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Ep. 1: For You
Today was unlike any other day filled with the long, endless waiting.
Delcia waited for her lover, Edwin, her navy-blue eyes brimming with excitement, while the servants busied themselves preparing for his return.
Finally, the moment had come.
Today was the day Edwin, who had gone to the western frontier to fight the war against the Kingdom of Polta, would return. Delcia was scheduled to marry him a week after his safe return from the battlefield. She was certain she would be the happiest bride in the world, and she believed it without a doubt.
Since waking that morning, Delcia had been caught up in countless preparations. After being apart from Edwin for over three months, today’s reunion was too important to leave to chance. The maids worked harder than ever to help her get ready.
Delcia wanted to show Edwin that she had been well and healthy while he was away, that she had stayed up nights worrying about him but never skipped a meal, and that she had diligently followed every instruction he had left her.
Braiding her ivory-colored hair down her back, Delcia paced around the bedroom with a worried expression.
“Am I really okay?” she asked.
“Yes, absolutely. You look stunning,” replied Ella, one of her maids.
“Even if it’s just flattery, thank you, Ella,” Delcia said with a small smile at the earnest girl nodding vigorously. Yet, despite the adornments and kind words, she couldn’t fully shake the lingering doubt that it might still not be enough.
According to her father’s letter, Edwin would only reach the capital by evening. Although it was still early afternoon, Delcia’s excitement and anticipation made her practically float with nervous energy.
“When Edwin comes back, I must hug him and tell him how hard he’s worked. And I mustn’t forget my brother—he’ll feel left out if I do. I’ll hug him too.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, milady. I’m sure Duke Adelio and young master will be pleased as well!”
“Really? I’m suddenly worried. Edwin might feel awkward seeing me after such a long time. He’s always been shy since we were children…”
“Uh… milady, you might be the only one who sees Duke Adelio that way,” Ella said with a giggle.
Since about three months had passed since Edwin left for the frontier, Delcia couldn’t help but feel concerned. After all, she hadn’t seen shy Edwin in months; he might feel uneasy upon seeing her again.
Of course, Ella and the others didn’t think so. Edwin wasn’t shy—he simply drew a line with everyone except Delcia, keeping interactions polite and appropriate.
“Mi-milady!”
At that moment, the doors of the estate were flung open, and a desperate, urgent voice rang out so loudly that even the bustling servants paused in surprise. Delcia, who was heading downstairs, froze in her tracks.
The voice belonged to Rento, a messenger of the estate.
“Mi-milady… ah…”
Delcia gripped the stair railing and widened her eyes as she stared at Rento. Upon meeting her gaze, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor.
With a startled expression, Delcia hurried to his side. Rento, trembling, handed her a piece of paper stained with blood.
Delcia took it carefully and, her voice trembling, asked,
“Rento… are you alright?”
“Mi-milady, the dispatch… it’s urgent…”
“Rento, can’t you speak properly instead of stammering?”
“It’s alright, Ella. He must be exhausted from rushing here, right, Rento?” Delcia soothed him gently, then unfolded the paper.
The message, smeared with blood and hastily written, was almost illegible. Delcia’s mouth fell open as she squinted at the words. Her pupils trembled.
“…What… what does this mean?”
She kept questioning the contents, unable to believe what she was reading. Alternating her gaze between Rento and the paper, her lips quivered.
The reality she could not bear—the reality she thought would never come—was staring her in the face. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she clutched the paper.
“…Ah.”
A short, trembling sound escaped her teeth.
“Rento…”
Delcia suddenly whispered his name. Her face was pale as if drained of all color.
“We already performed the customary prayer for a safe return,” she muttered.
In the Petia Empire, nobles and commoners alike observed a longstanding tradition: writing a letter, stained with red ink, praying for the safe return of someone heading to war. The letter usually contained the person’s name and a warning about death in battle, then was burned to prevent the ill fate from reaching them.
Both the Ferdou family, who had sent her brother Arnold, and the Adelio family, who had sent Edwin, had observed this tradition.
“Rento.”
“Mi-milady… what… what should we do?” Rento’s face was pale, his expression full of despair.
“…No, it can’t be.”
“Yes, milady.”
“Edwin… how… Rento, this isn’t true, is it?”
Delcia simply wanted to hear that it wasn’t true. That all of this was a joke, a light-hearted prank to relieve tension. That was all she wanted to hear.
But contrary to her wishes, Rento shook his small head. In an instant, Delcia’s blue eyes lost their light, and she staggered under the unbearable weight of the truth.
“Ah, milady!”
Ella quickly caught Delcia’s arm, guiding her back to the bedroom. Delcia still clutched the bloodstained paper in her hand, wearing the purple dress Edwin loved. Once seated on the edge of her bed, she took a slow, trembling breath.
Her heart pounded violently, like the time she had raced long distances after young Edwin as a child. She could barely tell if she was breathing properly.
A sob escaped her lips.
“Hu… huuuh.”
“Mi-milady…”
Even Ella, who hadn’t read the message yet, could sense the depth of her mistress’s grief. Hesitant, she opened her arms and embraced Delcia.
“What… what am I supposed to do? Huu… huuh… Ella, what am I supposed to do?”
“Mi-milady…”
Her mistress cried as if carrying all the sorrow in the world. Ella silently hoped she had been wrong in her assumption, that Delcia would scold her for thinking such a terrible thought.
But she had to accept that her fears were correct.
“Edwin… Edwin… huu… huuh.”
Delcia’s lips trembled as she whispered his name.
Her beloved, the one she would gladly give her heart to, the noble Duke Edwin Adelio, had fallen in battle.
The urgent dispatch said so.
After a long battle, returning victorious, Edwin had faced a dark mage who had appeared to unleash massive magic. He had tried to intercept it alone, but the mage redirected the attack toward her brother Arnold. Edwin had chosen to take the blow himself to save Arnold.
Recalling all of this, Delcia shuddered violently. She could guess why Edwin had sacrificed himself—thinking of her grief, fearing she might collapse if Arnold were harmed…
“Edwin… ah, ahh…”
Yet, Edwin could not protect her heart. His death turned her own into a mire of sorrow.
Duke Edwin Adelio was dead. A man of sacred power, he had fallen to the forces of dark magic. His death was kept secret, known only to the Ferdou and Adelio families, for the empire could not bear the shock of losing a duke with a sacred sword.
Delcia wept, calling his name over and over. She mumbled it even in light dozing, crying upon waking, fainting, and repeating the cycle.
It was utter chaos—truly a disastrous two days. Hellish days for Delcia, the Ferdou family, and the Adelio family alike.
“Hu… huuh.”
Delcia had never experienced a grief so unbearable.
Before she could even understand sorrow, her mother had passed, and her beloved cat, Elrai, had died. Only now, having grown older, did she truly understand sorrow: this aching, heart-rending pain that people called grief.
“Ah… ahh… No. No, it can’t be!”
She clutched her head and screamed.
This isn’t real. Such misery cannot be her reality. Yes… all of this must be a dream. Everything, everything… a dream.
Delcia wanted to believe that.
But she could not. Everything was far too vivid.
