When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 841 - 792: Nightmares Never Truly Fade Away
In January of 1449, the first light snow fell.
After meticulously brushing the dust off his leather boots, Volovitz sat under the eaves and slipped his warm feet into the cold shoes.
"Hiss——"
He shivered and stood up to take a few steps, quickly adapting to the familiar chill and stiffness.
"I knitted a pair of woolen pants for you last night, where is your luggage? I'll stuff them in." A gentle voice sounded from behind.
Volovitz turned around to see his pregnant wife, Martha, standing by the door, her plump face showing faint dark circles and red-rimmed eyes.
"It's cold outside, why did you come out here?" Volovitz quickly pulled his wife back into the room.
"Because I care about you!" held by her husband, Martha feigned anger, "Once you leave, I'll stand outside every time it snows."
"Oh, no, please don't." Faced with Martha, who threatened with their child, Volovitz, normally a tough soldier, immediately pleaded.
In the hollow cabinet of the room, leftovers from the New Year Festival two days ago could still be seen.
On the table lay a burned-out candle and two knitting needles.
The fireplace in the living room burned with honeycomb coal, enveloping the two of them with warmth.
"Do you really have to go to the battlefield?"
"Yes, everyone is going, why wouldn't I?"
"Will you die?"
"The Holy Father will protect me; if I die, the Saint's Grandson will continue to protect you."
Martha covered Volovitz's mouth: "Don't say such unlucky words before departure."
She reached out to touch Volovitz's stubble and buried her head in his chest: "Can you not go? Plead with the Battle Commander, at least let the child see his father."
"Many officers and soldiers have pregnant wives, can none of them go to the battlefield?" Volovitz stroked Martha's somewhat ruffled hair, "Besides, everything here was given by the Battle Group; if I don't go, this house will be taken away."
"I could ask my father to give you two plots of land, and we have some savings, enough to build another one."
"Don't be silly." Volovitz felt a warm, damp sensation on his chest.
His wife lifted her head without saying a word.
Volovitz lowered his head.
Martha wore a pale pink dress, her prominently swollen belly pushing against the soft white apron.
On her soft and plump cheeks, a pair of tear-filled, reddish eyes gazed at him tenderly yet painfully.
Though she said nothing, Volovitz understood her silent plea.
He likewise looked back at his wife.
Ever since Martha became pregnant, Volovitz spent most of his salary on all kinds of meat and medicine.
Fed her, who was once slender, to weigh almost as much as him.
Whenever his wife complained she couldn't eat anymore, he would confidently say, "Even though you only have one mouth, you're eating for two."
His wife Martha was the daughter of an Armed Farmer.
At a social gathering organized by the Battle Commander, upon the first glimpse of her, his heart nearly skipped a beat.
Auburn braids, a babyface, with a sunflower tucked behind her ear.
Unlike the yellow teeth of others, her smile revealed a set of bright white teeth.
Amongst nearly a hundred girls present, regardless of what others thought, he believed the girl named Martha was the prettiest.
He was lifted and placed in front of Martha by his comrades, and for three minutes, he couldn't utter a word.
In the end, it was the kind-hearted Martha who extended her hand first, inviting him for their first dance at the ball.
From then on, Volovitz would be sure to appear at her doorstep on holidays or breaks.
In about three months, Volovitz and Martha were engaged and walked into marital bliss under the blessing of a Military Chaplain.
Martha didn't like the barracks houses allocated by the army, so Volovitz asked the Battle Commander for a piece of land to build a house himself.
The house they lived in was built by Volovitz himself with the help of his comrades and hired workers.
Though the house seemed complex, its construction was similar to building encampments and ramparts on the battlefield.
It took him half a year to complete his house.
This house, as beautiful as it could be.
The first and second floors were made of stacked red bricks bonded with mortar and concrete, the third-floor attic had stone pillars and wooden boards.
They plastered the walls and bought various panel decorations from the market.
The house also had a small courtyard with a well and a water pump installed.
On the day of completion, Volovitz and the comrades and superiors who came to celebrate nailed a nameplate and mailbox at the door.
The nameplate read "Home of Volovitz Pusent and Martha Pusent," and the mailbox was numbered "Black Champion Army Second Camp Straight Street No. 13."
On their first day in, they had to sleep on the floor, as he had spent all his savings drilling the well, forgetting to buy a bed and furniture.
A smile couldn't help but curl the corner of Volovitz's lips when he recalled finally borrowing some money from the Commander for a bed.
In the end, due to the high building costs, most of his earnings went to repaying debts, leaving only a little savings each month.
To contribute to family expenses, Martha spun yarn at home with a manual spinning wheel, opened a small vegetable garden in the courtyard, and raised two chickens.
Bit by bit, they acquired chairs, tables, wardrobes, bought tableware, candlesticks, and crockery.
The more furniture they got, the tighter the space became, bringing him and Martha closer together.
Ultimately, Martha became pregnant.
Thus, the newest addition to the Pusent family was a baby crib.
The Volovitz who lost all family to a flood, who joined the Imperial Guard out of hunger, who charged while holding a military saber out of hatred—
Finally had a home of his own at Straight Street No. 13, Red Maple Village, Joan of Arc Castle Military Settlement District.
The vacant-eyed body of cousin Desiree, the floods and masses of scrambling beggars, the memories of flesh combating knights on the battlefield.
Felt like they happened so long ago, almost fading away in the corners of his mind.
Until Volovitz read the news of the Leia people's invasion in the gazette, until newspapers reported the blood and tears in the Military Settlement District, until the Battle Commander's urgent recall was issued, making him realize—
Those nightmares had never left him.
The Church, King, Knights, Leia people, had never left.
Does he want to fight?
If he could, he wouldn't want to fight, battle against people he doesn't even know.
But if he had to accept his wife being equated to sheep like cousin Desiree, if he had to accept his unborn child being crushed to wine like the blue-blood orphans.
Then he would rather fight on the battlefield all his life, keeping those nightmares eternally at bay.
Just like the Military Chaplain said, the Thousand River Valley is everyone's concern...
"...and not just one person's concern."
Volovitz turned his head, looked at his tearful wife, and kissed her soft, moist lips.
"Old Sato said a lot of Holy Path doctrines that I didn't understand, almost all of it I missed." Volovitz whispered in his wife's ear, "I only understood one thing, I fight for tomorrow."
