Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Chloe walked in the snow. She didn’t even know where to go.

To know the way she should go was to have a clear destination and a clear reason for going there, but she had no destination and no reason to go. The only thing certain was that she had to leave this place, that was all.

So, her steps naturally headed toward the airfield.

It was late in the evening, so the airfield was empty, and the only remaining airship was a passenger airship that was just preparing to depart.

Chloe spoke to the crewman standing at the ticket gate.

“Where is this airship going?”

The crewman tilted his head. Usually, the person who asked such a question was either a person who was lost due to a lack of sense, or a person who was lost because of a lack of destination. Though judging from the woman in front of him, it seemed to be the latter.

Even though the woman’s complexion was as bad and pale as that of a dead person, her eyes were bright, her tightly pursed lips were twisted stubbornly, and her behavior was noble enough to compare with any lady. He didn’t think of her as a stupid person who didn’t have a sense.

“It’s heading to Heath. It goes straight without stopping in the middle.”

Chloe slowly lowered her eyes.

Heath… It was famous for its sparkling beaches, forest roads, and wild cliffs.

It was a scenery she had never seen before though she was able to picture it in her head enough. Imagining Heath’s splendor, she decided it was a suitable place to lay her own body.

“I’ll buy one way.”

The price of the airship ticket was more expensive than expected.

Chloe thought that it was fortunate that she got the money from the bank through Andrea a few days ago. At the same time, she realized that this money came from Eric. She could feel the bitterness, like a bug that eats his money until she leaves him.

Soon, she slowly boarded the airship.

The airship shuts as soon as she boards, perhaps Chloe was the last guest.

The sound of engines preparing for departure pierced her ears. She sat down in the third-class seat. It was a ticket she had bought in a hurry, and she couldn’t pay a higher price, so she was seated in a lower-class seat.

Chloe sat down and looked around. She saw people who were well-dressed to some extent but lacked dignity. They were making a lot of noise to and fro and drinking even though it wasn’t in the dining car!

She looked at them with contempt, then lowered her eyes apologetically.

Now that she was divorced from Eric Aslan, she herself had ceased to be the Marchioness. She could not take the family name of Duchy Rolfe because she changed her surname when she got married. So, she could never become someone of Duchy Rolfe again.

She couldn’t be Mrs. Aslan, and she couldn’t be Lady Rolfe. Therefore, she was just Chloe… The only name left was Chloe.

It was a life no different from that of a commoner.

How terrible! Even in her dreams, she didn’t expect that her life would be ruined like this.

A long time ago, what was the past like? Was it a childhood full of happy imaginations and delusions? Chloe recalled her past before the marriage, herself in the South.

…At that time, she was really naive.

She hoped for an accidental love and romance like in the novel and a marriage filled with affection and respect. She was sure that it would happen because Chloe then was the youngest daughter of an unenviable Duchy, with pretty looks and a bright mind.

But, what about reality?

It was not enough that she got married for trade, she was betrayed by her husband while seeking love, abandoned by her family, and ran away while being pursued with a fatal disease!

Chloe looked like she was about to burst into tears.

It was not because this situation was so unbearably disgusting and terrible. It was because she realized that she was too stupid. What if she had not wished for love from Eric from the beginning and had lived a moderately contented life as the Madam of Marquisate Aslan?

Had it been so, her body would not have been so weak as it was now, and her heart would not have been torn apart and hurt… It might have been better that way.

She had regrets, but, as always, regrets were just words of fools who couldn’t accept the past. The Chloe of the past was too smart, but the Chloe of today was just too stupid.

She turned her head and peered out of the window. Looking down at the earth, which now seemed small, at the dotted lights, at the snowflakes and snow clouds filling the pitch-black sky, Chloe reaffirmed that she would live a life with no more regrets.

Even if only for the rest of her time.

&nb

sp;

Eric wandered around the office nervously. He hadn’t slept a wink last night. Even though his body was very tired, his mind was very clear.

It was inevitable. How could he sleep in peace when Chloe had left him like that? He had stayed up all night with his eyes open, and he walked around the room in such a nervous state, waiting for the news that Daniel would bring him.

“Damn it.”

It was displeasing, Eric swore and brushed his hair roughly.

He uncapped the bottle of whiskey and poured it into the glass. Drinking from early in the morning was not the right thing to do, but he had to do it. If he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t be able to keep his mind.

As he gulped down the drink, his esophagus and stomach wall became hot in turn. His mind was wide awake.

Bang!

He set the glass down hard and buried himself on the sofa. Covering his eyes with his palms, he let out a breath.

He thought about it all night.

Were Chloe’s words true or false? And, he wondered if he had really done something wrong to her… The answer to the first question was something he could find out if Daniel brought the doctor with him today. However, the answer to the second question was still unknown.

Did I really do anything wrong?

He couldn’t give a proper answer to this question. After he made up his mind to improve his relationship with Chloe, he could say that he did his best.

The results weren’t always good, but anyway, Chloe was happy a few times. Therefore, Eric shouldn’t have made such a big mistake. He thought that he had been very kind to Chloe, and he even came to think that Chloe, who did not appreciate this kind of kindness, was just a mean woman.

Yes. Chloe was a mean woman. The kind of mean woman who didn’t know his heart and didn’t even try to know it.

“Whoo…”

Eric swept his face with the palm of his hand.

He knew.

That no matter how much he hated Chloe in his heart, he couldn’t easily abandon the thoughts about her. Even though it was as simple as brushing her off and getting the divorce papers stamped, he didn’t.

Eric didn’t want to… He didn’t want his relationship with Chloe to end on a piece of paper.

He didn’t know why he was acting with these thoughts. He didn’t know why he was so angry and irritable and nervous and anxious that he was going crazy. He only vaguely assumed that he was doing this out of anger at the feeling that someone had taken something of his.

Which was to say, he felt robbed.

He was, as always, a man who did not know how to understand his feelings, and he was a fool who did not even know how to understand them.

It was at this time.

—Knock, knock.

There was a knock on the door, and soon Daniel appeared.

“You’re here!”

Eric jumped up and hurriedly approached Daniel.

“What about Chloe?”

“Madam is on an airship.”

Daniel said, raising his glasses.

“She went to Heath.”

“Health?”

Fortunately, Heath was not too far away. It took about three hours by airship. Furthermore, next month, the railroad would open in the Heath area as well, so that would bring her much closer.

Eric’s eyes twinkled.

“Yes. However…”

However, Daniel’s face darkened. He lowered his head to Eric and continued.

“We couldn’t get on the airship together. The airship was already full, so I didn’t find out where she was in Heath.”

“Such nonsense!”

Eric ran wild.

‘To miss Chloe!’

His eyes were red and bloody.

“Shouldn’t you have paid more for the ride!”

Daniel shook his head again.

“I thought so, too, but I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not thinking that the Madam would board the airship.”

He couldn’t have been more angry with Daniel reporting like this.

Eric threw his body backwards, punching the air with his fists clenched. As he caught his breath and tried his best to calm his simmering heart, he cupped his forehead with the palm of his hand and narrowed his brows.

“It’s okay. Heath is a small area, so I can find out where Chloe is and what she’s doing if I want to. I can find her.”

He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Daniel noticed Eric’s attitude and responded by keeping his mouth shut. After taking a few more breaths, Eric asked what he was most curious about.

“The doctor?”

That was the doctor’s whereabouts.

Daniel answered with his shoulders wide open as he could answer this with confidence.

“He is in the parlor.”

“Let’s go.”

Daniel led the way, and Eric followed.

He wished this doctor was something Chloe had made up. In fact, even if they were a real doctor, he hoped that Chloe’s illness was false. The source of this wish was his deep-rooted love for Chloe, though Eric wasn’t the smartest man to ever think of that.

__