CHAPTER 10
“Is there something you need?”
As Ruby opened the door and stepped outside, Head Maid Bennett asked her.
“I was thinking of taking a walk.”
“I’ll make the arrangements. Would you like me to prepare some tea as well?”
“……Yes. Please do.”
The moment Bennett heard Ruby’s answer, she hurried away.
Ruby was currently staying at the Marquis Grit’s residence in the capital.
Partly because the Viscount Bionne family did not own a residence in the capital, and partly because, until the divorce was finalized, she was still legally the Marchioness Grit. Under the circumstances, there was nowhere else she could stay.
Besides, she intended to leave the capital after the divorce anyway, so there was no need to put herself through the inconvenience of staying somewhere else.
That did not mean, however, that she felt entirely comfortable here.
Ruby had left for the estate immediately after her marriage and had lived there ever since. Apart from the times she had come to the capital to accommodate Eli’s schedule, she had never stayed at the marquis’s residence alone. Perhaps that was why she felt even more out of place.
Most of the servants were kind to her. Even though they had probably already guessed to some extent that Eli and Ruby were going to divorce, none of them let it show.
In other words, they were simply kind to her.
They took care of whatever Ruby wanted and prepared anything she requested, but they no longer treated her as the Marchioness Grit.
The fact that the head maid had stopped making remarks such as, “The Marchioness Dowager would never have done such a thing,” or, “A marchioness should not behave that way,” was proof enough.
Moreover, no one, not even the butler, asked Ruby about anything concerning the residence.
Occasionally, she would happen upon the maids asking Butler Damon something. Even then, they would merely greet her politely. Some of their questions were probably important matters that the butler could not decide on his own, but rather than asking her, they would make a note of them to bring to Eli later.
In any case, Ruby was unmistakably a guest in this residence.
A guest who would soon be leaving. Nothing more, nothing less.
“When was I ever anything else?”
Ruby scoffed at her own feelings.
It was true. She had never once been a member of the Marquis Grit’s family.
Not to the marquis’s family members, nor to any of the servants. Not to a single person.
Ruby and Eli met again at the Imperial Palace.
“Please wait here for a moment until the marquis arrives.”
The attendant led Ruby to a reception room for guests.
“This is……”
“This is an office that His Majesty the Emperor has specially provided for the Marquis Grit. This room is primarily used to receive the marquis’s guests.”
Guests.
At those words, Ruby sat down on the sofa with a self-deprecating smile.
She then looked around the reception room, which was just the right size.
It seemed the Emperor trusted Eli enough to provide him with an office in the Imperial Palace.
Well, even during the early days of their marriage, when Ruby had still been living with Eli, he had been summoned by the Emperor time and time again.
Once Ruby stopped looking around, the reception room fell silent. She had been the only source of noise.
He really was a man who never changed. Busy right up until the day of his divorce.
And so, for a moment, Ruby felt relieved.
The fact that she could barely even see his face—the very thing that had been the only reason she had managed to endure her married life until now—on a day like this was the perfect reassurance. She could comfort herself with the thought that things would have been exactly the same even if their marriage had continued.
A short while later, the door opened as soon as someone knocked.
The action seemed a little hurried.
“I’ll escort you to the office.”
“Has the marquis arrived?”
“He’s on his way.”
As he answered, the attendant glanced at Ruby. His gaze almost seemed as though he were checking her reaction.
Ruby found the attendant’s oddly changed attitude puzzling, but followed him nonetheless.
“Sorry I’m late.”
By then, Eli had arrived at the office.
“It’s all right. But who is this……?”
An unfamiliar man was standing beside Eli.
“The chief attendant who will witness the divorce.”
“My name is Dice. I serve His Majesty the Emperor.”
Ruby had been about to introduce herself out of habit, but then realized there was no longer any need to do so. She merely gave him a slight nod.
“You may sign here.”
Ruby picked up the pen, then hesitated for a moment as she looked at the document bearing the Emperor’s seal.
Once she signed it, there would truly be no going back.
“Madam?”
The chief attendant, who had come in the Emperor’s place, prompted her impatiently.
She was the one who had requested the divorce first. It would seem strange for her to hesitate now. After all, Eli, who had simply gone along with the divorce she wanted, had already signed without the slightest hesitation.
His reaction had been no different when she had first asked him for a divorce.
Perhaps, to him, even divorce was just another piece of business that needed to be taken care of.
Once Ruby had finished signing as well, the chief attendant took the document.
“Your divorce is now legally finalized.”
The chief attendant wore a smile as though he were congratulating them. If Ruby had not heard what he said, she might easily have mistaken the occasion for a celebration.
And just like that, their three years of marriage came to an end.
“Take the carriage.”
As Ruby left the Imperial Palace, she found a carriage waiting for her.
Eli would be staying behind to work, so he would not be taking it. It had probably been prepared for her.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ruby nodded, and he held out his hand to escort her.
Just as she was about to take it, she looked up at Eli.
His expression was the same as always—calm and impassive.
When they married, throughout their married life, and even now, as they divorced.
This would be the last time she saw him up close. The last time she would stand so near him, the last time she would be able to look at him for this long. All of it.
If they happened to cross paths again, she might be able to exchange a greeting with him, but that would only be possible once Ruby returned to high society.
“Work is important, but please take care of your health, too.”
She had carefully chosen those words.
Eli merely looked at Ruby without answering.
Since that was how he had always been, Ruby let go of his hand and climbed into the carriage.
Soon, the door closed.
With a loud bang, Ruby’s eyes flew open.
Despite having been suddenly awakened by the noise, her surroundings were quiet. Even the ceiling that came into view was very familiar.
It was the ceiling she had looked at every day before moving to the Marquis Grit’s residence in the capital for the divorce.
But why was she looking at this ceiling?
She was divorced now. She was no longer part of the Marquis Grit family. Besides, there was no way the Marchioness Dowager would so readily accept a daughter-in-law she had divorced.
‘I definitely signed the papers and exchanged our final goodbyes……’
At that thought, Ruby abruptly sat up.
Then she ran her hands over her own body.
She remembered the moment shortly after she had gotten out of the carriage, when another carriage with broken wheels had come hurtling toward her.
Recalling the sensation, Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, as though trying to dodge the carriage all over again.
It felt as if her breath had been caught in her throat. Ruby exhaled raggedly.
There had definitely been an accident. There was no way such vivid memories could be false.
“You’re awake…… Oh my! Are you all right?”
A maid who noticed Ruby sitting with her head bowed and breathing heavily hurried over to her.
“I’ll fetch the physician!”
Seeing that Ruby still could not calm down, the maid rushed out of the room.
“It’s stress. It seems you’ve had a great deal on your mind.”
“Stress?”
Thanks to the physician’s help with her breathing exercises, Ruby was now sitting with her back against the headboard.
The physician was also the same one she had known in Shuben, which made the situation feel even stranger.
Ruby could not take her eyes off the physician as he wrote something down.
“It’s quite common for people to experience symptoms like this in the early days of marriage.”
“The early days of marriage?”
“When your surroundings change so suddenly, it takes time to adjust. I recommend that you rest as much as possible. I’ll speak to the Marchioness Dowager.”
The physician instructed the maid to prepare some nourishing food for his patient, then left the room.
Ruby kept turning over his words in her mind.
The early days of marriage? Did three years of married life still count as newlywed life?
She was thinking about that when—
“What good are you when you’re so frail?”
A voice rang out not long after the physician left. Somehow, Marie had entered the room without Ruby noticing.
“Stress, of all things. Anyone would think I’d been tormenting you. Honestly, how embarrassing.”
“……”
“Do you really have to make it so obvious?”
Marie scolded her just as she had for the past three years. Watching her, Ruby thought:
This really is Shuben. I really am at the Marquis Grit’s residence.
When Ruby did nothing but stare at her, unlike her usual self, Marie furrowed her brow.
“Anyway, rest today.”
She wanted to say more, but seeing how different Ruby was acting, she supposed the girl really was ill.
“You haven’t even been living together that long, and you’re already making a show of it.”
Marie muttered loudly enough for Ruby to hear.
Once the noisy Marie left, the room fell silent.
Neither Ruby nor the maid spoke first.
“I’ll bring you some thin soup.”
The maid, unable to bear the silence any longer, was about to leave the room when Ruby spoke.
“I……”
“Yes, my lady?”
“How long have I been here?”
“You, my lady?”
“Yes.”
“About six months.”
“……Then how long have I been married?”
The maid tilted her head at the strange question. Ruby seemed genuinely eager to hear the answer.
“About a year. The Marchioness Dowager held a party for your wedding anniversary just recently, remember?”
“Ah.”
Ruby murmured, “The wedding anniversary party.”
“I broke a glass that day, didn’t I?”
“Yes, that’s right. You were nervous.”
“……Thank you.”
“Then I’ll go get the soup.”
The maid thought Ruby must have been under a great deal of stress. Considering how the Marchioness Dowager treated the Marchioness, it was hardly surprising.
“My goodness……”
Once the maid had left and Ruby was alone, she murmured to herself.
It seemed she had returned to the first year of her marriage.
(To be continued in the next chapter.)
