MHHASCD 11

I returned from Marseize to the royal capital. With Asti’s teleportation magic, it happened in an instant.

Because I wanted to finish everything before Leon came back, it truly saved me.

Repeating my to-do list in my mind, I first went to the guild reception to collect my quest reward and the divorce papers.

“Welcome back, Ms. Sheila! I’ve been holding your reward from Mr. Dilan. Please confirm it.”

“Thank you, Nina… It feels like a little too much.”

“It looks like there’s a message.”

At Nina’s words, I looked again and found a short letter from the leader attached to the pouch.

“Go until you’re satisfied!”

Short, but full of force. The corners of my mouth lifted before I could stop them.

Not being alone was reassuring—strong.

“Thank you. And Nina… could I also have the divorce papers?”

“…What?”

The air inside the guild turned sharp and still. It wasn’t only Nina who echoed me—adventurers nearby turned their eyes on me, suddenly intense.

“Ms. Sheila… don’t tell me…”

Nina’s hands trembled, crumpling a document in her grip. Around us, I heard the scrape of metal and the uneasy clatter of gear.

“…Um?”

“Nina, work. Work.”

Asti, who had been receiving his own reward, spoke up briskly. But Nina’s next words were alarming.

“Ah! Sorry. I just started planning a very thorough extermination in my head. Divorce papers, yes. Please wait a moment.”

“…Extermination?”

All around, people seemed to be sharpening weapons or quietly building magic.

What was happening?

I blinked in confusion, and Nina returned with an envelope.

“Ms. Sheila, here are the papers. Both of you must sign. Also, just in case, please have an arbitrator present when you talk.

If you meet alone, he may soften you, twist your words, or make everything vague. I’ll write you a referral. Please have them witness the discussion.”

“Oh…”

I had heard stories—husbands who exploded into violence when a wife asked for divorce. When people are cornered, you never know what they’ll do.

If only for fairness and safety, having a neutral witness might be wise.

“Thank you. I’ll gratefully accept that.”

“You’re important to this guild, Ms. Sheila. So please… do your best.”

She clasped both my hands and looked up at me with trembling eyes. The warmth of it went straight through me. Being treated as someone precious made a quiet smile rise naturally.

“Ms. Sheila, you’re going home, right? I’ll walk you there.”

“Eh, it’s fine. It’s close.”

“No, I’m walking you. Yes. I’m walking you.”

Asti leaned in insistently as I took the envelope.

“Besides—your luggage is in my… in my spatial storage. If I’m not there, you can’t take it home.”

“Oh. Right. Then… please.”

At the edge of my vision, I saw several men half-rise as if to object, then sink back down with grim faces.

“If it’s Asti, there’s no way…”

Nina muttered something like that, but I only bowed to everyone and returned home using Asti’s teleportation.

“Teleportation really is convenient. Maybe I should learn it.”

“You can, Ms. Sheila. Anyone with mana circuits can use magic if they learn.”

He pulled my belongings from his storage and handed them to me. Once I took them, Asti said, “See you,” and vanished again.

“I’m home.”

The house welcomed me with silence.

It had belonged to Leon originally. Even before we married, I had come here so often it felt like mine, too. When he proposed, he’d said he wanted me to protect this place.

It wasn’t special, but after living here for over five years, I’d grown attached.

My favorite furniture.

Cooking tools.

Household magic devices—things we bought little by little, balancing Leon’s pay and my own earnings.

Plates I’d used for years.

A table and chairs marked with scratches.

I had believed that someday a child would be born, and our home would fill with more and more things.

But I would leave it all behind.

The truth was, I didn’t yet have another place to go, so I couldn’t take everything. Still, I packed a few favorite dishes and small items.

Two days until Leon returned.

I packed the important things first and threw away what I didn’t need.

My nausea had settled, as if the child was telling me, Now is the time. Even before I could see their shape, they were already helping me.

I would raise them well. When they were born, I would love them with everything I had.

That night, I decided to tell Amelie.

“Sheila! People at the guild are talking. Are you really getting divorced?”

The moment we met, Amelie asked with a worried face. Considering her big belly, I suggested we go inside somewhere and talk over a meal.

We ordered, and when the drinks arrived first, I began.

“I went to Marseize on a quest… and I saw Leon there.”

“You saw him…?”

“He had his arm around a woman’s waist, and a little girl was sitting on his shoulders.”

Amelie’s expression twisted. She looked angrier than I felt, and it made me smile faintly.

“That child… seems to be Leon’s.”

“That means—!”

She gripped her hands on the table, her face drawn in pain.

“So I’m going to divorce him. Lately we barely talked, and he treated me like I was in the way. Now I know why. It actually made things clear.”

I shrugged, trying to act light, but Amelie just pouted with a sorrowful expression.

It made me oddly happy—having someone who could show the feelings I was swallowing.

“After you divorce… what will you do?”

The future after divorce was still unclear.

My parents’ home was far from the capital, but if Leon came after me, I couldn’t go there.

As I struggled to answer, our food arrived.

“For now, I’ll stay at an inn and slowly look for a place to live. And—sorry, excuse me…”

Mid-sentence, a smell hit me and nausea surged. I covered my mouth and rushed to the lavatory.

Maybe telling Amelie had loosened something in me. Maybe it was only natural.

When I came back, Amelie looked like she might cry.

“Sheila… don’t tell me…”

“Amelie.”

I shook my head without speaking.

Amelie was carrying her third child. She must have recognized the signs.

“I can’t do this anymore. I keep wondering what Leon was thinking, living like this. With me it felt like… like a bodily function. But with her he was gentle.”

I hadn’t wanted to know. I hadn’t wanted to see how the man I loved treated another woman.

No matter what, I would remember how things used to be, how he once was, and it hurt. The fact that I couldn’t even believe I was loved anymore felt humiliating and pathetic.

“…That man is an idiot.”

Amelie shook her head, disgusted.

I had no intention of telling Leon about the child.

That was why I would leave the capital.

Amelie seemed to understand that without my saying it.

So she said nothing.

And neither did I.