The Fiancé's Letter

The borderlands were littered with the corpses of demonic beasts, and amid the carnage stood a lone woman wiping blood from her face. Her long hair was white and beautiful, her crimson eyes gleaming like jewels. The jet-black Demonic Sword at her waist drank in the mana and life force from the fallen beasts.

"Your Grace, Grand Duke Glacia, it appears we've cleared out all the demonic beasts in the vicinity," reported Louise, Glacia's closest knight.

Glacia handed the bloodied cloth to Louise and spoke in a cold voice. "With the demonic beast problem in the Grand Duchy resolved, let's return."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The knights under her command answered in unison. Just as they prepared to depart, a radiant hawk descended and landed gracefully on Glacia's shoulder.

"A hawk...? No, is that a spirit?"

Glacia maintained her icy demeanor even at the sudden appearance of the spirit. When she saw the letter tied to its leg, a faint smile touched her lips. One of her attendants noticed and asked, "It's been a long time since I've seen Your Grace smile. Is that a letter from the previous Grand Duke?"

"No. Father was never the type to send letters through spirits in the first place."

Realizing it wasn't from the previous Grand Duke, the other knights grew curious about the sender.

"Then who is it from?"

"Who on earth sent it?"

"My fiancé."

Every knight present dropped whatever they were holding in shock.

"That fiancé...?"

"Yes. The very person you're all thinking of has sent a letter. Not a reply, but the first one."

Everyone there knew Werner. They had once despised him as a bastard who ignored their lady, but now they were simply overjoyed that he had written.

"His efforts have finally borne fruit! Your Grace—no, my lady—has been in love with him since you were young, haven't you?"

Glacia wiped the faint smile from her face and returned to her cold expression. "Finish your preparations quickly. There will be much to handle once we return."

She had inherited the title of Grand Duke at nineteen and had fulfilled her duties admirably for two years. Yet she rarely smiled—except in very specific circumstances.

Once alone, Glacia looked around and began reading the letter Werner had sent.

"So that's how it is. No intention of becoming a husband..."

Glacia nodded and returned to where the other knights waited, mounting her horse.

"What did your fiancé say?"

"He said he has no intention of becoming anyone's husband."

"You've been rejected?!"

The knights looked ready to tear Werner apart. How dare he flee from an eight-year-younger fiancée and now speak of breaking the engagement? There was no greater bastard.

"No, this is not a rejection."

"Pardon?"

"If he dislikes the role of husband, then I simply need to treat him as a wife instead. So that was his preference."

Glacia's subordinates felt that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Even romance novels are full of such stories. The tale of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the cold northern Grand Duke and the orphan mage."

"But in those stories, the Grand Duke is the man and the mage is the woman, isn't it?"

"Exactly. So I will take the role of husband, and Werner will take the role of wife."

At those words, her subordinates quietly prayed for Werner's soul.

Glacia gently stroked the Demonic Sword, reminiscing about her childhood with Werner.

"Once this work is finished, I suppose I should go meet him."

***

I had clearly drunk myself into a stupor at Camellia's housewarming party and fallen asleep, yet I had no idea where I was. I was trapped in an empty white space.

"Ah, did I get the nice boat ending? Or is this the 'let's split up' ending? Damn it."

I felt genuinely wronged. I hadn't even shared a proper bed, let alone a real kiss, and now I was dying just for playing a prank with a gift? If my name had been Siwoo, maybe I could've toyed with women's hearts without consequence. Why did I have to reincarnate as Werner Alton instead of Siwoo Alton?

"Damn it, why am I already dead? Playing a little prank with gifts to cheer someone up isn't a crime."

While cursing the world's harshness, a strange screen appeared before me.

"What is this? My life flashing before my eyes? Or the ending credits?"

If it was the ending credits, I wished it would at least show who took my legs. They kept appearing in my dreams, screaming for me to return them.

On the screen was Werner. Somehow, I knew this was my future. Werner received a baby from a woman and smiled.

"It's a daughter. You went through a lot."

From this angle, I couldn't see the child's hair or eye color. Whose daughter could it be?

"She looks just like you... so beautiful. Ah..."

The audio was terrible; I could only make out the 'r' sound before everything else broke into static.

"What you just saw is your future."

"What the hell? Who are you?!"

Peeking into someone else's dream like that was trash behavior. This called for a dream-invasion exorcism.

"It seems you still can't see me. Regardless, what I showed you is your future."

"What? I have a daughter?"

"Yes. After mingling with the women around you, you ended up causing an incident. I came only to warn you."

"Then..."

My throat tightened on its own.

"Yes, in the end you..."

"Hell yeah! Not the nice boat ending! Not the 'let's split up' ending! Not the ending where I'm chopped up like beef by body part!"

"Honestly... I still can't believe you're my reincarnation."

***

Last night's memories were vivid. I had drunk heavily at Camellia's housewarming celebration, and when I looked out the window, a Tyrannosaurus armed with bazookas was walking around... In the end, Airi had dragged me to my bed and we'd fallen asleep.

"Ah, and I think I saw my so-called future through that strange screen..."

Me getting TS'd and bearing Werner's child—hell no, that was a horrifying thought. The vision had said I'd cause an incident with one of the women around me and have a daughter. So who could it be?

After thinking it over, there were three women close to me: Airi Les, Camellia Peony, and Glacia Winterhart. There might be others, but these three were the prime candidates.

Searching for more hints, I noticed that their names all contained the syllable "A." With that much, I could figure it out.

Airi Les. CamelliA Peony. GlaciA Winterhart.

Damn it, why did every single one of them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to have an "A" in their name? Their parents had terrible naming sense.

"Haa..."

If I knew who the confirmed ending heroine was, I'd pour all my time into her and capture her route myself. While I was agonizing over this, someone knocked on my door.

Thud thud thud. Was it Byeong-cheol? Thud thud thud. "Hyung, it's Byeong-cheol" wasn't about to happen, right?

"Werner, it's morning. Wake up."

It was Camellia's voice. A glance outside confirmed it was indeed time to get up. Well, what was the point of worrying? I should just eat breakfast and forget these useless thoughts.

When I turned over to tidy the bedding, a new problem presented itself.

"Ah, Master, you're awake?"

Airi... Damn it, why was she here too? Was popping up in unexpected places a family trait of hers? Some kind of DNA-encoded instinct?

"Uh... what exactly is going on here? This master of yours doesn't understand at all."

"Um... I helped you to bed last night because you were drunk, and then we ended up sleeping together by accident?"

I'm screwed. No need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for deep contemplation or anything else—this was bad. Really bad.