Chapter 3
3화. 귀향 (3)
It was something that defied Elric’s understanding.
Naturally, the thoughts that sprang to mind were about how she had fared over the past ten years.
The fact that the marriage had not yet been annulled meant that for the last decade, this woman had lived in the Portman estate as his wife.
It meant she had carried on a wait with no promised end, through all those long years without a husband.
While he questioned why she would do such a thing, there was a far greater mystery at hand that overshadowed those doubts for now.
“Let us head inside for now.”
Why aren’t you asking anything? Is that all you have to say to the husband who ran away on his wedding night?
Those words rose to the tip of his tongue, but he could not bring himself to spit them out.
He judged that it would be far too rude for someone who had fled and only just returned to ask such a thing.
After all, wouldn’t that question merely mock the woman who had, for whatever reason, waited for him?
Elric stole a glance at Tiria. She appeared composed, and her gait as she turned to lead the way was remarkably straight.
A sudden surge of the shame he had felt ten years ago washed over him.
He hadn’t expected to feel this way again after all this time, but seeing his own mind and body wavering so starkly in contrast to her poise naturally made him feel embarrassed.
“Are you not coming?”
“……Ah, I’m coming.”
He tried to force a smile, but it surely didn’t look natural.
Thump. He planted his cane and tried his best to steady his limping stride.
Despite his efforts, his body was broken, and his pace was inevitably slow.
As if sensing this, she began to match his speed, her steps noticeably slower than before.
Because she walked a couple of paces ahead, he could see nothing but her back.
The distance between them bred awkwardness.
Elric focused on his own heartbeat.
‘It’s not…… racing.’
Unlike back then—and even though his wife had grown more beautiful in some ways—his mind didn’t go blank like it did when he was a boy.
He couldn’t tell if it was growth or if he had simply been worn down.
Whatever it was, perhaps he should be glad he was no longer acting like a fool.
That sliver of composure soon became a challenge against the awkwardness.
“……What were you doing in the wheat field?”
Since she asked nothing, he too feigned calmness.
“I was checking the condition of the wheat. Is it not almost harvest season?”
“Ah, you do it personally?”
“Yes.”
That was the end of it.
The conversation didn’t continue.
As the silence grew heavier than before, Elric rebuked himself for his own bravado.
‘Damn it…….’
It would have been less awkward if he had just kept his mouth shut.
The moment of walking through the wheat field burning in the sunset felt like an eternity.
Elric felt like he would rather be swinging a sword on a battlefield.
At least when life and death were on the line, one didn’t have room for such trivial worries.
That discomfort lasted for quite a while.
Just like his week on the train, time diligently did its work.
Though these moments were more suffocating than the journey, Elric eventually reached his destination.
“Please wait a moment. I will go call the butler.”
Tiria said those words and disappeared into the mansion.
Only then did Elric take a long, deep breath and finally look up at the house.
The three-story brick building, with the courtyard fountain that was once its pride and joy, began to wash away his prior anxieties.
“Ah…….”
It’s exactly the same.
As the discomfort regarding Tiria faded, memories rushed in to fill the void.
Despite being away for ten years, he began to vividly remember everything—how many steps were in the staircase, how the rooms were decorated, and even which spots had which stains.
A faint smile touched Elric’s lips.
It was at that moment.
“Hmm? Who might you be?”
A voice came from behind him.
Elric turned around and his eyes widened.
It was an elderly man with silvering hair, dressed in a sharp black tuxedo.
Though his wrinkles had deepened with age, Elric recognized his identity instantly.
‘We must have missed each other.’
It seemed the man had taken a different path than Tiria, leading to this encounter.
It was the butler. Butler Aldio—the man who had been Elric’s most steadfast ally, filling the role his cold-hearted father never did—stood before him.
Elric felt a sharp ache of longing in his chest at the reunion.
His voice was thick with emotion as he spoke.
“Do you not recognize me?”
Aldio’s eyes narrowed.
Soon after, his expression began to shift slowly.
At first, he frowned as if wary, then his mouth hung open blankly, and finally, his eyes widened in sheer shock.
“You-Young Master!”
Aldio hurried forward and grasped Elric’s shoulders.
“Young Master! Is it truly you!”
His aged voice was laden with every possible emotion.
Welcome, regret, sorrow, and joy.
Such an intense reaction made Elric’s own heart swell again.
Elric wrapped his free arm around him.
“It has been a long time. I have returned.”
Feeling the old man’s trembling, Elric felt a sense of warmth.
It took quite some time for Aldio to calm down.
After patting his chest to catch his breath, he spoke with a face that was now completely bright.
“I almost didn’t recognize you. To think you have changed this much!”
Elric chuckled.
Well, the last time he had seen him, he was just a boy who hadn’t even matured into a man.
It was only natural not to recognize him. It wasn’t just that he had grown taller.
How harsh had the last ten years of Elric’s life been? To survive those battlefields, he had to grit his teeth and train his mana.
As a reaction, his frame had broadened. Unlike his scrawny past self, his body had become sturdy, and above all, his eyes had been stained a dark, burnt red under the influence of mana.
For those who only knew him as he was ten years ago, it wouldn’t be easy to recognize him at a glance.
“I have changed quite a lot. I understand why you would be……”
Suddenly,
He paused—
Elric’s words trailed off.
“Hmm? What is the matter?”
Elric couldn’t easily answer Aldio’s question.
It was because he had only just realized something strange after saying those words himself.
Elric’s gaze turned toward the mansion.
Specifically, toward the entrance where Tiria had just gone inside.
‘……Didn’t she recognize me immediately?’
Even though she hadn’t made any obvious show of knowing his identity, she had recognized him at once.
Even though the first and last time she had actually seen his face was on their wedding day.
How on earth could she have instantly noticed a boy she had seen once in her life, despite how much he had changed?
That point began to raise doubts in Elric’s mind.
“Young Master? Are you alright?”
“……Ah, no. I just had something to think about for a moment.”
Perhaps she just had a good eye for detail.
Elric rubbed his neck and shook the thought away.
Tiria watched Elric through the window as he spoke with the butler.
Though it was a face she hadn’t seen in ten years, she could recognize him instantly.
How could she not, when it was the face of the man she had committed her life to?
His brown hair, his relaxed impression, the sharp bridge of his nose, and even the scar near his earlobe were exactly as she remembered.
Tiria’s heart was still pounding.
She had been startled when she came out from checking the wheat field only to find him suddenly standing there.
She had feigned calmness, hoping her panic wouldn’t show, but thinking back, it seemed there were some awkward moments.
She hoped he hadn’t noticed.
Feeling a bit anxious, Tiria took a deep breath.
She was retracing the moment of their reunion to see if she had made any mistakes.
‘Why…….’
She flinched, and her shoulders trembled slightly as his words came back to her.
Her fine brow furrowed.
Her lips pressed thin, and her gaze turned toward Elric, who was smiling brightly outside the window.
It was a face he hadn’t shown her.
The entire time they walked together, he had only created an uncomfortable silence.
It wasn’t just now; it was the same before they were reunited…… on the day he left.
Throughout the wedding ceremony, the corners of his mouth had been pointedly turned downward.
When the moment finally came to put on the ring, his face was twisted in a deep scowl.
She had cried alone because that made her sad. However, what truly broke her heart happened afterward.
That night, Elric left the mansion and never returned.
Her chest felt tight.
She pressed her hand over her heart, but nothing improved.
The joy was fleeting. What followed was reality.
The aura of the man who had returned after ten years was, as expected, different from what Tiria had hoped for.
He possessed a questioning look, as if he had wished she weren’t here.
A bright smile he never showed her, and an attitude that showed no curiosity about anything regarding her.
A sad smile, full of bitterness, appeared on Tiria’s lips.
‘As I thought…….’
Even after all this time, it seemed she was still an unsatisfactory marriage partner to him.
That fact hurt.
And what hurt even more than that fact was a future where she could not let him go.
Just as she had for the last ten years, Tiria would continue her endless wait until the day his heart turned toward her.
Perhaps a time even more difficult than what she had endured so far would unfold.
For now, even the belief that he would return with a smile and hold her had been shattered.
Cradling a heart that would not be reciprocated was more painful than one could imagine.
The Wife Waited in the Wheat Field (Serial)
