceptance, then added,
"On the flip side, that means you get to rest easy tonight."
A small gift from the Caldias family to Rianna.
"Keep that in mind and prepare. Dismissed."
Silberna turned to leave but hesitated, then spoke honestly.
"Today... really, thank you. You saved a lot of lives."
It bruised her pride a bit, but preventing harm to the nearby residents mattered more to her.
That was why she could express her genuine gratitude.
"Anna! Let's go grab a drink! We deserve at least one!"
"Now?!"
As Silberna headed toward the soldiers' tavern in the keep, Anna caught up but paused to say to Isaac,
"I'll have bedding sent over."
"Bedding?"
Isaac blinked at the sudden comment, but Anna grinned mischievously and whispered,
"You can't stay in the maids' quarters anymore. And it wouldn't look right giving a separate room to someone who might be in a cell for interrogation tomorrow. So, naturally, you'll be sharing."
"...Me?"
Isaac stared blankly as he echoed her words, and Anna looked flustered instead.
"Yes? You're married."
"Ah, right."
"..."
Rianna's cheeks puffed out slightly at Isaac's hesitant reply before settling back.
It was so fleeting no one noticed.
"Just in case you didn't know—the soundproofing there isn't great."
"..."
"..."
"Anna! Hurry up!"
"Coming!"
Isaac and Rianna watched them go, speechless.
The door creaked open.
Then thudded shut.
The two of them stepped into the room.
The day's fatigue weighed heavily on their bodies.
But instead of easing, their tension only mounted.
"..."
"..."
It was because of his wife, standing rigidly by the door and staring blankly at him.
An awkward silence hung in the air.
They had once been as close as could be.
At some point, had simply being together become this uncomfortable?
That's just how time works, I guess.
People call the inexorable change of feelings "time."
"Here."
Since Rianna wasn't one for words, Isaac broke the ice first. He pulled a note from his pocket.
It was the one she'd sent him that morning via Sharen.
It contained Rianna's thoughts on his swordsmanship.
"Ah."
"Thanks."
"You knew?"
"Kinda? Sharen I know wouldn't analyze sword structures in that much detail."
Besides, Sharen was terrible at acting.
She might as well have not bothered hiding it.
"Isa—"
"I'm gonna go wash up."
"..."
Rianna shut her mouth as Isaac cut her off mid-call.
He glanced at her briefly, but she averted her eyes as if to say go ahead, so he stepped out.
Thirty minutes later.
They'd taken turns washing up.
While Rianna was gone, Isaac continued writing about swordsmanship.
He jotted down his impressions of her swordplay that day and what he could incorporate.
"...Isaac."
He jolted up at the voice calling from behind.
She'd returned, dressed in a fresh white negligee used as sleepwear.
"Wh-when did you get back?"
"You still lose track of everything when you're focused."
Did Rianna just smile?
It was so brief, it left him wondering.
Isaac closed the manual, cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked at her.
Rianna met his eyes, her face faintly flushed.
"Sit here a sec."
She pointed to the bed, and Rianna hesitantly perched on the edge.
Remembering how he'd once said her face stiffens when tense, she deliberately pressed her cheeks with her palms.
"Any idea why you're here? I heard Father-in-law sent Sharen."
Time to get down to business.
At Isaac's question, Rianna lowered her hands from her cheeks and spoke carefully.
"I thought you might be in danger."
"The front lines? That's a given."
"Not just that—"
She started to say more but clamped her mouth shut. Or rather, she couldn't say it.
"..."
"..."
Silence settled between them again.
A familiar air.
"So you came to protect me?"
"Yeah."
After hearing her out, Isaac nodded.
"Honestly, Rianna, it doesn't feel all that convincing."
"..."
"Doesn't really tug at the heartstrings or make me grateful enough for the distance you traveled."
"I suppose."
"I know you well enough—you're not after anything from me."
"..."
"No other reason?"
Rianna clearly wasn't here to beg him to reconsider the divorce or declare her love.
"Just..."
She fidgeted with her clasped hands after a pause, then confessed.
"I didn't want you leaving while hurt."
"..."
"So you could live well after leaving the family."
Like when she'd rowed alone long ago.
Isaac stared at her, and she lowered her gaze, rambling on to explain further.
"I'm investigating the incident on our anniversary too. Busy with the Sword Festival, but still—"
"Alois."
"..."
Rianna froze mid-sentence.
She slowly lifted her head and asked Isaac,
"What?"
"Helmunt's third son, Alois. He's the culprit."
Rianna stiffened like a painting, then asked carefully,
"Why would Alois target you—?"
"Ask him yourself when you get back."
"...Okay."
Rianna exhaled calmly, resolve hardening her expression.
She clearly planned to confront Alois the moment she returned home.
"..."
"..."
Silence returned.
Isaac probed lightly.
"You believe me?"
"Huh?"
"Your little brother. And I'm... just the husband who's leaving soon."
Rianna looked baffled by his question about trusting him over family.
"Why would you lie about something like that?"
Her matter-of-fact response left Isaac stumbling briefly, but he masked his feelings.
"Phew."
Rianna took a deep breath, clenching her fists as if steeling herself.
"Isaac, since we're on family... I have something to say."
"Apologizing?"
"..."
She'd been pierced right to the core.
Isaac smiled softly and shook his head.
"Don't."
"Don't?"
"Yeah, no need."
It might only have been a month here,
but to him, it was a decade-old story.
"Feels like the time for apologies has passed."
He had no desire to dredge up things he'd forgotten, overcome, or buried.
"I won't accept it anyway."
"..."
"There was a time I wondered why you left me alone."
But not anymore.
"I don't even care about Helmunt family drama now."
"..."
"That you had no choice but to neglect me?"
Slowly,
Isaac rose and approached Rianna.
He knelt before her on the bed, matching her eye level.
"Probably. You're here at the front lines for my sake, after all. Misunderstandings piled up between us."
He gently wiped the tears welling in her eyes.
Rianna closed them softly, feeling his touch.
"But Rianna."
Unfortunately,
"I don't even want to hear it."
"..."
"I might understand. Might even want to forgive. And then I'd end up back in Helmunt."
No matter what.
"I don't want that."
Except,
one small mercy.
—He'd pondered it countless times.
Why, even after a decade, did Rianna wear her ring until her dying breath?
The answer was simple, but accepting it was hard.
"That we—"
But,
looking at her now, he couldn't deny this one thing.
"Never regretted loving each other."
He smiled gently and took her hand.
Emotion flickered in Rianna's eyes.
Tears traced her cheeks again as her parched lips parted.
"Loving me—"
Her voice trembled.
"You don't regret it?"
To her plaintive question, Isaac answered plainly.
"Hated you sometimes. Resented you plenty—"
Too much to count.
"But never regretted the days I loved you."
Because,
those memories shone bright.
Bright enough to illuminate him even in the suffocating darkness of the Helmunt estate.
"Hic! I... too..."
Rianna nodded through her tears.
"Me too, Isaac."
The Sword Festival was fast approaching.
The Great Horde might delay it a bit, but in Isaac's memory, it went off without a hitch.
He'd holed up in his room back then, skipping it entirely.
Anyway, everything would wrap up then.
"Hoo."
Rianna swallowed her tears and steadied her breathing. Isaac tried to let go, but her hand clung tight.
"..."
"Ah, Isaac."
Was her flushed face from crying or shyness?
As he gazed down, Rianna hesitated, then whispered secretively.
"Hug me."
"Rianna?"
It was so out of nowhere.
But she was dead serious.
"Please. Just one night. I'm not asking for responsibility. Like a brothel—use and discard if you want. Just once more..."
Like,
our wedding night.
Hold me.
Sharen's room.
She should've been asleep long ago after squeezing every drop from her Red Aura today.
Yet Sharen tossed and turned restlessly.
"Wh-what do I do!"
Kicking at the covers, she wailed in distress.
"Sis is gonna kill meee!"
Knock knock.
A knock cut through her flailing.
"Wh-who is it?"
No one should visit this late, so Sharen scrambled up warily and cracked the door.
"S-Sis?"
There stood Rianna.
"Wh-why are you here?! Weren't you staying with Isaac?"
Sharen stammered at the worst possible timing,
but Rianna—oblivious—sniffled and replied,
"I g-got..."
"Got?"
"Kicked out."
"..."