NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 - A Typical Notion of Marriage
Camilla and I could not avoid a classic battle with an adversary the moment we opened our eyes – though one we could easily defeat even an army of demonic beasts, hangovers were beyond our abilities to withstand.
“Raul sir, I’ve brought breakfast! For you and your guest too!”
We had wanted something that could settle our stomachs, but reality was harsh.
“I got some good butter and cream from a nearby dairy farm! I’ve made buttered toast using plenty of butter, and a rich stew with heavy cream!”
“…You should eat it yourself. We do not have much appetite today.”
While I generally had no strong food preferences aside from avoiding pork and onions, greasy foods after drinking were still unappetizing.
It seemed Camilla felt the same, turning her head away. As she too was sensitive to hangovers, even seeing greasy food risked making her vomit.
“I’d rather fight that Cursed Fowl again than eat that.”
“…Do not even jest about such things. The memory of being struck by its accursed wind and afflicted by its curse is still vivid.”
The Cursed Fowl had been one of the Demonic Faction’s main forces Camilla had subjugated, and was also their most formidable mage.
The moment even a feather was touched by the raging winds from its wingbeats, one would be afflicted by an incomprehensible curse it had cast.
While such a memory was now a mere past trauma, the thought of fighting that dreadful entity again was undesirable.
“Come to think of it, back then His Majesty and Her Majesty had been de-aged, and your body was…”
“While that itself does not matter, it was an existence you alone could subjugate. So never speak of it again.”
“But it was quite amusing to tease you over it.”
Camilla had always been that way. She considered teasing me one of life’s joys and constantly pursued that amusement.
“By the way, where did you pick up that maid of yours?”
“A butler happened upon her wandering the streets and brought her back.”
“…No. I feel like I’ve seen her before somewhere, but surely not…”
It was a rather lukewarm reaction, quite unlike Camilla.
Her temperament was highly conductive, always running hot or cold, so it was somewhat surprising.
“Anyway, I’m still terribly hungover.”
“….I suppose I shall have to procure something myself.”
I pondered what to make for her.
Essentially, she had quite discerning standards when it came to food.
Debating between quail soup, quail stew, quail simmered dish, quail salad, and roast quail, someone rowdily knocked on the door of the lord’s residence.
“…Enter.”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
The owner of that voice was none other than Cecilia.
Unusually, she was carrying a pot, an awkward sight.
“…Is that pot perhaps a new weapon?”
“What kind of joke is…No, it is not.”
I had been serious, but it seemed she had taken my question as a poor joke.
“I made this after hearing you had overindulged last night. One tends to have an upset stomach the day after drinking.”
What she had made was a light soup boiled with various ingredients including tomatoes.
“…My thanks.”
“Too generous words. This is merely a gesture of gratitude for you saving me that day, so please do not feel obliged.”
“It comes at a fortuitous time, so I am truly grateful. I have limitations in the cuisine I can prepare, and my friend’s cooking…could potentially melt one’s intestines instead.”
Camilla glared at me with an irritated expression, but I could not speak falsehoods.
For it was a plain fact that the Army Minister and His Majesty had been on the verge of death after eating her cooking. I too had lost consciousness for about a fortnight after partaking of that dish.
“I see. It does seem your friend is rather inept when it comes to housekeeping. Please let her know that if needed, I could provide some instruction.”
I grabbed Camilla’s wrist to stop her, as she had nearly resorted to violence momentarily.
“How surprising it is that someone her age cannot even handle basic housekeeping.”
I felt currents running up my arm, so I needed to dismiss Cecilia as swiftly as possible.
“I shall gratefully partake. I shall visit you shortly. For I have words regarding that man who made passes at you.”
“…Then I shall take my leave.”
After Cecilia left, Camilla let out an exasperated sigh as if venting her anger, muttering:
“That wench is more venomous than she looks…repaying a single kindness with two stinging remarks.”
While Camilla vented her aimless irritation, I poured the soup into bowls.
Tasting it, while a bit bland, it had quite a deep flavor that surprised me.
Judging from the surprise on Camilla’s face despite her discerning palate considered the finest in the empire, this dish was objectively delicious.
“…As much as I don’t want to admit it, that woman can cook well.”
“Having lived alone for some time, she likely became skilled naturally.”
I held her in high esteem.
Despite being younger than me, she had steadfastly supported this village with dignity, and was also highly capable in daily living.
Perhaps she was even more admirable than myself.
“She could likely rise to higher stations.”
“Is that not the same for us?”
“……”
“In our current state, we can acquire whatever we desire and become whatever we wish.”
Once beings who had transcended human limits to protect the nation, after the war’s end, we had simply become troublesome monsters.
The emperor who sought to keep us in check had spread malicious rumors about us, and the gullible masses began believing those rumors.
Most notably, Her Majesty the Empress had borne the ignoble stigma of ‘whore’ simply for losing her chastity.
“……The food will get cold.”
Fearing such negative talk would unconsciously bring forth emotions, I changed the subject.
“But it really is delicious. If possible, I could eat this every da-”
“…You thinking of marrying her or something?”
Her voice suddenly turned cold, but I calmly replied:
“Is that so? You do have a fiancée…”
“Tying the knot of marriage with this transient body would only be an inconvenience. And.”
There was a more fundamental reason beyond any other.
“I cannot comprehend the act of marriage itself.”
“Hey, don’t tell me…”
“Camilla. Did you not see how foolish an act it was? How it transformed the Demon Lord?”
The Demon Lord had originally been a wanderer bearing that title, nothing more. He drifted with the clouds and waters, offering aid even to humans if he saw them in distress.
He had even taught humans swordsmanship, once saying his lifelong wish was to create a world without war.
What had changed that benevolent being was marriage, and humans.
Upon meeting his love and marrying, the Demon Lord sought to achieve true, tangible peace rather than mere empty words of peace.
Thus, he spearheaded reconciliation with the Allied human nations including the empire, sending his wife as an envoy – as the empire’s arrogance demanded a figure befitting that role.
“One could say the war effectively began the day that envoy arrived.”
“Tch…If only that pig bastard had controlled his lust…”
However, upon seeing the Demon Lord’s wife, the former emperor slaughtered the other envoys, then violated her.
He imprisoned her in an underground cell, venting his lewd lust upon her, while sending word to the Demon Lord that no envoy had arrived.
Yet just as one cannot hide the sky with one’s palm, the Demon Lord learned the truth.
Though the enraged Demon Lord warned to return his wife, she had already taken her own life, unable to bear the shame.
Ultimately, that incident led the peace-seeking Demon Lord to harbor a hatred for humans unmatched by any, a hatred that manifested as war upon us.
“And as you saw, the Demon Lord had become…”
“A crazed, vile monster. Truthfully, I still fear he may appear in my dreams.”
And I was no different.
The image of him shedding bloody tears as he swung his blade was still as vivid as a watercolor painting.
‘The victory or defeat of this war matters not! So long as I can etch her existence into this world, that is enough! I loved her! This is my true devotion to her!’
He was one who had rained down a torrential onslaught too powerful even for me to fully deflect.
In fact, I cannot even recall how we defeated him.
“If the loss of a partner can transform even one who loved peace so…”
If there was even a slight possibility I could become the same.
“Then I have no intention of allowing such a seed to take root. For I do not wish to become such a monster.”
For if I never married from the start, there would be no chance of becoming such a monster.
“Thus, I intend to request an annulment from her. It was never an engagement for marriage to begin with.”
“……Shall I relay that request for annulment?”
“It matters not, but I would like to inquire as to the reason.”
“It will likely be the same reason that fool emperor is attending your sister’s inauguration ceremony as lord.”
I could not fathom what that reason might be.
Yet selfishly, instead of resolving that question, I grew desirous of recounting more past memories, if only slightly.
Though I surely should have looked after them, my selfishness pointed not to them, but to the shimmering past memories I had so often revisited.
Even though I should have looked after them.
My eyes could only gaze upon those brilliant memories.