IYAMD: Episode 13

Marsilia stared intently at Jaha’s unmoving hand. His lowered gaze seemed to carry a multitude of thoughts.

Jaha, who had been watching him quietly, moved his hand. Even if his physical condition wasn’t the worst, continuing to starve himself wasn’t a wise choice.

If I want to gather enough strength to escape from that man, I need to eat a little more.

As he spooned up the soup, which was slightly thicker than the clear broth he had at first, Jaha found himself feeling absurd.

Struggling to live just to die in the end—what a joke.

Ignoring the pain that still accompanied every swallow, he slowly moved his hand.

Marsilia’s piercing gaze followed his every movement without faltering. But Jaha kept his eyes down, refusing to meet his stare.

That expectant look in Marsilia’s eyes made him uneasy.

Whenever the man had the chance, he would look at Jaha like that—

As if pleading for Jaha to read his mind.

But Jaha was no mind reader. It was impossible to discern what Marsilia wanted just from his unreadable expression and his gaze, which spoke no words.

The only thing he could tell was that, despite Marsilia’s composed demeanor, his actions were overwhelmingly coercive.

Jaha had yet to decide how to deal with the overbearing man before him.

If he could speak, he would have yelled at him to get lost. But right now, his throat felt as if it had been sealed shut, unable to produce a single sound.

Marsilia, too, often wore a frustrated expression, but Jaha felt just the same. How could he possibly be content sitting here like a lifeless doll for Marsilia?

“Jaha, after your meal… someone will come to explain the situation to you. It took some time to find someone who speaks Eastern Continent’s language.”

At that, Jaha finally lifted his gaze.

As soon as their eyes met, Marsilia smiled again with that unreadable expression, and Jaha calmly looked back at him.

You’ve done nothing at all.

But rather than waiting for someone like this, wouldn’t it be more humane to at least attempt an explanation?

Or… was expecting humanity from a royal simply asking for too much?

Jaha didn’t know how things were on the Western Continent, but on the Eastern Continent, the emperor was considered a being born from the heavens.

The emperor was the heavens, and his words were law.

The West probably wasn’t much different. Only then did Jaha begin to understand, even if just a little, why Marsilia was so forceful.

Of course, just because he understood didn’t mean he thought Marsilia was justified.

If he truly had no power of his own, could he look at this absurd situation so calmly?

Jaha doubted it.

The only reason he could afford to remain composed now was because he had something to rely on.

To someone who was unaware of that, Marsilia’s actions were nothing but violence—coercion masked as kindness.

Jaha decided he wouldn’t forget that a smiling face could still strike him across the cheek.

…

That afternoon, the man who arrived introduced himself as Gerald Sonnet. Upon hearing the emperor’s request, his face quickly filled with surprise.

“Your Majesty… Are you asking me to explain about Soulmates?”

“That’s right.”

“This will be quite the long story. I assume I should start from the beginning?”

Marsilia simply nodded in response. Gerald stroked his chin, lost in thought for a moment, before finally speaking.

“Long ago, various gods lived alongside humans on the Western Continent.”

As soon as he began speaking, Jaha’s eyes subtly widened. His speech was flawless.

Jaha had picked up a bit of the Western Continent’s common tongue, but the linguistic barrier between the two continents was immense.

Pronunciation, intonation, sentence structure—nothing was similar.

When he first arrived in the Western Continent, Jaha had felt practically deaf. He couldn’t understand anything spoken to him, nor could anyone comprehend what he said.

It took over a year of learning words—ones people had taught him with pity—before he could finally start making sense of conversations.

But Gerald spoke so fluently that Jaha felt as though he were back in the Eastern Continent.

“Then, one day, the gods began to disappear, one by one. You could say they lost interest in human affairs. Priests could no longer receive divine power from the gods they worshipped, nor did they receive any prophecies. And with the gods gone, the world became overrun with monsters.”

Gerald explained that in a world where gods had vanished, only one remained—the Goddess Diana, who stayed behind for the sake of the world.

However, since the other gods were already gone, even she could no longer wield omnipotent power.

So, she sent a human in her stead—someone who received her divine strength and fought against the monsters.

“That person was the first emperor of the Arhen Empire. After leading the war against the monsters to victory, he established the empire and, as a reward, received various gifts from the goddess.”

Gerald continued, explaining that the Soul Mark was one of those gifts.

As he delved into the lengthy explanation, Marsilia simply sat back on the sofa, sipping his tea.

Like someone unwilling to meet another’s eyes, his gaze remained fixed on the teacup in front of him.

“The goddess granted the emperor a unique, irreplaceable partner, marking their names upon each other’s bodies so they could recognize one another.”

Hearing that, Jaha turned toward Marsilia.

Marsilia had still been looking at his teacup, but when he felt Jaha’s gaze lingering, he finally set it down.

Leaning forward from where he had been reclining against the sofa, he slowly spoke.

“Translate, Gerald Sonnet.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Gerald swallowed dryly. It seemed even he had only now come to understand what was happening.

He must have already noticed something before.

“You are my Soulmate, Jaha. I have spent the past ten years searching for you.”

Even before Gerald repeated the translation, Jaha had already understood Marsilia’s words.

As soon as Gerald finished interpreting, Jaha grabbed the quill that had been prepared for him.

It was his first time using one, and controlling the ink proved difficult. The sensation was completely different from a brush, causing him to furrow his brow as he wrote a short sentence.

“I am a man.”

When Gerald translated the words, Marsilia simply smirked. The explanation was left to Gerald.

“That is precisely why it is considered the goddess’s divine power. A Soulmate can bear children regardless of gender. In fact, the legitimate heir to the throne can only be born from a them.”

Gerald recounted a story of an emperor who had tried to pass the throne to a child from his concubine.

A coronation had taken place, but his Soulmate did not appear, and the newly crowned emperor died suddenly that very night.

Thus, people came to believe that only the children born from the divine partner were recognized as legitimate heirs by the goddess.

Regardless of their beliefs, Jaha, who was hearing this for the first time, found the entire notion absurd.

It was likely just bad luck. And if the cause of death was never confirmed, wasn’t it entirely possible that the emperor had been assassinated?

Yet neither Gerald nor even Marsilia seemed to doubt the story at all.

Their blind faith only reaffirmed Jaha’s status as an outsider in this land.

Gerald went on to explain the ritual that took place when a the soulmate first consummated their union with the emperor.

For a hundred days, they were to bathe in a lake fed by the roots of the Sacred Tree and offer prayers—after which, conception would occur.

A similar legend existed in the Eastern Continent. The Three deities were said to grant children to those who devotedly prayed for a hundred days…

But that legend never included men.

Jaha glanced between the two men attempting to convince him, then furrowed his brow and shook his head. He picked up the pen once more and wrote another sentence.

“I do not understand what you are saying.”

Nor did he have any intention of understanding.

He had lived as a man all his life. Why should he be the one to bear a child?

And for the emperor of a foreign land, no less.

Jaha had no intention of accepting this. And he could tell that Marsilia already knew that.

Marsilia sat there with his arms crossed, silently watching Jaha.

Then, as their eyes met, he suddenly smiled.

His green irises nearly disappeared beneath the curve of his lashes, making Jaha’s breath catch in his throat.

Jaha couldn’t understand why this man had assumed he wouldn’t refuse.

Did he really think Jaha would just go along with this?

Why? For what reason?

Judging by their expressions, it seemed no Soulmate had ever rejected their fate before.

But that was a matter for the people of the Western Continent—the Arhen Empire, to be precise.

To those who had grown up hearing tales, being chosen might be considered an honor.

But Jaha was different.

To be bound to a complete stranger for the rest of his life? Death would be preferable.

Marsilia grinned as he looked at Jaha, who had lowered his gaze.

He already knew what Jaha’s answer would be, even without him saying it.

Faced with a situation he had never once imagined, Marsilia could only laugh.

Ah… But perhaps he could understand Jaha’s feelings, if only a little.

Not completely, of course. But he could guess why Jaha reacted this way.

He had spent ten years staring at the name glowing above his heart.

But Jaha’s was placed somewhere he couldn’t even see for himself.

Unlike Marsilia, who had waited and longed for him every day.

So that was it. Marsilia slowly convinced himself of this fact.

He willed his frigid heart to keep beating.

The waiting, the impatience—those emotions had always been his alone.

Even the bitterness he felt now was his alone.

So Marsilia curved his eyes in a smile, making sure no one could see what was in his heart.

Then he quietly steadied the turmoil inside him.

It was fine. It didn’t matter.

After all, his feelings had never been love to begin with.