Contract Marriage Interrupted

Episode 73. The Truth (3)

 

The sun was beginning to set.

Walter only realized this when he noticed that the shadow cast by his blood was indistinguishable. As he lifted his head, he could see the sun crossing over the western mountains along the dusk sky.

Darkness falls quickly, probably in less than five minutes.

Walter thought as he lightly swung the sword with fresh blood flowing out from his wrist.

‘I guess I won’t be able to keep my promise to Russell.’

But that fact didn’t feel like a big problem.

Walter’s nerves were literally numb, just as a cut flesh can’t feel pain no matter how many times he slash it.

He hadn’t felt the weight of a task or the highs and lows of value in a long time.

Ironically, it was only after being in this state that Walter realized that this was his nature.

It’s just that he was a very good learner and had learned social norms early on, he was judging everything based on reason.

This was who he was. A man who doesn’t feel like anything matters and nothing is valuable.

Everything in Walter’s life was worthless except for one thing.

A face he could still see when he closed his eyes.

‘……Odette.’

It would have been better if he had a poor memory, but his memory was too good.

He was forced to watch the scenes constantly replaying in his head.

 

From the very first moment, when he saw the girl who’s with meeting Cedric, to the image of her being the Countess of Clovis and growing thinner day by day.

What bothered Walter the most was the fact that he couldn’t do anything at all those moments.

The reason was simple. Because Odette didn’t want him to.

He clearly reached out to Odette. He wants her to grab it because it can save her.

It was Odette who chose to die rather than hold that hand.

This is incredibly stupid.

‘No, she was always like that.’

It’s a bad choices.

From choosing Louis Clovis in the first place.

Even when she was holding hands with Cedric, she endured oppression without showing any sign of it.

Even though it was obvious that her marriage was terrible, she couldn’t betray her husband and rejected his help, all of it!

– I’m out of luck, Duke. Maybe I was born with misfortune.

The thought of those words made him laugh even harder.

If possible, he might have grabbed those frail shoulders with both hands and shouted.

You are not born with misfortune, but you’re on a path to make yourself unhappy.

She’s the one who kicked away all the opportunities that were given to her.

Why do I have to suffer so much because of this fucking stupid, idiotic, foolish woman?

She was the one who made the stupid choice, why?!

‘She deserves it. I strangled myself with my own hands.’

Her suicide was nothing more and nothing less than a self-inflicted death.

But why is he so swayed by it?

Walter’s mind incessantly scorned and blamed the dead Odette.

He mocked Odette for rejecting the helping hand he offered, ridiculed her foolishness, and resented the fact that she had made him into what he was.

When it all became unbearable, Walter felt as if his head was being split with an axe.

‘I want to forget everything about Odette.’

Then he wouldn’t have to grieve for her death.

That moment right before she fell from the balcony.

– If I look the least bit pitiful…… Please let me go, Duke Ertmann.

He wouldn’t have to remember that voice all alone.

There would be no need to carry the burden of not being able to stop her that day, the regret of letting her go so thoughtlessly……..

“…….”

Walter’s head dropped.

A trickle of blood dripped from the tip of his nose and soaked his feet.

Even in moments like this, Walter did not cry. He was a man far from tears.

It was like that, on that day too.

The day he visited Count Clovis residence. And the day Odette died.

Even when he heard her fall from the balcony with a loud thud.

 

So even at the moment when he grabbed Louis by the collar and screamed like a madman, Walter’s face remained blank.

He did not even attempt to identify Odette’s body.

He could feel Odette’s death without seeing it. At the same time, he was afraid to confirm it with his eyes.

So many emotions mixed together, he wasn’t even sure what he was feeling.

The turmoil in his stomach was undoubtedly hot anger, yet his mind was chillingly cold, devoid of a single tear.

Even in the moments when terrible grief tore at his heart, he couldn’t help but resent Odette’s foolishness.

But one thing was certain.

From that day on, all of Walter’s judgment disappeared.

‘I should have killed Louis Clovis that son of a bitch that day.’

The line between killing and not killing was clear, but now it was so blurred that he could only feel its traces if he ran his hand over it.

Nothing seemed important or valuable, and every life seemed no different than a leaf on a tree.

It took less than a moment for the emptiness that was always lingered at his ankles to engulf his entire being.

Arnold’s suggestion to go to the battlefield seemed somewhat appealing.

At least there, there will be plenty of work to do and lives he can kill.

It would also give him some relief from the feelings that alcohol and sleeping pills couldn’t erase.

If there was no clear solution, maybe dying right here wouldn’t be so bad.

Such thoughts crossed his mind.

 

However.

‘It’s not much different here.’

Walter thought nonchalantly as he roughly wiped the blood off his blade and slid it back into its sheath.

Killing people out of habit did nothing to quell his emotions.

Like Odette, who would never come back, no matter how much he cursed, raged, or blamed her.

‘If she can’t be forgotten, then this is how I have to live.’

Does this life have meaning or worth enduring for?

Walter asked himself blankly and took a step forward.

And then he staggered.

Having continued the battle without proper first aid, he had unknowingly lost a significant amount of blood.

‘……I should find a place to avoid the wind soon.’

The dusk was getting thicker.

He had to find a cave or something before it gets too dark around.

Walter stumbled a few more steps.

“Ugh……die……!”

With a loud, tearing sound, Walter spun around.

This one, who was pretending to be dead among the piled up corpses, attacked Walter with all his might.

However, as soon as Walter realized the surprise attack, he twisted his body.

Instead, because Walter was also in bad condition, the sword tore into Walter’s side instead of going completely out of the way.

 

A feeling of despair appeared on his face when he realized that his surprise attack had failed.

“Damn it……!”

“You’re doing something pointless.”

Wincing slightly in pain, Walter’s sword sliced through his opponent.

His opponent crumbled to the ground, leaving no last words.

Even if the sound of blood boiling and dying could be considered a last testament.

Walter wasted no time in turning away, though it would do him no good to take a wound like this while he was still bleeding profusely.

His already unsteady steps became even more unstable, and to make matters worse, darkness was now approaching.

Walter found a nearby cave, clutching his torn side, and collapsed as soon as he stepped in.

Although he knew he needed to start a fire and staunch the bleeding to avoid freezing to death, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything.

‘Maybe if I close my eyes here, it will be easier.’

Then he wouldn’t have to be tormented by that woman anymore.

He had never developed an attachment to life.

Having lived without regrets, because he never lacked anything.

The only regret he had is…….

‘……Odette.’

That he couldn’t save her.

They weren’t particularly close, so why did her absence weigh so heavily on him.

He missed Odette, Dreadfully.

 

It’s okay to be stupid. It’s okay to choose only the choices that lead to misfortune every time.

It’s okay to say that she hates herself so much, but I really wanted to see her just once more.

If only I could see Odette smile just once, like the day I first saw her…….

“……?”

Walter slowly got up from his collapsed body.

It was because I sensed something strange.

He took out the pendant he was wearing around his neck and held it in his hand.

It didn’t look like it was made of expensive jewelry, but it had been given to him by Odette the day she had rejected his proposal.

– You might need it someday…… it’ll be helpful.

– What is it used for?

– I can’t tell you that. You’ll find out when you really need it, so I recommend you always carry it with you.

Even if Odette didn’t say so, Walter planned to do so.

Because it was the only thing Walter received from Odette.

But for some reason, the pendant was vibrating faintly.

‘What on earth is there?’

He had a hunch that it wasn’t just a pendant.

After Odette’s death, it was revealed that she had been helping Belfort Academy with magic research.

It was probably some sort of detection or protection enchantment.

That alone made it extremely difficult to obtain, but it didn’t impress Walter.

 

But when he saw the pendant reacting, his body began to move as if drawn to it.

His complexion was still pale, but he had some energy left.

So he staggered to his feet and made his way to the back of the cave.

To be exact, something glowing inside the cave.

The further in he went, the stronger the glow became, and Walter could recognize its source.

It was an altar.

Or, more accurately, an old dagger laid on the altar.

Light was leaking from the text written on the handle of the dagger.

‘Does it contain magic or something?’

Walter picked up the dagger and slowly traced the inscription with his fingertips.

‘……I don’t understand.’

It was written in a language he didn’t recognize.

At least it didn’t seem to be written in one of the six languages he knew.

Walter frowned, then placed the pendant on the dagger with some doubt.

Then.

Flashhhh!

As soon as the light came on, the old and rusty dagger suddenly became shiny and new as if it had been made fresh.

The inscription had also changed.

It’s like someone had interpreted that ambiguous phrase.

[If you want something, give something equal to it].