Looking back, there had been nothing like fate in our meeting.
Anette had been quite the romantic fatalist. She had long since abandoned such notions, but in her younger years, she had been one.
Her philosophy teacher had said that fate did not exist. Rather, the moment people accepted past coincidences as inevitabilities, they merely interpreted them as fate.
If the teacher's words were true, then it meant that even coincidence had been absent between us.
Anette stared dry-eyed at her maiden name written on the envelope. *Personal Letter for Miss Rosenberg.* The letter containing the full account of her family's downfall was utterly concise.
Thinking of the effort that had gone into obtaining this single sheet of paper, it was a lamentable matter. There had been a risk of communication devices being monitored, so they had been forced to exchange everything by handwritten correspondence.
Anette left the room holding the letter. Where her steps led was Heiner's office. Her husband, with whom she was now in her fourth year of marriage. Padania's young Commander-in-Chief.
Having arrived in front of the office, Anette knocked on the door without hesitation. And before a word of permission to enter could even return, she flung the door open.
Considering how Anette usually acted carefully, mindful of his moods and trying not to displease him, it was an unprecedented act.
Heiner raised his head as if to confirm who this rude person was. After confirming it was Anette, his eyebrows rose slightly as if surprised, but there was no further change in emotion.
Anette walked right up to his desk and held out the letter.
"Will you read it?"
She asked in the same kind and docile tone as always. However, Heiner did not even spare a glance at the letter.
"Madam, I am busy now, so it would be best to speak later."
Having spoken in a businesslike manner, he turned his eyes back to the documents. The sound of a pen scratching against paper could be heard. Anette slowly lowered the hand that had held the letter.
"Heiner. I went through quite a bit of trouble digging into your past, you know."
Click. Heiner's pen stopped.
"Father passed away, but that doesn't mean all his close associates are dead. They and I are very well acquainted. So it wasn't impossible."
"...Madam."
The low call contained a warning. It also demanded an explanation. But to Anette, it was merely laughable. She was not the one who needed to explain.
"I've always wondered. Why you treat me the way you do."
"..."
"Why do you do this to me? The person who loved me so dearly when we were lovers, why did you change like this? Feelings can fade, but isn't this too much?"
"..."
"But now I know."
Anette smiled calmly. Heiner's face, looking up at her, still bore no expression, but somewhere in it, he looked a little pale.
"From the beginning, you approached me on purpose?"
"...That is correct."
"You aren't surprised that I know."
"I thought you would find out someday."
The encounter she had believed to be fate had all been under his direction. From beginning to end, she had been dancing to his tune.
"I see..."
Haha. Anette laughed briefly.
"It must have been hard pretending to love the daughter of your enemy."
They had married after two years of courtship. Count Dietrich, Anette's father, was the nephew of King Piete, and Anette was of royal blood.
Count Dietrich was one of Padania's five generals, and Heiner Valdemar was a legion commander under him. Having married his superior's daughter, Heiner had risen swiftly through the ranks.
Everything had been perfect. Everything had appeared perfect.
The happiness she had thought would last forever quickly showed its end. Before their newlywed life had even ended, the monarchy collapsed at the hands of the revolutionary army, and a free government was established.
It was around that time that Heiner, who had been a wonderful and affectionate husband, changed his attitude completely.
"When I heard that you had cooperated with the revolutionary army and contributed to establishing the new government, rising to Commander-in-Chief of the army on that condition, I was truly shocked. Because that was virtually betraying my father."
"..."
"Still, I believed in you. If that was the tide of the times, I thought it must have been a choice you had to make to protect yourself... and for the greater cause. Even if it meant killing my father."
The Anette of the past had known nothing of politics. Things like the free government, the revolutionary army, and the royal family had been outside her sphere.
But with the fall of the monarchy, a barrage of criticism rained down on House Rosenberg. Her father was murdered by the revolutionary army, and her mother committed suicide. From that moment, all of this had become thoroughly Anette's affair.
"The assumption that you, who had been with the revolutionary army from the start, approached me on purpose... it wasn't that I didn't make it, but that I couldn't. Because if that were true, there would truly be nothing left for me. The only thing I could do was believe in you."
After that, she had lived holding her breath. She couldn't even go outside. The moment she stepped out, it felt as though all manner of censure from the citizens would pour down on her.
Royal blood. The daughter of General Dietrich, who had oppressed the revolutionary army and the citizens. A detestable woman who had lived in luxury atop blood.
Simply breathing did not mean she was alive. The only one she could depend on was her husband, but Heiner had long since had a change of heart. He was busy and indifferent, and at times he seemed to despise her.
"I tried so hard to somehow turn back your changed heart. Foolishly. When in fact, you had never changed."
"..."
"You simply had never loved me from the very beginning."
Heiner merely stared at her, rigid as a stone statue. It was a face impossible to read. He had always been so.
Anette had once thought she knew Heiner very well as a beloved lover, but in truth, it had all been lies and illusions.
"Is it possible that I am mistaken?"
"...No."
"Then say something, Heiner. I need to hear the truth directly from you."
Heiner seemed a little surprised that harsh words had come from her mouth. A brief silence followed. Eventually, he opened his mouth.
"I was trained as a spy at a military education institution supervised by your father."
A military education institution. Anette had heard of it before.
Two years ago, it had been quite the scandal when it was revealed that trainees had been secretly nurtured on an island under the royal family's direction. The list had been kept confidential to protect the trainees' human rights.
However, that Heiner was an alumnus of that place was news to her.
"Training, drugs, violence, confinement... every method necessary for nurturing was employed. Your father was pleased that I had graduated at the top of the class and took me in personally."
Old stories flowed from his mouth.
Heiner had served as a military spy and distinguished himself. In the process, he had been tortured several times and faced life-threatening crises, but those were things he had to endure.
Anette's father—Dietrich Rosenberg—had preemptively eliminated spies who posed a threat to his person or who were at risk of exposure. They had been Heiner's classmates and comrades as well.
In any case, most operations had succeeded. Heiner's contributions had been great in Dietrich's rise to the position of general. Heiner ended his life as a spy and began to work openly under the regime.
"...But I hated Dietrich and the royal family, so I aided the revolutionary army in establishing the current government. My approach to you was also part of the plan. That is all."
Heiner's words sounded more like a report than an explanation. The letter crumpled slightly in Anette's grip. Her smile vanished as her lips moved.
"In the targets of that hatred."
"..."
"Am I included as well?"
Their gazes tangled in the air. Anette wished he would answer no, even if it were a lie.
After all, everything from beginning to end had been a lie; what difference would one more lie make?
"Six years ago."
From him flowed a voice as dry and harsh as moistureless sand.
"In the Bwinhen Operation, the last mission in which I was deployed as a spy, three comrades died, and the remaining two were eliminated by Dietrich. Having survived alone like that... I was invited to enter the Rosenberg mansion."
Anette remembered that day as well. The moment she had felt affection for him, smiling at her in the middle of the rose garden in full bloom, was vivid.
"I saw you in the mansion's rose garden, laughing, draped in jewels and a splendid dress. You mourned 'those who had given their lives for the country' as if bestowing some great benevolence. I thought something was terribly wrong. As for whether you are included in the objects of my hatred?"
A strange light flickered across Heiner's gray eyes.
"Yes."
The answer fell cleanly.
"I hate you."
Ah. Anette soundlessly parted and closed her lips. The fog in her head cleared. She had clearly wished he would say no, but having heard the truth, she felt rather relieved.
"I see."
Anette murmured, lowering her head.
"So it was...."
It was a simple matter. Heiner Valdemar hated Anette Rosenberg. He had merely approached the object of his hatred for the sake of revenge. And she, not knowing any of this, had loved him.
"Then this should be easy."
Anette took a step back.
Her crushed pride and betrayed heart cried out in pain, but she forcibly ignored them. Hoping her voice would not tremble, she spoke clearly.
"Divorce me, Heiner."
"I refuse."
"You have shattered the trust of our marriage. It is suitable grounds for divorce."
"I said I refuse."
"Is there still any use left for me? My father and mother are dead, the monarchy has fallen, and I have nothing. The only thing I have is what I possess as Heiner Valdemar's wife. Your revenge is over—...!"
Heiner slowly rose from his seat. His large body seemed to grow endlessly taller. Anette raised her head to look up at him.
His figure, standing with the light from the window at his back, was shrouded in shadow. Anette felt a chill without realizing it and tried to take another step back.
"Madam."
Before she could take a step, his outstretched hand seized Anette's chin.
"Where do you think you're going to be happy?"
"...There is nowhere I can be happy."
"Then this should be easy."
Repeating Anette's words, Heiner smiled, pulling at the corners of his mouth. Deep dimples formed on both cheeks following that cold smile.
"If that's the case anyway, be unhappy by my side for the rest of your life."
Behind him, the crimson sunset glowed eerily. In that blood-red light resembling the entrance to hell, Anette suddenly realized.
Heiner's revenge was not over.