Chapter 1: CH 1

In retrospect, there was no such thing as fate in their meeting.

Annette was quite the romantic fatalist. She had long since abandoned such notions now, but she was when she was younger.

Her philosophy teacher told her that there was no such thing as fate. Only the moment one accepts the inevitability of a passing coincidence, one interprets it as fate.

If the words were right, it meant  there was not even a coincidence between them.

Annette looked dryly at her maiden name written on the envelope.

“Rosenberg’s Biography,” a brief letter describing the events that led to her family’s downfall.

It was pitiful, considering the effort that had gone into obtaining this one piece of paper. The correspondence had to be handwritten because of the fear of being monitored.

Annette left the room with the letter. Her steps took her to Heiner’s office. Her husband, who she had been married to for four years. The young commander-in-chief of Padania.

Arriving in front of his office, Annette knocked on the door without hesitation. Then, before she was even told to come in, she gulped and opened the door.

This was unusual considering that Annette usually acted cautiously to avoid offending him by watching his countenance.

Heiner raised his head as if trying to see who the rude person was. His eyebrows rose a little in surprise after he identified Annette, but there was no further change of emotion.

Annette walked over to the desk and held out the letter.

“Would you like to read it?” She asked in her usual good-natured, soft-spoken tone. But Heiner did not even give the letter a glance. He turned to his papers again as he spoke clerically, “Ma’am, I’m busy right now, so I’d prefer to have this conversation later.”

The pen moved over the paper, making a crunching sound. Annette slowly lowered the hand that had received the letter.

“Heiner. I’ve had a hard time digging up your past.”

Thump. Heiner’s pen stopped.

“My father is dead, but that doesn’t mean that everyone in his entourage is dead. They and I know each other very well. So it wasn’t impossible.”

“…… madam,” the low voice contained a warning. It also meant demanding an explanation. But to Annette it was comical. Because she was not the one who should be explaining.

“I’ve always wondered,” she said. Why are you doing this to me?”

“…”

“Why do you do this to me? Why has the person who loved me so much when we were lovers changed so much? They say that the heart can grow cold, but still, isn’t this just too much?”

Annette smiled calmly, “But I understand now.”

Heiner’s face as usual was expressionless as he looked up at her, but he was somewhat a little pale.

“From the beginning, you approached me on purpose, didn’t you?” (Annette)

“…Yes.”

“You’re not surprised by the fact that I knew.”

I knew you would find out someday.”

All the meetings that Annette thought were fate were under Heiner’s control.

She was at the mercy of that plan from beginning to end.

“Is it so…” haha. Annette gave a short laugh. “It must have been hard pretending to love the enemy’s daughter.”

They got married after two years of dating. Annette’s father, Marquis Dietrich, was a nephew of King Piete, and Annette was of royal descent.

Marquis Dietrich was one of the five generals in the Padania army, and Heiner Valdemar was a commander under the Marquis. Heiner, who had married the daughter of his superior, quickly rose to victory.

Everything was perfect. Everything seemed perfect. Happiness, which she thought was eternal, quickly came to an end.

Before the honeymoon was over, the monarchy was overthrown by the revolutionary army and a free government was established.

It was around that time that Heiner, who had been a wonderful and kind husband, suddenly changed his attitude.

“I was very surprised when I heard that you helped the revolutionary army to establish the new government, and that you became commander-in-chief of the army on that condition. In effect, you betrayed my father.”

“—”

“But I trusted you. I thought that if the times were such, it was a choice you had to make to protect yourself…… and the cause. Even if it meant killing my father,” said Annette, who once knew nothing of politics.

The free government, the revolutionary army, and the royal family were outside her sphere of knowledge. But with the fall of the monarchy, the Rosenberg family bore the brunt of the blame. Her father was killed by the revolutionary army, and her mother committed suicide. From then on, all of this was thoroughly Annette’s business.

“The assumption that you, a revolutionary from the beginning, approached me on purpose….

not that you didn’t, but that you couldn’t. Because if that’s true, I really have nothing left. Because all I could do was trust you.”

Since then, she had lived her life holding her breath. She couldn’t even go outside. The moment she stepped outside, she was subjected to all kinds of accusations from the public.

Royal blood. The daughter of  Marquis Dietrich, the military general who oppressed the revolutionary army and civilians. The abominable woman, fed on blood.

Even though she was alive, she was not living.The only person she could count on was her husband, but Heiner had long since changed his mind. He was always busy, indifferent, and sometimes seemed to despise her.

“I tried somehow to change your changed mind. Foolishly. When, in fact, you haven’t changed at all—–”

“…”

“It’s just that you never loved me in the first place.”

Heiner only stared at her, sitting still like a stone statue. He had an unknown face. He always had.

Annette had once thought she knew Heiner very well as her beloved lover, but in fact it was all a lie and a false image.

“Am I wrong?”

“….No.”

“Then say something, Heiner. I need to hear the truth from you.”

Heiner seemed a little surprised to hear the harsh words come out of her mouth. A moment of silence followed. Eventually he opened his mouth.

“I was trained to be a spy for the military training institution supervised by your father.”

Military training institutions. Annette had also heard about it.

It was two years ago, when the revelation of the secret training of trainees on the island under the leadership of the royal family caused a stir. To protect the trainees’ human rights, the list had been kept private.

However, it was the first time she learned that Heiner had been a trainee there.

“Training, drugs, torture, confinement… every method necessary for training was mobilized. I graduated at the top of my class, and they were happy with me, so your father took me in.”

Old stories flowed from his mouth.

Heiner was an active and accomplished military spy. In the process, he was tortured several times and nearly died, but that was something he had to accept.

Annette’s father – Dietrich Rosenberg – was the first to remove the spies who were threatened or in danger of being discovered.

They were Heiner’s peers and associates. In any case, the operation was mostly successful. Dietrich’s rise to the rank of general was largely due to Heiner.

Heiner ended his spy career and began working in earnest in the shadow of the regime.

He said, “…… But I hated Dietrich and the royal family, so I helped the revolutionary army to establish the current government. Getting close to you was part of the plan. That’s it.”

Heiner’s words were more like a report than an explanation. The letter crumpled slightly in Annette’s hand. Her lips pressed in a thin light as it lost the smile.

“The object of your hatred……”

“….”

“Am I included?”

Their gazes met in the air. Annette hoped he would answer no, even if it was a lie. Because everything was a lie from start to finish anyway, and adding one more lie wouldn’t change anything.

“Six years ago.”

A voice flowed from Heiner as dry as  desert sand.

“Three of my comrades were killed in the last Munich operation in which I was sent in as a spy, and the other two were eliminated by Dietrich. As such, I survived alone…then I was invited to enter the Rosenberg residence.”

Annette also remembered that day. She had a vivid moment of liking him as he smiled at her in the middle of a rose garden in full bloom.

“I saw you smiling in the rose garden of the mansion, wearing jewels and a fancy dress. You mourned “those who gave their lives for the country” as if you were performing a great favor. I thought something was wrong. Are you included in the hatred, you asked?”  A different color hazed in Heiner’s gray eyes. The answer fell cleanly, “Yes.”

Annette opened and closed her lips quietly, rendering speechless.

“I hate you.” (Heiner)

His answer cleared the fog from her head. She certainly wanted him to say no, but it felt rather refreshing to hear the truth.

“Okay,” Annette mumbled, her voice low. “I see…”

It was simple. Heiner Valdemar hated Annette Rosenberg. He only approached the object of his hatred for revenge. And she loved him without knowing it.

“Then it should be easy.” Annette stepped back. Her crushed pride and betrayed heart ached, but she tried her best to ignore it. Hoping that her voice would not tremble, she said articulately. “I’m divorcing you, Heiner.”

“It is not granted.”

“You have broken the trust in our marriage. That is a suitable reason for divorce.”

“I said it is not granted.”

“Do you still have any use left for me? My father and mother are dead, the monarchy has fallen, and I have nothing. All I have is what I had as Heiner Valdemar’s wife. Your revenge is over ……!”

Heiner slowly stood up. His large body rose endlessly higher. Annette looked up at him. He stood with his back to the light shining through the window, his figure immersed in shadow.

Horrified, Annette tried to take another step back. But before she could step away, his hand reached out and grabbed her chin.

“Madam,” he said. “Where do you intend to go to be happy?”

“…… there is nowhere I can be happy.”

“Then it should be easy.” Heiner’s lips stretched into a smile as he repeated Annette’s words. Deep dimples dug into both cheeks with a cold smile.

“If that’s the case anyway, you’ll be unhappy by my side for the rest of your life.”

The red sunset light behind him glowed eerily. Amidst the red blood-like entrance to hell, Annette suddenly realized that Heiner’s revenge was not over.