Chapter 118

“I’m leaving Winderton Manor.”

“…I’ll have a carriage ready for you tomorrow. You can take it then.”

Two days after I had handed him the divorce papers, I came to see Edward again.

The day I thought would never come had arrived, and I told him I would be leaving.

Edward wanted to stop me, but he couldn’t.

So he clung desperately to a facade of indifference.

“Thank you for everything, Your Grace.”

“…The pleasure was mine. I was glad to have you here.”

“Please handle the divorce papers yourself.”

“…Very well.”

Once I’d said what I came to say, I left the office.

Edward, refusing to watch me go, set down the document in his hands with an irritated thud.

“Ha…”

Letting out a heavy sigh, he stared at the divorce papers resting on the corner of his desk.

Once they left his hands, Lirie would no longer be part of Winderton.

“Your Grace, must you really go through with this?”

“…Because it’s what Lirie wants.”

The aide, who had come to know both sides of their situation while working alongside them, asked the question with frustration in his voice.

But Edward wasn’t going to change his mind about letting her go.

“You need her, Your Grace. You want her, don’t you?”

“Wanting her doesn’t mean I can do anything. I can’t make her happy.”

“My lady loves you too, Your Grace.”

“…That’s impossible.”

At the aide’s words, Edward let out a faint, bitter laugh and shook his head.

When he had once pleaded with Lirie to give him just one more chance, she had refused.

From that day on, Edward had given up on holding her back.

If he couldn’t keep her, then when the time came for her to leave, he resolved to send her off without fuss.

He would act as though nothing was wrong, behave exactly as she knew him to—because that was the only way he could hope to forget her.

“If you let her go like this, Your Grace, you will regret it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Your Grace…”

“No amount of persuasion will change my mind. So when Lirie leaves tomorrow, just make sure the things I’ve prepared are delivered properly.”

Edward spoke to the aide, who was watching him with a pained expression.

“That much, at least, you should hand over yourself…”

“She’ll only feel uncomfortable if she sees me.”

“She’ll feel uncomfortable even if I give them to her. This could be the last time you see her—are you really going to let it end like this?”

The aide’s voice grew firm, as if unwilling to yield on this one point.

Seeing such stubbornness in such an unexpected matter, Edward could only nod reluctantly.

“…Fine. I’ll give them to her myself.”

“A wise choice, Your Grace.”

The aide’s satisfied expression made it clear he considered this a victory.

“Your Grace…”

“What is it?”

“It might not be too late. If you stop her now, she might decide to stay at Winderton Manor.”

“That won’t happen. And I’m in no mood for impossible hypotheticals—drop it and bring me the documents.”

Edward’s voice was cold, shutting down the aide’s persistent attempts.

‘Do you know how hard it was to steel myself for this…’

No one wanted Lirie to leave more than Edward didn’t.

Just imagining her absence felt like dying, and the thought that tomorrow her presence would vanish from Winderton Manor entirely was driving him to the brink of madness.

He had even allowed himself to hope—just a little—that she might change her mind.

That she might tell him the words she had spoken before weren’t true.

That she might say she loved him.

But no such miracle had come.

***

The next morning, the servants of Winderton Manor were gathered at the front entrance.

Their expressions were subdued, the air heavy.

Somewhere nearby came the sound of Betty’s quiet sobbing.

“Are you truly leaving us like this, my lady…?”

“You’ve worked hard, looking after me all this time.”

The butler’s voice was tinged with sorrow as he asked.

Lirie nodded slowly, offering her thanks, and patted his shoulder.

“I’m sorry for everything, my lady.”

“I’ve long since forgotten it. You don’t need to apologize anymore.”

The butler bowed his head to her, weighed down by the memory of how he had treated her in the past.

“My lady, I truly am sorry.”

“I told you—it’s fine.”

“Couldn’t you just… not go?”

The other servants felt the same.

Some spoke in hushed voices, trying to convince Lirie to stay.

She heard every plea, but only smiled faintly, giving no reply.

“Betty.”

“My lady, please take me with you… huuhh…”

“Betty, I told you not to cry so much.”

Lirie stepped closer to the girl who was sobbing as though she might collapse, gently wiping away her tears.

Betty clung to her desperately, but Lirie shook her head.

“I want to go with you, my lady. I can serve you well…”

“You can’t. Betty, you need to live your own life.”

“I won’t spend a single coin of the money you gave me. I’ll keep it until you come back—every last bit of it.”

“With that money, you can live in comfort for the rest of your life. So go live doing what you want now.”

Leaving those words with Betty, Lirie turned to step into the carriage.

“Lirie…!”

“Your Grace…”

Just then, Edward came running in haste.

His breathing was ragged, his hair slightly disheveled, as if he had rushed out without a moment’s thought.

“I’m glad I could at least say a final goodbye…”

“I didn’t think you would come.”

Edward looked at her, ready to depart, and held something out to her.

“What is this?”

“Open it once you’re beyond Winderton Manor.”

“What?”

“It’s the last thing I can give you. So… please, don’t ask why. Just take it.”

Faced with his request, Lirie could only nod.

“Alright…”

“Travel safely.”

With great effort, Edward managed to get the words out.

“I hope Your Grace will be happy… I mean that.”

“And I hope you’ll be free from pain. Stay healthy, live happily… do only the things you couldn’t do here at Winderton Manor.”

Edward bit down hard on the inside of his cheek.

It felt like the only way to keep his tears from spilling.

“…I’ll go now.”

Lirie hesitated for just a moment at his words, but in the end, she turned and stepped into the carriage.

The door shut, and without pause, the carriage began to roll away.

“Lirie…”

Edward stood watching as the carriage grew smaller in the distance.

Beside him, Betty’s sobbing sounded even more heartrending.

“Your Grace, are you… alright?”

“Let’s go inside.”

The aide, who had followed out belatedly, glanced at Edward’s expression with concern, but Edward didn’t answer—he simply headed back indoors.

The man who had always seemed so steadfast now walked with slumped shoulders, his steps drained of strength.

“Your Grace.”

“I’d like to be alone today.”

Instead of returning to his office, Edward made his way to the bedchamber Lirie had used.

In the early days of their marriage, it had been hers alone; when their hearts had finally met, they had shared it; and before her departure, it had once again been hers alone.

“Ha… haha…”

The moment he stepped inside, he was met with the sight of a room the servants hadn’t yet finished tidying. Traces of her were everywhere.

Even though she had only just left, her scent still lingered in the air.

It felt as though the Lirie he already missed so achingly was right there beside him.

“What am I supposed to do now…?”

He had told himself he would let her go without a fuss.

That she would be happy, and that thinking of her smiling brightly would make his own heart feel lighter.

But now that Lirie was truly gone, the aftermath of that fact was almost too much to bear.

“I already miss you… how am I supposed to go on as if nothing happened?”

Lirie had once said that love was just a fleeting feeling—that with time, it would fade.

Edward tried to think the way she had said, but it wasn’t so easy.

Before that love could fade, it felt like the longing for her would consume him whole.

Some time after he had entered her bedchamber, Edward found himself sitting on the edge of the bed where she had always sat.

She would always lean against the headboard, gazing out the window.

Long ago—what now felt like a lifetime—he had asked her why she always sat there looking outside.

“No special reason… but every so often, when you appear beyond the window, it somehow makes me feel good.”

Just as she used to, Edward turned his head toward the window.

“…A carriage?”