Chapter 2

The dreadful days continued.

Gerard tried by any means possible to produce an heir, but not once did his attempts succeed.

It was not because of Rowena’s resistance.

At the time, she could barely move freely.

Whenever she attempted to escape and was caught, she was forced to take some unidentified medicine as punishment. At first, the tips of her fingers and toes grew numb, and then gradually her arms and legs stiffened.

But as always, her husband’s member could not become hard.

Rowena could not decide whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.

By then, even her consciousness was beginning to grow unclear.

“Congratulations, Rowena. Your husband has an heir now.”

One cold night, Camillia came to see her and said those words.

Camillia stroked her still-flat stomach, her face overflowing with happiness.

“To celebrate your release from your duties as a wife, should I tell you a secret? Your grandfather was actually killed by Gerard.”

“A lie.”

“Does it sound like a lie? This isn’t a lie, it’s……”

Camillia giggled as though she were enjoying this moment to death.

“Just kidding.”

Whispering familiarly, Camillia helped Rowena sit up. Then she tucked Rowena’s disheveled black hair behind her ear.

It was a gentle touch.

Rowena’s heart pounded uneasily at the incomprehensible gesture.

But to her, who had been abandoned in misery for so long, that touch was astonishingly comforting.

It felt like the hand of a god granting salvation.

Rowena sobbed miserably like a child.

“Then, I, I can now……”

Can I finally leave this place?

Are you really letting me go?

Even at this moment, Rowena held on to hope.

She thought Gerard might divorce her.

Because he—though she hated to admit it—loved Camillia.

Now that the fruit of their love existed, she naively believed that he would divorce her and marry Camillia.

But that fleeting hope was sadly shattered.

“Naive Rowena. You believe everything, don’t you?”

Rowena moved her stiff tongue and barely managed to ask,

“……What, what do you mean……”

“Do you think Gerard will divorce you? Do you think he’ll separate from a wife who has his heir?”

A wife who has his heir?

The moment Rowena questioned those words, Camillia rummaged through the pouch she had brought and took something out.

Through Rowena’s tear-blurred vision, she saw a small revolver.

The muzzle, gleaming in the moonlight, was aimed at Rowena’s forehead.

“Countess Libroth, who had shut herself away because her health deteriorated! That poor woman died while giving birth.”

With that excited whisper, everything came to an end.

Truly, it ended in a single instant.

Even after regaining her memories, Rowena could not get out of bed for some time.

“I made this for you. You like chocolate cake, don’t you? A patient like you needs to eat well and rest well. I’ll take care of preparing the memorial service.”

It was because Camillia came to visit and turned her stomach with words like these.

“If anything had happened to you, I…… Rowena, I’m relieved you’re safe.”

And because her husband’s disgusting act tormented her.

Rowena pulled the blanket over her head and ground her teeth.

Rowena Evenwell of her previous life had died at the age of twenty-three.

That would happen two years from now.

She had no idea why she had returned to the past, but what mattered was that the things waiting for her in the future were horrific.

This time, I can’t just blindly demand a divorce.

Gerard had originally been a commoner from a wealthy family of legal professionals and one of the secretaries who served her grandfather.

That meant he knew everything about her grandfather’s estate and was also thoroughly knowledgeable about the law.

If she wanted to escape from him, she had to be extremely cautious.

I need to gather evidence first.

Evidence that Gerard and Camillia had committed adultery.

Evidence that he had been embezzling her grandfather’s property since before their marriage.

Evidence that they had harmed her grandfather.

Of course, even if she shoved the evidence in Gerard’s face, it did not seem likely that he would easily agree to a divorce.

He had gained his title of count through their marriage.

There was no way he would give that up.

Even so, I can’t just let them destroy me again.

Rowena’s plump hand, clutching the blanket, turned white.

A resolute light appeared in her pale violet eyes, which had always shone gently.

A fast carriage cut through an endlessly stretching road lined with rapeseed flowers.

Suddenly, a long arm stretched out through the wide-open carriage window.

Then an astonishingly handsome man’s face came close to the windowpane.

The man closed his eyes as though feeling the wind.

Soft blond hair fluttered over his smooth forehead.

And a name formed in a voice even softer than his pronunciation slipped through his red lips.

“Rowena……”

“You’re being dispatched to Marsen as a diplomat? Then I suppose I won’t see you for another two years……”

Rowena had trailed off slightly.

“If you ever think of Grandfather, write to me.”

Rowena, whose round apple-like cheeks and tiny earlobes had turned red, had turned away as though nothing were wrong.

His heart felt heavy leaving her behind.

After all, he truly would not see her again for another two years.

Of course, he knew very well that even if he remained in Erisvale, things would not be particularly different.

At most, they would exchange a few words at social gatherings, or occasionally share a cup of tea arranged by a kindly elderly lady……

Even so, the thought of parting from his lady once again made his heart ache beyond words.

“Ha……”

The man reached up with his large hand and tugged at the cravat around his neck.

At that moment, a sharp shout suddenly came from the driver’s seat.

At the same time, the carriage lurched violently.

“D*mn it! Where did that goat come from……!”

A black goat suddenly sprang out from the thick bushes.

The coachman skillfully brought the carriage to an abrupt stop.

Fortunately, there was no major accident, but Sebas Charlton, seated on the driver’s bench, let out a shrill cry.

A thud had come from inside the carriage.

That sound was proof that Marquis Winderbane, whom he served, had struck himself against something.

Sebas Charlton instinctively lamented,

“Oh dear, what if that handsome face got scratched?”

He hopped down from the driver’s seat and hurriedly threw open the carriage door.

Sure enough, his master, Marquis Winderbane, was holding the back of his neck with one large hand.

Sebas Charlton pulled his master out of the carriage.

The man was so large that when he leaned lightly against him, Sebas’s legs nearly buckled.

“For now, you should lean against the carriage.”

After pushing his master against the carriage body, Sebas Charlton quickly inspected his face first.

Fortunately, there were no visible injuries.

No, injuries?

Standing before him was a creation of nature without so much as a speck of dust on him.

The mellow spring sunlight softly wrapped itself around the marquis standing in the middle of the flower field.

A breeze happened to blow, and the marquis narrowed his eyes slightly.

The sight was nothing short of enchanting.

Sebas Charlton asked dreamily,

“Are you all right?”

“……”

But Marquis Winderbane only stared blankly down at his trembling hands.

Normally, he would have laughed loudly as though it were nothing and climbed back into the carriage.

Something was strange.

Even the question he asked next was unlike him.

“……What day is it today? No, how old am I?”

“Today is a brilliantly sunny Tuesday, and Your Excellency is at the prime of your life.”

“……”

Even at that joke, the marquis showed no reaction.

Sensing that something was wrong, Sebas Charlton answered in a shrinking voice.

“……Twenty-six.”

At that, the marquis suddenly looked around.

Then he walked toward the stream flowing along the edge of the flower field.

For a long time, he stared at his face reflected in the water, then swept his hair back in apparent agitation.

Then he folded his arms tightly and paced around before letting out a short laugh.

“Ha, ha!”

It sounded nothing like his usual cheerful laughter.

Then, with his face rigidly tense, he strode back toward the carriage.

The marquis pulled the cravat from around his thick neck and tossed it aside before leaping into the carriage.

“Turn the carriage around.”

“……Pardon?”

“We’re going back to Erisvale.”

Two years ago, Rowena and Gerard’s marriage had proceeded remarkably smoothly.

Her grandfather had prepared an enormous dowry for the marriage and had completed all the legal procedures in advance.

Looking back now, that had probably been Gerard’s doing.

The wedding was held immediately, just one month after her grandfather’s death.

In other words, it had been a plan carefully set in motion long before then.

Wasn’t that truly an impressive amount of effort?

Thanks to that effort, the marriage proceeded as smoothly as though it had caught a favorable wind.

But that wind never reached their bed.

Their marital relations produced nothing but the smoke of failure, like a completely blocked chimney.

Even so, on the nights they were supposed to share a bed, Rowena waited for her husband there.

In the past, it had been to fulfill her duty as a wife.

Now, it was because there was something she wanted to confirm.

As the drizzle that had fallen since afternoon grew heavier, Gerard entered the bedroom.

And as always, he pretended to be concerned about Rowena.

“I heard from the physician that you still haven’t fully recovered.”

Whenever it was a night they were meant to share a bed, he always used Rowena’s health as an issue like this.

Now that she had returned to the past, his intentions were obvious.

He was trying to make it my fault.

Gerard rolled up his sleeves and sat down beside the bed.

His chocolate-brown hair, neatly slicked back with pomade, gleamed smoothly in the candlelight.

Rowena stared at him before answering quietly.