RHRTD 04

Chapter 04

Especially since the Saintess was Ines’s own younger sister, there was plenty of room for things to become complicated.

‘I need to clear up the misunderstanding before things get worse.’

She needed to tell him that she had absolutely no interest in being his wife and that she would willingly sign the divorce papers.

Ines had been planning to leave first even if Elise had never been part of the equation.

Rather than risk being forced to pay alimony because of some ridiculous misunderstanding, it would be better to make her position clear from the beginning and reach an amicable divorce agreement.

That was Ines’s conclusion.

After walking briskly for some time, Ines finally arrived at her destination.

‘…Ah.’

Without realizing it, she stood there absentmindedly staring at the enormous door at the end of the hallway.

In fact, Ines had already felt overwhelmed from the moment she entered the main building.

The place where she currently lived was a tiny, shabby room in a remote corner of one of the annexes.

For the past five years, because of Selena, she had hardly been able to set foot inside the main building.

The only reason she had managed to get this far without being stopped was simply because of the timing.

If all the servants hadn’t been in the banquet hall preparing for the celebration, she would have been stopped from the first floor onward.

‘Come to think of it, Zekard should be in his room by now, right?’

She remembered Selena stopping Zekard in the banquet hall.

But an entire hour had already passed since then. Even Selena couldn’t possibly keep someone who had just returned from such a long journey occupied indefinitely.

Besides, the two of them had never been particularly close.

As far as Ines remembered, Zekard hadn’t been especially affectionate toward his stepmother five years ago.

Considering their relationship, that made sense.

‘All right. Let’s go.’

After swallowing nervously, Ines cautiously took a step forward.

But that was when—

“His Grace is currently resting.”

It was the Duke’s room.

Just as Ines was about to knock on the magnificent door, a voice came from behind her.

Ines stopped her hand and turned around.

The face was unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar.

‘It’s the man I saw earlier.’

More precisely, he was the man who had been standing directly behind Zekard in the banquet hall.

Someone that close to Zekard was probably his aide.

Ines did her best to make her voice sound gentle.

“I’d like to see His Grace.”

The response she received was curt.

“I’m sorry. I was ordered not to let anyone in.”

“There’s something I absolutely need to tell him. Please.”

“Please come back later.”

Ines thought for a moment before speaking again.

“It won’t be a long conversation, and I won’t disturb his rest. If I can’t even knock, could you at least ask him once? If His Grace says no, I’ll leave immediately.”

“Impossible.”

The aide answered without the slightest hesitation.

Ines’s expression stiffened slightly.

‘He doesn’t even intend to ask.’

This was quite troublesome.

Once today passed, she had no idea when another opportunity would come.

Of course, Ines also considered that she might be inconveniencing Zekard.

To Ines, this was a serious matter, but to someone who hadn’t even recovered from a long journey, it might be nothing more than an annoying piece of ‘business.’

Still, her desperation made it impossible for her to simply back down.

There was another problem, too.

‘It seems the rumors about me have already spread among the knights.’

The aide’s behavior was rather rude for someone dealing with his master’s wife.

Judging by the respectful way he addressed her, he clearly knew who Ines was, yet he hadn’t even bothered to introduce himself.

And if the aide knew about the rumors, there was a high probability that Zekard had heard them as well.

‘I really do need to talk to him before it gets any later. Preferably today.’

In that case…

“What if I can help His Grace with his ‘purification’?”

The moment he heard the word ‘purification,’ the aide’s eyes changed.

“What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering, Ines took something out.

It was a blade of grass that had been contaminated by demonic energy and withered black.

‘I brought it just in case, but I never thought I’d actually have to use it.’

Feeling a bitter sense of irony, Ines channeled her divine power into the hand holding the grass.

Vmmm.

“…What is this?!”

The grass soon revealed a fresh, vibrant green color as it was purified.

Ines held it out to the aide.

“Is this enough proof?”

This world was engaged in an endless war against an evil god.

Terminus.

In the region known by another name, ‘the End of the World,’ monsters under the command of the evil god had endlessly invaded humanity.

Terminus was where Zekard had gone to fight.

It was said that in this war, he had brought a monster wave that had continued for no less than ten years to a complete end.

The Grand Temple had officially announced that, thanks to his great achievement, humanity would not have to worry about monster invasions for at least the next hundred years.

Zekard was unquestionably a savior of humanity.

But…

‘He was in Terminus for five years. Even if he received a purification in the capital before coming here, he’ll need another one.’

The more purification one received, the better.

Moreover, the concentration of demonic energy in the North was particularly high compared to other regions.

That was why Ines had been able to obtain contaminated grass so easily.

Apparently, even the ability to purify it was not something the aide could dismiss so easily.

He hesitated.

“But you clearly…”

Ines smiled bitterly to herself.

He was probably about to point out that she had failed to become the Saintess because she had been unable to manifest sufficient divine power.

“I’m far less capable than the Saintess, but it’s not that I can’t use divine power at all. I’m a member of House Chartier, too.”

She could indeed use a small amount of ordinary divine power.

There was also something unique to Ines herself, but…

There was no need to tell him that much.

He was not someone she could trust.

“So, what are you going to do?”

The aide pressed his lips together, his expression growing serious as though he had fallen into deep thought.

At last, he made his decision and spoke firmly.

“Even so, I cannot allow it. If you come back later, then…”

Just then—

“Ines?”

A voice suddenly came from behind the aide.

Both the aide and Ines turned toward the sound at the same time.

‘…Huh?’

The door, which had been firmly closed, was open now.

A massive shadow emerged through the gap.

The moment Ines recognized the owner of the voice, she was startled.

“It really is Ines.”

There stood her husband, Zekard Eberhardt.

He had apparently already changed his clothes and was now dressed comfortably, unlike earlier.

‘Oh my.’

Startled by his sudden appearance, Ines froze.

Zekard stared intently at her face.

His gaze was so blatant that it was almost rude, leaving Ines flustered.

‘Is there something on my face?’

Ines unconsciously almost raised a hand to touch her face, but stopped herself.

Yet Zekard continued to keep his eyes fixed on her.

A considerable amount of time passed before Zekard finally spoke.

“I believe I told you not to stop Ines if she came looking for me.”

His voice was calm, but the aide visibly flinched at his words.

“Well… His Grace seemed to finally be getting some proper rest, so I thought I shouldn’t disturb you.”

“Disturb me…”

Zekard gave the man an indifferent glance.

“Was that for you to decide?”

His voice held no anger.

If anything, it sounded calm, almost languid.

But the aide looked even more frightened than he would have been if he had been openly scolded.

The frozen man pressed his lips tightly together, his face turning pale.

Without sparing him another glance, Zekard spoke.

“Come in. It’s fine.”

Now that Zekard himself had said so, there was no longer any justification for the aide to stop her.

The stiffly frozen man stepped aside.

Still not understanding what was happening, Ines hesitated for a moment before entering.

‘…Well, at least this worked out.’

The Duke’s room was extremely large and luxurious.

Naturally, it was the finest room in the entire castle.

Ines looked around with fresh eyes, taking in her surroundings.

“I heard you had something to say to me. Is that right?”

The voice brought Ines out of her thoughts.

When their eyes met, Zekard smiled gently.

The atmosphere was completely different from the one in the banquet hall.

He had seemed extremely sharp earlier, but for some reason, he looked gentle now.

Perhaps because he had managed to rest for a little while?

“Yes, that’s right.”

After calmly looking at him, Ines nodded.

“There’s something I absolutely needed to tell you. I’ve been waiting for you to return.”

At that, Zekard’s expression softened even further.

The atmosphere was far more favorable than Ines had expected, and she felt relieved.

‘Could it be that he already has an idea of what I’m going to say?’

If so, that would actually be a relief.

It would mean they could get straight to the point and settle everything quickly.