Chapter 11
Responsibility and Duty (6)
It didn’t take long for evening to arrive.
At least, that was how it felt.
How should he apologize? How should he start the conversation, and with what words should he convey his regret?
Elric pondered over the task—one he had never performed in his life—until the very last moment, but no clear answer came to mind.
In the end, he would just have to face it head-on.
And so began Elric’s first dinner with Tiria since his return to Wibin.
“Am I late?”
She appeared just as the appetizers were being placed on the table.
Her attire was different from what she had worn during the day. Elric shook his head as he answered.
“It was just about to begin. Please, sit.”
He stood up to welcome her in his own way, though he couldn’t be sure if it conformed to noble etiquette.
Elric was ignorant of such matters. Not only that, but a multi-course meal like this was a first in his life.
Looking back, it made sense; in his childhood, due to his father’s emphasis on efficiency, dinner always consisted of a single dish.
On the battlefield, there was never enough leisure to set aside time for a meal and talk for hours.
He worried that he might seem offensive, but fortunately, Tiria didn’t seem to mind much.
“Please sit as well, Head of the family. It must be uncomfortable for you to stand.”
As Tiria sat down and spoke, Elric gave a small smile and nodded.
“Let’s eat for now.”
He picked up his utensils.
He had heard from Elbus Graham that a formal meal required over ten different pieces of cutlery, but Wibin’s course was not like that.
A spoon, a fork, and a knife. It was a simple setup, and it put Elric’s mind at ease.
Munching on a bite-sized piece of refreshing greens, Elric observed Tiria.
As usual, she was eating elegantly, without making so much as a clink of her silverware.
‘It’s time….’
No, wouldn’t it be too abrupt to bring up the main point right from the start?
He decided to begin with some casual conversation.
“How was your work today?”
“The condition of the wheat is good. It looks like the harvest yield will be quite high.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it’s the best harvest in seven years.”
“Aha….”
The conversation died there.
Elric broke into a cold sweat.
Was conversation always this difficult? As he agonized over the thought, a realization struck him.
Since leaving home, he didn’t have many memories of having a proper conversation with anyone.
Even with Elbus Graham, the only person he’d shared anything resembling a dialogue with, it was Elbus who had always led the atmosphere.
It was a moment where he lamented the fact that his only talent was with a sword.
“That….”
Thinking he should continue the talk somehow, Elric kept throwing out topics.
Mostly, they were about the estate.
However, they were the kind of questions that were hard to sustain—much like asking, ‘Isn’t the weather nice?’
In the end, the awkward atmosphere didn’t lift until the main dish arrived.
Elric felt a sense of urgency as time slipped away, and finally, he let out a deep sigh.
‘What on earth am I doing?’
He rebuked himself.
For some reason, this behavior felt cowardly.
He had invited her here to apologize, yet he was wasting time with pointless questions. How was he any different from a child stalling because he didn’t want to be punished?
No matter how much casual conversation he made, it would never lead to an apology.
It was the same logic as being unable to strike an enemy without drawing one’s sword.
Clink.
Elric set down his utensils.
He looked up at Tiria.
She, too, had raised her head at the sound.
Only now did he truly see her face.
There was a hint of indifference and bluntness, yet an air of nobility.
She looked like someone who would firmly hold her ground no matter what happened.
But to put it another way:
Tiria Portman had lived a life where she was never allowed to collapse, no matter the hardship.
According to Elbus Graham’s words that humans are shaped by their environment, one could say she had become this kind of adult because she had endured alone in a life where no one took her side.
And Elric was the one who had left her lonely.
“Actually, there is a reason I invited you here. It’s regarding the matter I mentioned at the wheat field earlier.”
“You said there was a conversation you wished to have.”
“That is correct.”
“Please, speak.”
Tiria’s head bowed slightly.
Her gaze fell toward the table, and her hands were folded neatly on her lap.
For some reason, the sight made Elric’s heart ache.
Doesn’t she look exactly like someone being scolded?
As if she were stretching her neck out over the guillotine.
Does she think she’s about to be reprimanded for the affairs of the Portman family?
If not that….
‘Does she think I’m going to kick her out?’
Her air of resignation was deeply pitiful.
It was because he felt that even if such a thing were to happen, she would accept it with a stoic attitude.
She was someone who shouldn’t be treated that way at all.
Elric clenched his fists.
Then, he spoke carefully.
“……I am sorry.”
Tiria’s brow furrowed.
When she looked up a moment later, her eyes were filled with bewilderment.
Elric gave a bitter smile.
“I am sorry. I invited you here because I wanted to offer you an apology.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
She should be accepting an apology for anything and everything, so why was she asking why?
Elric spoke immediately.
“For everything. For leaving like that ten years ago, for only returning now, and for not seeking you out in the meantime. I want to apologize for it all.”
It was at that moment.
For the first time, Elric could clearly see her face painting an emotion.
No, was it the first time? On the day he returned to Wibin, when he ran into her in the wheat field. She had shown the same reaction then.
The green eyes that had been shadowed under her long lashes were now fully revealed. Her straight, firm eyebrows softened into a curve, and her red lips parted slightly.
The tension left her shoulders, making the elegant line of her neck stand out even more.
She looked shocked.
Elric added more.
“I know it sounds like an excuse. Nevertheless, I feel I must tell you the reason: I was too young back then. That day’s decision was impulsive.”
It started with the reason that he had to stop a marriage that would make Tiria unhappy, but the reason he went as far as running away from home was, in the end, his father’s words.
‘Earn your keep.’
That verbal dagger was still embedded in Elric’s chest to this day.
“The reason I couldn’t return was hate at first, then urgency, and finally hesitation. Ten years ago, I hated my father so much that I left this land. I didn’t know it would make things so difficult for you. I assumed you would have already returned to your family….”
……No, that was an excuse.
Considering this marriage was a political one that started as a contract, the possibility of that happening was low.
If he had thought just a little more deeply about the affairs of Wibin, he would have known immediately.
The reason he hadn’t thought of it until the end was that he had subconsciously avoided the truth.
Elric shut his mouth tight. Then, he bowed his head briefly.
“I am sorry. I do not intend to end this apology with mere words. I will pay the price….”
“It wasn’t because of me?”
“……Hm?”
When he looked up, Tiria was covering her mouth with her hand.
She looked as if she had made a slip of the tongue.
“……I apologize. For interrupting you.”
So that was what was on her mind. It was a very ‘her’ thing to do.
Elric shook his head.
“It’s alright. And no. You were not the reason I left.”
You were simply caught up unfortunately between me and my father.
That was what Elric said.
He wasn’t daring to hope for forgiveness.
To tarnish years of someone else’s life and then end it with a half-hearted apology was more shameless than not apologizing at all.
Elric had to pay whatever price he could.
Fortunately, there was something he could give her.
‘Inheritance.’
There was his father’s inheritance.
It was everything his father had built his whole life, and the wealth Tiria had helped accumulate.
It was her rightful share to begin with.
Beyond that, this estate and the family title also rightfully belonged to her, who had upheld the responsibilities and duties.
Elric had spent his whole life running away from them.
Since the responsibility had already reached a point where he couldn’t bear it, the only thing he could do was fulfill his remaining duty.
There was no other way.
It might have been different ten years ago, but too many things had changed now.
The foolish boy had become a war mercenary who did nothing but kill. The girl who used to cry alone in sorrow had become a woman who knew only how to endure alone.
If something were to be changed, it had to have been ten years ago.
Sitting here now wouldn’t allow for the same beginning as that day. If he were to interfere now for no reason, he would be nothing more than a marauder stealing what she had built.
Since their relationship was one where staying apart was the best thing they could do for each other, Elric finally made up his mind.
‘I’ll leave.’
After handing over everything she rightfully deserved.
And on the day the injury to his leg was fully healed.
So that her years would not be in vain, he would give her everything the Portmans had built and then depart.
“Could you, perhaps, accept my apology?”
Elric asked politely.
Tiria, who had regained her composure before he knew it, replied.
“……There is no reason to apologize. I have never resented you.”
She answered in her characteristic way.
Then, she resumed her meal as if nothing had happened.
There was a brief clinking sound, but it soon subsided.
It was mysterious, but he didn’t try to dig for her intentions.
His resolve was already firm.
The Wife Waited in the Wheat Field (Serial)
