Edited by: bafflinghaze
All love stories begin somewhere.
It may be under a lampost, the glowing night pearl shining a spotlight in the dark.
Or perhaps a wedding hall, where bride and groom meet for the first time due to circumstances outside their control and thanks to several life and death situations they find themselves in, they ultimately realize that the marriage is good and they’re in love.
Sometimes, love stories happen in the Magic Tower–two individuals bumping into each other because they weren’t paying attention, too busy thinking up new ways to enhance the mirror messaging system.
Other times, a love story begins with a contract. But again, under mysterious life-and-death circumstances, the lovers are drawn closer to each other with every disaster that strikes.
For the famous Odum couple, it was none of these oddly specific options.
Wartime was no time for romance and passion. Only when the violence and brutality end will two youths come together to form a union.
So their story started here.
In the trenches of No-Mans Land; Lesser Krieg War; Final Year.
“Aghhh!”
“…Ughhhhh…”
“Help…! Help–”
Boom!
Schpk!
Cling!
“Get out of the way! Get out–aghhh!!”
“No! Captain!”
“M-monster–ugh!”
Vespera kicked the body away.
The head fell a few feet away while the body crumpled to the ground.
Her regiment had been stationed at the frontlines for months. The Polska Nation largely focused their invasion of the Empire here. The border was once a forest with flowing rivers and trees, but it was now reduced to ash.
A young sergeant approached her and saluted, “Commander, we secured the area and pushed most of the enemy foot soldiers back into their trenches. What now?”
Vespera flicked the blood off her saber, a ruthless light flashing in her eyes.
“We will water the grounds with their blood,” she said, her voice heavy with resentment, “the land must be fed.”
The young sergeant swallowed, feeling choked by the merciless words.
The air was heavy with death, but it was nothing compared to his Commander’s bloodlust.
He saluted and left to go send words back to their fellow soldiers.
At the forefront of the battle, Vespera cleaned off the remaining stragglers and witnessed the encroaching fleet of floating canons piloted by magicians.
The young woman scoffed. As if sorcery and machinery ever stopped her blade.
Within hours, she’d rendered the canons useless, utilizing her magic pistol and lifeline to shoot them down before slashing their stabilizers and blowing up the mana cores.
For the magicians, she made sure they were torn to pieces by the edge of her saber.
“Commander! We have to fall back! They have bombs!”
One of the foot soldiers ran beside her, barely keeping up with her speed. He was smart to stick to her blindspot, taking shelter in it while she decapitated a slew of enemies in a row.
“We will continue to fight,” she ordered, shoving her saber into the stomach of another brave enemy who dared to run at her with his blades drawn.
Dual swords. Nice.
She snatched them out of the dying man’s grasp and handed them to the foot soldier.
The young man took it with the grace of a new recruit, which was none, and made a valiant attempt to guard her side.
“But Commander! The enemies have hidden Dark Mana Bombs in the fields!” The soldier objected, ducking the swipe of a spear and letting Vespera cut the offender down.
She glared at the cowardly foot soldier.
“Then evacuate the premises. Those who still have the will to fight, we will fight until our last breath.”
“Commander…”
“This land must be fed,” she said again.
The foot soldier looked conflicted. Vespera ignored him, stabbing a bunch of people who stupidly thought their numbers could dominate her superior strength.
When she turned back for an answer, the man looked more determined. “I’ll send the strategic team. They should have people who know how to dismantle bombs!” He proceeded to run off like a martyr.
Vespera snorted.
—
Vespera surveyed the battlefield from where she stood, atop a hill of magic canons that were nothing more than scrap metal now.
Her army was made up of five-thousand special force soldiers. She trained them all by herself.
There were only half of them left, either lost to death or the mana bomb evacuation.
The Polska Nation brought over twenty-thousand soldiers, but her soldiers decimated them down to a mere few thousand.
Now, the only problem was the Dark Mana Bombs.
She needed to find them.
“Wait, what?”
The soldier who was informed of her plan stared at her with a dumb face.
“But, Commander… I thought you didn’t know how to deactivate mana bombs.”
She shot him a glare.
“I will throw them into the enemy trenches.”
The soldier sputtered, “That’s a war crime!”
Trenches were generally off-limits.
But so was the usage of Dark Mana Bombs.
Vespera was about to retort but was soon distracted by the glint of a knife.
She sliced the flying dagger in half with her saber and threw her sword at the enemy, removing their torso from their waist, before it boomeranged back into her hand–blade-first.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Vespera flipped her saber around and gave the soldier a look.
“I can do it.”
That cold face splattered in enemy blood was so terrifying, the soldier almost wanted to cry out for his mother.
“… Okay…”
Vespera entrusted the soldier to help evacuate their own people before running for the heart of the battlefield.
More Polska soldiers were decimated like mere vegetables as she drew a bloody river on the field.
The sight was so horrifying that the Polska soldiers–the smart ones–all decidedly got out of her way and retreated, in fear of being split into six pieces.
Vespera didn’t pay them any mind as long as they got out of her way.
Where would they hide the detonator?
Vespera charged around the field like a madman, disposing of anyone who got in her way.
The air in the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
Vespera’s hands clenched around her saber.
Was the bomb going off–
Wait–
No.
This was… a teleportation device?
Suddenly, she sensed three people appearing near the center of the field.
“Attention all soldiers! You must retreat from this area! Attention all soldiers! You must retreat from this area!”
An evacuation alarm covered the circumference of the area.
In the center of it were three men.
A blonde, a ginger, and a raven.
It sounded like the beginning of a poorly timed job.
She caught snippets of what they were saying as she approached.
“… Can you do it, Eubulous?”
“I think… Red wire… Green…”
“Gareth! Do you have…”
“… Wait… Let Lucian… Blue…”
“Can I throw it in their trench?”
The last person who spoke had a voice like ice. Cold, glacier-like.
Vespera’s focus immediately locked in on the man with black ink hair.
He was the prettiest man she’d ever seen.
“No! Do you want to commit a war crime?!”
Vespera was right behind them when this question was asked, and before she could stop herself, she proudly declared, “I will gladly do it.”
Two of the three men scream in unison.
She tilted her head in confusion. Was it something she said?
They all turn to her as one.
The third man–the one with the icy voice, just stared at her with unnaturally blue eyes.
Like sapphire jewels.
She blinked at the thought. That was… rather poetic. Especially coming from her…
“We got it!”
Blonde yelled out a victory cry, cutting an intricate wire on a black, box-like metal object that she could only assume was a small bomb that would trigger the larger ones buried in the field.
The timer on it died.
Ginger folded a large sheet of paper with the words “How To Deactivate Dark Mana Bomb Activators” together in relief.
Vespera felt rather disappointed at this.
Looking at Sapphire Eyes, it seemed he felt the same.
“Oh, thank the gods,” Ginger cried before he glared at Sapphire Eyes. “Gareth! We do not have the capacity to commit any more war crimes!”
Sapphire Eyes looked away, properly chastised.
Blonde smirked, “Give the kid a break, Luci. It’s all that restless energy making him violent.”
“Don’t call me that!” Ginger snapped.
Sapphire Eyes retorted quickly, “Eubulous, you shanked your commanding officer… yesterday.”
“He was making the female soldiers uncomfortable.”
“What a violent old man. You should have blackmailed him first.”
“You brat!”
Ginger seemed to have lost his patience at this point. “That’s enough, you two. We have to get going–”
“Ahhhh!”
All of a sudden, a vengeful Polska soldier ran at them with his sword. His target? Sapphire Eyes.
It was sudden and no one had the time to react.
Except for Vespera.
–Who promptly threw her saber into the soldier’s face, cutting it in half with a satisfying schlik.
Her saber returned to her after making a wide half-circle, swiftly cutting down whichever Polska soldier was in the way.
Vespera caught her blade by the hilt this time and smiled viciously.
She turned back to the three men proudly.
Blonde gaped while Ginger looked at her wryly.
It was the usual reaction she expected.
“May I… may I ask you for your name, my Lady?”
Vespera’s gaze landed on Sapphire Eyes.
The man had the strangest expression on his face.
—
Gareth was in love.
This violent woman just sliced a bunch of people into three parts to protect them and now he was in love.
Not just love, but a once-in-a-lifetime, palpitating, heart-stopping, rapid-breathing, sort of love.
“May I… may I ask you for your name, my Lady?”
She looked at him with her ax-murderer-like face, stained with the blood of her enemies.
She bathed in the color red and he loved it.
The deadly and handsome lady flicked remnants of blood off her blade before sheathing it. Once that was done, she faced him.
“Vespera Arcadia. Daughter of General Arcadia, sister to Malark and Ortho Arcadia, and sister-in-law to Artho Arcadia. Captain of the Special Forces and Leading Commander.”
What a detailed introduction.
She was a child of the Arcadia family!
That explained everything!
(It actually explained nothing.)
“I’m Gareth… of the Odum Family.”
She nodded, meeting his gaze with heavy intent, “I have come to that conclusion myself.”
Wow. Her deductive skills were so great. She managed to figure out which family he was from!
(As if sapphire blue eyes and raven black hair weren’t the signature colorings of a Duke’s family. One Duke’s family out of two in the entire Empire.)
“Oh… That’s… That’s very intelligent of you. Not only that, but you are exceptional with the blade.”
“I have been training since young, my Lord. How long have you?”
“I can’t say the same for myself. I specialize mostly in blackmail… and bombs.”
“Oh? That is quite the talent, my Lord…”
—
Eubulous Elysium stared hard at this awkward interaction between the most annoying kid he’d ever had the displeasure of working with, and the most horrifying woman he’d ever had the misfortune of encountering.
“Are they… are they flirting?”
Lucian eyed the two with a taut smile. “I believe so.”
“Should we… go introduce ourselves?”
They watched as the woman spoke of her brother poisoning one of the top officials in the Polska Nation while Gareth listened with an enraptured face.
“Let’s give them a minute. Didn’t you say the kid wasn’t a virgin?”
—
Vespera didn’t know why she was talking so much. She usually had a set word count, but this man… she wanted to make sure this man stayed.
In her head, she has already designated him as her husband-to-be.
“Kid, we have to get going. You can bring… um… Lady Arcadia? That is–if you are alright with coming with us, my lady.”
Blonde seemed almost nervous talking to her, which wasn’t very strange. Vespera had gotten used to others’ reactions after she made it back from her first suicide mission.
Gareth faces her, “Will you come with us? We can give you a ride back to the trenches.”
She almost said she could run back–but then, that meant less time with her husband.
“I accept your offer.”
Turning to the other two men, she saw Ginger trying hard to smile, but one could clearly see tears about to leak from his eyes.
“I won’t kill you. You are not an enemy,” she explained.
“Let’s… let’s just go…”
He raised the teleportation device.
Then they were gone.
—
“These are my teammates,” Gareth told his future bride-to-be.
“Eubulous Elysium, my Lady. A pleasure.”
“Lucian Moores…”
Vespera’s eyes lit up with recognition.
“So you’re Lydia’s little lover.”
“Eh?”
Vespera blinked, “You’re Lydia’s lover, yes? She is one of my lieutenants in the special forces. I sent her on an espionage mission a few weeks ago.”
“You’re the leader of the Butcher’s Knife,” Lucian said with realization.
“Yes. The mission was successful, so worry not. She is on her way back to base.”
Lucian looked almost relieved at the news–and then he smiled wide like an idiot lamb.
“Yes, yes. I’m Lydia’s lover. Her only lover. I’m the best lover!”
Eubulous shook his head in amusement.
“And you?” Vespera asked the blond.
“What?”
“Do you have a lover waiting at home?”
The older man scoffed. “Kid, I’ve got seven kids from different mothers and a pregnant lady about to deliver my eighth one any day now. I have no need for a lover.”
“Ah… I see.”
She didn’t see, but it was none of her business what the Elysium Family did. Now… what of her husband-to-be?
Gareth, as if sensing the question at the tip of her tongue, shook his head.
“I have no lover, no fiancee, no childhood sweetheart, and no mistresses. My family does not need concubines or consorts. I lost my virginity, but that was by accident. My friends dragged me to a brothel after my graduation and got me drunk. You won’t have to worry about bastard children because my family can’t conceive children unless we undergo a ritual. I am single, a bachelor, and an available marriage candidate waiting for love.”
Ignoring Lucian and Eubulous’ judgemental gaze, Gareth shamelessly revealed his personal dating history as if he was at a matchmaker’s office.
Vespera nodded in approval.
Amazingly, Gareth fitted all the criteria of a good husband.
She stepped forth, “I don’t mind bastard children, but I require my husband to be mine and mine alone. We only met recently–”
(“Recently my ass. It’s only been an hour.”)
“–But I find that I hold strong feelings for a man like you.”
Gareth looked almost elated behind his glacial mask.
“Then… does this mean what I think it means?”
Vespera nodded.
She pulled out her saber and chucked it to the side. It clanged loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the trench.
Then, she got down on one knee and took Gareth’s smooth, pale hand in her scarred one.
“Gareth Odum,” Vespera uttered his name with reverence.
(“Oh, by the gods. They are really doing this…”)
(“Shut up, Eubulous. This is their moment.”)
(“Why the hell are you crying?!)
“Yes?” Gareth stared, wide-eyed.
Vespera gazed deeply into those sapphire eyes.
“Will you give me the honor to court you?”
Silenced reigned.
And then–
“Yes! Yes! A million times yes!”
He brought her to her feet and held her in his arms, spinning her around as if they’d won the war.
All the soldiers laid witness to their foolishness and couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
THE Gareth Odum.
THE Vespera Arcadia.
Acting like it was their wedding day.
The audacity.
They shook their heads, feeling pity for the two of them. Many experts predicted the war would go on for another five years. Surely, the young lovers will fall out of love sooner or later.
Meanwhile, unaware of everyone’s thoughts, Vespera cackled in laughter as she allowed her future husband to spin her around.
—
The Lesser Kreig War was officially over a week later.
The Polska Nation watched the magic recording of Vespera and her army killing their soldiers like they were vegetables on the chopping block, stared in petrified horror at the mountains of metal scraps that used to be their magic canons, and wordlessly surrendered to the Empire.
Vespera brought honor to the Arcadia Family as the living legend (Butcher/Serial Killer/Ax Murderer) on the battlefield. She was welcomed home as a war hero.
Malark Arcadia, her older brother, eloped with a healer from the Polska Nation, which meant her second older brother and brother-in-law had to leave with him.
Thankfully he chose to elope after the war and not before.
The Arcadia Family accepted the marriage, happy their son and heir was not blinded by love and fulfilled his duties to the best of his abilities despite his whirlwind romance with the healer.
Gareth returned home and became the new Duke of Odum. His responsibilities rapidly increased like rabbits in heat. The Dowager Odum couple decided to travel the world together as a retirement gift to themselves. They were never seen again.
Eubulous survived three assassinations on the month-long march back to the capital for the welcome home ceremony. He made it back just in time for the birth of his eighth child, Augustus.
Lucian and Lydia reunited. Lydia returned to the Moores Household, not as a maid, but as Lucian’s fiancee. The Dowager Earl and Countess of Moores were highly disappointed with their son. They died in a tragic carriage accident a week later. Lucian and Lydia had their wedding a month later.
Emperor Platus married Lady Octavias, daughter of the Glendavius Barony–which was a distant branch of the Arcadia Family.
She was given the title of Emperor’s Sword during the war, and despite her marriage, would remain his Sword until the day she died.
As was tradition, Eubulous presided over Vespera and Gareth’s wedding.
Friends and family were invited to the after-ceremony a month later to officially celebrate the newlyweds.
The guest list included the Emperor and Empress, the Elysiums, the Deerborns, the Moores, the Dagons, the Benedicks, the Rickmans, the Meyers, the Dogstars, the Fleur de Lises, the Peregrines, the representatives of the Church, and so many other people who Gareth and Vespera called their friends.
It was a generation of veterans mostly in the same age group and they’ve been repressed for too long.
With there being no war to put all their focus on, the after-ceremony was THE MOST epic party ever attended by a group of dignified nobles.
They were “partying it up” like it was the end of the world.
Drinking, dancing, loud music, and having an amazing time.
Regrets would be felt in the morning…
“A duel!” Someone declared, met by raucous cheers.
Swords were drawn and Vespera was already eyeing all her possible opponents.
“I got bombs!”
Non-combatants rushed over to see the goods.
It was Lucian who raised a glass to the sky.
The stars were out and the night was long.
People were dancing, fighting, perhaps running for their lives from a bomb with maybe thirty seconds left before detonating.
“TO LIFE!”
And the cheers erupted, loud and brash.
They could worry about what was to come tomorrow.
Today, they lived. They lived, and they laughed, and they enjoyed the peace.
The world stopped spinning for them until dawn.
The author has something to say:
Welcome to the first Extra of Volume I. As requested by one of my readers, this one is about the Odum Couple. Now, the title of the extra is, in my opinion, very poetic. Do you guys know what “Gareth” and “Vespera” mean?
Too bad that the chapter doesn’t vibe the same way as its title…
Eh. A Literal Bloody Couple. But there was a bastard child
Gentle my a**😅
Thank you for the chapter ☺️
Gareth means gentle and Vespera means evening stars
Love the meet-cute in the middle of the battlefield 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Omg 1 hr and they already started courting each other im cryingggg
So, why was Gareth disapproving of Nazareth’s contacts, if for two of them he chilled with their dads in his youth?
It’ll be clear in about ten or so chapters ^^. Gareth never explicitly stated he disapproved. That’s just Neo’s assumption (¬‿¬).
The way the Dowager Odum couple just said: “gbye bitch, see you never” and dumped all the responsibilities to Gareth 😭😭😭
This is so sweet, funny, wholesome, and heartwarming. It’s like a firefly in a dark swamp. The swamp maybe stinky and full of cruel predators, but they continue to give light to live in the moment.
Its beautiful and all, but as soon as I remembered that I have self- isolation as coping mechanism, it hits me that I could NEVER, EVER have this kind of beautiful relationship 😭