"Am I to become the second wife of the Magic Earl?"
"No, he’s still unmarried."
"A man who was knighted as the Magic Earl for his war achievements is still unmarried!?"
"He seems to have an extreme dislike for women. Right after being knighted, he was flooded with marriage proposals, but he cut them all off one by one, so now there are far fewer."
An extreme dislike for women? I never knew that about you, Gil. You used to talk to me, Verbena, quite normally.
We slept together on the battlefield, and when we only had one spoon between us during meals, we shared it. Maybe I was pushing him too hard without realizing it. I’m sorry.
Or perhaps, Verbena’s feminine charms were so lacking that Gil didn’t even recognize her as a woman.
"Why would the Magic Earl Rostroi, who supposedly dislikes women, agree to marry me? Honestly, I'm quite beautiful, you know. I also have a large chest, so I’m definitely all woman."
"Stop praising yourself, Aurelia."
"Did you threaten him? Father, you threatened the Magic Earl Rostroi, didn’t you!?"
"Don’t say such things that could be misunderstood, Aurelia. The Magic Earl Rostroi simply owes me a small favor."
"You did threaten him, didn’t you, Father? That’s terrible…!!"
"If you had grown up to be more ladylike, I could have married you off to a prince or a duke’s son!"
And so, it was decided that I would marry Gil.
Personally, I felt lucky to have the chance to meet and talk with Gil again.
▽
It’s the first time I’ve seen Gil since the day I died. I thought about how I should greet him, but I never got the chance to talk to him.
He didn’t come to see me before the wedding, and even when I went to his mansion, his servants turned me away, saying he was "too busy."
What’s up with that? I have so much to catch up on! I was really hoping to finally hear from Gil himself about that battle.
In the end, the first time I saw Gil was during the wedding ceremony itself, at the vow exchange.
Gil hadn’t even come to the bridal chamber, so our first meeting as Aurelia was truly during the ceremony.
Gil had become a fully grown man.
He was taller, with broader shoulders, and there was no trace of the boyishness in his face.
His dark eyes, behind his silver-rimmed glasses, were cold, which startled me.
Gil had been a serious boy who often scolded me, but there was no coldness like this in him back then.
…The war must have changed him.
So many of our comrades died, leaving Gil behind. Even so, Gil continued to fight for the country and won victory on the backs of countless corpses.
It must have been no easy feat. He must have seen a lot of hell.
I’m sorry for leaving you behind, Gil. I was a terrible superior for making you fight alone.
But I’m so glad you survived. Truly, I’m so glad.
I plan to support you, so that from now on, you can live a little more freely.
During the wedding vows, we only pretended to kiss, and just like that, Gil and I became husband and wife.
▽
And then came the night—our so-called wedding night.
Since Gil apparently had developed an aversion to women, I figured nothing would happen. Still, the maids of the Rostroi household scrubbed me clean and dressed me in a frilly nightgown.
I found the alcohol that had been prepared next to the bed and happily poured myself a glass.
In the Chilton household, there was a rule against giving me alcohol, as they couldn’t imagine what would happen if "Lady Aurelia, who is dangerous even when sober, were to drink." So, I had never had the chance to drink before. It was a shame, given that I was known as a heavy drinker in my previous life as Verbena.
This first drink since my previous life was delicious. I drank greedily, but even with Aurelia’s body, I didn’t get very drunk. A new discovery.
As I was enjoying my drink, Gil entered the bedroom.
He looked down at me, happily drinking on the bed, and let out a faint sigh.
"You don’t need to get drunk to numb your fear or nerves. I have no intention of touching you."
Oh, so Gil really did become a woman-hater. Poor guy.
If you had been a normal womanizer, Gil, I would have been able to show you some amazing things.
"Aurelia… Verbena… Rostroi."
Gil called me in a way that made it clear he didn’t even want to say my name.
"I’ve had someone in my heart for a very long time. So, I’m sorry, but I will never love you. And you don’t need to love me either. Let’s have a white marriage."
Oh, I see. Gil had someone he loved.
I wonder who it is. Someone I know?
Maybe the person’s status was too high, even for a Magic Earl, or maybe they were already married, so they couldn’t be together.
"I understand."
For now, I just nodded.
"I've accepted our marriage."
"…That’s a surprisingly straightforward response."
"More importantly, there's something I've been wanting to know.
Before the Battle of Godwing Plains, you said to me, ‘I have something to tell you once this battle is over,’ remember? I joked that if it was a debt, I could lend you up to one copper coin, and you replied that it would only buy a loaf of bread.
What were you really going to tell me? I died before I could find out."
I’d always intended to ask Gil this if I ever saw him again.
Finally getting to ask brought me a sense of relief.
When I looked up at Gil, his expression turned pale, and he pointed at me with trembling fingers.
"…Verbena, is that really you?"
"Ah, yeah. Verbena. I was reincarnated, you see."
"That careless attitude towards something so important… You really are Verbena…"
Gil’s face went from pale to ghostly white, and then he collapsed to his knees.
"I want to redo the wedding…! No, I should have met with you properly when the marriage was arranged…!!"
Gil started mumbling to himself, and then he suddenly lifted his head.
"Verbena, I deeply apologize for what I said earlier! I’m truly sorry!"
"Huh? For what?"
"…Um, saying that I wouldn’t love you, that you didn’t need to love me, and that we’d have a white marriage…"
"Oh, that. Because you have someone you love, right? It’s fine, do your best. Let’s discuss the divorce soon, and make sure to give me a generous settlement."
"I’m so sorry! I’m truly sorry, Verbena!!"
"Wait, but as a Magic Earl, you can afford to be generous with the settlement, right?"
"That’s not the kind of apology I meant!!"
Gil had returned to his old self, angrily shouting and fussing, which oddly reassured me.
Yes, this was the Gil I remembered, the one who always had something to say.
Seeing that he hadn’t completely changed after all brought me some comfort.
Near dawn, after apologizing all night long, Gil finally said,
"What I wanted to tell you before you died was… a marriage proposal."
"What?"
"Verbena, when I was sixteen, I loved you with all my heart. Even now, at thirty-two, I haven’t been able to forget you, and I’ve continued to love the memory of you. Please, I’m begging you, Verbena, marry me. …That’s what I’ve always wanted to say."
Hold on, Gil…
I ended up marrying you just to hear that proposal, but…
"For now, any child who tells his bride on their wedding night that he ‘will never love her’ has no right to propose."
"I’m truly sorry. I had pledged my eternal love to you…"
"That’s too heavy, Gil. We weren’t even lovers, and yet you vowed chastity for a one-sided crush?"
"I’m sorry for not being normal…"
"I’ll treat you like a child forever, Gil."
"I’m sorry…"
And so, the white marriage continues.
But, well, I’m alive, Gil is alive, and it’s only natural that relationships between living people will change over time.
What will happen to the relationship between me and Gil in the future is something only the gods know.
The battle of our married life has only just begun!!
[The End]
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