Now she could clearly picture her future—scrutinizing his complexion in detail every single day. She found herself ridiculous, but there was nothing she could do about it. She still loved Edmund.

Maybe if she didn’t see his face, she could sort out her feelings? Should she run away? But how could she leave Edmund’s side…

The anguish continued endlessly. Olivia grew noticeably gaunt with each passing day. Perhaps God took pity on her. One day, not many days later, fortune suddenly flew her way.

“Olivia.”

Edmund, who had been watching Olivia with concern as she once again failed to finish even half her dinner, spoke up.

“Do you perhaps miss your hometown?”

“…My hometown?”

“It’s already been half a year since you left home, hasn’t it? I’ve heard that people leaving their hometown for the first time sometimes develop homesickness without realizing it.”

He spoke smoothly, like he’d sought someone’s advice about Olivia’s situation.

“How about visiting home? Seeing your parents and meeting old friends might help you feel better.”

As Olivia listened to his kind words, a voice suddenly whispered in a corner of her heart.

His hidden lover must have suggested it. To send her far away. Don’t fall for it.

Olivia bit her lip hard and looked at Edmund resentfully.

“Are you trying to send me away?”

“Why are you making that face?”

Edmund reached out to her with an uncomprehending expression. His hand caressing her moist eyes felt warm.

“I thought you’d smile at my patient decision. After such a long time.”

Olivia forcibly suppressed the sick thoughts rising pathologically again. Edmund lowered his hand from dabbing at Olivia’s eyes and took her hand.

“Unfortunately, my patience has already worn thin, so I can’t send you for long. Would a week be enough?”

“What will you do while I’m gone…”

The question slipped out thoughtlessly. Olivia was more startled by her own words and hurriedly closed her lips. If Edmund had decided to send her away, Olivia had to go. Nothing good would come from upsetting Edmund before leaving.

“Are you worrying about me right now?”

Edmund asked in an even more affectionate voice, seemingly mistaking her crude jealousy for tender concern. He leisurely traced Olivia’s hand with his thumb and whispered low.

“Olivia. What will I do while you’re gone? Think about it at the Ember Count’s territory, continuously.”

“…”

“What you and I do won’t be so different.”

Olivia, head bowed low, reluctantly nodded.

Though she’d wanted this opportunity to not see Edmund’s face, she felt no joy at all.

* * *

Edmund, who frequently visited the royal palace, mainly stayed at his townhouse in the capital. Olivia, who never left his side, did the same.

And the distance from the capital to the Ember Count’s territory wasn’t far.

“Did he cast you out?”

The moment she saw Olivia stepping down from the carriage, Countess Ember, who had come out to greet her after receiving word, asked. Olivia burst out indignantly.

“Mother!”

“You seem spirited, so I guess not. That’s good then.”

A helpless laugh escaped at her mother’s nonsense. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like this.

“Where are Father and my brother?”

“The men went to the southern estate for merchant guild business. If I’d known you were coming, they would have postponed their schedule. You should have sent word ahead.”

“They’ll return while I’m here, won’t they?”

“How long are you planning to stay? …Did he really cast you out?”

The Countess’s expression, which had been playful, turned quite serious. Olivia shook her head and countered in a self-deprecating tone.

“You know we’re not that kind of relationship, Mother.”

A real marriage might be different, but there was no being cast out in a contract marriage. That held true even if Edmund had a hidden lover.

Whether convinced or not, Countess Ember nodded briskly.

“That’s true. Edmund wouldn’t do that.”

Her mother’s tone in saying words with the same meaning sounded somehow unusual. The particularly jarring form of address caught Olivia’s ear.

“Edmund?”

“Why so surprised? What’s so remarkable about calling my daughter’s husband by his name?”

The Countess shrugged and looked with sparkling eyes at the cargo carriages lined up behind the one Olivia had ridden in.

They were gifts for the Ember Countess’s family that Edmund had personally prepared. Olivia had refused repeatedly, but Edmund’s will was firm.

Was he trying to offset his guilt with gifts? At the obsessive thought, Olivia couldn’t stand the sight of the cargo carriages. But her mother seemed different.

“Bring all the luggage to my study. If they’re things Edmund sent, I’ll need to organize them myself.”

She looked practiced at giving orders to the servants. She seemed exactly like someone who’d received gifts from Edmund many times before. As Olivia tilted her head in puzzlement, the Countess linked arms with her affectionately.

“It’s so good to see you after so long.”

“Me too, Mother.”

Feeling her mother’s warm presence, the emotions she’d been pressing down surged up. Olivia subtly revealed her true feelings disguised as a joke.

“Should I just stay here and keep living with you, Mother?”

“Is that something a married woman should say? Really. You’re still like a child.”

The Countess lightly pinched Olivia’s cheek. Olivia couldn’t continue speaking and smiled faintly while making a firm resolution inside. For this one week at home, she’d completely forget about Edmund.

* * *

The next day, Olivia took time to slowly look around the Count’s residence after so long. Though she’d only been away for half a year, the residence had changed significantly from before.

“Goodness. You’ve replaced the tapestries in every bedroom. They’re exactly like what’s fashionable in the capital. When did you change them?”

At Olivia’s question, the Countess vaguely averted her gaze.

“Wh-when? I don’t really… Anyway, you’ve become quite the noblewoman. To know the capital’s fashions.”

The Countess, patting Olivia’s back like she was proud, clearly wanted to change the subject quickly. Olivia found it strange but pretended not to notice and left the room according to her mother’s wishes.

Knowing her mother wasn’t given to extravagance, she could only speculate in her own way that the Count’s finances must be good these days.

Olivia’s life at home consisted only of such activities—looking around the residence or drinking tea with her mother in the drawing room. The excessively idle routine had a rather poor effect on her.

When spending leisurely time, thoughts of Edmund completely ravaged her mind. Damp emotions full of jealousy and contradictory feelings of worrying about his health tormented Olivia.

The self from a few days ago who had wanted to leave his side felt terribly foolish. If she’d hurt and struggle the same way regardless, she’d have been better off staying at the ducal residence where she could at least see Edmund.

“Is something uncomfortable, Olivia?”

The first to notice the shadow cast over Olivia’s face was Countess Ember. On a sunny afternoon, the Countess, who had been enjoying tea time at the garden gazebo, asked with a worried look.

“You came home after so long, but you don’t look well.”

Her hand stroked Olivia’s cheek. The hand that had been holding a teacup moments ago was warm. Olivia rubbed her cheek against her mother’s palm like acting spoiled.

“I must have accumulated fatigue without realizing it. Coming home makes me feel languid.”

“Is the ducal house’s work too heavy?”

“It’s not that. His Grace helps me a lot.”

Olivia smiled like it was nothing. She couldn’t worry her mother. Fortunately, the Countess’s face relaxed considerably as she scolded playfully.

“Really, you. What’s with that form of address still? You’ve been married for half a year already, and you still call him ‘His Grace.’ How cold.”

“But we’re not an ordinary married couple.”

Though Olivia answered somewhat dejectedly, the Countess didn’t care.

“What does that matter? You know I had an arranged marriage with your father too. Most of high society probably did. That’s no excuse.”

As she said, arranged marriages were common in noble society. Even Olivia’s parents had been that way. And the two of them had built such a harmonious family that it was hard to believe they’d been joined through an arranged marriage.

Perhaps that was why. Growing up under such parents, Olivia had harbored vague hope that she could do the same. …No, had harbored.

The strength suddenly drained completely from her upright posture. Olivia leaned her upper body forward, practically collapsing onto the table.

Normally she would have pointed out such undignified behavior. But the Countess, seemingly noticing Olivia’s unusual state, simply lowered her voice and asked.

“Is something really wrong?”

“There is, Mom.”

“Alright. Tell me. I’m listening.”

A soft laugh escaped. Even at such informal speech like a thoughtless child, her mother showed only a worried face without any rebuke.

Seeing someone who supported her completely, words from deep inside suddenly burst out.

“What would you do if I ran away from the ducal house?”

“…What?”

Shock appeared on the Countess’s face.

“Run away? What are you talking about? Don’t tell me that bastard Duke did something terrible to you? This d*mn…!”

When had she been calling him Edmund so familiarly? Now the Countess didn’t hesitate to use harsh words about Edmund, like referring to a mortal enemy.

Olivia, who had spoken without thinking, became greatly flustered and bolted upright.

“No, it’s not like that. That couldn’t be.”

“Tell me the truth! And here I’ve been accepting this and that from that bastard, and bragging to everyone about how much… No, this isn’t the time for this. I need to inform your father and brother immediately. I’ll go to the royal palace and tell His Majesty the King about this outrage…”

“M-Mother, calm down first. It’s not like that. His Grace treats me so well.”

At her mother’s incomprehensible rambling, Olivia broke out in a cold sweat. 

To clear up the misunderstanding, she had to recite a list of the jewels and dresses she’d received, inform her of the brilliant careers of the dedicated maids Edmund had specially hired just for her, and recite the head chef’s diverse special dishes tailored to her tastes before she could half-calm the Countess’s excitement.

“You’re certain there’s no problem with how he treats you either?”

“Of course. He always treats me kindly. The servants too.”

“Right, of course. I knew it. Edmund wouldn’t do that.”

Seeing the form of address return to normal, the misunderstanding seemed completely cleared now. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. The Countess’s eyes, which had been sharply raised, took on a strange light.

“I wondered why you came home. You too, really, making such a fuss over a lovers’ quarrel. Just like when you were eight and came home huffing after fighting with Susan.”

Olivia’s action of trying to wave her hands in denial stopped short at the Countess’s following words.

“You’re still so young. My Eve.”

Eve.

The name that had plunged Olivia into a pit of misfortune.

Hearing that name from her mother’s mouth struck her like a blow to the head.

“Wh-what did you just…”