The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 144: Record of Regression (2)
The sisters’ greatswords collided.
The dust that had settled over the years was blown away by the shock-wave each blade produced.
Neither woman spoke, but every swing carried more weight than words ever could.
‘……!’
For this brief moment, Isaac forgot everything else and lost himself in their dance of steel.
This was the swordsmanship of Helmut he had so admired.
Ten years later it had evolved far beyond what he once imagined, and as he dissected every movement he could even detect traces of the manual he himself had written.
“...”
So he finally set foot inside the art of Helmut he’d worshipped for so long.
Realizing that, Isaac refocused on the duel.
The conclusion came quickly.
No matter how much stronger Sharen had grown in ten years, she could not rival Helmut’s prodigy—
Rihanna, the “Blood Rose,” whose name was feared since childhood.
Claaang!
[……!]
Sharen’s eyes trembled as her sword was knocked from her hands.
She watched it skid across the floor, then bit her lip hard.
[Sharen, I’ve made up my mind.]
[Made up…? Made up about what—! You think I don’t know why you’re here, Unnie?!]
[……]
[You’re going to tell Regant to retrieve your corpse! Damn it—damn it all!]
Sharen’s fist smashed the ground, tears the size of pearls falling from her eyes.
Failing to defeat her sister meant failing to protect her.
[They’re all dead! Father, Mother, the brothers, even Edel—everyone’s dead!]
[……]
[And now I’m supposed to lose you too? Just like this? I—]
A gentle warmth enveloped Sharen.
Rihanna pulled her into a hug, patting her back, eyes closed.
[I should have held you like this—much sooner.]
[U-Unnie……]
[I’m sorry, Sharen. It feels like I’m leaving you to carry my burden.]
Rihanna stepped back and slowly slipped the ring from the fourth finger of her left hand.
Though it had sat there fifteen years, it was pristine—proof of how dearly she had cherished it.
[Please. If I die, put this back on me… and send me to Isaac.]
[…No.]
[Isaac will take care of it. He’s that kind of man.]
[It’s been ten years. He could have changed.]
Eyes still closed, Rihanna answered with a wistful smile.
[He’ll still accept it.]
Because that’s who he is.
[So, Sharen—]
Tears welled at the corner of her eyes.
[When I finally close mine, when I go to see him…]
Rihanna stroked Sharen’s cheek and begged softly:
[Make me look… beautiful, just once more.]
Her words lingered like an echo—like a final will—fading as though watered down.
Isaac’s vision warped, and then—
The scene shifted.
Now he stood beneath the night sky atop a spire.
Rihanna kept silent, eyes scanning the dark horizon on guard.
‘Is this earlier than before…?’ he wondered.
The wedding band still on her left hand told Isaac this was before she ever met Sharen.
The memories now seemed to flow backward, from future to past.
Rihanna’s red hair fluttered in the night breeze, its luster all but gone, the strands dry and brittle.
[Hoo… you look deeply troubled.]
Even when the voice rose behind her, Rihanna did not turn.
She simply stared blankly into the edge of the night—
As if on guard for an approaching Transcendent,
or perhaps waiting for someone dear who would never come.
Regant ten years hence was far more gaunt than the man Isaac remembered,
Yet the intelligence in his eyes ran deeper than ever.
Forged in crisis, he had learned to view the world from a statesman’s height.
[Are you still agonizing? Over whom to send back in time?]
[Agonizing…]
Rihanna echoed the word, as though questioning herself.
But she was no longer wrestling with the choice.
[I’ve already decided. I’m just… afraid.]
[Are you truly set on giving the regression to that so-called Silent sword? The Tower chose you. This regression belongs wholly to you.]
[…]
[Hah… honestly, I don’t understand.]
Neither moving closer nor farther, Regant remained in the role of counselor.
[The world is filled with people who’d pay a king’s ransom for the chance to return to the past.]
[…]
[You could correct every mistake you ever made. With your memories of the future, you could reap unimaginable gains.]
[…]
[Yes, the karma and the burden would be enormous—but it’s still something everyone secretly longs for. Frankly, I’m jealous myself.]
Regant shrugged, trying to lighten the mood, but Rihanna remained silent.
[Haa… what is the problem? If you could erase your own failures—]
[Even that—]
The raw truth spilled out, her voice as brittle as her hair.
Rihanna slowly turned her gaze to him.
[Even that would be selfish.]
[…]
[The wounds he suffered, the pain he endured, the growth he fought for—wiping it all away would still be selfish.]
[And who, exactly, would remember any of it?]
The question burst from Regant before he could stop himself, frustration leaking through.
[Can’t you shut your eyes—just once—and choose yourself? Is it even fair to call it selfish if no one will remember, and it would save the world—!]
[I can’t.]
Rihanna turned her body, signaling the conversation’s end.
[One more time.]
Her eyes squeezed shut, yet what she saw was the bleak reality before her.
[Just one more time.]
[…]
[I know that would be enough… but I simply cannot do it.]
Silence fell—so complete not even crickets dared chirp.
Without another word, Regant walked away.
He understood: the decision was already made.
Rihanna had said it from the very start—
The choice was made; it was only fear that remained.
Because her decision could not be overturned, Regant could do nothing but trust and let her be.
Rihanna opened her eyes again, gazing past the darkness.
The one small comfort was knowing she shared the same sky with him.
As those eyes scoured the night, she found herself dragged back to that day.
Their fifth year of marriage.
The dawn when Isaac, on a ruined leg, limped out of Helmut.
After losing that leg, Isaac locked himself away for a full year.
He lived on the food their friend Milli brought and saw no one.
Milli had told her:
[Isaac-nim doesn’t want Lady Rihanna to see him after losing even his last shred of hope.]
A swordsman with one leg had no hope left.
He felt utterly unworthy of Helmut.
Broken past fixing, Isaac couldn’t bear to face Rihanna.
So Rihanna simply waited—one silent year, outside that door.
And so, when he finally emerged and vanished into the predawn gloom, all she could do was let him go, lips pressed tight, praying he might somehow find happiness.
[Kk… hht…]
Tears welled.
Her ragged breath drifted into the cold night air.
Rihanna understood perfectly.
She could go back—
Back to her life with Isaac.
This time, she was sure she could make him happy.
She could erase her regrets, seize the life she wanted with him.
That is what regression was for—
To reclaim the happiness once lost, to rewind mistakes.
All it would take, as Regant had said, was to close her eyes once,
Act selfishly once.
Yet—
[I can’t.]
She could not be selfish with him a second time, because even that was still wishing for her own happiness.
Rihanna had chosen.
She was simply… afraid.
Because she knew—
[You… will surely leave me.]
The Isaac who went back would leave her.
[Hnn… hheuk…!]
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Her trembling body crumpled to its knees.
She was terrified.
Decision or no, she could not bring herself to act—
Because she knew he would leave her again.
And that fear was unbearable.
Her chest felt as though it would split.
Both hands clutched at her heart.
[Huk… hheuk, aaaah!]
For the first time in her life, she sobbed like a child.
Tears splattered on the floor; she wept and wept without end—
‘My lake.’
‘My lilac.’
‘And my Isaac.’
[D–don’t… hhn! Don’t go! Don’t leave meee! Haaang!]
‘Leave me behind.’
***
He thought his eyes were open, yet when Isaac blinked again he was back in the Mage-Tower.
Blank-faced, he slowly lifted his head.
The memories—future and past—
The emotions she had carried—
The secret of regression—
Everything snapped into place.
Ironically, he finally obtained the answer to the last question he had asked, the one that had gone unanswered—
In front of Rihanna’s coffin, looking upon her closed eyes, he had asked:
[Up to the very moment you died—]
…Were you still the great Helmut?
“No,” he whispered.
His head drooped; long bangs veiled his eyes.
A painful ache seeped out with the words.
“She wasn’t.”
In her final moment,
She was not the great Helmut.
To the very end,
Even as she swung that enormous greatsword,
Even as she breathed her last—
She was…
His wife.
– – The End of The Chapter ––
[TL: Man, all I can say… This is just too much for my heart to handle. Author Hyung is great 😭😭 ]
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