Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: #2 Responsibility and Duty (6)
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It didn’t take long for evening to arrive.
At least, that was how it felt.
How should he apologize? What words should he use to broach the subject?
Elric agonized over something he had never done before in his life, but no clear answer came to mind.
In the end, he would only know once he faced her.
And so began the first dinner with Tiria since his return to Weibin.
“I’m late, aren’t I?”
She appeared just as the appetizers were being placed on the table.
Her attire was different from earlier in the day. Elric shook his head as he replied.
“We’re just about to start. Please, sit.”
He stood to greet her, but he couldn’t be sure if it aligned with noble etiquette.
Elric was utterly ignorant of such things. Moreover, a multi-course meal like this was a first in his life.
Thinking back, meals in his childhood had consisted of a single dish, in line with his father’s emphasis on efficiency.
On the battlefield, there had been no time to spare for meals or hours of conversation.
He hoped it wouldn’t bother her, and fortunately, Tiria didn’t seem particularly fazed.
“Please sit, Family Head. It must be uncomfortable standing.”
Elric gave a small smile and nodded as she took her seat.
“Let’s eat.”
He picked up his utensils.
Elbus Graham had once told him that a proper dinner required over ten pieces of silverware, but the Weibin course was simpler.
Spoon, fork, knife. The straightforward setup put Elric at ease.
After chewing a bite-sized portion of fresh greens, Elric glanced at Tiria.
As always, she ate gracefully, without so much as a clink of her utensils.
‘Now…’
No, jumping straight into the main topic might be too abrupt.
Better to start with casual conversation.
“How was your day?”
“The wheat is in good condition. The yield looks promising.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it’ll be the best harvest since seven years ago.”
“Ah….”
The conversation lapsed.
Elric broke into a cold sweat.
Was talking this difficult? As the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly realized something.
He hadn’t had many proper conversations with others since leaving home.
Even Elbus Graham, with whom he’d exchanged the most words, had always been the one leading the discussion.
It was a lamentable moment, realizing his only skill was with a sword.
“Um…”
Desperate to keep the talk going, Elric tossed out topics one after another.
Mostly about the estate.
Still, they were the sort of questions that were hard to extend beyond surface pleasantries, like commenting on the weather.
In the end, the awkward atmosphere persisted until the main dish arrived.
Elric grew anxious as time dragged on fruitlessly, finally letting out a deep sigh.
‘What am I even doing?’
He scolded himself.
For some reason, this felt cowardly.
He had called her here to apologize, yet he was wasting time with pointless questions—like a child stalling to avoid punishment.
No amount of small talk would lead to an apology.
It was like trying to fell an enemy without drawing your blade.
Clink.
Elric set down his utensils.
He looked up at Tiria.
She had lifted her head at the sound as well.
Now he could see her face clearly.
It held a detached, stoic air, laced with quiet dignity.
She seemed like the sort who would hold her ground no matter what came her way.
But that was precisely the problem.
Tiria Portman had lived a life where she could never afford to falter, no matter the hardship.
As Elbus Graham had said, people are shaped by their environment—and she had endured alone in a world that gave her no allies, emerging as the woman she was now.
Elric was the one who had left her isolated.
“There’s a reason I asked you here. It’s about what I mentioned in the wheat field today.”
“You said you wanted to have a conversation.”
“That’s right.”
“Then speak.”
Tiria’s head dipped slightly.
Her gaze fell to the table, her hands neatly folded in her lap.
For some reason, the sight twisted at Elric’s gut.
Didn’t it look like the posture of someone awaiting a scolding?
Like stretching out one’s neck on the guillotine.
Did she think she was about to be reprimanded over Weibin family matters?
Or perhaps…
‘She thinks I’m going to cast her out.’
The resigned air was heartbreaking.
She seemed the type who would accept even that with composure.
Yet she deserved none of it.
Elric clenched his fist.
Then, carefully, he spoke.
“…I’m sorry.”
Tiria’s brows furrowed.
She looked up, her eyes filled with confusion.
Elric gave a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry. I invited you here because I wanted to apologize to you.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
Anything would do—why ask?
Elric answered immediately.
“For everything. For leaving like that ten years ago, for only returning now, for not seeking you out in the process—I want to apologize for all of it.”
That was the moment.
For the first time, Elric clearly saw emotion flicker across her face.
Or was it the first? No—the day he returned to Weibin, when she had emerged from between the wheat stalks. She had reacted the same way then.
Her green eyes, shadowed by long lashes, now shone openly. The tension left her brows, curving them softly, and her red lips parted slightly.
Her shoulders relaxed, accentuating the elegant line of her neck.
It was a startled expression.
Elric continued.
“I know it sounds like an excuse. Still, since I feel I must explain, at the time, I was too young. That day’s decision was impulsive.”
It had started with the need to stop her unhappy marriage, but pushing it to the point of running away had been his father’s words that drove him.
-Pay back what I invested in raising you.
Those verbal daggers still pierced Elric’s heart.
“I couldn’t return at first because of hatred, then urgency, and finally hesitation. Ten years ago, I hated my father so much I left this land. I didn’t realize it would make things so hard for you. I assumed you had already returned to your family…”
No, that was an excuse.
Considering this was a political marriage begun as a contract, such a thing was unlikely.
A little more thought into Weibin’s situation would have made it obvious.
Yet he hadn’t considered it, because he had unconsciously avoided the truth.
Elric clamped his mouth shut. He bowed his head briefly.
“I’m sorry. This isn’t just words. I’ll pay the price…”
“Wasn’t it because of me?”
“…Hm?”
He looked up to find Tiria covering her mouth with her hand.
An ‘oh no’ expression.
“…Forgive me for interrupting.”
So that’s what had bothered her.
It was so like her.
Elric shook his head.
“It’s fine. And no. You weren’t the reason I left.”
You were simply caught unluckily between me and my father, he meant.
He wasn’t presuming to beg forgiveness.
To tarnish someone’s years and end it with empty words was more shameless than not apologizing at all.
Elric had to pay what he owed.
Fortunately, he had something to give her.
‘Inheritance.’
His father’s inheritance.
It was everything his father had built in a lifetime—and wealth Tiria had helped amass.
It was rightfully hers from the start.
The estate and family were hers by right as well, for upholding their responsibilities and duties.
Elric had fled from it his whole life.
The responsibilities were beyond his grasp now, so all he could do was fulfill his obligations.
There was no other way.
Ten years ago, perhaps—but now, too much had changed.
The impulsive boy had become a war mercenary who killed without flinching. The girl who wept alone in sorrow had become a woman who knew only how to endure alone.
To change anything, it would have to be ten years ago.
Sitting here now wouldn’t recreate that starting point. Interfering at this late stage would only make him a plunderer stealing what she had built.
For both their sakes, distance was best—and with that, Elric made up his mind.
‘I’ll leave.’
He would give her everything she rightfully deserved.
And once this leg injury fully healed.
To ensure her years weren’t wasted, he would hand over all that Portman had built and depart.
“Could you… accept my apology?”
Elric asked politely.
Tiria, her complexion restored,
“…There’s no need for you to apologize. I never resented you.”
Answered in her own way.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she resumed eating.
A brief clink sounded, then stopped.
It was ambiguous, but he didn’t probe further.
His resolve was already firm.