Her clothes were completely soaked. The ribbons and knots tied when putting on the dress were tangled from the rainwater. Lorendis fiddled with the tangled knots and then put his hand down.

“I’ll call a maid for you.”

In the bedroom, the fireplace crackled with flames. The scent of snow flower trees spread faintly. Lifeless eyes turned toward him. Those unfocused eyes just stared at him blankly. At that gaze, Lorendis again seemed thoroughly angered by something.

You seem to get angry in some way whenever you look at me.

“I’m sorry.”

At those whispered words, Lorendis’s expression simply crumpled.

“What are you sorry for?”

After a long silence, Lorendis spoke again.

“Do you still not know why I’m angry?”

The husband introduced as cold-blooded was quite different from his first impression.

According to plan, Catherine would die prematurely under his indifference. That is Catherine Helen’s future. A supporting character who dies lonely after being abandoned by her husband. Catherine also resigned herself to that life.

“You act like you’ve given up on life in front of people who worry about you….. That’s really disheartening. You’ve always had that look in your eyes. Like you’re about to run away somewhere. Every time I see those eyes, my stomach turns, and I don’t even know why.”

After resigning to death and letting go of attachments, life grabbed Catherine by the nape. Don’t give up. Don’t let go at your convenience. It shouted and scolded, pulling her back to shore again.

‘I wish you would just be indifferent.’

What do you want me to do? If you had been indifferent, I could at least die alone after leaving Helen. How did my life flow to become like this?

The moment she fell under Lorendis’s gaze, it suddenly became more difficult to leave Helen.

“This is frustrating enough to drive me crazy. You just stay still. I’ll find other ways, so you should know that too.”

Lorendis spoke as if scolding her out of frustration and opened the door. Brady, who was waiting outside, screamed.

“Your Grace. Please be careful with your words to the lady! Please!”

“Brady, I’ll be in the office, so come to the office after you sort out the situation.”

Lorendis left like that, and Brady apologized as if he were a criminal.

“His Grace is just clumsy with words. My lady, he doesn’t mean it.”

Her gaze lost focus and gradually wavered. The gaze following him became anxious, and she began to ask herself, ‘What are you going to do?’ I don’t know. What should I do.

“Brady, you should go now too.”

“My lady……”

“This time, I was in the wrong.”

She hid the fact that she was terminally ill and stayed by his side. She didn’t lie, but choosing to remain silent when there was an opportunity to speak was Catherine’s choice. She remained frustratingly silent in front of him. Still, she thought that silence was justified.

“He said he doesn’t love me.”

Lorendis is a person who arranged this marriage solely based on mutual interests, without any love. So when their mutual interests end, it’s right to let each other go. That was the reason this marriage was formed.

“So why does he worry about me?”

Is it sympathy? Sympathy for a wife? Such sympathy is unwelcome because it makes her feel truly worthless and pitiful.

“Please leave now.”

“My lady, please……”

“Don’t tell Lorendis about the conversation we just had.”

One way or another, this relationship will end.

So it’s right to end it quietly.

‘I hope you don’t feel any guilt.’

* * *

It was late.

Lorendis, who said he would go to the office, only entered the bedroom in the late dawn. He quietly opened the door, perhaps thinking Catherine was asleep, and he squinted his eyes seeing she sitting blankly at the table opposite.

“You’re not asleep yet?”

“You hadn’t come yet either. And I couldn’t sleep.”

The night sky was empty. Not even starlight was visible, just darkness. In the past, white stars densely filled the sky as if the Milky Way would pour down. After dark clouds had covered the sky for days, the sky was also dark.

“And the maids mentioned in passing that from today, we would share a bedroom.”

Until now, they were both busy with their own work, so their sleeping times differed, and they stayed in separate rooms. Usually, sharing a room is the principle, but given the circumstances, it was postponed. For several days, Lorendis inspected the territory at night and wasn’t in the mansion. Still, Nancy said while helping with her grooming that from today, they would share a bedroom.

“Did you order this, Lorendis?”

“I need to keep you in my sight to feel at ease.”

“You look at me like a child left by the riverside.”

“If you were a child, I’d at least feel more at ease.”

Lorendis approached in his nightclothes and brushed past her. Going inside, a drawer containing liquor appeared.

“If you were a child, I could understand because children are young, but you’re not a child, and there are many things I don’t understand. Would you like a drink? Ah, if you drink……”

“I’d like that.”

“What……”

“Please don’t look at me like a patient. If you do, I might become a bit pessimistic. Please treat me as usual.”

As he awkwardly scratched his nape, Lorendis took out liquor again. It was a familiar scene. Even when they stayed one night at the townhouse in the capital, he took out liquor and drank before going to bed.

‘Was it a bedtime habit?’

What about half a year ago? I don’t remember him taking out liquor and drinking then, or did I forget? Even on our wedding night, he just moistened his throat with the wine the maids had prepared.

Lorendis spread out a newspaper and poured whisky halfway into a crystal glass. Watching him, Catherine opened a travel book across from him.

“Do you often drink?”

“I usually crave it when I return from the battlefield.”

He held the cup with one hand and put the liquor in his mouth. Even as the bitter taste roughly scratched his throat, he poured more liquor into the cup. His straight fingers put down the crystal glass and turned another page of the newspaper.

“Why did you stay only on the battlefield for so long?”

“Helen borders the frontier, so there’s no other way. If I become lazy, it directly affects the safety of the people in the territory.”

Helen frequently clashes with barbarians because it borders their territory. The north is a cold and harsh region, often causing issues with food supply.

Helen possesses abundant underground resources and the technology to reprocess them, allowing steady development. However, the barbarians, lacking such capabilities, often coveted the land, resulting in ongoing conflicts.

“You must have a hard time.”

“It’s not a hardship I bear alone, so it’s naturally a responsibility and duty I must shoulder.”

“Helen has a good master.”

With Lorendis like this, Helen will develop more in the future.

Lorendis remained quiet. As if something bothered him, he mulled it over and then muttered lowly.

“You always talk as if it’s someone else’s business.”

“Did I hurt your feelings?”

“I know you have many complaints about this marriage.”

Lorendis poured and drank another glass of liquor. The crystal glass contained lukewarm liquor without even a single piece of ice. Seeing him swallow it without letting it linger in his mouth, even Catherine felt a chill.

“Fulfill your duties and obligations completely in Helen. That’s your role now.”

“You said when I meet you again, you would let me do as I wish.”

Her voice trailed off. He’s already not listening.

It’s like pleading with a solid wall to listen to my story.

He drank another glass of liquor. How many glasses is that now? As Catherine blinked in surprise, Lorendis answered slowly.

“Things have changed since then.”

“……”

“That role will change now too.”

Lorendis closed the newspaper. Seeming to have finished reading, he folded it completely, placed it on the table, and fiddled with his nape.

He was relaxed, yet each of his movements carried weight. A strange gravity flowed from him that captured people’s attention.

“If you leave here in that condition, what comes next? Do you have a plan?”

He discusses what comes next, but Catherine has no next.

“This is Helen, and Helen is mine. As are you.”

If everything in Helen falls under his control, Catherine would be no different. She would be completely bound to Lorendis.

“Finding a new marriage arrangement would……”

“Why?”

“You don’t love me, this marriage no longer brings benefits, and you would have better marriage prospects.”

That’s how it should have been from the beginning. When its usefulness ended, it would be right to end this relationship of mutual interest and let each other go.