2701 A Warrior's Spirit (Part 1)
"First of all, I always found it weird that you had no one." Kamila ignored both Varegrave's attitude and questions. "Most of the members of the military I know have a family. It's what keeps them going.
"So I did a little digging and as a Royal Constable getting my hands on your personnel file was easy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you actually had a wife and children."
"Ex-wife!" Varegrave snarled. "Hence why you should haven't done this. We have nothing to say to each other anymore and my children deserve to not have to mourn their father twice. I'll soon be gone and there's no point in this meeting!"
Suddenly, the bond with Lith wavered, the Demon's anger so great that he was willing to move on just out of spite for Kamila.
"I would agree with you if your story matched your wife's. This time Kamila stared into his eyes and addressed his objections. "Had she expressed indifference or just hate for your demise, I would have left it there after giving her my condolences.
"Instead, even after months from the end of the War of the Griffons, she was still mourning you and was happy to talk about you. She told me of how you felt guilty for putting your family's life at stake after the events of Kandria"
Varegrave shuddered at the mention of the plague and the memories it evoked.
Due to his mistreatment of Lith during their first meeting, the Queen had been adamant about charging him for High Treason after the fourth-year student had found a cure for Hatorne's parasites.
According to the Kingdom's law, not only Varegrave but also his family might have been executed as a warning to the rest of the army officers. His poor judgment had almost cost the Kingdom a priceless asset and countless lives.
If not for Lith asking for mercy on Varegrave's behalf, there was no telling how far the Queen's wrath would have gone.
"She told me how it was out of guilt that you volunteered to lead the squad that supported Lith in protecting Belius from Thrud's forces. A mission that was labeled as suicidal." Kamila continued.
"Then Shya must have also told you that she didn't want me to do it. That she told me that if I went to Belius, I might as well not come back because I wouldn't have been welcome in my house anymore.
"That everything between us would be over." Varegrave snarled. "That's why before leaving I served her the divorce papers. I performed my duty and followed her wishes. To quote my ex-wife's words, we are done!"
He noticed that every time he used the word "ex" or mentioned their final argument, Shya seemed to crumple in pain.
"People say lots of stupid things when they are angry and I've been with a stubborn man myself long enough to know when I need to ignore his words and do what he really needs." Kamila shook her head.
"Your wife has always regretted her last words to you and has never stopped mourning your loss. Your children are still distraught and they blame their mother for what happened to you." "That's ridiculous!" Varegrave blurted out in surprise. "Leaving was my choice. Shya has nothing to do with that!"
"Then you should tell them yourself because your children think that if she didn't push you to divorce her, you would have found the strength to come back to them alive like you always did." Kamila replied.
"Gods!" The Demon clasped his temples, torn between the desire to help his family and avoid bringing them further suffering. "Shya, please tell me what to do. You've always been better than me in-"
Hearing those familiar words spoken with the same pattern and intonation as the husband she had considered lost forever, Shya just dashed forward and tackled the Demon in an embrace, sobbing.
"Forgive me, Remphas. I never meant to kick you out. I just wanted to stop you. I wanted you to love us more than your job." She buried her face into his chest, enjoying his warmth and losing herself in his smell.
Varegrave too inhabited his corpse and it was kept in perfect condition by necromantic spells.
"I've always loved you more than my job, you silly woman!" Varegrave's hands trembled as he searched for the strength to return the embrace. "I didn't volunteer because I had a death wish but because I thought that Verhen was our best shot at victory.
"Were Thrud to win, I would have lost my life anyway and you guys would have lost our house, my pension, and maybe even your own life. Even if somehow I survived, I wasn't important enough to be enslaved by the Unwavering Loyalty array.
"Thrud would have hunted me and my men down, using our families as bait to lure us into the open. You've seen what happened to Phloria Ernas. Do you think I could let something like that happen to you?"
Shya just shook her head, feeling like the biggest idiot on Mogar. Back when they had quarreled, Thrud's reputation was even better than the Royals'. The Mad Queen had yet to lose her husband Jormun and give in to her madness.
It was the reason Shya hadn't cared about the War of the Griffons, thinking that no matter the victor, her family's life wouldn't have changed. Now, however, she knew better.
"I'm sorry, Remphas. That's all I can say, I know it's not much. I know that I don't deserve it, but please, come back home. If not for me for our children." She cried so hard that if not for his Demon hearing, Varegrave wouldn't have made sense of her words.
He was still angry and hurt from their parting words, but he could also feel from his ex-wife's heartbeat and perspiration that she was telling the truth. She really was sorry and her pain was genuine.
Varegrave had left Shya with the hope that the separation would shield her from the pain. He had died to protect her so the idea to have actually made things worse and be the cause of her current suffering was unbearable.
"I can take you back, but I can't come home." He said while finally hugging her. "Away from my Liege, I would fade away."
"Then we'll move to Lutia with the others. I don't care where we live as long as it's with you. She sniffled. "Also, I'm still your wife. I never signed the divorce papers. Never."
Shya handed him the folder containing the documents and bearing his signature but she had never filled her parts.
"Thank you" Varegrave felt a huge burden lifted from his heart, knowing that he hadn't been forgotten. That despite everything, he still had someone to return to. "Now we just have to tell the kids..."
"Easily solved. Grandma, if you may." Kamila said.
"On it." The Overlord opened a Warp Gate and dragged a teen boy and a young girl to the Verhen Mansion.
They looked around with a shocked expression on their faces until they saw their parents.
"Dad! Mom!" The how, where, and why they had crossed thousands of kilometers in an instant became meaningless to them.
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