The Strongest Magician Can Only Love His Dead Wife — After I Reincarnated, My Cute Younger Husband Turned Yandere - Chapter 14

And yet, why couldn’t Arsenio protect Rubia back then?

Despite being unable to protect the person who mattered most to him, calling himself the strongest mage was nothing but a joke.

The coldness of her hands and the pallor of her cheeks at the moment of Rubia’s death remained seared into his mind even now. Since that day, he had been tormented by nightmares, unable to sleep properly at night.

Every time Arsenio dreamed of Rubia, he blamed himself.

(If only I had died instead…)

If only Arsenio had died, Rubia wouldn’t have lost her life.

That lovely, bright woman could have remarried someone suitable and lived happily.

No, perhaps the very idea of someone with cursed eyes like his taking a wife had been a mistake from the start.

He had killed his mother, was despised by his father, and was looked upon with hatred by his grandfather. It had been presumptuous of him to even think of seeking happiness.

And yet, until her last moment, Rubia had been concerned about Arsenio.

“Don’t forget that kindness. If you do, someday surely someone who understands you will appear.”

“Interact with many people. Use that magic of yours for others. That way, you can make friends and find love.”

Rubia was truly foolish.

He wished she had cursed him. He wished she had hated him.

She had every right to.

And so did her family.

After Rubia’s death, Arsenio visited the Southern Territory and explained the circumstances to her family.

That his own grandfather had killed her.

That he had been the real target.

That Rubia had lost her life protecting him.

“Why couldn’t you protect my sister?! You’re supposed to be the strongest mage, aren’t you?!”

As Rubia’s younger brother wept and shouted at him, and her relatives glared coldly, only Rubia’s parents refrained from blaming Arsenio.

“I’m sure our daughter was proud to have protected her husband.”

“She was a kind girl. I’m sure she was happy that you survived.”

It would have been easier if they had hit him or cursed him.

He wished they had killed him. He wanted to die.

But Rubia would never have wanted that.

“Please be happy…”

(How can I, without you?)

The days after Rubia was gone were the emptiest of Arsenio’s life.

He merely breathed, ate to survive, and mechanically carried out requests from the kingdom.

It was two months after Rubia’s death when a girl claiming to be his cousin and her mother visited his mansion.

It seemed that with Count Fiero imprisoned, they had no one else to rely on and had no choice but to turn to Arsenio, their closest relative.

He felt no guilt toward them for being left with no support.

He hadn’t even known they existed until they showed up. If anything, the fact that they were related to Count Fiero made them repulsive to him.

Even so, Arsenio took them into his mansion because it was what Rubia would have wanted. She had been the kindest of souls, always gentle with others.

And she had wanted Arsenio to be that way, too.

While a separate residence was being built, he let them stay in the guest rooms, and once it was completed, they moved in there.

He provided them with everything they needed or wanted. Within reason, of course and allowed them to do whatever they wished.

He thought that if he was kind to others, Rubia in heaven would be pleased.

“Besides, I think being able to protect someone’s smile must be a truly joyful and proud thing. If someone’s going to look at you, wouldn’t you rather see a smile than an angry face?”

“…Would you be happy if I could protect someone?”

“Yes, of course. I’d be proud to say my husband is a kind and noble mage.”

Arsenio had never forgotten that exchange, not for a single moment.

Thus, all of Arsenio’s actions were guided by whether they would make Rubia happy.

He honed his magical skills, accepted requests from the kingdom to slay monsters, and built clinics and orphanages for those in need.

Gradually, the fearful gazes of the people toward Arsenio changed, and they began to praise him as if he were some kind of savior.

The townspeople all adored Arsenio, unanimously calling him a splendid duke.

All of it was thanks to Rubia.

And yet, why was she the only one not here?

(I want to see Rubia…)

No matter how many years passed since her death, the gaping hole in his heart never filled—instead, it only grew wider.

And yet, those around him would not allow Arsenio to cling to the past.

It was known that magical power was innate and largely hereditary. For that reason, national law decreed that a mage’s spouse must also be a mage.

From the time he turned eighteen, marriage proposals had poured in incessantly from prestigious mage families. But Arsenio had no intention of taking any wife other than Rubia for the rest of his life.

Though he continued to refuse them all, this year, at twenty-four, the emperor had finally lost patience and issued a compulsory marriage decree.

His intended was a princess of the Tark tribe—a sixteen-year-old girl who was Rubia’s niece. Her name, apparently, was the same as her aunt’s: Rubia.

According to the emperor, the girl had a personality and appearance similar to the late Rubia, but what did that matter?

Even with the same name and a similar appearance, that girl was not the Rubia Arsenio had loved.

But no matter how much he was called the strongest mage, he had no authority to defy an imperial command.

He was forcibly made to consent, and before he knew it, the date for the girl’s arrival had been set.

He felt sorry for his new wife, but there was no way he could ever love any woman other than Rubia.

They would have a marriage in name only, and she could live as she pleased after that. She could take a lover if she wished. She could indulge in any luxury, live however she liked.

That was the utmost sincerity Arsenio could offer his new wife.