Chapter 24

Rupert stared at me.

“Yes, it was enough to just check whether she was safe or not.”

He was cold. It felt like my relationship with him had returned back to the starting point.

“But while I was sick, Leah kept blaming herself for everything. Couldn’t you just say, ‘it’s not your fault’ to Leah for me, at least once?”

He replied curtly.

“I’ve been busy working on the case.”

“……how could you say such a thing?”

I bit my lip. Really, did you not even have time to say a word to her?

“I thought you were starting to appreciate Leah a little, but why are you pushing her away all of a sudden?”

Even though I didn’t expect anything in particular, I became depressed.

“Noel, you are seriously mistaken.”

Creak [sfx]

Rupert pushed the chair back and got up.

“During this time, I only kept the promise I made with you.”

In just a few days, it was as if an enormous wall of ice had built up in his mind again.

‘Why the hell?’

Was the gargoyle incident a turning point for him?

Rupert came a little closer.

“So the phrase ‘pushing her away’ has no meaning in the first place.”

It was a cruel tone as if intentionally trying to hurt me.

“……”

I bowed my head in confusion.

Rupert’s hand seemed to graze against my cheek, but it fell back right away.

“If you know now, get out of here, Noel.”

Eventually, I got tired.

‘I thought I could become a good business partner for him if I kept working hard.’

But Rupert kept cutting off all ties.

It was hard to be with someone who constantly built up walls without me knowing why.

I couldn’t trust him anymore or wait for him to change.

“Rupert.”

I suppressed my tears and asked him one last question.

“But you came to our rescue when the building collapsed.”

I remember, just before I lost consciousness. It was him who pulled me and Leah out.

Even for Rupert, it would have been quite risky to enter a collapsing building.

“If Leah is not important to you, then why did you come to the rescue?”

Please tell me that for just a moment, you could feel ’emotions’ rather than have a ‘reason’. That the poor child has become even a little more precious. That the time we spent was not meaningless at all.

“Did you have any regrets after choosing your duty over your daughter?”

“……”

Rupert turned around at my question.

As if to cut off the conversation with me.

“It’s stupid.”

All I could see was his back that completely rejected me.

“Noel, for how long are you going to have such foolish expectations? I can’t be that emotional. The action was simply a sense of duty.”

It’s very easy to deny.

“Besides, what would my honor be if I lost both my child and my wife right in front of me.”

He answered in a low voice.

“So there’s no reason for me to care about such weak and uninteresting things such as emotions.”

“……”

With this answer, what I would do in the future was decided.

‘Really, I am going to give up now.’

“Rupert.”

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

“You are the worst.”

***

Two days later, I went to the Raven Knights’ gymnasium. I had someone to meet.

“Sir Hillis.”

Fortunately, the opponent was quickly found. With a splint on one of his legs, he was looking at the gym as if he was bored.

Hillis was taken aback when our eyes met.

“Madam, what are you doing here……”

“Of course, I’m here to check up on you. How’s your leg?”

He shrugged.

“Everything is fine except for me being bored.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I was being sincere. What if I ruin the future of a promising knight?

“It’s just something I should have done.”

“It’s not natural to put others ahead of yourself.”

Hillis scratched his cheek as if he wasn’t used to hearing compliments.

I smiled softly.

“In that sense, I have something to say.”

Then I grabbed both ends of the skirt and bowed my waist slightly.

“Thank you so much for saving me, and I’m sorry that you got hurt because of me. Thanks to you sir, I was able to save my daughter.”

“Ah……”

He widened his eyes. Then he hurriedly turned his head to look around.

“Knowing that the Madam did this in front of me, the ignorant general manager would kill me. Please raise your head, Madam…”

At that earnest appeal, I straightened my back and smiled briefly.

“This is purely a person-to-person greeting.”

It must have been quite a shock to hear the words ‘person-to-person’ from a high-ranking person, Hillis exhaled.

He smiled kindly.

“Now, I fully understand why Madam at the time was desperate.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“I am really glad that Miss Leah is safe. Of course, Madam—”

Then, someone called me from behind.

“— Madam!”

I looked at the other person.

“Sir Aren?”

He must have been running pretty quickly.

“What’s going on?”

In fact, after I met Hillis, I was going to see Aren. It was surprising to see that he ran to me like this first.

Aren sighed in response to her breathing rapidly.

“I heard the news that Madam was up. I was concerned if you were ok.”

Hearing things that even I couldn’t hear from my own husband, my heart fluttered slightly.

“Thanks for your concern, Sir Aren.”

“Not at all.”

Aren, who answered that way, was dazed, unlike usual. She looked like a child who had done something wrong.

“Is there something wrong with you, Sir? Do you have any injuries? You are wearing a bad expression.”

“……actually, I have something to apologize to you, Madam.”

“Huh?”

Apologize? It was really nonsense.

“Sir, I don’t think you have anything to apologize for?”

“Madam may not know, but there is…”

Aren opened his mouth with a droopy look like a dog in the rain.

“When madam ran into the building to rescue the young miss, the building was about to collapse. ”

“I know.”

“Then, the master tried to go in to rescue you. Then I…”

Having heard this far, I nodded my head urging her to proceed.

What’s the matter?

“……I dissuaded the master. Even though I knew that madam’s life was in danger.”

Hillis, who was next to him, looked at me with a bewildered expression on his face.

“Come on, Sir! Are you about to confess your conscience all of a sudden!?”

Aren steadfastly continued the confession.

“It was an act of ignoring the lives of the madam and young miss who were in danger. It was disgraceful. Besides, they were both so nice to me…”

Then I understood the situation.

Now Aren is trying to apologize for turning away and putting Rupert first when mine and Leah’s lives were in danger.

Do you usually apologize by revealing everything so frankly?

‘Should I call him a fool or naive…’

Anyway, I found him cute.

He was so straightforward, enough to be considered innocent.

“Sir, there is no need to apologize for that.”

“……?”

“It’s no surprise that everyone puts the life of a loved one first.”

“However……”

“If we were in a position where Leah and the others fell into the water, I’d save Leah first too.”

I chuckled softly.

“So don’t apologize. I don’t think you’ve done anything amazingly wrong.”

“……”

Besides, I was a little relieved to hear this.

‘Aren also values ​​Rupert in his own way.’

Rupert’s curse cannot be lifted without the true love between the two. So I wished for the two of them to get closer as soon as possible.

‘To be honest, my expectations for Aren are quite high right now.’

I completely gave up. Now, Aren might be the only one who could bring back Rupert’s human side.

Aren slightly widened his golden eyes. A calm expression then returned to his face once again.

“……thank you for saying that. But if you need any help, please let me know, Madam.”

“I’ll accept only your sincerity because I won’t be in the Ainel mansion from now on.”

Hillis, who had been puzzled until then, asked.

“Where are you going, Madam?”

“Well, Leah was very surprised, so I heard that there is a villa owned by the Ainels in the Yuren Kingdom where we’d like to take a break.”

For Leah, this mansion was a traumatic place. So, I needed the two of us to spend time together in a different environment.

Of course, I had already told Rupert that I was going to use the villa in the Yuren Kingdom. But he didn’t even care.

Then, Hillis said,

“Well…… Madam, it is acceptable to spend a break with the young miss, but by any chance, are you angry with the master so you’re going to the villa……”

I admired it.

Hillis, you’re very smart.

Aren asked, “Will you be alright, Madam?”

I laughed at the bewildered look of the neat young man.

“It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry.”

It wasn’t a lie. Because I have no intention of being satisfied with separating just this one time.

I couldn’t change him. I know that very well.

“So please take good care of Rupert in the future, Sir Aren.”

I didn’t want Rupert to be particularly unhappy, though. I also wanted him to find his own happiness.

I tapped Aren on the shoulder as a sign of strength.

‘It was just that Rupert and I had nothing to do with each other.’

So it has to be like this.

‘I can’t let Leah live her whole life being ignored by her biological father.’

In a relationship that only adversely affects each other, there is nothing left to be done.

It was then that I decided.

Now, my ultimate goal is divorce.