My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 55Vol 2.

"So... you decided not to keep in touch with your parents?"

I stared at Aquila in disbelief as he told me his decision.

After that strange reaction he had to seeing me in my wedding dress, he had suddenly opened up about his parents—only to abruptly declare that he was severing ties with them completely.

“Yeah. I feel like it’ll just make things more complicated if I don’t.”

“Well... yeah, that’s true. Honestly, I still think it’s ridiculous that they just showed up now.”

“They abandoned me. Our connection ended the moment they did that.”

I didn’t know what had finally pushed him to this decision, but either way, Aquila had made the right choice.

Today was the day he had promised to meet his parents again. But Aquila showed no signs of nervousness. If anything, he seemed indifferent—almost uninterested.

When we arrived at the café, the woman was already there.

The moment she spotted Aquila, her face lit up.

“Aquila!”

She even stood up excitedly to greet him. We took our seats across from her.

Since everything had been so chaotic last time, I hadn’t had the chance to properly introduce myself. But now that Aquila would be cutting ties with her, I figured I might as well let her know the name of the woman he was marrying.

Not that it really mattered, since she wouldn’t be seeing him again.

“I didn’t get to introduce myself before. I’m Salvia. Aquila and I were recruits together in the Border Defense Army.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

She awkwardly accepted my introduction, then smiled warmly at me.

“You’re so beautiful, dear. I’ve never seen anyone as lovely as you.”

Well, obviously—I am the heroine of a romance fantasy novel, after all.

But already calling me ‘dear’?

I was beginning to regret introducing myself.

Still, I decided to trust that Aquila would handle things properly.

And sure enough, he pulled her attention back to him.

“I have something to say.”

“Yes! Have you made your decision?”

“Yes, first of all...”

Aquila looked her directly in the eye, his gaze steady and unreadable.

“I’ve decided to forgive you.”

"Pfft! Cough! Cough!"

“Salvia, are you okay?”

As I choked, Aquila quickly grabbed a tissue and gently wiped my mouth. But I could barely focus—I was still trying to process what I had just heard.

Did he just say... he forgives her?!

Hadn’t he just decided to cut ties with them?

What the hell was going on?!

I turned to look at him, completely bewildered. But when I met his gaze, I realized something.

There was no warmth in his eyes.

So that was it.

He wasn’t forgiving her out of love or reconciliation.

"He’s doing it so he can sever their bond completely."

Because holding onto resentment was still a form of attachment.

True separation only happened when you let go of your hatred.

Understanding his intent, I gave him a slight nod.

Taking that as encouragement, Aquila continued.

“I no longer resent you. More than anything, I think I finally understand you.”

Then, he turned his gaze to me—his expression softening in a way it never had for his mother.

“Now that I have someone I love, I can see it. If this person were to suffer a terrible loss, it would be unbearable for me too. I would never have made the same choice you did, but... I can at least understand what drove you to it.”

His mother’s eyes filled with tears.

“Yes, Aquila! We—”

“But I will not accept you as my parents again.”

Her mouth fell open in shock.

Aquila didn’t give her the chance to respond.

“I am forgiving you so I can finally let you go. The moment you abandoned me, our bond was severed.”

“I-I know, I know this was our fault! But can’t we start over? Can’t we rebuild our relationship?!”

“No. That won’t happen.”

He turned to me and gave a small nod.

That was our signal.

We both rose from our seats.

“We won’t be seeing each other again,” Aquila said. “But I do hope you find happiness. I truly mean that. I’ve found my happiness, so I hope you do too.”

“Aquila....”

I thought she would try to stop us.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

But she just sat there, staring blankly as we turned to leave.

Maybe she had finally understood something.

As we walked out, I squeezed Aquila’s hand tightly.

No matter how little they meant to him now, cutting off his own parents couldn’t have been easy.

'I really thought he was going to get soft and make this whole thing frustrating...'

But the reality wasn’t a perfect ‘revenge’ moment.

Nor was it a tearful reconciliation.

It was just... a bittersweet, ambiguous ending.

Damn it.

I guess true catharsis doesn’t exist in reality.

Still, I didn’t want him to regret this decision.

So I tightened my grip on his hand and spoke.

“Aquila.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll make sure you never regret choosing me as your family. I’ll make sure you’re happy for the rest of your life.”

“Salvia....”

Aquila’s eyes softened, filled with warmth as he pulled me into his arms.

And in a voice completely different from the cold tone he had just used with his mother, he murmured sweetly,

“I meant what I said earlier. I only need you.”

“...Yeah. Me too.”

We stared at each other, and in an instant, the air between us grew heated.

'...Not here, right?'

It seemed the rumors were true—newlyweds really did burn with passion.

So, we returned home.

And, well...

That’s how things turned out.

***

Something precious that I lost...?

A realization struck me.

There was only one thing that came to mind.

That night, I °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had woken up to an unbearable pain piercing through my entire body.

“Ugh....”

I didn’t understand why.

It wasn’t my time of the month, and I wasn’t sick. There was no reason for this.

I was drenched in sweat, writhing in agony. Next to me, Aquila must have heard my groans because I felt him stir.

The next thing I knew, the lights flickered on, and I heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Salvia, are you okay?"

“No, I feel like I’m dying....”

“You have a fever.”

A cool hand touched my forehead.

...Cool?

If Aquila’s hand felt cold to me, then my fever must have been serious.

Without hesitation, Aquila summoned a doctor.

Despite the late hour, money solved everything. The physician arrived swiftly.

But after checking my condition, the doctor seemed completely stumped.

“You do have a fever... but I can’t find anything wrong with you. It could be an internal inflammation that isn’t immediately visible.”

“Then what should we do?!”

The doctor sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Well... when nobles face cases like this, they sometimes secretly call for a dark sorcerer."

“...What?”

Aquila reacted immediately.

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"You mean people actually use dark sorcery for medical treatment?"

“Yes, in truth, dark magic can be highly effective in medicine. Many high-ranking individuals summon dark sorcerers alongside physicians for more thorough examinations. Though, thanks to the Imperial Family’s restrictions, dark sorcerers have all but disappeared in recent years.”

Aquila turned to me and met my gaze before speaking carefully.

“If we... happen to know a dark sorcerer, would they be able to help in this situation?”

“Of course! As long as you keep it discreet....”

“The Imperial Family is gone. There’s no reason to fear suppression anymore. I’ll call for a dark sorcerer.”

“By all means, if you can, that would be best.”

'Dark sorcery can be used for medical treatment? And yet, only nobles have been benefiting from it this whole time?'

Even through my fever-induced haze, I was baffled.

Aquila wasted no time. He quickly brought Victim to our house.

The poor man had clearly been dragged out of bed. He appeared groggy as he stumbled in.

“Salvia...? Huh?!”

The moment he saw my condition, his sleepiness vanished.

Without hesitation, he began casting magic.

I wasn’t sure what kind of spell it was, but it seemed like some sort of detection magic.

A black light slowly scanned my body from head to toe.

Then, both the physician and Victim’s expressions twisted.

“...Hmm. There’s nothing wrong.”

“That’s strange....”

The doctor looked deep in thought before muttering in a serious tone.

"In that case, it could be a psychological illness. Have you experienced any stress recently?"

“Well, I did meet someone today who almost gave me rage-induced heart failure.”

Aquila flinched beside me.

Of course, I was only teasing him.

His mother wasn’t nearly significant enough to shake my Border Defense Army-tempered mentality.

“But I’m usually a pretty optimistic person. Are you sure it’s not something else?”

I tried retracing my recent experiences.

Then, a thought struck me.

“Now that I think about it, I was completely immersed in extremely strong dark magic recently. Could that have caused something?”

“Ah!”

Victim clapped his hands.

“Then it really could be a condition caused by dark magic! I’ll focus on tracing magical residue this time.”

Another wave of black light swept over my body.

After scanning me again, Victim’s face grew serious.

“Salvia....”

“...What? Did I catch some kind of death curse?”

“No, nothing that bad. But your body and soul are completely saturated with dark magic.”

There was a clear sense of certainty in his voice.

So I stayed quiet and listened carefully.

“You’ve been exposed to dark magic many times, haven’t you?”

“...Yeah, a lot.”

Thinking back, my life had been riddled with dark magic.

I had used dark sorcery-infused candy to sharpen my memories, only to pay the price by losing other memories.

I had been trapped in the Second Prince’s dark magic pocket dimension and had coughed up blood.

I had been caught in the Emperor’s illusion spell and barely endured it.

And most of all...

I had been locked in the Imperial Palace’s underground chamber, ensnared in one of the most powerful dark magic formations—the Threefold Mana Circulation Technique—nearly losing my life in a fabricated reality.

“...Yeah. That’s a lot.”

Victim nodded gravely.

“That’s probably the issue.”

“...What do you mean?”

“In dark magic, a human consists of several ‘essential components.’ These aren’t just physical parts, but core elements that define their identity—things like lovers, family, a sense of purpose... anything that holds deep psychological significance to them.”

“...And?”

“Salvia, one of your core components is missing.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“The dark magic you’ve been exposed to must have erased something vital to you. It’s just a theory, but... have you lost something deeply important to you because of dark magic?”

“...Wait.”

Something precious that I lost.

There was only one thing that came to mind.