She quickly realized it wasn’t her imagination. A chilly breeze wrapped around her body, and the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

When the presence drew near—

“My lady, are you there?”

At the butler’s hoarse call, she slowly turned her head to find something wrapped in deep navy cloth held in his hands.

“What’s that?”

“A reply from the master.”

At the word “reply,” her fingertips trembled. It seemed to be a response to the divorce discussion she’d sent not long ago.

What kind of answer would it contain?

She placed her teacup on the side table, closed her eyes tightly, then brought her hands together neatly like she was praying.

When her hand blade pointed toward the sky, the butler carefully placed the letter on the table.

“My lady, I’ll… take my leave now.”

“Wait, has there been any word from my father, Count Yut?”

“No, there hasn’t been.”

“I see? Then… it can’t be helped. You may go.”

She barely managed to speak with trembling lips and heard the sound of the door closing vividly in her ears. It felt so much like a dream that she simply kept her eyes closed.

Lightning struck even more noisily.

With a rumbling crash, a light drizzle began to fall, and she slowly opened her eyes.

“What… did he write?”

Would he agree to divorce? Or would he refuse and stop her?

“Or maybe… neither.”

Maybe he wrote that it was all her fault. He was the type to do exactly that. Whenever he stood on the edge of a cliff, he always blamed himself.

This time wouldn’t be any different—she reached out with sweat-soaked hands and snatched up the letter.

“It’s okay, everything’s okay. Nothing will happen.”

She tried to soothe her restless heart and slowly read the contents.

Inside was handwriting that resembled his personality, and every bit of the content was mercilessly harsh. Everything she’d thought about earlier was contained within, and as if that wasn’t enough, it concluded with telling her not to even dream of divorce.

—Thea, I see what a foolish woman you are. You can’t be unaware that your family hasn’t even repaid half the dowry they received when they married you off to me. Until that money is fully repaid, you must live as my wife. Do you understand?

So how about you stop drinking from an empty cup and take care of your overdue work? 

From your loving husband.

A tremendous sense of humiliation crept up. Debt? Dowry?

There was no way such a thing existed. Rather, she knew her family had sent extra money, hoping she would live comfortably after marrying into this place.

So how could he make such an absurd, unreasonable claim?

She wondered what she’d been so afraid of in content that didn’t contain even a speck of decency.

“I trembled just to hear this?”

Yes, just to hear this nonsense.

How… how could you do this to me?

If you knew how I’d lived in this stinking sewer of a family, you couldn’t have said something like this.

Intense emotions surrounded her body to the point where she couldn’t back down anymore.

When she finally reached the end—

“That’s right, you can’t do this to me. No, you shouldn’t. After everything I’ve been through…”

Thea threw the letter in her hand to the floor and trampled on it.

The spotless letter quickly crumpled under her kicks and finally tore apart.

It felt so satisfying.

She realized she’d been waiting for this moment her entire life. Between the continuous lightning strikes, she seemed to see a ray of hope.

If she had to live miserably anyway, couldn’t she rebel just once?

Only the thought that she couldn’t crumble like this consumed her mind. Thea decided to move before her pounding heart went out.

Whether she went this way or that, if the situation was already decided, there might still be a chance left.

I’m okay, I… can do this.

Like a fish flopping its gills on land, an answer would come if she kept moving. Thea shook the hem of her crumpled dress forcefully and headed outside.

She couldn’t stop the desire to go anywhere—anywhere but the study, anywhere but this mansion.

As she ran breathlessly, only her footsteps echoed in the eerily quiet corridor, and in sync with them, relentless lightning pierced her ears sharply.

The scene seemed to condemn her for running away, and mockery rippled through her.

The place where her steps finally stopped was where the carriages were kept.

The falling rain soaked her head thoroughly, but she didn’t care.

When freedom lay before her eyes, what did a little rain matter?

There was no hesitation. Thea stood before the carriage, taking the gloomy scenery as her companion.

Then she looked at the stamping horse and spoke. “Coachman, can you drive the horses well enough even in the rain?”

At the command-like question, the coachman looked Thea over from head to toe before replying.

“Yes, my lady. Where should we go?”

To the coachman asking for a destination, Thea couldn’t answer right away. She’d come out without deciding where to go.

But that dilemma was only brief.

She soon realized her worries were pointless. There was only one place she could return to comfortably.

“…Drive to my family home.”

At the mention of her family, the coachman seemed puzzled for a moment but quickly understood.

He seemed to brush it off lightly, thinking something serious must have happened at the Yut family since she was leaving the estate at this late hour to go to her family home.

He didn’t object further. Instead, he told her to be careful, took Thea’s hand, and escorted her inside the carriage.

Once she boarded the carriage, the coachman quietly pulled it along, passed through the barred entrance, and drove for quite a while toward the Yut family estate.

* * *

After driving for a full day, she arrived at the Yut family estate. She’d departed at night, and when she arrived, it was night again.

The household members looked extremely surprised at her unannounced arrival, and at night no less. She wasn’t someone who would come without warning.

Thea looked around the still-peaceful estate, then smiled faintly at a familiar figure with delight.

“Nanny.”

That’s right. The nanny who had raised Thea stood there, wearing a light lace shawl, seemingly about to go to bed. When Thea approached her side with apparent joy at the sight, the nanny jumped in surprise.

“Miss Thea! What’s happened? To be caught in this fierce rain and wind like this.”

Saying she’d catch a cold, the nanny rushed over to Thea in a fluster, wrapped her own shawl around her, and began examining her from all angles.

At the nanny’s urgent actions, Thea raised one hand to stop her, indicating she was fine.

“Nanny, where are my parents?”

“The Count and Countess are preparing for bed.”

“…Really? They’re going to sleep early.”

“When you get older, you go to bed early, you know. Shall I guide you to the bedroom?”

“No, it’s fine. I can go by myself.”

Having lightly dismissed the nanny, Thea crossed the corridor familiarly, paying no attention to the still-murmuring commotion.

It had been a really long time since she’d headed to her parents’ bedroom at this late hour.

At this time, her mother would surely be gazing out the window, and her father would be reading fishy-smelling print beside her.

At the reality that painted itself clearly without even looking, Thea, who had been walking urgently, slowed her steps a bit and moved forward, gently tracing the wall with her fingers.

Throughout the journey, she didn’t forget to count.

She always counted when heading to her parents’ bedroom.

“It was like playing a little game.”

When she was young, it seemed like such a fun game, but now she wasn’t sure.

She just recited it familiarly, over and over.

One, two, three… and when she approached one hundred twenty, a pale beige wooden door appeared. From the sound of chattering voices inside, she’d found the right place.

Thea lightly raised her hand and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

At the word “me,” the inside instantly fell silent. They seemed bewildered to hear a voice that couldn’t possibly be there.

She could fully understand her parents’ feelings. Even she would have been too flustered to do anything if someone had visited without notice, especially at this late hour.

At the vivid situation, when she raised her hand to knock on the door again, this time her mother’s voice came through.

“…Thea?”

“Yes.”

The silence broke and there was a clatter of bustling movement inside. They must have realized it wasn’t a dream.

Finally, when the noise stopped—

“Come in, dear. Our daughter.”

Her mother, looking disheveled, wore an extremely joyful expression. Well, it was her first visit to her family home in four years, so it made sense.

Her mother still looked beautiful and innocent, meaning she hadn’t suffered any emotional hardship. The two were famous for being lovebirds, so it was understandable.

Beyond the wide-open door, she could see two concave silver bowls—it seemed they’d been soaking their feet and chatting before bed, as usual.

“…I’m sorry for visiting so late.”

And when she said she was relieved they still looked healthy, her mother grabbed Thea’s hand standing outside the door and brought her inside.

“I’ve been doing well. But why have you gotten so thin? The Count isn’t starving you, is he?”

“I’d feel better if that were the case.”

Even eating well, she’d lost weight steadily from emotional distress. No matter how good the food and goods she used, it was no different from h*ll when her heart wasn’t at peace.

At the continuous questions, Thea concluded with a dry smile and walked inside, giving a light nod of greeting to her father, who held a newspaper with wide eyes.

“What brings you here without notice?”

At the question of why she came without warning, she realized the letter sent to the family hadn’t arrived. And that it had been lost along the way.

Learning that they hadn’t deliberately ignored her letter, Thea rubbed her stiff neck with her hand and said,

“I came because I have something urgent to tell you.”

“Was it urgent enough to visit at this late hour?”

“Yes.”

When she firmly said yes, her father folded the newspaper in his hand in half, handed it to her mother, rose from his seat, and guided her to an empty table.

He seemed to have sensed it would be a long conversation.

“You won’t need tea.”

“No, Father.”

Thea revealed her inner thoughts without batting an eye at the surroundings that had been organized in no time.

“I want to return to the family. Father… please, become my witness.”

“What on earth are you talking about? Returning to this family?”

At her sudden visit and request to become a witness, they seemed dumbfounded and just stared at each other’s faces, wondering what all this was about.

Soon after, she let out a deep sigh to her father, who stared at her like she’d lost her mind, showing him this wasn’t a lie.

Some things were understood without words.

At her extremely exhausted appearance, her father raised one hand and slowly dragged it down his face as he spoke.

“For now… let me think about it. You’ve come a long way, so rest, and let’s talk again after breakfast tomorrow morning.”

At the clear dismissal, Thea could only nod and leave.

Throughout her exit, her mother’s worried gaze clung to her back, but she only kept her eyes on the floor.