ISHM 02

Chapter 02

Looking back now, it didn’t take an unusually long time from the moment I first met my husband to when we married.

Dochilia was defeated.

It was early one winter morning, after I had finally fallen asleep while worrying about my father, who had gone to war, upon hearing that devastating news.

Knock, knock.

Awakened by the sound of someone knocking, I answered the door in a disheveled state to meet an unexpected visitor.

“Who is it…?”

Pure white uniform, gold buttons, a stiff collar pulled tight up to the neck.

A naval uniform.

The moment I took in the sight before me, a bright smile spread across my face.

“Father?”

I hurriedly lifted my head. But before I could even greet my joy, my expression clouded in an instant.

The man standing in my way was not my father.

A rigid face beneath a naval cap, a stiff, disciplined posture.

I had a bad feeling. Sleep vanished in an instant, and instinctively I knew it.

This soldier standing before me had come to deliver bad news.

The man soon removed his cap. His features, previously hidden in shadow, were slowly revealed. Blue eyes reflecting the shattered sunlight shone like the sea.

His tightly closed lips moved slowly.

“Are you Edith Prim, the only daughter of Isaac Prim?”

“…Yes.”

My eyelids trembled. To keep my emotions from showing, I unconsciously clutched my clothes tighter.

After confirming my identity, the man continued speaking as if it were nothing.

“I have come to deliver news of a death. Naval Petty Officer Isaac Prim of Dochilia passed away on the battlefield while fighting illness, at approximately 2:15 p.m. on December 18, 1824.”

It was a cruel piece of news, perfectly matched with the man’s dry, indifferent voice.

I blinked slowly.

What on earth had I just heard?

Everything in my vision except the man went dark, and the noisy sounds of the street faded away.

“What did you just say…?”

It had to be a mistake. It had to be. Or perhaps I was still half-asleep and hearing things.

I steadied my breathing and asked again.

“I think I may have misheard you. Could you please say that once more?”

“I am sorry to deliver such news.”

Hope did not return.

“That… that can’t be. How could my father…”

My father had always sent me letters.

Telling me he was safe. That though Dochilia seemed likely to lose the war, he might soon be able to come see me.

So how could this…?

My vision turned white. My legs gave out, and just as I was about to collapse—

“Careful.”

The man grabbed my arm with firm strength and pulled me upright.

Only once I was able to stand on my own did he release his grip.

“…Thank you.”

I didn’t even know what I was saying. It was pure habit.

When I slowly lifted my head, the man was quietly studying my face. He spoke flatly.

“The body has been laid to rest at naval headquarters. You will need to confirm the identity and apply for the death benefits, so you must present yourself at the naval headquarters in Muisen Port within a week.”

I forced myself to muster what strength I had left and nodded. It was the best I could do at that moment.

My vision went dark again. With a blank expression, I closed the door.

“This can’t be real…”

Finally alone, I slowly sank to the floor.

That was my unforgettable first meeting with my husband, Johannes Schultz.

After hearing the news of my father’s death, I was not myself for quite some time.

Half of me wanted to go confirm the body, while the other half feared that doing so would mean truly accepting my father’s death.

I shut myself inside the house, holding out for as long as I could.

But mercilessly, the one-week deadline the man had mentioned arrived in the blink of an eye.

It was both a long and a short span of time.

I didn’t even have the energy to check my appearance. I barely steadied my mind, threw together some preparations, and left the house.

The streets were quieter than usual. It was something I should have found strange, but I had no mental capacity to notice.

“The naval headquarters…”

I followed the rough map the man had given me. As I drew closer to my destination, a loud, clamorous noise stung my ears.

“How disgraceful. In this day and age…”

“They got what they deserved.”

People muttered incomprehensible things.

As I went a bit farther, I saw people packed tightly near the front of the port.

Surely they weren’t all gathered to identify the dead…?

After a defeat, it was only natural there would be many casualties.

Looking around, I noticed rows of naval soldiers standing along the road. Among them, one man in particular caught my eye.

He stared straight ahead with an expressionless face. As I quietly watched him, he turned his head.

The gold naval insignia on his cap flashed brightly, reflecting the shattered sunlight.

As I squinted and lowered my gaze, my eyes met his vivid blue ones.

It was him.

The naval officer who had come to deliver news of my father’s death.

Since I had found the person I was looking for, there was no need to hesitate. I hurried toward him.

“Excuse me, where is the naval headquarters—”

I hadn’t even finished speaking.

“Oh—!”

The surging crowd threw me off balance. I was about to be swept away.

The man grabbed me and pulled me back just as I was about to fall. I ended up pressed against him, and with the countless people still pushing from all sides, I couldn’t move as I spoke.

“Th-thank you.”

“The naval headquarters is in the opposite direction. But given the situation, it would be better to move a little later.”

“Yes…?”

When I looked up at him blankly, the man turned his gaze toward the front of the port. Following his line of sight, my eyes widened.

“A public execution…?”

Beneath a guillotine long unused and rusted with age stood a middle-aged man.

Though simple, his clothing was made of expensive fabric. His hair was neatly groomed, and his exposed skin was clean, without a single wound.

Public executions—such unethical punishments—had been abolished long ago as relics of a bygone era.

So why…?

Too shocked to even feel embarrassed about being held by a stranger, I blinked vacantly.

Then the low voice above my head threw me into further confusion.

“It’s Duke Schultz.”

“What? Why would a duke—”

There was no need to hear the man’s explanation. The noisy spectators supplied the rest.

“Goodness, a public execution for mere embezzlement? Isn’t that excessive?”

“Hah! ‘Mere’ embezzlement? He ran off with an amount equal to an entire year’s national budget! And no one even knows where the money went!”

I swallowed unconsciously.

An entire year’s national budget—it was an astronomical sum. And on top of that, the money was missing.

Duke Schultz was said to have a good reputation not only in Muisen but even in the capital, Baden.

And yet such a man had been committing heinous acts behind the scenes. With the added stain of a military defeat, the royal family must have chosen public execution out of sheer spite.

But still…

“There’s no way His Grace would do such a thing…”

“That’s what the royal family officially announced. Everyone believes it.”

When I murmured to myself, the man replied dryly. The spectators continued chattering.

“I feel sorry for the young duke. Still, thanks to him, we won many victories in the war. Looks like they won’t touch him. He should be returning from the battlefield about now—has he even heard about his father?”

“Is now the time to worry about others? I hear the war reparations are no joke. If they can’t find the embezzled money, won’t they just dump it all on us as taxes?!”

The noisy debate went on. Some defended Duke Schultz, while others tore into him with sharp words.

One thing was clear.

Most of the onlookers gathered at the port held nothing but ill will toward Duke Schultz.

I gazed blankly at the mass of people.

Beyond the guillotine stretched a deep blue sea. The clear sky was obliviously beautiful.

For a place where a life would end, it was excessively sentimental—almost picturesque.

Perhaps it was meant to make him regret his sins even more, knowing he would never see such sights again.

Did Duke Schultz really embezzle the money? If so, what kind of feelings did he have as he stood on the brink of death?

Regret for being caught? A sense of injustice? Or remorse?

Contrary to my expectations, however, there was no emotion reflected in his eyes.

They were neither filled with injustice nor regret. He simply looked as though he had accepted everything.

My fingertips went cold, and my face turned pale.

If he were truly guilty, he wouldn’t have that look—he wouldn’t wear that expression.

I realized it instinctively.

‘That man is innocent…’

But no one would believe it. Or perhaps he was simply a born actor, pretending innocence to the very end.

But even so—

Even if Duke Schultz were innocent, there was nothing I could do to help him. Too many political reasons must be entangled in this.

There was only one thing I could do for him now.

‘Let’s go back.’

I wasn’t thoughtless enough to treat the possible death of an innocent man as entertainment.

“I should be going now. You said the naval headquarters was in the opposite direction, right…?”

I had just turned around in confusion when the grip holding me tightened.

“With this crowd, it’s dangerous to leave right now.”

“But—”

At that moment, the loud blare of a horn cut me off. One by one, the spectators fell silent.

Soldiers began climbing the execution platform in turn. The sound of their perfectly aligned boots filled the port.

“Looks like they’re about to carry out the execution.”

Even as someone said that, the man still held me firmly.

He spoke calmly.

“It would be better not to watch.”

When I looked up at him, his large hand covered my eyes.

And then—

Crunch—

A brutal sound echoed through the port, followed by gasps and cries from all around.

Until that moment, the man never once looked away from the execution platform.

It was an untimely public execution.