130. According to your calculations
"Midnight? Well, I don't think that's something you should be saying, having run away in the middle of the night."
Bjorn asked back sarcastically.
"That..."
Erna's eyes wavered slightly as she swallowed the words she had not yet finished.
"Oh. Right. You did leave a letter, didn't you? Did you really think everything would be settled with that?"
Moonlight slowly settled on his narrowed eyes. Erna simply stared at him, still silent. Her face was tense, but there was no trace of the fear or intimidation she had felt before.
"You clearly said it yourself, Erna. You understand everything. It's okay. Don't you think it was cowardly to just avoid it like that and then run away? Shouldn't you have considered having a conversation first?"
“I’m sorry about that.”
Erna, catching her breath, apologized. Her eyes, once still, seemed as cold and hard as the night itself.
“At that time, I just didn’t have the confidence to face you and talk to you.”
"Why?"
“I was so suffocated... all I could think about was getting out of the Grand Duke’s mansion.”
Erna's voice, always calm, trembled faintly. Just recalling that day seemed to make her breath suffocate. Bjorn swallowed involuntarily, and his throat twitched violently.
Breath.
The first words he'd spoken to Erna on the night of the founding ball suddenly flashed back to him. The woman who had depended on him for breath was now saying she couldn't breathe and was leaving him. Bjorn chuckled briefly, finding this absurd.
"So? You came to a place where you can breathe, and the only conclusion you reached was divorce?"
As each word was added, Bjorn's tone gradually became sharper.
"Come back now. If you're afraid of rumors that you ran away and are talking about divorce, then don't worry. People will think you went to Baden for treatment."
"No."
Erna, who had been just quietly watching him, resolutely turned around.
"I reached this decision after much deliberation. That's why I sent the divorce papers. I won't change my mind."
"What?"
Bjorn, who had been staring blankly, snorted in amusement.
“Are you crazy, Erna?”
“No, Prince. I am more rational than ever.”
“Prince?”
“Yes. I think it would be appropriate to call you that, since you are no longer my husband.”
Erna faced Bjorn with her neck and back straight.
"Oh. Is this because of the debt I haven't fully repaid? Because you can't accept a divorce without properly settling my debts?"
Erna, who had been lost in thought, tilted her head slightly. Bjorn simply laughed, dumbfounded by the woman's obvious hypocrisy.
"But what should I do? After taking some time and thinking about it carefully, I feel like I no longer owe you anything."
“Oh, really?”
"Yes. My year of desperately trying to be a good wife wasn't cheap. I gave you everything you wanted from me."
“What on earth did I wish for?”
Bjorn's gaze, which had been watching as if to suggest they try it themselves, deepened. A chilling silence, reminiscent of a winter night, flowed between the two as they stared at each other.
"You desired a shield to protect your position as Grand Duke, unknowingly. A sacrifice offered for the national interests of Letzen, the safety of the royal family, and your own peaceful life. I willingly accepted this role, deceived. Of course, it wasn't intentional, but it was the result, and you deserve to pay a high price for it."
After a long while, Erna finally answered. Her tone was remarkably concise and calm, devoid of any resentment.
“I think I did a pretty good job of being a pretty flower that brings you joy, don’t you think?”
Erna, who had been watching him intently, smiled. As beautifully as a blooming flower. Like the woman from back then, when every moment was love.
“So, Prince, if we do it according to your calculations, I think we have no more debt left.”
"So?"
“It means that things between us have been sorted out.”
Erna poured out her taunts and accusations without raising her voice. Even at that moment, her face remained clear and gentle, which only further bewildered Bjorn.
"Sorted out."
As he repeated those words, the hypocritical smile that had lingered on Bjorn's lips vanished. The hand that ran through his tangled hair was extremely rough and anxious.
“You loved me.”
Bjorn stared out the barn window, catching his breath, and then faced Erna again. He swallowed several times, trying to control his urge to scream.
“Yes, that was the case.”
Erna nodded calmly. As he stared into her blue eyes, devoid of any trace of worry or hesitation, he felt as if he were slowly sinking into cold, deep water.
“Could that love end and be resolved in an instant like this?”
Bjorn asked the question that had brought him here in a low, hushed voice.
Even with Erna, who was as cold as ice, before his eyes, he still couldn't believe it. He thought she would smile. Bjorn. He thought she would whisper sweetly and embrace him. His wife, who loved him so much. His. Because she was Erna.
“How can that be? How on earth?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Erna let out a sigh mixed with a hollow laugh.
"It was a love that seemed like it would last forever, but surprisingly, it ended like this. Looking back, I realize it was ultimately an illusion built on lies and deception. The naive fantasy of a country girl who didn't know the world. It was a fake, like the harmony I'd created."
Erna looked straight into Bjorn's dazed eyes and continued speaking.
“It must have been such a worthless and insignificant fake that it disappeared in an instant.”
A fierce wind blew from the marshes beyond the fields and swept into the barn where the two men stood. The creaking of worn wooden planks and the rustling of straw shook the heavy silence.
Bjorn stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar woman before him, eyes still unfamiliar with reality. Erna, her wind-blown brown hair tidied, stood up neatly again and met his gaze.
“That fake love is gone now, Prince.”
A beautiful witch cast a curse.
"I paid a high price to be the wife you wanted, and now I'm useless. The Prince, now back in his place, no longer needs a wife who's just a cheap flower. So I think you can divorce me without any debt. Don't you agree?"
The witch smiles. It's a smile like the fireworks that light up the summer festival night.
“Are you going to judge all of that just like that, according to your own will?”
A hollow laugh, like a gasp for breath, broke out from Bjorn's lips, which were tilted crookedly.
"Just as you said, I've finally cleared my name and restored my reputation, and now you want me to get divorced after just a year? What do you think I'll become then?"
"People will understand. In fact, they might even be happy to have a proper new Grand Duchess. It will be beneficial to you in many ways, too."
"Gain?"
"A wife who can no longer serve as a shield or a loving companion. I'm useless."
“Love. Love. That damn love!”
Bjorn's scream scattered like shards of shattered ice.
“You should complain just the right amount, Erna! Even I, who have the reputation of being an asshole who committed extramarital affairs and abandoned his children, loved you!”
"Yes. I did. I believed you were my savior, fantasized about it, and loved that illusion. Now that I think about it, I truly was a pathetic woman."
Erna laughed at herself without showing any sign of excitement.
"It seems we've been living in a marriage of deception. You've deceived me, rationalizing that everything will be okay because you've given me so much, and I've deceived you, believing that my desperate choices were love."
"So?"
"Let's end this fake marriage now. I think it's necessary, for your sake."
Erna looked at him with weary eyes. Her face, which felt especially youthful today, made her faded eyes stand out even more. It was as if she were facing the spirit of an old woman trapped in a young girl's body.
“So, please go back now.”
“Erna!”
“This is all I have to say to you, Prince.”
Erna, whispering in a voice devoid of emotion, lowered her head. The contempt evoked by that perfectly polite gesture choked Bjorn's throat.
It felt like water was rising from deep within his lungs. It was chilling. He couldn't breathe. The maddening pain was eating away at his reason. Meanwhile, Erna was slowly moving away. Without hesitation. As if she had no regrets left.
Bjorn washed his face with his stiff hands. A dry laugh began to mix with his panting breaths.
Turning around, Bjorn strode forward, chasing Erna. The half-open barn door slammed shut, and Erna's scream echoed simultaneously. When she opened her tightly shut eyes, Erna was standing beneath Bjorn's shadow, blocking the door like a wall.
"What, the end? For me? Don't talk nonsense, Erna."
A large, strong hand grabbed Erna's shoulder as she cowered in instinctive fear.
"Whatever the origin, whatever the purpose. So what couldn't I have done for you, my wife? Saved you from the brink of being sold to a miserable marriage, took on a huge loss, and adored you!"
Bjorn was practically going crazy, lashing out. Extreme anxiety and rage had overtaken his reasoning. It was now difficult to even comprehend what he was saying.
“If it weren't for that damn love, would all this be meaningless? Wouldn't it be satisfying?”
“Let go of this!”
Erna shuddered as if she'd touched something dirty and pushed his hand away. The eyes glaring at Bjorn now began to sparkle with fierce anger.
“Oh. Yes. Then I’ll give you what you want. That’ll do!”
Bjorn grabbed Erna's shoulder again as she backed away.
“You can have the child again.”
“Stop it.”
"Love? Yes. If that love means so much to you, I'll give it to you, too. Is that okay?"
“What did you say?”
Erna, who had stopped her pointless resistance, asked coldly.
“I said I would love you. So...”
A sharp bang cut off his words.
"Midnight? Well, I don't think that's something you should be saying, having run away in the middle of the night."
Bjorn asked back sarcastically.
"That..."
Erna's eyes wavered slightly as she swallowed the words she had not yet finished.
"Oh. Right. You did leave a letter, didn't you? Did you really think everything would be settled with that?"
Moonlight slowly settled on his narrowed eyes. Erna simply stared at him, still silent. Her face was tense, but there was no trace of the fear or intimidation she had felt before.
"You clearly said it yourself, Erna. You understand everything. It's okay. Don't you think it was cowardly to just avoid it like that and then run away? Shouldn't you have considered having a conversation first?"
“I’m sorry about that.”
Erna, catching her breath, apologized. Her eyes, once still, seemed as cold and hard as the night itself.
“At that time, I just didn’t have the confidence to face you and talk to you.”
"Why?"
“I was so suffocated... all I could think about was getting out of the Grand Duke’s mansion.”
Erna's voice, always calm, trembled faintly. Just recalling that day seemed to make her breath suffocate. Bjorn swallowed involuntarily, and his throat twitched violently.
Breath.
The first words he'd spoken to Erna on the night of the founding ball suddenly flashed back to him. The woman who had depended on him for breath was now saying she couldn't breathe and was leaving him. Bjorn chuckled briefly, finding this absurd.
"So? You came to a place where you can breathe, and the only conclusion you reached was divorce?"
As each word was added, Bjorn's tone gradually became sharper.
"Come back now. If you're afraid of rumors that you ran away and are talking about divorce, then don't worry. People will think you went to Baden for treatment."
"No."
Erna, who had been just quietly watching him, resolutely turned around.
"I reached this decision after much deliberation. That's why I sent the divorce papers. I won't change my mind."
"What?"
Bjorn, who had been staring blankly, snorted in amusement.
“Are you crazy, Erna?”
“No, Prince. I am more rational than ever.”
“Prince?”
“Yes. I think it would be appropriate to call you that, since you are no longer my husband.”
Erna faced Bjorn with her neck and back straight.
"Oh. Is this because of the debt I haven't fully repaid? Because you can't accept a divorce without properly settling my debts?"
Erna, who had been lost in thought, tilted her head slightly. Bjorn simply laughed, dumbfounded by the woman's obvious hypocrisy.
"But what should I do? After taking some time and thinking about it carefully, I feel like I no longer owe you anything."
“Oh, really?”
"Yes. My year of desperately trying to be a good wife wasn't cheap. I gave you everything you wanted from me."
“What on earth did I wish for?”
Bjorn's gaze, which had been watching as if to suggest they try it themselves, deepened. A chilling silence, reminiscent of a winter night, flowed between the two as they stared at each other.
"You desired a shield to protect your position as Grand Duke, unknowingly. A sacrifice offered for the national interests of Letzen, the safety of the royal family, and your own peaceful life. I willingly accepted this role, deceived. Of course, it wasn't intentional, but it was the result, and you deserve to pay a high price for it."
After a long while, Erna finally answered. Her tone was remarkably concise and calm, devoid of any resentment.
“I think I did a pretty good job of being a pretty flower that brings you joy, don’t you think?”
Erna, who had been watching him intently, smiled. As beautifully as a blooming flower. Like the woman from back then, when every moment was love.
“So, Prince, if we do it according to your calculations, I think we have no more debt left.”
"So?"
“It means that things between us have been sorted out.”
Erna poured out her taunts and accusations without raising her voice. Even at that moment, her face remained clear and gentle, which only further bewildered Bjorn.
"Sorted out."
As he repeated those words, the hypocritical smile that had lingered on Bjorn's lips vanished. The hand that ran through his tangled hair was extremely rough and anxious.
“You loved me.”
Bjorn stared out the barn window, catching his breath, and then faced Erna again. He swallowed several times, trying to control his urge to scream.
“Yes, that was the case.”
Erna nodded calmly. As he stared into her blue eyes, devoid of any trace of worry or hesitation, he felt as if he were slowly sinking into cold, deep water.
“Could that love end and be resolved in an instant like this?”
Bjorn asked the question that had brought him here in a low, hushed voice.
Even with Erna, who was as cold as ice, before his eyes, he still couldn't believe it. He thought she would smile. Bjorn. He thought she would whisper sweetly and embrace him. His wife, who loved him so much. His. Because she was Erna.
“How can that be? How on earth?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Erna let out a sigh mixed with a hollow laugh.
"It was a love that seemed like it would last forever, but surprisingly, it ended like this. Looking back, I realize it was ultimately an illusion built on lies and deception. The naive fantasy of a country girl who didn't know the world. It was a fake, like the harmony I'd created."
Erna looked straight into Bjorn's dazed eyes and continued speaking.
“It must have been such a worthless and insignificant fake that it disappeared in an instant.”
A fierce wind blew from the marshes beyond the fields and swept into the barn where the two men stood. The creaking of worn wooden planks and the rustling of straw shook the heavy silence.
Bjorn stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar woman before him, eyes still unfamiliar with reality. Erna, her wind-blown brown hair tidied, stood up neatly again and met his gaze.
“That fake love is gone now, Prince.”
A beautiful witch cast a curse.
"I paid a high price to be the wife you wanted, and now I'm useless. The Prince, now back in his place, no longer needs a wife who's just a cheap flower. So I think you can divorce me without any debt. Don't you agree?"
The witch smiles. It's a smile like the fireworks that light up the summer festival night.
“Are you going to judge all of that just like that, according to your own will?”
A hollow laugh, like a gasp for breath, broke out from Bjorn's lips, which were tilted crookedly.
"Just as you said, I've finally cleared my name and restored my reputation, and now you want me to get divorced after just a year? What do you think I'll become then?"
"People will understand. In fact, they might even be happy to have a proper new Grand Duchess. It will be beneficial to you in many ways, too."
"Gain?"
"A wife who can no longer serve as a shield or a loving companion. I'm useless."
“Love. Love. That damn love!”
Bjorn's scream scattered like shards of shattered ice.
“You should complain just the right amount, Erna! Even I, who have the reputation of being an asshole who committed extramarital affairs and abandoned his children, loved you!”
"Yes. I did. I believed you were my savior, fantasized about it, and loved that illusion. Now that I think about it, I truly was a pathetic woman."
Erna laughed at herself without showing any sign of excitement.
"It seems we've been living in a marriage of deception. You've deceived me, rationalizing that everything will be okay because you've given me so much, and I've deceived you, believing that my desperate choices were love."
"So?"
"Let's end this fake marriage now. I think it's necessary, for your sake."
Erna looked at him with weary eyes. Her face, which felt especially youthful today, made her faded eyes stand out even more. It was as if she were facing the spirit of an old woman trapped in a young girl's body.
“So, please go back now.”
“Erna!”
“This is all I have to say to you, Prince.”
Erna, whispering in a voice devoid of emotion, lowered her head. The contempt evoked by that perfectly polite gesture choked Bjorn's throat.
It felt like water was rising from deep within his lungs. It was chilling. He couldn't breathe. The maddening pain was eating away at his reason. Meanwhile, Erna was slowly moving away. Without hesitation. As if she had no regrets left.
Bjorn washed his face with his stiff hands. A dry laugh began to mix with his panting breaths.
Turning around, Bjorn strode forward, chasing Erna. The half-open barn door slammed shut, and Erna's scream echoed simultaneously. When she opened her tightly shut eyes, Erna was standing beneath Bjorn's shadow, blocking the door like a wall.
"What, the end? For me? Don't talk nonsense, Erna."
A large, strong hand grabbed Erna's shoulder as she cowered in instinctive fear.
"Whatever the origin, whatever the purpose. So what couldn't I have done for you, my wife? Saved you from the brink of being sold to a miserable marriage, took on a huge loss, and adored you!"
Bjorn was practically going crazy, lashing out. Extreme anxiety and rage had overtaken his reasoning. It was now difficult to even comprehend what he was saying.
“If it weren't for that damn love, would all this be meaningless? Wouldn't it be satisfying?”
“Let go of this!”
Erna shuddered as if she'd touched something dirty and pushed his hand away. The eyes glaring at Bjorn now began to sparkle with fierce anger.
“Oh. Yes. Then I’ll give you what you want. That’ll do!”
Bjorn grabbed Erna's shoulder again as she backed away.
“You can have the child again.”
“Stop it.”
"Love? Yes. If that love means so much to you, I'll give it to you, too. Is that okay?"
“What did you say?”
Erna, who had stopped her pointless resistance, asked coldly.
“I said I would love you. So...”
A sharp bang cut off his words.
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