LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 76 - Divorce (2)
Chapter 76: Divorce (2)
“Do you know what I should do first to help Meursault and Daphne start something between them?”
“…Haydam.”
The Commander sighed as he put down the documents he’d been looking at.
“You haven’t forgotten that I’m still Daphne’s husband, have you?”
I hadn’t forgotten, which is why I came to you first.
“Do you still have no intention of getting a divorce?”
“……”
Instead of answering, the Commander crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Then, with his one remaining eye, he quietly observed the white cat nestled in my arms.
“Is that the cat Meursault was talking about?”
After revealing Luna’s existence to Bones and Lucas, I showed her to others like Meursault as well. I thought that if the Commander learned about Luna from others, it wouldn’t seem strange when he finally saw her.
As expected, the Commander wasn’t too surprised to see me holding a cat. Rather, he looked at Luna with curiosity. I whispered softly to her.
“Go to him.”
Luna hesitated for a moment, but soon jumped from my arms onto the Commander’s desk. She looked at him for a moment, then extended her head as if asking for a pet. The Commander chuckled.
“Fearless, isn’t she?”
“Please take care of her like you would me.”
The Commander glanced at me as if surprised by my uncharacteristic remark but then casually stroked Luna’s head. Luna purred contentedly before flopping onto the papers the Commander had been reviewing.
“Well… I can see the resemblance to you.”
The Commander scratched Luna under her chin for a moment, then looked at me with his one remaining eye.
“You’ve been visiting my office quite often lately. Is it because of that promise with Luna Moon?”
Hmm.
Back when I woke up in the hospital, I told him that I would protect him with my life because of the promise I made with Luna Moon. It seemed the Commander thought I was visiting often to ensure his safety.
‘It’s not like I can tell him it’s because your real son just wants to see you.’
Until now, I’d brought Luna with me in the form of a ring, but I didn’t want her to remain hidden in the moonstone forever, so I brought her in her cat form this time.
Of course, Luna was initially strongly opposed to showing herself in front of the Commander.
– “Is there any reason I should hide in front of the Commander? Unless you’re the real Haydam…”
When I trailed off at the end, Luna quickly asserted that since she wasn’t Haydam, there was no reason she couldn’t appear before the Commander. And so, she came with me in her cat form.
There’s no reason Luna can’t be loved by the Commander just because I’m pretending to be Haydam…
‘But, anyway.’
“You’ve been asking a lot of questions, but you haven’t answered mine yet, have you?”
The Commander’s hand, which had been stroking Luna, paused for a moment.
“…Haydam. Not even I can answer every question.”
My question was whether he still had no intention of divorcing, though.
‘If he doesn’t know the answer himself, doesn’t that mean he has no intention of divorcing?’
Now that I think about it, the Commander has always been lukewarm about the topic of divorce. Does he not want to divorce Daphne? Or is there some reason he can’t?
I used to think he was delaying the divorce to avoid clashing with Daphne’s supporters. But with Anton’s retirement and General Max’s recent troubles, her supporters have become significantly weakened. If the Commander were to divorce Daphne, now would be the perfect time.
Surely, the Commander isn’t unaware of that.
“Is there a problem? Do you have a reason you can’t divorce her?”
The Commander stared at me for a while, then shook his head slowly.
“…Luna Moon never backed down when she was curious about something either. I guess you take after her, but sometimes it’s irritating.”
This man always blames the bad traits on my mother.
“Have you been preparing well for the entrance exam? It’s only a few days away now.”
The way he asked that made it sound like a normal question a father would ask his son before an important test, but I wasn’t taking the entrance exam—I was the one running it.
There was just one week left until the Academy’s entrance exam. My goal was to get a definitive answer about the divorce from the Commander before then.
“You don’t need to worry about the exam. Preparations are finished.”
“Oh? What kind of test will it be?”
“Even if you are my father, I can’t leak the exam questions.”
“Meursault seemed to know what kind of questions you prepared.”
…The Commander had been deflecting my questions all along.
Does he not want to discuss the divorce with his son?
But I needed to know the Commander’s true thoughts to make plans moving forward. I still had three rewards left. If I could get them divorced without using all of them, that would be ideal.
“Are you against the idea of Daphne getting together with Meursault?”
“…It seems you came here determined to get an answer today.”
The Commander seemed to realize that dodging my questions wouldn’t make me back down, so he fell silent. After a lengthy pause, he finally spoke.
“I don’t like Meursault… Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
…Is he really dragging his feet on the divorce because he doesn’t like Meursault?
Fortunately, the Commander’s next words offered a more understandable reason for his reluctance.
“Daphne is the woman Luna Moon asked me to take care of. That means I’m responsible for her. I can’t just hand her over to Meursault because he wants her. She’s not my possession in the first place.”
I realized my mistake.
I already knew that Daphne had feelings for Meursault, so I’d been pushing hard for their marriage. But the Commander was completely unaware of Daphne’s feelings.
From his perspective, it seemed like Meursault was the only one who wanted to marry Daphne. Given that Luna Moon had entrusted her to him for the last decade, it made sense that the Commander would hesitate.
‘He must think that if he divorces Daphne, I’ll push for her to marry Meursault against her will.’
Just as Daphne hadn’t known that Luna Moon had asked the Commander to marry her, the Commander didn’t know that Daphne had already asked Luna Moon to help her live with Meursault instead.
Once both the Commander and Daphne understood each other’s situations, their divorce and her remarriage would likely go smoothly.
‘However…’
If I told the Commander that Daphne had feelings for Meursault right now, he wouldn’t believe me. He trusted me to get things done, but he also knew that I would use any means necessary, which, ironically, made him suspicious of me.
Daphne’s feelings were something she would have to confess herself.
Only then would the Commander believe it.
# Chapter: ‘Oh? Come to think of it…’
Daphne… didn’t she say she was going to gather the courage to confess to Meursault when he returned from the subjugation battle?
Could it be that she already confessed while I was lying in the hospital?
* * *
“General Max is likely to be promoted to Commander.”
Meursault immediately brought up business as soon as I visited him.
‘That’s definitely not the face of someone who just got confessed to by the person they’ve loved their whole life…’
If they had confirmed their feelings for each other, he wouldn’t be acting like his usual self.
But still… General Max being promoted to Commander?
“Is this something His Excellency decided?”
“Half of it, yes.”
“What do you mean by ‘half of it’?”
“The other officers besides General Max declined the Commander position.”
“They turned down the promotion on purpose? Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Meursault looked at me intently as he asked that.
“…Why are you looking at me like that? What, is this somehow my fault?”
“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s because of you, Lord Haydam.”
“And why is that so obvious?”
“Everyone saw what happened to Anton and Josef when they were Commanders. The position is like a poisoned chalice right now. No one wants to step up and drink from it.”
“So General Max…”
“Got pushed into it. Given what happened last time, they’re making him take responsibility.”
I didn’t expect things to unfold like this.
If someone like General Max, who is impeccable in character, gets promoted, I don’t object. Besides, since Max has ties with Bones, he should be somewhat favorable towards me.
“So, who will replace Josef?”
When I asked that, Meursault’s expression became rather sorrowful.
“…It seems it will be me.”
“Aren’t you just a Major?”
“It’s His Excellency’s decision.”
So, this is what it’s like to live under a dictatorship.
“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t this why you spared Josef in the first place?”
“Ah… Right.”
I couldn’t exactly say that I never intended to spare him, so I smiled and nodded. Meursault smiled back.
“Still, seeing you go through this made me realize you’re human like the rest of us. Even you can’t prevent natural disasters.”
“……”
Well, if it reassures him, I’ll let him keep believing that for now.
“By the way, have you seen Daphne recently?”
“Daphne…? Are you referring to Lady Daphne?”
Meursault tilted his head, as if my question caught him off guard.
“It’s strange that you’d ask me that. It’s not like I’ve had any reason to meet with her.”
“So you haven’t seen her at all?”
“No.”
Previously, Daphne had set up what I thought was a ‘death flag’—I mean, a love flag—when she said she’d confess her feelings to Meursault once he returned from the subjugation battle.
Now that General Max’s issue is almost resolved, I thought she might have reached out to Meursault by now… but it seems she hasn’t taken any action yet.
‘Does she just lack courage, or is there something else going on?’
Regardless, I did promise Daphne I’d help her get divorced, so it’s about time I step in.
“Meursault.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to visit Lady Daphne tomorrow. You should come with me.”
“W-What?! Me too?”
Meursault started to panic.
“Uh… won’t that be inappropriate? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
How do you plan to marry Daphne if you don’t even have the courage to meet her?
Even though she has an item called the ‘Eyes of Enchantment,’ which I’ve never even heard of.
Despite using that, the Commander still loved Luna Moon, so it seems the item only makes someone look more attractive and doesn’t actually influence their emotions…
There’s only one week left until the Academy’s entrance exam.
By then, I need to at least get Daphne and Meursault to meet face-to-face.
Anton, though still prickly, seems to have already been won over. General Max, who will soon take Anton’s place, has grown fond of me because of the Bones situation, so now is the perfect time for Daphne and the Commander to divorce.
If Meursault, who is about to be promoted to Commander, can marry Daphne after that, it would be the cherry on top.
At that point, factions like Pro-Commander and Pro-Daphne won’t matter. Everyone will simply be Pro-Haydam, living in harmony.
“Don’t worry. I’ll ask Lady Daphne for permission to bring you along.”
“Lord Haydam… Thank you! I’ll make sure to keep my promise!”
…Promise?
“What promise?”
“Didn’t I promise that I’d do my best to help you build your ideal family, Lord Haydam?”
“Ah…”
That must’ve been from when I was pretending to be an understanding supporter.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’ll make sure to find you the perfect spouse!”
“No, I’m only eleven years old…”
“If I can’t find anyone here, I’ll search every Zone for a suitable match. Just trust me, Lord Haydam!”
This conversation is going nowhere.
As I was trying to calm Meursault down, a soldier hesitantly approached us.
“What is it?”
Meursault, still being flustered, turned to the soldier and asked. The soldier gave a brief greeting to Meursault but directed his words at me.
“It seems you need to go to His Excellency right away, Lord Haydam.”
“Is His Excellency asking for him?”
Meursault asked in my place, and the soldier shook his head.
“No, a delegation from the Love Zone has arrived.”
“What? Love Zone?”
What could possibly be coming from the Love Zone?
A delegation?
As I began to question whether I had heard correctly, the soldier continued.
“They’ve come to see Lord Haydam. It’s a young girl, about your age.”
I realized immediately who it was.
The shaman from the Love Zone.
The player ‘God’ has come to see me.