My Happy Marriage (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter Pr

PROLOGUE  

The stagnant air clung to blackness darker than night.

Kiyoka had been thrown into the innermost part of the underground military headquarters prison, where neither sound nor light from the outside world could reach him, forcing him to rely on what sparse illumination in the place there was.

During his stay at the Imperial Palace, Kiyoka had been charged with a crime he had no knowledge of. Finding resistance or escape impossible in the face of the many things he needed to protect, he had ultimately allowed himself to be arrested.

There was no opportunity for an investigation. Or any interrogations, or a trial.

Since Kiyoka’s captors planned only to use him as bait, they’d simply roughed him up a little before dumping him into a cell.

The stench of earth, matter organic and inorganic, and filth of all kinds choked the underground prison and its bare dirt floors.

His sense of time had grown hazy in this place, where both night and day were equally dark. Though he’d managed to count the hours for the first three days of his imprisonment, it wasn’t long before he stopped, realizing the futility of his efforts.

And when he did, what happened?

Strangely, his mind filled with scenes from the normal, day-to-day life he had lived prior to this.

I wonder what Miyo’s doing right now.

The tearful face of his fiancée—to whom he’d selfishly revealed the feelings he had for her—floated into the back of his mind.

In spite of his vow to stay by her side and protect no matter what, he had left her behind, trembling with unease and crying out of fear.

Kiyoka had anticipated that this would happen, of course. He had made preparations for that very reason. But when the worst actually happened, he was assailed by powerlessness and incessant regrets.

Because of this, he had no room to criticize anyone else—including Arata for siding with the Gifted Communion. Kiyoka had broken his promise, just like Arata had.

Now the only things keeping him sane were images of Miyo from their everyday life.

When she would cook or when she would see him off in the entryway every morning. When she would stretch with all her might to clean the high areas of the house or the way her eyes would light up sometimes while looking at something commonplace and unremarkable.

The lovely smile she would show him, like a blossoming flower bud.

Down to the tiniest gestures that she would make, purposeful or not.

All of it was charming. All of it was endearing. Her presence warmed his heart, and even amid the darkness, she served as the light guiding his consciousness.

When they had first met, he hadn’t thought for a moment that there would come a day when he would feel this way.

Miyo must have felt like she was always on the receiving end of everything, but the truth was that Kiyoka had gained much from her himself.

From the very first moment they’d met.

Being by her side had taught him that the things he accepted as a given weren’t to be taken for granted. With her, the smallest everyday events seemed precious and blessed.

This feeling was a breath of fresh air to Kiyoka, who had always been pressured by his role as a Gift-user and his duty as a soldier. It filled him with irreplaceable warmth.

Alas…if only he could get home soon.

No, no, I can’t. I can’t hope for that.

Feeling nothing but the cold ground, Kiyoka shook his head.

He wanted to get out of here. He wanted to return to the everyday life he once had.

But yearning like this would only let the darkness swallow him even further. The more he hoped for a potentially unattainable future, the more he would sink into the pitch-black depths of despair, losing any way to recover.

This facility was built to break people that way, and there were plenty who succumbed to it. As a soldier, Kiyoka knew that very well.

So while he was here, he couldn’t look forward to the future. He couldn’t let himself hope. The only things he could let himself think of were his memories.

Nevertheless, Kiyoka didn’t plan on rotting in jail without doing anything.

Relying solely on his sense of touch, he moved his hands, which throbbed painfully in their shackles, to make signs.

Then he activated the arts he had prepared in advance.

Although Gifts and arts were suppressed here, it was no trouble for Kiyoka to connect with the arts he had set up outside the prison ahead of time.

Miyo…

At this point, he believed he knew her fairly well.

Even though he’d implored her to wait, he was sure that Miyo wasn’t going to obediently sit around right now. She would try to fight back in one way or another.

It was beyond his control. He got the sense that he could forgive Miyo for absolutely everything, this part of her included.

That was because Miyo had finally learned to act on her feelings after being unable to voice them for so long.

Amid the gloomy darkness, Kiyoka gently closed his eyes, thinking only of his beloved.