During winter, the floors of the mansion were practically as cold as ice.

Even indoors, slippers were considered essential.

And yet he had walked barefoot through the outer hallway in weather like this….

No sane person would ever do such a thing.

“You… why, why are you barefoot?”

Only then did Edwin glance down at his own feet.

As though he had only just realized it himself, his face slowly reddened.

His bare toes curled awkwardly against the floor.

“…I forgot.”

“Forgot? You walked across floors cold enough to freeze and never once thought about shoes?”

Richel stared at him in disbelief.

Edwin only shifted his feet slightly without answering.

‘They say once someone loses their mind, they can’t even tell when they’re cold…. Is that what this is?’

Richel felt as though her future had suddenly gone dark once more.

After carefully watching her expression, Edwin finally spoke.

“Well… actually, I was in a hurry. I was about to come out, but I couldn’t find my shoes….”

“You could’ve called for a servant. One pull on the bell cord and the servant on duty would’ve come immediately, but instead you just walked here?”

“Then I would’ve had to wait. I just got out of bed and started walking, and honestly, the floor didn’t feel that cold. Really.”

Didn’t feel cold?

Richel slipped off her own slippers and placed her foot against the floor.

The instant she touched it, a freezing chill shot through the sole of her foot.

“Ah!”

With a sharp cry, she jerked her foot back immediately.

“Are you insane? It’s freezing!”

“T-that’s… I was fine though….”

He really had gone insane.

At that moment, Richel felt her future growing darker than ever before.

Edwin stepped closer to her and spoke softly.

“If I startled you, then I’m sorry. I really was just in a hurry. I wanted to see you as quickly as possible, so I came looking for you…. If it upset you, then I apologize.”

He hesitated for a long moment before finally reaching out and grabbing hold of her arm.

One of Richel’s arms was caught tightly in his hand.

“I… I really missed you.”

His face looked painfully overwhelmed as he repeatedly drew in shaky breaths.

Richel shoved him away hard.

“Missed me? You missed me?”

At those absurd words, anger surged violently inside her.

Because after their marriage, Edwin had changed more and more.

Avoiding spending time with her or abruptly shutting down in the middle of conversations had become common. His irritation and sudden bursts of anger had only grown worse.

Most of all—Richel was no longer his priority.

In gatherings, schedules, conversations—she was pushed aside in every single one of them.

And nowhere had that been clearer than at social events.

Even when Richel approached him, he treated her absentmindedly.

“Ah, I’m still in the middle of talking….”

With only a brief tilt of his head toward her, Edwin would continue his conversation with the people in front of him.

It was completely different from the man who used to leave everything and immediately come to her the moment she called.

The men around him would laugh quietly at the sight.

“Wow, before marriage you were ridiculously devoted, but now you’re completely back to your old self. It’s been a while, Edwin Isle.”

“Shut up.”

Richel pretended not to hear them.

No—she had to pretend not to hear them.

Because they were the kind of subtle remarks that were impossible to properly respond to.

She had cried alone countless times while waiting for Edwin out on terraces.

It felt even more miserable than the days when she endured endless rumors because of their delayed marriage announcement.

After those situations repeated over and over, Richel gradually stopped attending gatherings altogether.

And every time, Edwin attended alone.

Eventually, the time they spent apart became far longer than the time they spent together.

Or rather the time Richel spent waiting alone for Edwin became unbearably long.

‘And now he says he missed me?’

After everything their marriage had been, those were not words anyone could say unless they had completely lost their memory.

Her expression twisted sharply.

“What do you mean you missed me? You hated being with me. You always ran off using gatherings and schedules as excuses. And whenever I tried to help you with work, you snapped at me first.”

With every word she spoke, Edwin’s face grew paler and paler.

“No… that’s not….”

He muttered the words like a weak excuse.

Richel finally shouted.

“Then what was it? What possible reason did you have to treat me that way for five whole years? Why?!”

Every time Edwin shut himself away and stayed out of the house for days. Every time he lashed out in irritation and anger. Richel had tormented herself wondering what mistake she had made.

She suffered from severe insomnia.

She could barely eat.

“You’re saying it wasn’t because you hated me? You couldn’t even stand your parents trying to comfort me, and that’s your excuse?”

Edwin remained silent.

That silence was unbearably exhausting.

Richel grabbed the divorce agreement she had left out and practically threw it at him.

His eyes widened instantly.

She spoke firmly.

“I don’t want to continue this marriage anymore either. So let’s end it and get divorced.”

Her voice was resolute.

There was no humiliation left in her now.

Because she no longer wanted to stay beside Edwin either.

The divorce papers crumpled instantly in Edwin’s hand.

“What are you doing?! Why are you crumpling the papers?”

“No…. We can’t get divorced.”

“What?”

“I hated myself back then, and that’s why I acted that way. I’m sorry. I was wrong. So please… don’t divorce me. We can’t divorce.”

Edwin clung to her desperately, pleading.

“I’ll never act like I did before again. From now on, I’ll live however you want me to.”

Richel did not answer.

His desperate attachment meant nothing to her now.

The only thing she wanted from him was a divorce.

When Richel remained silent, Edwin lowered his head and began crying openly.

“Hngh… hic… please, Richel….”

She was already exhausted by his endless pleading.

Just as a deep, long-buried irritation rose inside her—

Bang! Bang!

Someone pounded urgently on the door.

“It’s the butler! I heard the Count came this way!”

Richel shook Edwin off and walked toward the door.

The moment she opened it, the butler hurried inside, sweat beading across his face.

In his hands was a pair of fur-lined shoes.

“My lady, I apologize. I heard the Count may have left without shoes on— Good heavens, Count!”

The moment he spotted Edwin, the butler rushed toward him.

Edwin had managed to stifle his sobbing, but tears still streamed down his face uncontrollably.

The butler forced himself to ignore his shock.

Right now, the important thing was getting shoes onto Edwin’s feet.

He quickly set the shoes down.

“Please put these on at once. The floor is terribly cold.”

Swallowing back another sob, Edwin slowly put on the shoes.

The butler finally let out a relieved sigh and straightened himself.

He pretended not to notice the quiet sniffles still escaping Edwin.

As he turned to leave, however, his eyes landed on the crumpled paper in Edwin’s hand.

“If it’s unnecessary, please hand it to me. I’ll dispose of it on my way out—”

“It’s not something to throw away, Butler.”

Stopping him, Richel looked directly at Edwin.

“I made those divorce papers three years ago. If you hadn’t disappeared, everything would have ended back then.”

“…You prepared them three years ago?”

“Yes. So stop being stubborn. I already sorted out my feelings long ago—”

Hngh—

Suddenly, Edwin’s breathing turned strange.

Sharp, frantic breaths escaped him one after another.

Alarmed, the butler quickly tried to support him, but Edwin shoved him away.

Staggering unsteadily, Edwin approached Richel.

His face was twisted beyond recognition.

“Then… hic… did David come here too? Did he come saying he wanted to comfort you, a-and you met him?”

The rambling words sounded utterly insane, making Richel instinctively step backward.

Edwin suddenly seized one of her arms.

“I asked if David came here!”

“Let go! David? Who even is that?”

“David—David Nathan! The man you’ve known since childhood! That’s why you wanted a divorce, wasn’t it? Because you wanted to be with him instead, so you kept talking about divorce over and over again….”

The words poured out of him wildly.

His grip around her arm tightened painfully.

“That hurts! Let go, Edwin!”

“So here too… it’s the same again. Again, because of that….”

He was completely out of his mind.

With her free hand, Richel slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

Smack!

Only after the sharp sound echoed through the room did Edwin finally freeze.

The twisted expression on his face faltered, and he hurriedly loosened his grip.

“Sorry. I got carried away for a moment….”

Richel slapped him again.

The sheer absurdity of it all left her speechless.

“So what exactly are you saying? That I’m trying to divorce you because I’m seeing another man?”

Her stomach twisted violently.

This was particularly true when she thought about everything he had done, and the life she had endured after he disappeared.

Just as Richel raised her hand once again, unable to contain her fury any longer, the butler hurriedly stepped between them.