When I Asked My Husband for a Divorce, He Said He’d Be Bringing Home a Young Woman, So I Left - 24

While I was being loved and cherished—utterly, overwhelmingly loved—and growing up healthy and strong, the times changed dramatically.

The long war against the monsters had finally come to an end.

The one who achieved this was a female Duel.

This woman had been protected in a temple as God’s beloved child before awakening as a Duel. Eventually, she distinguished herself on the frontlines, awakened, and became a vessel for the God of War.

After merging with the War God, she alone crossed into the dark abyss from which the monsters emerged, entering their world and annihilating them all, or so it is said.

She awakened at the age of twenty.

The trigger, they say, was witnessing her mentor—a Duel—grieving the loss of his beloved wife.

Ixel Duel.

The woman’s mentor.

Ixel Duel had begged the king for permission to use the healing light of the Duel—strictly forbidden outside the battlefield—just once, for his sick wife.

Considering Ixel Duel’s decade of service on the frontlines, the king consulted with neighboring nations and granted him a single exception to use the healing light outside combat.

But Ixel Duel’s wife passed away before he could reach her.

She had died mere minutes before his arrival.

The dead do not return to life.

No matter how much healing light he poured over her, Ixel Duel’s wife never opened her eyes again.

A cry of anguish.

Witnessing her mentor’s grief—so deep it seemed to carve into his very soul—the female Duel lamented her own powerlessness as an unawakened Duel. That sorrow turned to rage against the monsters, and she awakened as a vessel (Duel) capable of manifesting a god.

Thus, the female Duel, now embodying the War God, annihilated the monsters with divine might.

The entire continent rejoiced across nations, but the woman refused to be hailed as a hero or deified, forbidding even the recording of her name. It was said to stem from profound regret—that had she awakened sooner, more lives could have been saved.

With no more monsters crawling from their dark abyss, the frontlines were liberated. Yet the creatures already scattered across the land remained, ensuring the fight would continue.

The female Duel, without a trace of pride in her feat, set out on a journey to hunt the remaining monsters and still fights to this day.

Or so the official announcement claims.

Had I not remembered my past life or heard the gods’ stories, I might have believed it.

Not a word was mentioned about Ixel and Charlotte’s scandalous relationship—only that they were mentor and disciple.

Despite the rumors that once spread like wildfire, the information control was masterful.

I truly grew up well.

Perhaps influenced by my physical age, the sharp clarity of my newborn consciousness gradually faded, and within a few years, my mind matched my age.

Though I remember my past life, until recently, I hadn’t thought much about it.

Today, I turned eighteen.

I spent five years at the royal capital’s academy and graduated just last month.

Surrounded by friends, striving together—it was a truly joyful student life.

In my past life, I never attended an academy, so everything felt fresh.

I haven’t met Ixel in this life, not even once.

He never came to see me, and despite my searching, I couldn’t find him.

In the end, Ixel never relinquished his role as a Duel.

They say he chose to keep fighting the remaining monsters for as long as his body held out.

After returning the Ecklund territory to the royal family and ensuring the people’s lives stabilized, he vanished from the public eye.

For a time, I wondered if he was traveling with Charlotte, but that wasn’t the case.

Though not widely known in this country, Charlotte renounced her Duel status two years ago and married a man from a neighboring kingdom.

If she were still clinging to Ixel, she wouldn’t have married another.

How did I find out? Because her husband is the son of my mother’s family—a marquis’s household—making him my cousin, though we’ve never met.

Charlotte and I ended up as fairly close relatives.

Mother sighed, saying, “Our family is, well… unusually free-spirited for nobles,” but she didn’t oppose or protest.

For the son of a marquis tied to royalty to marry a commoner from another nation—even a Duel—was unthinkable elsewhere.

Since the countries are distant, it doesn’t directly affect us.

Mother judged it wasn’t worth making a fuss over, but the rest of the family (grandfather, father, brothers) raised a ruckus.

Mother silenced them brilliantly—her skill is something I truly admire.

Ixel must have been told by the gods that I was reborn.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have disappeared so thoroughly.

But Ixel has always been a bit careless.

When I was little, monsters still appeared in our county more often than elsewhere. Each time, a man would emerge from somewhere, slay them, and swiftly leave. It happened so frequently that I wondered if he lived here.

He must have left traces everywhere.

Ixel seems to be atoning—fighting monsters as long as he lives.

But he’s also determined to stay completely hidden from me, never letting me see or hear him. I can’t expect him to visit.

Eighteen years since my death. Twenty-eight since Ixel became a Duel—no one has ever served as a Duel for so long.

Since Charlotte annihilated the monsters in their world, no new Duel has appeared. With soldiers able to handle individual monsters in groups, perhaps the gods no longer see the need to lend their power.

Though imagining what those gods think is terrifying in itself.

Now that Charlotte has renounced her Duel status, Ixel is the last.

But I only learned this recently.

Though I searched whenever I could, my grandfather, father, and brothers made sure I never heard a word about Ixel.

I never considered he might be in our county, focusing instead on the old Ecklund lands—no wonder I couldn’t find him.

I never told my family about my past life. Even if I had, Charlotte is dead, and I’m alive.

But I suspect they’ve pieced it together from my behavior. Because while my doting family grants most of my wishes, they’ve always been the biggest obstacle when it comes to Ixel.

The moment I tried to investigate, they intercepted information, suppressed it, or fed me lies.

Because of this, I thought Ixel was just exceptionally good at hiding. But in truth, he was much closer than I imagined, watching over me.

That was Ixel’s answer.

My relentless search was mine.

He doesn’t want to meet me, but his resolve to protect me never wavered.

After being reborn and experiencing so much—with the added wisdom of a past life—I must see Ixel.

Enough of us wallowing in assumptions. Let’s face each other and settle this clearly.

So, I’m going to find him, grab him by the scruff, and make him listen.

Father and the others will be held back by Mother. She encouraged me, saying, “If he’s in the county, you won’t talk properly. Go to the royal domain with its big merchant houses.”

I’m eighteen now—a proper adult. With no fiancé (thanks to my brothers’ interference), I’m free to find my own spouse.

But I will demand answers—for the time he traveled with Charlotte when I went to the frontlines, for the letter ordering me to vacate my room for her, for ignoring me. I’ll press him to the end.

I ask only two things of my future spouse (Ixel). His sins, the unforgivable, the age gap—none of it matters.

If you love me, stay by my side.

Because I love you, let me stay by yours.

Let’s share love, pain, joy, and sorrow—laughing, crying, fighting, embracing, holding hands—until death.

I won’t give up until I make this stubborn man understand.

After that, let’s reclaim lost time in the flourishing royal domain (Ecklund), grow our family, and live peacefully.

Thank you for reading!

This concludes Charlotte’s perspective in the main story.