My Wife Waited in the Wheat Fields

T/N: Before we start the chapter, apparently, the Wyvern family is actually a Viscount family. All previous mentions of it being a baron family have been changed.

We arrived at a hill overlooking the city of Wevin.

The grass was green and lush even though it was fall, the trees that blocked the view of the city had been removed, and there were only small bushes here and there at regular intervals for landscaping.

The tombstone was in the middle of it all.

[Hoven Portman rests here.]

It was a short phrase.

Elric smiled bitterly and sat down in front of the tombstone.

“This is all very like you.”

The choice of location, overlooking the land he’d worked so hard to build up, the neatness of the landscaping, the terseness of the inscription on the headstone… it all reflected the man he remembered.

Given his personality, he would have taken care of all these matters himself before he died.

Just looking at the tombstone, Elric felt that he could picture his father’s final moments in his head.

“Since you liked perfection so much, you must have really pushed the tradesmen.”

He was a man who would not tolerate even the smallest imperfections, so it was likely that many laborers had worked hard to prepare this burial site. They probably suffered from many injuries as well. He must have known about it well, but just didn’t care.

It was no wonder that he had been nicknamed, “The Coldblooded,” for it.

“I didn’t expect to meet you again like this. Honestly, my idea of our reunion was a bit different.”

Elric pursed his lips, not sure about what to say now, but eventually gave up trying to make head of the situation.

It would be a futile endeavor.

His outstretched hand brushed against the tombstone.

The stone was smooth, even after a year of use.

And, as expected, it was cold.

In this coldness, Elric summoned up his memories of his father.

He was a prominent figure who had raised the Portman Family, a small merchant family, to the top of Wevin’s ranks.

He was also an evil man who had created numerous enemies with his ruthless personality.

A lonely man who had never shown a smile, not even to his own children.

As he reminisced about all of these things, Elric realized something.

“I don’t resent you as much as I used to.”

Facing the man he had once hated to the point of crying tears of blood, he felt no emotions in him.

He had been busy with life, busy rolling on the battlefield, and eventually, that resentment had been diluted down.

It was a ridiculous thing.

Once he had shed his childish thoughts and let the man go, all that was left was a sense of regret.

What were his final moments like?

How did he live through those nine years without him?

Lost in thought, Elric stared at the name on the tombstone for a long time.

“He was a purely rational person until the moment he closed his eyes.”

It was Aldio, who had left the wagon tied up somewhere.

Elric looked at him.

Aldio’s face was lost in his memories.

“He had a heart disease. Only the two of us, the family doctor and I, know about the lord’s illness because he kept it secret until the end.”

“Is that so?”

“From the day that he learned that his days were numbered, he focused on organizing and liquidating all his businesses. I had a hard time because of that too.”

Aldio laughed heartily.

Elric let out a wry chuckle.

“What a strange butler you are. What makes you think that this cold-blooded man was such a good person?”

Come to think of it, it was true.

Aldio had been by his father’s side during every moment that Elric could remember.

He had worked tirelessly to fix things that Elric’s father had overlooked and had taken care of Elric in ways that he hadn’t even noticed until now.

Because of this, Aldio remained unmarried to this age. He had no siblings, no family, and was living as a part of the mansion itself.

And, Aldio must have known that his father’s wishes were not to be absent from his life, but he had just always seemed indifferent.

“He left me plenty of money. What other reason could there be?”

Even his shrug was almost smug-looking.

Again, a dry chuckle escaped Elric’s lips.

“Oh, you’re not asking about it?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s about the master’s estate. Didn’t I tell you? We’ve liquidated everything possible.”

Aldio laughed as Elric furrowed his brow and frowned in puzzlement.

“All that money was inherited by you, sir.”

Flinch-

Elric’s fingertips trembled.

His gaze turned to the gravestone.

His face was filled with an unmistakable expression of surprise.

“Me?”

“Yes, it’s what the master wanted.”

The bewilderment he felt shook him.

He couldn’t understand why the man had left him an inheritance.

Otherwise, if it was because he had wanted to see him, he was more than capable of doing so without leaving him an inheritance. And if he was sorry, he would have left an apology, not a legacy.

Elric opened his mouth blankly and then stammered, asking slowly.

“…Was there a will or something like that?”

Although he questioned if his father had left some words to him in writing,

“I don’t think that’s his style. There are no written instructions except for those related to inheritance. If you are curious about those documents, I can show you, but…”

His father was not a man who changed like the wind, after all.

A sigh escaped his lips.

Feeling a little frustrated inside, he looked at Aldio with a longing for answers, but Aldio just shook his head.

“I did not know Milord’s inner thoughts. You should know best that he would have been especially cold on that subject,” he said.

Elric’s lips were tightly sealed.

Why did he do such a thing, leaving only this much distress at the end, making Elric look so cruel?

“What will you do with your inheritance?”

Elric didn’t answer the question.

A question he hadn’t thought about since he was a boy turned over and over in his mind again.

As he exhaled a long breath and postponed his answer, Aldio lowered his head.

“Take your time and think about it.”

Elric nodded his head.

…

He could only start to head back to the mansion with a vague feeling in his heart. As he gazed absentmindedly at the passing scenery, a question suddenly came to mind.

“…Come to think of it.”

“Hmm?”

“My…”

He paused, the word caught in his throat.

For some reason, the word “wife” felt foreign to him.

Eventually, Elric glossed over it and skirted around the issue.

“…Why is she still in the manor? Because I left, the marriage should have been annulled.”

The question was not answered immediately.

Aldeo remained silent while driving the carriage, and then gave the answer belatedly.

“It was an arranged marriage, wasn’t it? A deal under the guise of a marriage, and so she was forced to stay married to you even though you were gone.”

His voice was filled with bitterness.

“…Is that the reason?”

“Yes, it is. Although, I’m sorry I didn’t mention this earlier.”

“About what?”

“Mr. Portman became an eligible heir to the Viscounty.”

Elric’s jaw dropped.

Aldio turned his head and looked at Elric with a somewhat cautious expression.

“My lordship obtained this title before he died. If you inherit the estate, that title will pass on to you. And, you may not remember, but….”

Only then did Elric remember one fact that he had forgotten.

Something he had heard on the day of the wedding ceremony.

“…Viscount Wyvern was poor.”

The Wyverns were a noble family so poor that they were forced to marry into the Portmans, a merchant family. In the arranged marriage, Tyria Wyvern had been put up as collateral, whilst they received money. The Portmans must have also received the title from the exchange.

Elric finally understood the causes and effects of his marriage.

“I suppose I still owe you a favor….”

It left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth.

If he were to be critical, he would call it pity.

The one thing he didn’t understand was why she was still here, a year after his father’s death.

The heir to the mansion hadn’t shown up at the funeral.

Thus, if she had wanted, Tyria could have taken over the inheritance as a proxy and returned to her family, but why didn’t she do so?

When he asked Aldio about this, the answer that came back was as followed:

“It was Madam’s will.”

“…Did she say why?”

“No.”

“Do you know why?”

“She wasn’t a talkative person. In fact, it’s embarrassing for me to say this, but we couldn’t really develop a close relationship.”

Aldio said, apologetically.

But Elric understood.

After all, her aura had an unapproachable noble quality to it.

Besides, even if one asked her something, she generally ended the conversation with short answers, so Aldio, being a servant, wouldn’t have been able to force a conversation.

Elric laughed awkwardly.

“Hmm, she seems like a difficult person.”

“But she is your wife, isn’t she?”

“By name only. I’ve only seen her face once.”

“That’s how it is for everyone in the beginning.”

Although Aldio’s words were of a joking manner, it was really awkward from Elric’s perspective.

Just this morning, he had felt so uncomfortable at the dining table that he had to force himself to swallow all his food quickly, just so that he could escape.

How could he face her now?

As he felt increasingly uneasy, he rubbed his nape again.

He started chatting with Aldio for a while, and before he knew it, they were back at the mansion.

“Why don’t you go in first, I will tidy up the carriage and come in later.”

“Alright.”

Aldio moved away along with the carriage.

Thus, Elric entered the mansion with his cane in his hand again, running into another person almost immediately.

A curious encounter indeed.

“…Ah, you’re back?”

“Yes.”

It was Tyria.

She had just come back from the wheat field, hugging a few stalks of wheat whilst wearing a straw hat. Her attire was simple enough to look like a laborer’s, but there was something noble about the atmosphere around her that made her look aristocratic even in a farmer’s clothes.

Ah, what could he do about this awkwardness?

A small smile tugged at the corners of Elric’s mouth.

“Uh… umm….”

“Please, just speak clearly to me.”

“Shall we go inside?”

Tyria stared at Elric’s face for a while before nodding her head.

“Yes.”

Elric regretted it again.

He hadn’t meant to perpetuate the awkwardness, but he realized that his damn awkwardness had tried to keep the conversation going again.