Chapter 83
Divorce (9)
“—and with that, the funerals for all the soldiers who fell in battle have been completed.”
Commander Hayden silently regarded Second Lieutenant Plato, who had just finished delivering his report.
Most people would have grown nervous if the Commander stared at them without saying a word, but Plato merely met his gaze with clear, gleaming eyes, as though asking whether he had something else to say.
‘I can understand why Haydam wants him as his adjutant.’
The Commander had assigned the funerals for the soldiers who died during the recent subjugation campaign to Plato, who had only just received his commission, almost as if challenging him to see what he could do.
Yet Plato had completed everything without the slightest problem.
He was probably more familiar with military affairs than most because he had spent years watching his father, Anton, handle them.
‘He’s certainly exceptional, but…’
Regardless of Plato’s competence, the fact that he happened to be Anton’s son continued to bother the Commander.
No matter how many screws Plato seemed to have loose, he would surely choose his father when a truly decisive moment came.
The problem was that Haydam could not possibly have been unaware of that when he decided to make Plato his adjutant.
Why had he chosen Plato, and why had he even dragged the retired Anton into the incident involving Lieutenant General Max?
It had certainly been surprising that Anton had personally stepped forward to play along with Haydam’s performance.
Still, since Anton’s son was a regressor, the Commander had assumed Haydam might know of some weakness Anton himself had forgotten, so he had not found it entirely strange.
But after lightning struck Josef…
The Commander had begun to feel strongly that there was something more to Haydam than merely being a regressor.
He also could not ignore the cat that had suddenly begun following Haydam around, nor the little girl who had come from another zone.
‘That girl didn’t seem ordinary either… but there’s still a difference between her and Haydam.’
The girl from the Love Zone merely gave the impression that she was not an ordinary person.
Haydam, on the other hand…
He seemed so far removed from the boundaries of humanity that it was difficult to believe he was the Commander’s own child.
And recently, that almost inhuman son of his had become obsessed with making him divorce Daphne.
‘He’s my son, but I have no idea what goes on inside his head.’
Judging from the way he had handled Lieutenant General Max, Haydam was hardly driven by a sense of justice.
There was no way someone like him would try to make the Commander divorce Daphne simply because he “felt sorry for her.”
As Commander Hayden considered this, he noticed that Plato was still standing before him and asked,
“Did you also help spread the rumor that I’m going to get divorced?”
If Bones or Lucas had been asked that question, they would probably have panicked and hurried to deny it.
Plato’s answer, however, was simple.
“Yes.”
“…”
The Commander narrowed his remaining eye and stared at Plato before asking,
“Then do you also think I should get divorced?”
“No, Your Excellency.”
“You don’t?”
The answer was unexpected enough that the Commander questioned him again.
“Then why are you helping Haydam make me divorce?”
“Because Lord Haydam wants it.”
“If Haydam wished it, would you kill even your own father?”
It was a question that would have provoked most people, but Plato answered without the slightest disturbance.
“If Lord Haydam wished to kill my father, he would be fully capable of doing so without borrowing my hand.”
“You are an utter failure as a soldier. Are you aware of that?”
“My apologies.”
“But I’m not sure the same can be said of you as an adjutant.”
Slightly intrigued, Commander Hayden asked one more question.
“Come to think of it, you were close to Daphne as well, weren’t you? I remember the two of you being like siblings.”
“Yes. I haven’t seen her in some time, but she is like an older sister to me.”
“In your opinion, would your sister and Meursault suit each other?”
Even Plato could not answer that question immediately.
After hesitating briefly, he cautiously asked,
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You already know, don’t you? After Haydam makes Daphne divorce me, whose hands he intends to place her in.”
“Ah…”
Plato’s expression changed as though he had only just understood.
“So Your Excellency doesn’t know.”
“…Know what?”
“Nothing. I don’t believe it is my place to interfere.”
Commander Hayden frowned slightly.
“…Meursault.”
“I’m Plato, Your Excellency.”
“Where is Meursault?”
Only then did Commander Hayden sense that something was wrong and begin searching for him.
“Why are you the one delivering this report? This should have been Meursault’s responsibility.”
“I was told that I could report directly to you myself.”
“Who told you that?”
“Major General Meursault…”
“Meursault did?”
Just as the Commander’s expression turned ominous, a soldier came running into the office.
The Commander recognized him.
He was one of the soldiers assigned to guard Daphne’s mansion.
The instant he saw the man’s face, the Commander sensed that Meursault, who was conspicuously absent, had done something.
Sure enough, the soldier approached with an expression that suggested he had no idea how to explain what had happened.
“Y-Your Excellency… Major General Meursault…”
“What about Major General Meursault?”
“Well… it concerns Lady Daphne…”
Commander Hayden immediately frowned.
“Did he go to see her even though she clearly refused to meet him?”
“H-He didn’t simply go to see her…”
At the words “didn’t simply go to see her,” one of Commander Hayden’s eyebrows rose sharply.
The soldier continued.
“He is proposing to her right now.”
“…What?”
“He is outside Lady Daphne’s mansion, proposing to her. I saw it with my own eyes. He was kneeling on one knee inside a heart made of candles.”
The Commander was so dumbfounded that he forgot to close his mouth.
“I… will take my leave.”
Even Plato, who normally paid no attention whatsoever to the mood around him, instinctively realized that this was the time to retreat.
Before the Commander could recover, Plato quickly slipped out of the office.
A long while later, when the Commander finally regained his senses, the first words out of his mouth were—
“Haydam… that brat has done it again.”
“That insane bastard!”
Daphne’s butler cursed as he stared at Meursault through the window.
Rain had begun falling a short while ago, leaving both Meursault and the heart-shaped arrangement of candles drenched and miserable.
Yet Meursault had not moved an inch from where he knelt on one knee.
“What does that man think of Lady Daphne’s honor?! It’s raining, yet he refuses to give up and leave…!”
The butler muttered that rain this early in spring must surely be an ominous sign.
Daphne, who seemed too frightened to even look out the window, sat at the tea table with a troubled expression and let out a sigh.
I sat across from her, calmly sipping black tea.
Apparently unable to tolerate my composure any longer, the butler stopped cursing out the window and clung to me instead.
“Lord Haydam! This is hardly the time to be drinking tea so leisurely! Please take that man away with you…!”
I gently lowered my teacup onto the table and said,
“Very well.”
“Lord Haydam!”
The butler’s expression brightened when I seemed to agree, only to darken again at my next words.
“If that is what Lady Daphne wants.”
“W-What?”
“Lady Daphne, what should we do? Shall I send Meursault away?”
Daphne stared at me resentfully and bit down hard on her lip.
“Haydam… why are you doing this to me?”
“I’m fulfilling my promise. You wanted to divorce my father, didn’t you?”
The butler erupted in outrage at my calm response.
“What kind of slander is that?! Divorce?! There is no possibility that Lady Daphne ever wanted such a thing!”
Though the butler shouted angrily, Daphne spoke as if she did not even hear him.
“The order is… wrong.”
“L-Lady Daphne?”
Her words made it sound as though she did indeed want a divorce, just as Haydam had claimed, and the butler stared at her in shock.
When I had visited with Shin Eun-jo before, Daphne had been busy pretending she knew nothing.
But now that Meursault’s proposal had descended upon her doorstep, it seemed her composure had collapsed completely.
“I haven’t divorced Hayden yet. How could he suddenly propose to me like this…!”
Daphne pressed a hand to her forehead and shouted passionately, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to be playing the role of a dignified wife.
“What if something happens to Meursault out there?! What if Hayden punishes him for this…?!”
The butler’s mouth hung open in horror as Daphne poured out words defending Meursault instead of demanding that he be driven away.
I, however, felt relieved.
If Daphne had still placed her own safety first even at this moment, I would have taken Meursault and left without hesitation.
“L-Lady Daphne, what in the world are you saying…?!”
“Butler.”
I addressed him with what I considered a reasonable amount of consideration.
“If you are not confident that you can handle what is about to happen here, you may leave. I promise that no harm will come to you.”
“I… That is…”
The butler looked between Daphne and me, visibly torn.
Eventually, unable to conceal his apologetic expression, he withdrew from the room.
Daphne gave a quiet, bitter laugh and stared at me with eyes filled with resentment.
“As I thought, you didn’t come here to help me.”
“Then why did I come?”
“You came to take revenge on me. From the very beginning.”
I could not help but snort.
“Why would I take revenge on you, Lady Daphne?”
“Because I did that to Luna Moon… No, if this isn’t revenge, then what is it?! You forced Anton, who had even prepared a portrait for you, into retirement on the spot, and then framed Max for something utterly absurd…!”
Normally, it would have been difficult to believe that a child who was only ten years old—
No, was I eleven now?
In any case.
It would have been hard to imagine that someone so young had orchestrated Anton’s retirement and Max’s downfall.
It seemed Daphne had survived more than ten years in an apocalyptic world through more than luck alone, despite originally being a dating-sim player.
Still, believing that I had done all of it solely to take revenge on her struck me as slightly self-centered.
Then again, dating-sim players were the protagonists of this world.
Perhaps that was simply unavoidable.
While I was distracted by those thoughts, Daphne, who had momentarily raised her voice, lowered it again, apparently worried that it might carry through the window.
“Wasn’t it you who made Meursault propose to me before I had even divorced? Or are you going to claim that Meursault is standing out there in the rain and proposing to me entirely of his own free will?”
She clenched her hands tightly.
“The Meursault I know would never do something like that. He isn’t the sort of man who acts so recklessly…!”
I waited until Daphne had finished speaking before responding.
“First of all… yes, I was the one who advised Meursault to propose.”
“Haydam!”
“When I told him it was necessary to help you obtain your divorce, he willingly agreed.”
Daphne was breathing heavily, unable to conceal her anger.
“Did you truly have to go this far? Did you really have to put that blade-like man in the middle of such a tacky arrangement of candles?”
“I’m sorry, but the candle heart was Meursault’s idea.”
I had been shocked when I arrived and saw it too.
If roses had been common in this era, that bastard might have prepared a million of them.
“Truthfully, there was an easier way. A peaceful way to resolve this without causing such a spectacle.”
Daphne furrowed her brow, unable to understand.
“Then why did you create this commotion…?!”
“Because I found it irritating.”
“W-What?”
Resting my chin on one hand, I smiled brightly at Daphne.
“You and Meursault alike.”
I continued in a pleasant voice.
“I found it irritating that both of you were doing nothing but waiting for someone else to arrange your divorce.”