Chapter 01

Elsie Gray was the happiest person in the world.

No matter what anyone else said, at least she believed that about herself.

Kaiden Gray. She still had this man, the one with whom she had promised to spend the rest of her life.

Elsie climbed the hill with Kaiden. At the far end of the hill stood a magnificent old tree, its sprawling branches casting a wide shadow.

Kaiden, standing beneath it, set down the easel he had been carrying and skillfully placed a canvas on it. Then he opened the bag slung over his shoulder.

Elsie took out the painting supplies from the bag and gave him a grateful look.

In response, Kaiden naturally leaned down toward her. It was his way of asking for a kiss on the cheek instead of words of thanks.

With a brief smacking sound, Elsie giggled. The corners of Kaiden’s lips also curved into a pleasant smile.

Looking at the scenery stretching out before her as far as the eye could see, she began moving her hands busily.

As Elsie’s hands moved, the ring on her ring finger sparkled in the sunlight. It was an emerald ring with a blue-green hue that perfectly resembled the color of her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Elsie asked worriedly, wondering whether Kaiden, who was sitting with his back against the tree trunk and watching her, might be getting bored.

“Yes. Just watching you is enough.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Kaiden’s answer was gentle yet firm.

Feeling reassured, Elsie returned to painting the scenery beyond the hill.

The gentle breeze felt wonderful. The sunlight she loved so dearly illuminated the world. Everything was breathtakingly beautiful.

And beside her was the husband she loved.

Elsie turned her head and looked at Kaiden.

His blue eyes crinkled beautifully, and his lips curved into a pleasant smile. In response to his expression, Elsie returned an equally bright smile.

From the moment she first met Kaiden until after their marriage, their happy days unfolded one by one in her dreams.

There had even been days like that.

Days when the person she loved looked so adorable that it was almost unbearable. Days when they shared each other’s warmth and whispered the feelings of love overflowing in their hearts.

“I love you.”

As she uttered those words, mixed with her excited breaths, her heart pounded wildly. She had said it simply because she loved him, yet those words seemed to summon even greater love, as though they were the truest words in the world.

They had been lying in bed, looking at each other and giggling. Unable to hold back any longer, Elsie had reached out toward him.

Her index finger traced the bridge of his straight nose before finally settling against his lips.

“Elsie.”

She heard her name mixed with his hot breath.

No, she thought she had clearly heard it, but when she blinked, his lips were pressing even more firmly against her finger.

A suggestive kiss lingered on the tip of her finger.

Her cheeks, then her ears, and finally the nape of her neck…

Seeing the areas within his field of vision gradually turning red, Kaiden let out a breathy laugh.

She had never once imagined that the passionate desire they had felt for each other might not have been love.

Nor had she ever doubted the warmth they shared afterward, lying in each other’s arms, or the affectionate conversations in which they happily imagined their future together.

It was a past so different from the miserable present.

Elsie struggled to raise her upper body. Her hair, damp with cold sweat, swayed with her movements.

Once again, morning had arrived. How tiresome. How bothersome.

No, judging by the sunlight filtering through the thin curtains, it seemed closer to noon.

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound reached her ears. Elsie’s emotionless gaze shifted toward the bedroom door.

“Madam, you seemed to be running late, so I thought something might be wrong and took the liberty of opening the door.”

It was Evie Smith, the lady’s maid of the mansion.

At her mocking words, Elsie bit her lower lip.

“I’ll come in.”

She had already entered without waiting for permission, and yet she was saying that now.

Well, it wasn’t as though the mansion’s servants had only started behaving this way recently. Elsie didn’t even have the energy to get angry, so she simply nodded weakly.

“I’ll prepare your meal. Since you mentioned that your stomach was upset, I think porridge would be best.”

Evie approached Elsie and straightened her disheveled hair. Her brushing was neither particularly rough nor particularly gentle. It was utterly devoid of warmth.

“Everyone waited for you until they couldn’t wait any longer, so they’ve all gone off to do other things.”

Evie explained why she was the only one attending to Elsie.

Although her words were clearly meant to blame Elsie, she showed no particular reaction this time either.

“So please wait for a little while. If you wish, you may enjoy that hobby of yours in the meantime.”

Evie glanced at the painting supplies in the corner of the bedroom. Her gaze then shifted to the botanical encyclopedia that Elsie had become so engrossed in lately.

The corners of Evie’s lips twitched mockingly as she looked at the book.

“…All right.”

“Yes, then I’ll take my leave.”

After changing into a dress that was more comfortable to move around in, Elsie unconsciously let out a deep sigh.

At that, the corners of Evie’s eyes sharpened.

Evie silently moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but then pressed them firmly together before leaving the bedroom.

Her footsteps were filled with irritation.

“It’s a lovely day.”

Running her fingers through her curly hair, Elsie gazed out the window.

Even amid the suffocating reality she lived in, the nature outside remained beautiful. Warm sunlight streamed in, and a gentle breeze brushed past. The scent of grass tickled the tip of her nose, making her feel as though she were drifting into a distant dream.

Elsie weakly walked toward the window and stood close to it. Her fingers were itching, and she felt as though she wanted to capture the scenery on a canvas.

“Ah…”

However, the moment she spotted three people strolling through the garden, that desire disappeared in an instant.

Kaiden Gray and his father, Charles Gray.

And between the two men was a woman laughing brightly.

The three of them looked like a perfect picture, laughing and chatting together in a garden filled with flowers of every color.

Charles Gray was someone Elsie hadn’t met separately since her marriage. And yet, there he was, laughing with a woman whose identity she didn’t even know.

Even more than that, Kaiden’s expression…

It was the very expression she had fallen in love with.

Elsie’s eyes gradually began to turn red.

Kaiden had changed long ago. She should have let go of him, the man who had completely occupied her heart.

Then why couldn’t she abandon Kaiden? Why did she have to cling to this mansion and witness such a cruel sight?

Elsie’s grip tightened around the curtain.

“Madam, I’m coming in.”

Knock, knock.

Another neat series of knocks echoed through the room. Elsie irritably pulled the curtains shut, blocking the window from view.

Elsie hadn’t stepped outside even once lately.

She spent her days letting twenty-four hours pass by like a slow death, doing nothing but reading the books piled up in her room.

Today was no different.

She had even covered the window she used to look out of whenever she wanted to see the outside world.

She forced her gaze back to her book, but strangely, the words refused to register.

The scene she had witnessed that morning replayed endlessly in her mind.

Kaiden was finally going to choose another woman instead of her.

As that conclusion settled in her mind, Elsie’s chapped lips twisted bitterly.

‘I must tell him tomorrow.’

Elsie had once harbored an unrequited love for Kaiden. His vivid blue eyes, so different from her own, had seemed unbearably lovely to her.

She had begged her father, Count Lesles, to let her keep Kaiden by her side, and the Count, who loved his daughter dearly, had naturally granted her request.

Those days…

It was time to scatter that past far away, like grains of sand that could no longer be easily held in her hands.

After running a brush through her hair, Elsie climbed into bed. She intended to find Kaiden as soon as she woke up tomorrow.

Desperately trying to clear her mind of unnecessary thoughts, Elsie closed her eyes. Since she couldn’t easily fall asleep with the lights turned off, she kept a candle burning beside her.

How much time had passed since she fell asleep?

Before long, she had no choice but to wake up.

“…Kaiden?”

Whether he had extinguished the candle or it had simply burned itself out, the room was now shrouded in darkness.

She could sense someone’s presence.

Her eyes, unaccustomed to the darkness, couldn’t make out a single thing. But the hands reaching toward her so roughly were familiar.

Elsie knew that Kaiden had entered her bedroom.

There had once been a time when she had thrown away all her pride and desperately wanted Kaiden.

Because she couldn’t accept that he had changed, she had even clung to him, asking him to share his bed with her.

But that was no longer the case.

Kaiden’s hand naturally slipped toward the inside of her flowing nightdress.

“No…”

When Elsie murmured and pushed his hand away, his previously unrestrained movements came to a halt.

“…You begged me to do this, and now you’re saying you don’t want it?”

His words reached her ears, though she couldn’t tell whether they were a question or merely a mutter.

“Haa…”

He added a sigh at the end, as though the whole situation was ridiculous.

When Kaiden withdrew his hand, Elsie fidgeted and pulled down her nightdress, which had ridden up.

She could feel Kaiden’s irritated gaze in the darkness. He seemed about to say something. His lips parted once, but no words came out.

Then he turned his back to her.

“…There’s something I need to tell you.”

Now that her eyes had gradually grown accustomed to the darkness, she could make out Kaiden’s silhouette.

Perhaps her trembling voice had reached him, because Kaiden suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“I was going to tell you tomorrow, but I’ll just say it now.”

Elsie’s rounded shoulders curled inward.

“Let’s get a divorce.”

The already short sentence broke into fragments because of her trembling breaths.

“…Divorce?”

Kaiden finally turned around and looked down at Elsie.

In the darkness, she could see his blue eyes, lowered and filled with a cold intensity.

Elsie couldn’t understand why his tone was so sharp.

It wasn’t enough that Kaiden had no interest in her anymore; he was even seeing another woman.

Wouldn’t a divorce be exactly what he wanted?

“Yes. A divorce.”

Elsie tilted her head slightly and repeated herself.

“That’s not even worth listening to.”

“…What?”

After an uncomfortably long silence, his response was utterly absurd.

This time, Elsie let out a heated breath of disbelief.

“Divorce. Wasn’t that what you wanted in the first place?”

Her trembling voice now carried a certainty that had once been nothing more than a suspicion.

Another strange silence descended between them.

By now, Elsie could clearly see the subtle changes in Kaiden’s expression, even in the darkness.

He was angry.

Then, for a moment, it seemed as though every trace of emotion had disappeared from his face, only to be replaced by a dry, bitter smile.

It was unmistakable mockery.

“Me? …I wanted a divorce?”

“Yes. To Major Kaiden Gray, I’m…”

Elsie drew a shaky breath.

“I’m nothing but a burden.”

Kaiden Gray, commander of the Sharpshooter Squad, had achieved remarkable military accomplishments during the war.

During the Red Evening Revolution, also known as Citizens’ Day, Charles Gray, the former Count Gray, had played a pivotal role alongside Kaiden.

The two men had received the admiration and praise of countless people.

Elsie Gray, once a count’s daughter, was the only blemish on their otherwise spotless reputations.

In a society where social classes no longer existed, what significance could a family’s honor possibly hold?

Even though Elsie lived quietly in the mansion, barely making a sound, she knew that much.

“That’s right. You were a burden. And you still are.”

“Then let’s get a divorce. The two of us.”

Just as a resigned smile settled firmly on Elsie’s lips, Kaiden spoke again.

“No. That won’t happen.”

With those words, Kaiden turned around and left the bedroom.

Why was he reacting this way when the burden he spoke of was offering to disappear on her own?

Even though she couldn’t understand what he meant, Kaiden’s words pierced Elsie’s heart.

What was going through his mind?

She thought about it until the early hours of the morning turned into dawn, but in the end, she couldn’t find an answer.