NTBYRI 05

Chapter 05

“Ha… That again.”

Elsie squeezed her eyes shut.

This seemed like the only right answer, yet she couldn’t understand why Kaiden reacted this way.

“If we divorce, you won’t have anything to be angry about anymore, will you?”

She replied calmly.

But Kaiden said nothing for a while.

His lips stiffened and his fingertips trembled faintly.

Then finally, he let out a sigh and turned his gaze away.

“I’m well aware that I’m angry because of the noble Elsie Lesles. And yet you’re still the same, sleeping comfortably as if nothing’s wrong.”

She should reflect and change, but she didn’t have a speck of such thought.

Elsie was that kind of woman.

“You could just discard the rotten aspects of nobility… but to think I’m wasting time arguing with a woman who can’t even do that. As expected, I’ll never like you for the rest of my life.”

What?

Tears began to well up in Elsie’s green eyes.

At some point, Kaiden had confessed his love to her. That they would be together for life.

But why had he changed so much now?

No, actually she knew. That this was his true self.

Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes and then fell, rolling down her cheeks.

Glaring at her as she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, Kaiden spoke again.

“Live unhappy for the rest of your life in place of the late Count of Lesles who died in vain. That’s the reason you’re alive.”

Those words tore her heart into a thousand pieces.

The person she loved most spat out a sharp dagger and shattered her heart to bits.

“Father… you…”

Elsie’s words couldn’t be completed due to the sobs bursting from her throat.

Seeing her finally unable to hold back and beginning to cry, Kaiden clicked his tongue.

“Then again, who would like the Count of Lesles’s daughter?”

It was a small mutter, but it lodged clearly in her ear.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the divorce.”

“Idén!”

Her tearful, angry voice cracked into many pieces.

“The doctor said there’s nothing particularly wrong with your health. And…”

Kaiden’s gaze swept over the paintings leaning neatly against the wall.

From sunrise to sunset. The paintings that carefully captured the changes of time seemed cozy, yet on the other hand, created a strangely lonely atmosphere.

“And it seems you have no trouble engaging in useless hobbies.”

A young lady learning to paint to satisfy personal greed.

While people begging for food because they had nothing to eat crowded the streets, she invested money and time into a hobby utterly useless for survival, even hiring private tutors.

A woman who had indulged in such luxury her whole life remained unchanged even though the world had changed.

In a situation that only drew sighs, Kaiden no longer wanted to be here. Being with her made his chest so tight it was hard to breathe.

“But…”

Before Elsie could tearfully complete her sentence, Kaiden disappeared.

Watching him vanish with devastating speed, she choked up.

‘Why on earth…’

She couldn’t understand at all why Kaiden, who hated her almost to the point of loathing, wouldn’t accept the divorce.

—

Kaiden hates me.

But he won’t divorce me.

Mulling over this contradictory situation, Elsie gloomily flipped through a botanical encyclopedia.

As she turned a page, sleep suddenly poured over her and her head dropped down.

She tried not to sleep, but the drowsiness that kept rushing over her still tormented her.

Even now, if she wasn’t careful, she felt like she would fall asleep just like this.

*Knock knock.*

“Come in.”

Jasper entered.

“Madam, I’ve come because there are documents that need your signature.”

“I checked and signed next month’s budget yesterday, but…”

“It’s urgent.”

As if to say he wouldn’t explain further, Jasper placed a single sheet of paper on the table with a thud.

“Selling the Lesles personal assets?”

“Yes. We plan to return to society the things that citizens bought greedily while sucking the lifeblood out of people.”

That is…

That could be.

If that’s what people wanted, then it was all the more right to do so.

The Lesles mansion was a house without an owner anyway, and the things inside were ownerless objects too, so if they could help people even in that way, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

“But why the paintings? I’d like to have these brought back.”

The paintings from her childhood remaining at the Lesles estate caught her eye.

“Ah, I’m troubled because of what happened at the National Museum before.”

At his threatening words, she closed her mouth.

“So we’ve decided to donate the paintings to the National Museum.”

“What?”

What did that have to do with what happened?

She raised her head and looked at Jasper, who was smiling thinly.

“We intend to use them as a cautionary example showing how affluent the nobles of that era lived. The museum has accepted as well.”

“My paintings will be used… like that?”

It was a terrible thing.

She painted because she loved painting, because nature was so lovely. She had only wanted to transfer that beautiful scenery onto canvas.

That was all, so why did these things become a “cautionary example”?

“Are you trying to reject the National Museum’s intention?”

Jasper’s eyes narrowed. He contorted his face as if he found it disgusting.

“Isn’t it madam’s duty to contribute to this society even in this way? It’s better than wasting food.”

“But this isn’t what I painted them for. I… with what feelings I painted them…”

“That doesn’t matter. People who couldn’t even think about paintings because life was so hard will look at these and think of Citizens’ Day. How wonderful is that?”

Jasper pressed his index finger firmly on the signature line.

If she signed here, the paintings would be treated terribly and hung in the museum, and people would point fingers at them.

She hadn’t painted them to receive such mockery.

“Madam, there’s no time.”

At Jasper’s urging, Elsie’s hand holding the pen trembled violently.

“If I don’t sign?”

“It’s something the master has permitted. Not signing is not an option.”

“…Idén?”

“That’s right.”

Ah.

This was a coercion so horrifying it made her shudder.

Don’t cry, you mustn’t cry.

Elsie barely suppressed her tears. She didn’t want to cry ugly in front of Jasper.

She signed slowly, deliberately.

“Thank you, madam.”

Jasper smiled contentedly and slipped out of the room.

It felt as if part of her heart had been torn away.

Now alone, Elsie finally began to cry freely.

—

If one spouse handled external activities, it was customary for the other to manage the household.

Kaiden was a soldier and a key figure in the revolutionary army, so naturally, household matters fell to Elsie.

Even so, the tasks assigned to her were mostly trivial ones that required no thought, or signing documents Jasper had already handled.

The monthly budget-related work was different. She did handle that with care, offering her opinions.

But starting from the painting donation incident, the situation changed.

Elsie looked up at Jasper, who was presenting complex documents with a troubled face.

“This is… I think it would be better to ask my husband when he returns.”

She muttered in an uncertain voice while scanning the documents.

She wished there was a bit more information, but Jasper didn’t explain further.

“There’s no time for that.”

“Then Jasper, tell me what you think. I’ll use it as reference.”

“It’s not my opinion that matters, but madam’s.”

“I’m asking because I don’t know well. Please help me with this one. I’ll look at the others instead.”

Elsie pushed the paper toward Jasper. She heard a snicker but tried to ignore it.

Moving on to the next document, Elsie carefully reviewed the things she usually checked.

Donations, charitable work, servants’ wages, the budget allocated to herself, etc.

She had always kept the amount she could personally use to a minimum. At most, it was enough to repair brushes or obtain a few paints.

She paid no attention to jewelry or dresses, and if she had spare money, she increased donations.

That was simply the best she could do.

“Leave me. I’ll hand them over when I’m done.”

Since it was time-consuming work, having Jasper standing beside her was uncomfortable.

Come to think of it, normally it would be Ibi Smith bringing the documents, not Jasper carrying them himself—it was quite strange.

The deeper her thoughts grew, the more an ominous sensation crept up chillingly.

“Ahem. There’s an important event outside, so I’ll stay with you until it’s over.”

“An event?”

At the unfamiliar schedule, Elsie tilted her head.

“Yes.”

Just then, a pungent smell began to sting her nose.

“Ah, it seems it’s started.”

When Elsie reacted to the smell of something burning, Jasper walked to the window.

What kind of event could it be?

Glancing at the window, she saw hazy smoke rising into the sky. Indeed, they must be burning something unknown.

“Would you like not to see?”

“Yeah. I’m not particularly interested.”

“Is that so? I think it would be better if you went to see.”

Jasper’s voice was tinged with a chilling laugh.

Perhaps because of that, her heart strangely began to race violently. Gripped by an inexplicable unease, Elsie rose from her seat.