IMTMIA 2

Chapter 2

Translator: Rae

***

“...”

Staring blankly at the name, a faint, mocking smirk curled at Jude’s lips.

There could be countless women with the same name. It wasn’t common, but it wasn’t particularly rare either.

Jude moved his pen back over the document to sign, but for some reason, his hand refused to move.

"Tsk.”

Thwack— he tossed the pen down onto the desk.

Leaning back deep into his chair, he closed his eyes.

Idiot. The word slipped quietly from between his lips, directed at himself.

It was ridiculous to become shaken over nothing more than a shared name, even after being abandoned.

“Haa.”

With a long sigh, he gathered up the past and sat up straight again, picking up the pen.

There were mountains of documents to process, and many decisions still to be made.

And yet, he continued to put off signing the approval for the field hospital deployment.

*** 

“Ah, it's cold.”

Stepping outside, Asili blew out a puff of white breath and rubbed her hands together.

Her skin, which had been stripped raw by harsh disinfectants, stung a bit, but it couldn’t be helped if she wanted to prevent infection.

Asili stared blankly up at the night sky.

Perhaps the thick smoke had thinned, because she could just make out the round shape of the full moon.

“Haa.”

 

Her breath scattered into white fragments in the cold air. She still had charts left to organize, but her thoughts were in disarray, so she had come out to clear her head. It seemed like the right choice, as the feeling the cold wind had helped her think more clearly.

“Hup.”

Stretching her arms high, Asili began to walk.

In the military during wartime, where even time itself was controlled, going out at night after lights-out was restricted, but as a military doctor on duty, Asili had a bit more freedom to move around.

Thanks to that, she was able to reach a small building behind the military hospital without being hindered by anyone.

In fact, it was little more than a ruin, since the ceiling had collapsed from a bombing, but to Asili, it was a precious secret place.

When the moonlight poured down through the circular hole in the fallen ceiling, standing beneath it made her feel as if she were wrapped in light—comforted.

After going through long days of dealing with d*ath, it was a place she often came to when things were hard, but this time felt a little different.

Rather than exhaustion, it was the past she had consciously buried rising to the surface, which brought pain, and she wanted to escape it, even if it just a bit.

“Ah…”

But there was already someone there.

2. Reunion

The continent was currently at war, divided between the Allied Forces led by the Kingdom of Eupendea and the coalition centered around the Kingdom of Reisen.

It had been two years since the flames of war spread across the continent, inflicting unprecedented damage on both sides, but about three months ago, the tide began to turn after a successful southern ambush by the Kingdom of Reisen.

At the center of that operation was Jude Carlisle, Grand Duke of Eupendea and commander of the Allied Forces.

Riding that momentum, he pressed north toward Reisen with terrifying force, and decided to relocate the headquarters along the front line.

Several candidate locations had been rumored, and one of them was this very place, Siaren District, which was currently being used as a base hospital, where Asili was stationed.

‘Of all places…’

She thought she had managed to avoid him all this time as he moved across the battlefield as commander, but to run into him here, at the very end…

Even if they were stationed at the same base, how often would a commander and a mere military doctor cross paths? Still, the mere possibility made Asili tremble anxiously.

She must not catch his eye. And yet, the moment she saw the man stepping out of the car, she froze where she stood.

“Wow, what a sight for sore eyes.”

And it was true, even among the men in identical uniforms, he stood out unmistakably.

Perhaps it was his tall height and solid build, but even the black military uniform looked as though it had been tailored just for him.

Just then, when he turned his head in response to a general speaking to him, his face came into Asili’s view with striking clarity, as if etched into her vision.

Without realizing it, Asili searched for how much he had changed from the man in her distant memories.

His features—beneath neatly brushed platinum hair—were still as refined and beautiful as ever. But compared to the man she knew, they were sharper and colder.

"Welcome, Your Royal Highness.”
 

“How’s the preparation?”

“They may be lacking due to the short notice, but you should not be inconvenienced.”

He walked between the rows of soldiers with practiced ease, followed by his adjutant and the rest of the high command.

From a distance, groups of medical staff and support personnel—like Asili and Jenny—watched the scene unfold.

“Wow… I can’t believe we’re seeing Grand Duke Jude up close like this. He’s even more handsome than in the pictures, right?”

“...”

“What is it, Doctor? Are you that moved?”

Jenny grinned and nudged Asili’s side with her elbow. Considering that Asili always made sure to read Jude’s articles first in the weekly newspaper deliveries, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.

Though it wasn’t simple admiration as Jenny assumed, Asili didn’t bother correcting the misunderstanding.

She couldn’t bring up the past she had shared with Jude—and she had no right to.

It was the same even now.

Even as Jenny teased her, Asili simply stared at him instead of offering an excuse or a reply.

His back overlapped faintly with the man in her memories.

He had grown more robust and formidable than before, which befit both royal dignity and the authority of a commander.

If she had stayed in that mountain village, keeping her promise to him and not leaving his side, perhaps this was a side of him she would never have seen.

The man who, through sheer effort, had honed his military talent and led the war in the Allies’ favor, earning their respect.

So her decision to leave him had not been wrong.

If anything, it might have been something to feel proud of.

She was sure of it. But then, what was this heavy feeling now, pressing painfully against her heart?

“Now that His Highness the Grand Duke is so close by, you’ll withdraw your application to the field hospital, right? You can see him in person now instead of just in pictures.”

“I’m heading off, Jenny.”

“Huh? Where are you going? You have to come withdraw your application with me!”

Asili hurried away as if escaping the scene, and Jenny chased after her.

“Doctor! Hey, seriously, Doctor Asili!”

At last, Jenny’s high-pitched shout rang out, which gathered Jude’s attention.

Through the cluster of generals surrounding him, a flicker of long black hair briefly entered his sight, which vanished in an instant.

But his gaze soon shifted upward.

To him, the sky—thick with gray smoke, making visibility difficult—was far more concerning than a doctor and nurse who had already disappeared elsewhere.

"Your Excellency?”
 

"Let's go.”

Turning away as if it were nothing, he strode forward with decisive steps.

 

Even as he made his way to the command room, Jude issued a few brief orders before entering alone.

"...Haa.”
 

There were about thirty minutes left until the scheduled meeting.

He had planned to rest quietly and organize his cluttered thoughts, but the mountain of documents piled on his desk erased any desire for rest.

“...Well.”

At the final stage of the war, with the highest decision-makers of each nation beginning to discuss its end, Jude was endlessly busy commanding on the front lines.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had slept, and even in the car on the way here, he had been receiving reports and issuing orders.

But seeing the pile of paperwork before him, he knew he could no longer put it off.

Rubbing his tired eyes briefly, he immediately began reviewing documents and signing approvals.

Flipping through the pages indifferently, he signed them one by one—until he reached the final document: an order for assigning medical personnel.

Field hospitals were always short on staff, so whether volunteers or forced assignments, there was no reason to reject such requests.

At least—not until he saw a familiar name on the list.

『Asili Rosa』

A name that should have long since faded with time suddenly came back into sharp focus.

He had learned the owner of that name during his first time in battle. The one who saved him, gotten injured and left behind after an air raid, was Benjamin Rosa, Asili’s grandfather.

It had been a remote mountain village where newspapers didn’t even arrive on time. And at that time, Jude had kept his identity hidden, not revealing his face to conceal his participation as royalty in the war.

Even though he had acted curtly while hiding his identity, they had cared for him with sincere devotion.

Because of that connection, he ended up staying in their small cabin. When he had been drowning in fear during his first experience of war, it was thanks to Asili that he was able to overcome it.

“Did you know? You smile a lot more now.”

She probably hadn’t known it back then that he wasn’t someone who smiled easily. That it had only been because it was her.

And so, the name Asili had created the most brilliant moments of his life.

It didn’t stop there—it had also given him his most painful ones, to the point that even after all this time, they were memories he did not wish to recall.

***

Hello, thank you for reading! If you wish to support me and get extra chapter, please visit my kofi page: https://ko-fi.com/raewintersss and check out advance chapters at my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cw/raewinters or donate directly to my Paypal Account: @SeniaListya or [email protected]. Your supports are greatly appreciated!