I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Chapter 173
“It’s been a long time, Elisia.”
“Brother Vincent?”
A man with long hair tied back into a single braid and dressed in dark priest robes came to a halt before me.
I had heard that the Holy See dispatched a large contingent of Holy Knights, but I’d heard nothing of the Inquisition Bureau arriving, so I widened my eyes in surprise.
He smiled knowingly, as if to say it was obvious.
“We came along with the Holy Knights. They’re a crucial force in the Great Demon Subjugation, so we couldn’t be left behind.”
“I didn’t even realize such distinguished guests had arrived.”
“I thought Duke Lombard wouldn’t mention it. He’s been guarding you like a precious treasure.”
“……?”
At Vincent’s cryptic murmur, I tilted my head in confusion, and he asked if I could spare him a moment, his expression growing serious.
As it happened, the corridor where we’d met opened onto a small garden.
I descended carefully from Berry’s arms onto a bench.
Vincent, whose eyes had been fixed on my bandaged feet, spoke again after a moment.
“Do you remember what I said before I departed for the Western Region?”
“More or less…….”
I nodded slowly.
‘Elisia. I don’t know when we shall meet again, but when we do, there is something I must tell you.’
Truthfully, I’d nearly forgotten it, buried under mountains of official duties.
In any case, as I waited for Brother Vincent’s next words, he suddenly bent one knee and reached his hand toward my feet.
From his fingertips spread Divine Power, and I grasped his intention and hastily stopped him.
“Wait, don’t do that!”
“But if we leave it as is, won’t you be in pain?”
“That’s true, but a person’s life is worth more than that, so I’ll manage.”
I meant it sincerely.
The reason I’d refused his healing in the past was fear of what might happen to me if Divine Power touched my body.
But I suspect there was also an aversion in my heart to Divine Power, which drains the life force of the one who casts it.
Though our beginning was fraught with hardship, we had come to know each other well, having endured trials of all kinds together across the continent.
You might say we were something like friends.
Of course, the visceral fear of an Inquisitor still lingered, though it wasn’t enough to call us anything but friends in the end.
“Besides, if I keep the wounds, I won’t be dragged into the Imperial Court.”
“……Pardon?”
“Honestly, do you think they’d force a battered and broken person into the seat of regent? Even if they didn’t want to, they’d tell me to stay in my territory and rest, nothing more.”
Vincent’s eyes widened slightly at this unexpected answer.
“So these wounds are an invincible shield against troublesome duties. Even if they hurt and are inconvenient, they’re worth enduring.”
“That’s quite……candid of you.”
“I’m not good at heart, so pretending to be isn’t my style.”
Whether disappointed by my worldly answer or not, Brother Vincent’s grip weakened.
Thinking he understood by now, I released my hand—and in that instant, he twisted his mouth into a sly smile and suddenly laid his hand on my ankle.
“That’s why I like you.”
A blinding light flooded my vision.
Because of Vincent’s Divine Power, not only my feet but all the wounds on my body healed in the blink of an eye.
Flustered and stammering, I couldn’t find words at his next confession, my face flushing crimson.
“I love you, Elisia.”
“I… what…….”
“With the body of a priest sworn to dedicate his entire life to God alone, I have come to cherish you. It was only through you that I learned what it means to love a person, and how to see this world with clear eyes.”
Heat burned across my face with embarrassment.
I didn’t know what to say.
But I wanted to give him a proper answer if I could.
It felt like the bare minimum courtesy owed to this man, who gazed up at me with eyes tense and uncertain.
I abandoned my usual arrogant tone and spoke with sincerity.
“Thank you for liking someone like me.”
“Elisia.”
“But there is someone I wish to spend my whole life with. So I cannot accept your feelings.”
Vincent, as if he had expected this, spoke with a bittersweet look in his eyes.
“If I had met you before the Duke, would I hear a different answer now?”
“No. My fate was singular from the very beginning.”
I answered with deliberate firmness.
I didn’t want to leave Vincent with any lingering attachment.
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, then slowly looked up.
“Still, I don’t regret it.”
“…….”
“And this feeling won’t change for a very long time. Priests are born with stubborn natures, you see. How could I forget this fever-like emotion, the first I’ve ever known since birth?”
I’d braced for rejection, but experiencing it firsthand—it cut deeper than I’d expected.
Vincent rose from his seat, his voice low and barely audible.
Somehow, he’d slipped back into that playful expression from before.
“Before Lombard declares war on Arzenbach, I’ll take my leave now.”
“……?”
“Perhaps we’ll meet again someday.”
As Brother Vincent turned to go, he vanished as suddenly as he’d appeared—like a mirage dissolving into nothing.
I was bewildered, but relief washed over me all the same, and I shrugged.
Afterward, it was said—though none dared speak of it—that Edwin chased Vincent away from the castle with murderous intent.
* * *
Late into the night, Edwin’s footsteps quickened as he returned to the castle.
He’d been detained all day by the Grand Duke Heidelberg’s close confidant. Even Edwin could not easily dismiss the Grand Duke at a time like this.
Securing the Grand Duke’s peaceful recognition as Regent was, after all, their shared objective.
Edwin had already prepared contingencies for Nigel’s potential downfall.
It was he who had orchestrated everything—the arrangement whereby the Grand Duke and his wife would aid Mariana and Joseph, with the condition that the Grand Duke would become Regent in case of emergency.
All of this had been Edwin’s design.
‘With that settled, matters in the Imperial Court should resolve smoothly.’
But the problem was the bothersome pest hovering annoyingly around his wife’s side.
Vincent’s parting words, delivered with a carefree expression as he left the castle, still muddled his mind.
He’d said he confessed to Elisia.
Yet he twisted his lips and refused to say what her answer had been, even on penalty of death.
If Edwin wanted to know, he should ask her directly.
‘Elisia would never accept his confession. I know that.’
But knowing something in one’s head didn’t banish the anxiety that came with it.
Edwin’s unease had, over vast stretches of time, become so intertwined with him as to be inseparable.
Even if he overcame the nightmares of the past, there was a possibility he could never restore a mind already shattered beyond repair.
Still, he couldn’t let it show.
After composing himself, Edwin entered the inner chamber and noticed the windows dark. He called for a servant.
“Has Elisia already retired?”
“My lord, you’ve returned! My lady is in the chapel. She asked to be alone, so I’ve been waiting here.”
It was Berry, Elisia’s most favored personal servant, who answered.
Edwin immediately turned and made for the chapel within the castle.
It was not unusual for her to spend late hours in the castle administration or library, but the chapel—that was unexpected enough to heighten his concern.
As it happened, the chapel door stood slightly ajar.
Edwin’s hand froze as he moved to knock.
From the entrance visible through the gap to the altar where the statue stood, a long corridor was scattered with pristine white flower petals.
A woman knelt at the steps before the altar, and she turned her head.
She wore a simple, unadorned dress of white and a white lace veil that obscured her face, yet Edwin knew instinctively who she was.
His heart, which had been racing with anxiety all this while, finally found peace.
“You came?”
“Elisia, what is this……?”
Entranced, Edwin moved forward and knelt beside her.
On the altar lay a prayer text for the wedding mass, spread open.
She continued, as if explaining.
“I thought about it carefully, and we’ve never actually had a proper wedding ceremony, have we? Just us—you and the real me.”
They were husband and wife in law, but when she awakened in this world, all the procedures had already concluded.
“So I wanted us to have our own small ceremony like this. Something precious we can look back on until the very last moment of our lives.”
“I—I…… I do.”
In her simple white dress, standing beneath the candlelight, she was beautiful and radiant as the moon in a night sky.
He found himself gazing at her, as though enchanted.
Elisia gently caressed her husband’s eyes as she recited the prayer from the scripture.
“What God has joined together, let no one separate. Let us keep faith between husband and wife, bear children for generations, and receive the blessings of eternity as did Saint Vincent and Rufina.”
“What God has joined together, let no one separate…… Let our union be the glory of our house and stand eternal, unshaken as the foundation stones of this land.”
After the prayer, Edwin slowly lifted the white veil from his wife’s face.
Elisia’s eyes, gazing up at him, shone brilliantly as the stars of the night sky.
Bowing his head slowly, he pressed his lips to hers.
‘At last I forgive you your sins.’
As she stepped through the doorway, a voice that had echoed in her ears like a phantom suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Now, at last, she understood.
Having wandered through countless worlds in the fragile vessel of a human body and disrupted the Divine Providence, the suffering he had endured all this time was punishment sent by Heaven—and
the woman he loved finally appearing in a form whole and blessed enough to be truly bound to him was proof of forgiveness granted at the end of that terrible trial.
The “Door” that vanished without a trace in the Black Continent thereafter stood as evidence that all these ordeals had unfolded according to God’s will.
“We are truly husband and wife now. So please, don’t be afraid.”
“Elisia…….”
“I love you, Edwin.”
“I love you. Until the day this world perishes, I will love only you.”
The two kissed deeply once more.
After long misunderstandings and cross-purposes, after trials both agonizing and bitter…… they had finally reached the sanctuary where they would dwell eternally.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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