DH 02

#2

Chapter 02.

“…Divorce?”

“Did she just say divorce?”

The moment I finished speaking, everyone in the banquet hall erupted in murmurs. The music that had been playing softly was now cut off.

“…What?”

Amidst the noise, Gert asked back, sounding bewildered.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘This is why I wanted to talk in private!’

It wasn’t as if I planned to ask for a divorce outright in front of everyone!

‘If Gert gets angry… it’s scary.’

But knowing that, I had no choice.

When Gert goes on a monster hunt, it takes weeks at the shortest and months at the longest before he returns. According to my memory, he left for a hunt today and didn’t return for three months.

I wasn’t confident I could endure staying in this mansion until then. Thinking about what I went through at the hands of his family after his death, I wanted to escape this place immediately.

Still, it was fortunate I could clearly convey my desire for a divorce in front of all his relatives.

Then, even if the divorce doesn’t go through this time, at least I won’t be falsely accused of killing Gert out of greed for wealth and glory like in my past life.

Of course, Gert might be angry at my sudden divorce proposal, but at least he wouldn’t kill me for it.

‘…He wouldn’t, right?’

As I rolled my eyes anxiously with belated unease, Gert, his face taut with suppressed anger, pressed me.

“Say that again, Orpheus. What do you want as a present?”
“I want a divorce….”

Facing the murderous Gert, the boldness I had when first speaking up vanished without a trace, and my words trailed off.

Gert’s killing intent prickled my skin.

His presence was so terrifying that the noisy banquet hall, which had erupted the moment I brought up divorce, fell silent as if doused with cold water.

In the stillness, Gert spoke in a calm tone.

“Hylas, would you wait a moment? It won’t take long.”
“Understood.”
“And Orpheus.”

When Gert pointed at me, my neck involuntarily shrunk back.

“Let’s have a little talk.”

Although I was the one who first requested a private conversation, now that the opportunity had arisen, I was terrified.

‘I’d rather roll on the floor back to the banquet hall… I’m scared of being alone with him….’

But I obediently followed Gert. It wasn’t a situation where I could refuse by being stubborn.

As I walked, almost running to keep up with Gert’s strides, Hylas’s voice hurriedly smoothing over the atmosphere came from behind.

“Now, now. How long do you plan to stand idle? Resume the music at once!”

Thud!

The door to the drawing room prepared near the banquet hall closed, cutting off the commotion from the hall.

Without giving any time for silence to settle, Gert immediately turned to me and interrogated.

“What’s with this sudden talk of divorce?”

He turned so abruptly it almost made me hiccup.

Gert’s aura was still menacing, but I read a glimmer of hope.

At least Gert asking my intention meant he was willing to talk. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Since it seemed the conversation would be lengthy, I immediately sat on the sofa in the drawing room.

But Gert showed no intention of sitting, remaining standing tall.

Even standing, I had to crane my neck to look up at him; sitting made it feel like my neck would break. But I, who dared not tell him what to do, decided to just keep my neck at that awkward angle.

Since I had shredded the dignity of the great Gert, I had no choice but to endure this much pain.

‘But I never intended to shout it out like that in front of everyone either!’

It was unfair, but anyway, my desire for a divorce wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment thing.

I had thought about it countless times during my confinement.

Gert’s displeasure would be due to my method of proposing the divorce, not the act of wanting a divorce itself.

And that’s because…

“Our marriage term still has a year left.”

That’s right. While ordinary marriages are promises to spend a lifetime together, my marriage with Gert was different.

It was a time-limited ‘contract marriage’ entered into without love, to break Gert’s curse!

Gert was cursed, suffering from bouts of madness at unpredictable times.

The reason he periodically went on monster hunts was because once his madness erupted, it wouldn’t subside without seeing blood.

Then, one day three years ago, on his way back from a grand year-long expedition, he received a prophecy.

“If you wish to break the curse upon you, you must marry one of the women on this ship.”

There were only three women on the ship, including me.

The other two women besides me were not people one could lightly marry for the purpose of breaking a curse.

One was a princess from another country.

The other was a priestess serving the Goddess of Chastity.

In contrast, I was a commoner with no troublesome background, and I even had something I wanted from Gert.

Wishing to somehow use this prophecy to achieve my goal, I proposed a contract marriage to Gert, and Gert accepted.

The contract terms were simple.

First, if Gert’s curse is broken, we divorce immediately!

Second, if the curse is not broken by the day of my 25th birthday, four years from the day of marriage, we divorce then without further waiting!

And the final condition: whether the curse is broken or not, Gert grants me ‘the right to write his story as an epic poem’!

Under normal circumstances, a commoner-born like me could never have married a great noble like Gert.

Anyway, we were still married.

Which meant, essentially, that Gert’s curse had not been broken.

According to the second contract condition, we were scheduled to divorce next year, on my 25th birthday.

‘Before that, Gert died, making it all pointless.’

For me, I couldn’t afford to quietly wait until next year as per the contract.

However, Gert seemed to disagree with the divorce, his already fierce face contorting further as he argued.

“I don’t see what would change significantly by divorcing a year early. If you want to focus on your work until the ‘Day of Gaze’, wouldn’t it be more comfortable to stay in the Grand Ducal house?”
“Ugh.”

Gert had a point.

The ‘Day of Gaze’ refers to an artist’s 25th birthday.

The one day they can present their work to the God of Arts, Mnemir.

Legend says if you offer a work so outstanding it catches the god’s eye, the god will grant a wish commensurate with the work’s value.

Thus, artists regarded that day with immense importance.

I was no exception.

Especially for me, the Day of Gaze held even greater meaning.

In my birth family, ‘Vogelweide’, there was a rule that the most outstanding minstrel inherits the family.

So I had trying to become a better minstrel than my mother’s son, Linus.

On the Day of Gaze, the results of my efforts were to be revealed.

But Gert died suddenly, and as if waiting for it, Eurich not only confined me but pushed me out the window on the Day of Gaze.

As I fell from the tower, in a state of desperation, I offered a song to the god.

With my lyre taken, I had no accompaniment—just my voice, an incomplete song.

Even as I offered it, I thought it was a failure, but lo and behold. The god not only liked my song but also gave me time back.

So in effect, I could say I beat Linus… even if it was a future that vanished.

But since I achieved it once, there’s no reason I can’t do it twice.

Moreover, I had a reason I must achieve it.

“In return, one year from now, you must offer me a song far more outstanding than the one you offered now. If you fail to do so… you will ultimately die on that day as per your original destiny.”
‘…Even without that condition, that was my plan.’

Offering an incomplete song to a god was already a blow to my pride; given a second chance, muddling through with the same song wasn’t something I ever considered.

‘I’d rather die.’

Anyway, to complete the incomplete song, I needed to focus on my work for a year.

Staying in the Grand Ducal house would certainly allow me to immerse myself solely in my work.

But…

The problem was Gert’s death.

If I could prevent Gert’s death, I wouldn’t be so desperately seeking a divorce. If Gert hadn’t died, I wouldn’t have died either.

But since I don’t know how Gert died, I also don’t know how to prevent it.

So distancing myself from him by divorcing early was my best option.

‘Moreover, it’s not just for my own sake that I want the divorce.’

For Gert’s sake, the divorce was also necessary.

Because in a few months, a woman he would love enough to decide to propose to would appear.

Of course, I don’t know who that woman is.

Gert never showed any sign of it.

I learned about Gert having a woman only after his death, from Eurich.

“It turns out Gert had a woman hidden away. Did you know?”