Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Bear the Weight of Your Wife
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Laura von Venner.
Now Mrs. Jaeger, her eyes caught sight of three men.
They were soldiers dressed in black hats, black uniforms, black boots, and swords adorned with silver fittings—outfits that evoked the image of crows.
The moment she saw them, Laura's heart, still holding the delicate sensitivities of a girl at twenty-six years old, clenched tight. Tears welled up in her eyes, ready to spill at any moment.
She had written hundreds of casualty notices in her precise handwriting, so she knew exactly what it meant when soldiers in such uniforms came to the door.
Yet, as the wife of the famed general Peter Jaeger and as an officer of the Empire, she stood before them steadily, blinking back tears to keep her composure.
They maintained perfect, statue-like immobility. The man in the lead bowed his head quietly and parted his tightly pressed lips.
"Lieutenant Colonel Laura, your husband, Major General Peter Jaeger, commander of the Reich Empire Army's 7th Division, fell in battle while supporting the retreat of His Highness the Crown Prince and the Imperial forces at the Reichen Hills in Schweichland."
She had known from the moment they arrived that they were here to deliver the news of the man she loved so dearly.
She had tried to hold out, acting resolute as the wife of Peter Jaeger, the Empire's great general.
But even without blinking, the tears could no longer be held back. A single tear began streaming down her cheek.
Her chest tightened so painfully it felt torn apart, squeezed to shreds.
From her lips came only faint "Ah... ah..." sounds, nothing more.
Watching her, the lead man took a box from the soldiers behind him, opened it before her, and spoke.
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor has posthumously promoted Major General Jaeger to Field Marshal for his distinguished service, awarding him the Diamond Knight's Sword Cross Medal..."
Laura couldn't comprehend the words of the man before her.
Her mind felt utterly empty, filled only with a buzzing hum.
And she thought.
'Will you never hold our son Friedrich again, the one whose name His Highness the Crown Prince bestowed? Will you never tell me you worked hard bearing him? I'll never hear your warm morning words of love again. I was grateful you, the man I admired most, loved me and became my husband. You became my entire world. And now, I'll never see you again?'
As these thoughts flowed, the unreal news of her husband's death began to sink in, piece by piece.
Sadness, loneliness, pain, and grief welled up from her heart like a river bursting its banks in a flood.
Laura collapsed to the ground, pounding the earth as she wailed.
"Why, why! Does Deus take you— who risked everything to save His Highness and everyone, who stood at the forefront for the Empire—so meaninglessly? And why must I endure this tragedy of living without you..."
She pounded the ground again and again, sobbing, but the tears wouldn't stop.
No matter how many times she struck, she felt no pain in her hands.
At the same time, the sensation of someone shaking her pulled her from sleep.
"Ma'am, ma'am! Are you all right? Another bad dream?"
Hearing this, Laura let out a sigh of relief.
If what she had just experienced was a nightmare, then her husband, Major General Jaeger, was still alive.
In her relief, she didn't even notice the cold sweat that had soaked the sheets and pillow while she dreamed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a bad dream, nanny."
As the saying goes, no one who says they're fine ever truly is. Naturally, Laura's condition was far from good.
Her body was drenched in cold sweat from the nightmare, and mentally, she hadn't fully recovered from the shock—her gaze trembled faintly.
Three weeks ago, she had received a name for her newborn from the Crown Prince, and news that Major General Peter Jaeger had led the 7th Division into isolation at the Reichen Hills.
From that moment until now, she could barely eat proper meals—only lightly salted porridge she could force down her throat—under immense mental strain.
Her worry for her husband grew daily, and her postpartum body, which should have been recovering strength, was wasting away bit by bit.
"...Miss. You must stay strong. It's not a death notice. He'll return safe and sound soon enough."
At those words, Laura felt the deep sorrow rising from her heart once more, tears flowing as she replied.
"I know, nanny. Major General must still be alive. From the moment I fell for him until now, he's always created miracles. This time too, he'll return with the entire 7th Division. But... but you know."
"Yes, miss."
"Just thinking there's even a chance Major General might not come back tears my heart apart. I'm terrified I won't hear him call 'Laura' in that gentle voice again. So scared... so scared, I'm going mad with fear. If I have to live without him, could I even go on? I try not to imagine it, but those thoughts keep coming... it hurts so much."
The nanny, tending to Laura's postpartum care and mental state on Marquis von Venner's orders, had heard this dozens, hundreds of times.
She was starting to tire of it, but each time, the conveyed sorrow and anguish felt fresh, hurting her own heart too.
Besides, though born to a lowly knight family, the nanny had cared for her for decades.
She could empathize deeply with her feelings.
As the nanny tried to comfort her and give her strength, a maid's voice came from outside the door.
"Ma'am, soldiers have arrived."
At those words, Laura's heart sank—or felt like the sky itself was crashing down on her—but...
"Nanny, help me change clothes."
"Yes, miss."
She resolved to accept whatever news came and quickly changed.
**
When Laura stepped outside, three men stood there in the exact uniforms from her dream.
However, while the men's faces in the dream had been rigidly stern, the expressions before her now were comparatively bright.
That brightness was proof her husband, Major General Jaeger, was alive—contrasting the dream, her heart swelled with joy.
Naturally, a radiant smile lit her face, one that wouldn't be believed to belong to someone who had been endlessly drowned in sorrow.
"Are you Lieutenant Colonel Laura von Venner, wife of Major General Peter Jaeger, commander of the Reich Empire Army's 7th Division?"
It was an extremely formal verification, but to her now, even that procedure felt warmly welcoming.
Perhaps because of that, in her overwhelming joy, she grabbed and shook the hand of the young officer junior in rank to her as she answered.
"Yes, that's me, Laura von Venner."
"Major General Jaeger's commendations have just been finalized. By His Majesty's command, I will briefly relay his achievements."
Laura nodded vigorously, eyes brimming with joyful tears, and the officer delivered the merits in as steady a voice as he could manage.
Throughout, hearing how he had held the vanguard at the hills for over a month to let the Crown Prince and soldiers escape—even if necessary—worried her.
Her eyes sparkled at tales of him cutting down hundreds of enemies.
When she heard he had returned carried by Lieutenant Colonel Kerjite because he couldn't even ride a horse, she pitied the exhausted major general who had fought so fiercely—but also felt a twinge of jealousy at him being in another woman's arms.
And finally, learning he had arrived at Dolphino Castle, was bedridden but recovering smoothly, brought relief—and the urge to rush to his side and nurse him herself.
But above all, what mattered to Laura now was that Major General Jaeger had returned alive.
Once she heard it all, just like in the dream, she collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
But unlike the nightmare, these were tears of overwhelming gratitude that the man she loved most had come back alive.
Laura felt profoundly thankful that she could cry from joy like this.
The young officer, reading the mood, handed the sealed scroll of commendations to a nearby servant and quietly departed.
That night, as Laura reviewed the detailed record of Major General Jaeger's achievements and the events,
she thought.
'Having another woman by your side stirs jealousy, anxiety, and possessiveness. But I alone can no longer protect you.'
With that, harboring the wish to never lose her beloved even in dreams, she whispered.
"I think it's time to let two women who love you—more than you realize—stay by your side. They adore you like I do. It won't be without jealousy, but it's far better than you leaving me forever."