Please, Divorce Me

“Madam, you told Lil and Mars to serve you a meal…” Laura trailed off as she entered the room but, she suddenly stopped walking. “Oh, my…”

With a surprised look on her face, Laura came over and sat on her knees at the bedside. Her eyes shone as she stared at me eating. She looked moved, her eyes red as if she would shed tears at any moment. 

I pounded my chest with my fists, grabbed a glass of water and drank it. Before I knew it, I had eaten all the food on the plate.

“Give me more soup.”

Mas looked blankly at the tray before leaping into action. “Ah, y-yes! Yes, Madam!”

Even Lil, who had reprimanded Mas a while ago, looked puzzled. 

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Laura couldn’t hold back her tears and held my hand, whispering, “Thank you… Thank you.”

Laura continued to express her gratitude as she knelt by the bedside and wept until Mas returned.

Soon, I finished eating and headed to the library. Since I took a regular break and ate, I didn’t feel dizzy even if I moved.

However, it was still difficult to control myself, so I leaned on Laura as we walked through the hallway illuminated by a lamp. Lil and Mas followed, anxiously keeping their eyes on me. 

As I walked through the hallway, I felt the glances of the employees working. In the past, I would have gone back to the bedroom because I was too conscious of their gaze, but I no longer cared. They were merely like ornaments in the mansion. 

I could hear the murmurs of the maids in charge of cleaning the hallway by the bedroom.

“Is she okay?”

“Can you be okay in that situation? She’s probably pretending to be okay.”

Somewhere, the murmurs burst into sighs.

“It’s so sad that she lost it without seeing its face…”

“Shh, they’ll hear you.”

Among them, some expressed their sympathy and regrets for me. I stopped walking when I heard one that did–it was one of the maids who had her back against the wall, and her head bowed down.

A fireball erupted from my chest. If it were me in the past, I would have covered my eyes and ears and pretended not to hear it, but their words made me feel a tightness in my chest. When they brought up the child, it made it impossible to ignore its existence. 

I shrugged off Laura’s hand and walked, feeling breathless. The chattering I heard a while ago disappeared in an instant. 

I headed towards the maid who had been talking about me and the child. Her face had gone completely pale.

“What’s so sad?”

My breathing came out even more erratic, but I didn’t care. Instead, I blinked slowly and widened my eyes quite fiercely. Even if I didn’t want to, the child’s story automatically heightened my emotions.

“Madam…” Surprised at my outburst, Laura approached me and tried to support me again, but I shook her hand away. 

Hearing the question, the maid trembled as she gripped the cloth with both hands.

“I asked what’s so sad.”

“F-forgive me. I dared to say something presumptuous.”

I lowered my eyes to my feet then stared at the maid bowing. I stared blankly at her for a moment, and when a surge of anger rose in me, I gritted out, “Don’t pity me again.”

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“…”

“You are not in a position to sympathize with me.”

When I swallowed my anger and looked away, I saw Lil and Mas with their eyes wide open and mouths agape. Laura was also biting her lip. 

I looked around the scene indifferently and asked, “Why, am I wrong again?”

“No, Madam.” Laura shook her head and lowered her gaze. 

I straightened and stared ahead, only to see Takan behind the employees. He looked agitated when our eyes met, but I soon looked away. 

Laura hurried and grabbed my arm to support me as I turned around. I passed Takan and looked up.

The moment I passed him, rough skin touched my hand. When I came to my senses, a small piece of paper was in my hand. 

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?” Laura asked me when I stopped walking. “If you’re tired, we can return to your bedroom…”

“No.”

“…”

“Let’s go.”

I clenched my fist tightly to hide the paper and moved forward.

[Nobleman proposes blocking of Quetray Forest]

Kyle read the letter in his hand and put it down. Finally, his hard work was about to pay off.

“Memories.”

Erasing one’s memories. Kyle chuckled and shook his head. It was a tempting promise that was too good to be true that penetrated people’s desires.

“So, Hari must have believed it.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes and rubbed his lips. The forest must be sealed off before Aelle heads there. 

At that moment, he heard a sound echoing through the dark hallway. Familiar with the approaching sound outside, Kyle looked up and waited for someone to enter his office. 

Bang–!

The door swung open so hard that he couldn’t hear the hinges when it hit the wall. When a familiar person appeared, Kyle leaned back on his seat. The back of the sleek leather chair reclined, revealing Kyle’s calm face.

Takan gently rubbed his eyebrows as he looked around the office, and his eyes fell on the papers on the desk. Takan twisted his mouth as if Kyle’s work was absurd, and burst into laughter.

“This is not the time to sit down with dignity and just watch.”

“…”

“So is this the way high-ranking nobles are? You don’t even blink an eye even if your child dies?” Takan scoffed, but Kyle barely reacted. 

Takan sighed and rubbed his face. “I knew you’d gone insane when Louis died.”

“Takan.”

“But I have no intention of defending and sympathizing with your madness.”

Perhaps he didn’t hear Kyle’s sharp call because Takan took off his monocle and threw it hard, the glass shattering when it hit the marble. He then took off the tie around his neck.

“If he can see what you’re like now, you can imagine what Louis will say. Shall I tell you?”

“…”

“Madman.”

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Takan shrugged and coldly shook his head. “That’s what you are.”

Takan ruffled his neatly slicked back hair. After throwing out his monocle and getting rid of his tiresome outfit, the faithful servant disappeared and what was left was just Takan. 

He took off his coat and draped it over his shoulder, then let out a languid breath as if he was at peace.

“You said that when I jumped into the front lines like a crazy man and swung my sword.”

“…”

“Clarify the target of your anger.”

In the past, it was Takan who couldn’t let go of the anger in his heart and unleashed it on others. Takan realized only after meeting Kyle that the object of his anger wasn’t the foreign soldier who killed his sister, nor was it the mark that caused the war. He was angry at himself, who couldn’t save his sister as she stretched out her hand to him and died before his eyes. 

Takan smiled bitterly. He stepped forward, approached the wide-open door, and said, “Kyle, I don’t want to be angry again.”

Kyle’s eyes followed Takan. His eyes remained as calm as the sea before the storm. It was different from seeing his close friend looking cool and desolate. 

“What do you mean?”

Takan stopped in his staps, sighed, and turned around. He draped his cloak over his arm and bowed deeply. It was a greeting to his master, Kyle, who was no longer his close friend.

“I’m just going to leave.”

Takan left the office in complete silence. 

Kyle turned to the items scattered on the marble floor. Takan’s monocle and tie didn’t catch Kyle’s eye, but something else did– it was a handkerchief that had slipped out of the sleeve of Takan’s coat. A handkerchief with an unclear owner with the word “Aelle” clearly engraved in yellow.

He stood up and headed towards the cloth, picking up the handkerchief that had lost its master.

“Aelle,” He whispered to himself as he touched the place where her name was embroidered. 

Thousands of thoughts ran through Kyle’s mind, but he came up with the most convincing one. Kyle rubbed his face and squeezed the handkerchief in his hand.

Thousands of thoughts ran through Kyle’s mind, but one sentence kept pestering him. Kyle rubbed his face and squeezed the handkerchief in his hand.

“Kyle, I don’t want to be angry again.”

He suddenly remembered seeing Takan’s eyes following Aelle throughout the mansion. 

Even in the dining room as he escorted her, in the garden when he followed her, and when he faced Kyle as he stood helpless outside her bedroom. 

His eyes, as clear as the sky and as calm as the sea, seemed ready to reveal everything at any moment.

In the stillness of the moonlight, Kyle clenched his teeth and slowly looked up. He hoped that his speculation was wrong.