I arrived at the mansion while listening to Lily, who had always been reserved, chatter away. After getting off the carriage with the escort of Butler Gordon, I asked about Diart’s whereabouts.

“Where is the Duke right now?”

“Well…”

Gordon hesitated with a troubled expression. At that moment, Lily, who was standing beside me, interjected.

“He’s probably at the riding arena by now. I saw him getting ready in his riding coat this morning.”

Lily, who had been playing the role of a makeshift CCTV all this time, was truly helpful. I gave her a thumbs-up.

“Well, Madam. His Grace is feeling quite uncomfortable today.”

“That bast… Has there ever been a time when the Duke was uncomfortable?”

“……”

Gordon’s jaw dropped as he looked concerned at my question.

“Lily, share the desserts in the carriage with everyone.”

I took out a small cake box from the carriage and added,

“This is enough for me.”

“I’ll escort you to the riding arena.”

“It’s okay. I can go alone.”

I awkwardly raised my hand to signal that no one should follow me and turned around. And exactly half an hour later, I regretted it bitterly.

“Oh crap. Why is this place so uselessly wide!”

Humans repeat the same mistakes, and I, who had forgotten how vast the Wheaton Mansion was, once again lost my way. Last time, I at least had a place to rest inside the mansion, but all I could see now were endless fields and dense trees.

I took off my shoes and threw them, gasping for breath. Putting aside my pride and vanity, I held up the hem of my skirt with both hands, thinking I would walk for a bit to rest.

Then, from a distance, I heard a thud, thud sound, and the ground started to shake louder and louder.

“What’s this?”

I looked around in confusion, and from a distance, along with a sandstorm, something was rapidly approaching this way. I could immediately tell that it was horses.

“Gasp!”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the large horse rushing towards me. Despite thinking I should avoid it, my feet wouldn’t budge.

I just hoped that the silver-haired man on the horse would quickly pull the reins.

‘He won’t really hit me like this, right?’

Diart Wheaton turns into a crazy obsessed man after meeting Adelia. But that’s not to say he wasn’t crazy before. The only difference is that meeting the heroine turned him into a top-level lunatic, as opposed to just being a lunatic before meeting her.

But I guess the novel’s description was lacking in some way?

I thought this as I looked at Diart, who showed no sign of slowing down despite seeing me. That jerk is already a top-level lunatic!

‘Hit!’

I tightly closed my eyes and huddled, waiting for the impending collision. But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel the impact. Instead, the loud sound of hooves gradually grew quieter.

I cautiously opened my eyes and slowly raised my gaze. I was startled when I saw the horse’s head tossing wildly, and I took a step back. Then, I made eye contact with Diart, who was looking down at me with an expressionless face.

“Madam?”

The knights, who had belatedly stopped, looked at me in confusion. Diart turned his gaze away and then kicked the horse in the stomach with his foot.

“Ah! Wait a moment!”

I desperately shouted after Diart, who was running past me.

“I have something to say!”

But Diart didn’t even turn back.

Is he just going to leave me here? How am I supposed to walk from this vast field to the mansion?

“I said I have something to say!”

I shouted at the back of that arrogant jerk like a spoiled child. But he quickly disappeared from sight.

“Madam, shall I escort you to the mansion…”

“Did he really just ignore me?”

“…Yes?”

The young knight, who had now dismounted and was approaching me, stared in disbelief. When I jerked my head around, he took a step back, sucking in a breath. I passed by him and walked forward. Suddenly, the knights started to back away cautiously.

“M-Madam?”

I mounted the horse, ignoring the surprised gazes of the knights. Their startled eyes followed me as I kicked the horse’s belly and rode away.

“Giddy up!”

I made use of the equestrian skills I had learned while working part-time shoveling horse dung. I spurred the horse toward the direction Diart had gone. I could sense the startled knights hurrying to follow.

With determination in my eyes, I chased after him and finally caught up within reaching distance.

After chasing with determination, I finally spotted the flowing silver hair just ahead. I tightened the reins and rode the horse even faster. And at last, I managed to catch up within reaching distance.

Diart glanced back briefly and raised an eyebrow. Then, without saying anything, he increased his speed even more. I clenched my teeth at the quickly growing distance.

“Hup!”

As I pursued, I drove the horse fiercely with a competitive spirit, but I couldn’t defeat someone with such strong bones in the battlefield. Diart effortlessly brushed me off when the distance narrowed, and ultimately, I arrived at the riding ground without ever overtaking him.

After dismounting the horse, I struggled to steady my trembling legs and caught my breath. While I was nearly out of breath, Diart didn’t even seem slightly disturbed. He casually brushed away his disheveled hair whipped by the wind.

‘This bastard is a monster.’

I glared at him, grinding my teeth.

‘How can a human beat a monster.’

I tried to console myself as if I had lost something. I tried to calm my ragged breathing.

“It’s been a while since I rode a horse, so I’m a bit tired. I was calling you from behind, did you not hear me?”

There’s no way he couldn’t have heard me. I shouted so loudly! I shot him a look, but Diart just glanced at me coolly and said one word.

“Sloppy.”

This guy.

Who do you think caused this mess?! I pressed down the vein throbbing on my forehead and tried to tidy my messy hair. My forced smile was trembling at the corners of my mouth.

Diart turned his attention to the trotting horse, his face expressionless.

“Did you know how to ride a horse?”

“Of course. I’ve enjoyed riding horses since I was young.”

“You wouldn’t go near one because you didn’t want the wind to mess up your hair.”

“…Actually, I was just pretending.”

Horsemanship is a basic skill of nobility, so I knew that Roeni, the Duke’s youngest child, was naturally good at riding horses.

“If I said that, I thought the Duke would let me ride in the back.”

I blurted out, and Diart’s gaze snapped back to me.

“Twenty laps around the training grounds.”

“What?!”

The knights were speechless. Seeing their astonished expressions, Diart casually changed his words.

“Thirty laps.”

“Y-Yes, right away!”

The knights hurriedly mounted their horses. As the knight who had been robbed of his horse approached me hesitantly, Diart coldly intervened.

“You, additional ten laps.”

“Ah… yes…”

Despite his face full of indignation, the knight couldn’t retort and just tightened the reins with drooped shoulders.

I quickly grabbed Diart’s arm as he tried to leave me behind. In response, he forcefully shook off my hand. The thought that came to me before anger was…

‘I don’t feel anything?’

Clearly, the book mentioned that I should be able to feel a strange energy flowing in upon contact, but I didn’t feel any sensation at all.

‘Maybe I should touch him directly, not over his clothes?’

I scanned Diart up and down as he had done earlier. The only part of his body exposed from his tightly wrapped riding coat was his face.

‘Should I pretend to be crazy and grab him suddenly?’

“Why are you glaring at me?”

Diart asked, narrowing his gaze.

“Well, I have something to say.”

I quickly blinked my eyes, which had tensed up. Diart turned away as if he didn’t want to engage in conversation. He swung his leg over the saddle and settled on it gracefully.

“It’s an important matter!”

Is he trying to ignore me again? I glared at him, holding the reins tightly, and shouted with all my strength.

“Let’s get a divorce!”

* * *

Bastard.

I glared at Diart, who was sitting in front of me, calmly sipping his tea. Because of this guy who didn’t give me a ride, I looked even more disheveled as I had to walk to the mansion. When I saw my disheveled reflection in the window, I could understand the puzzled looks of the servants when I returned to the mansion.

Burning with anger, I asked Lily for a glass of cold water. When we were alone in the room, I placed the cake box I had left on the side table.

“I went out to the capital in the morning, and by chance, I stopped by a cafe where the desserts were incredibly sweet. After eating something delicious, the Duke came to mind, so I packed the most delicious one and brought it.”

In reality, I had picked up whatever I could get my hands on, but I shamelessly smiled as I had a request for Diart.

“What was that talk earlier?”

Diart tilted his back against the chair and crossed his legs.

“You want a divorce?”

“Oh, yes. Just as I mentioned.”

I took out the divorce papers that I had tucked into the ribbon tied around the cake box and handed them over.

“If you could just sign, I’ll submit them right away.”

Diart, who had been glancing down and staring at the divorce papers, slowly extended his arm.

I had hastily signed the divorce papers as soon as I received them from the city hall, and now, all that was left was Diart’s signature. As I watched him inspect the divorce papers with the same scrutiny as if he were searching for something, I made a sincere expression, as if repenting like a sinner seeking forgiveness.

“I know that I’ve done a lot of things that I shouldn’t have to you, Duke. Even though I knew it was wrong, I couldn’t control myself because I admired you so much. But now, I’ve come to my senses.”

It was a moment when my experience from working as a fairy tale actor shone. Just as the children were momentarily captivated by my acting skills, there was a subtle change in Diart’s face.

“Actually, our marriage was wrong from the beginning, right? It was a marriage forced by my parents… It didn’t reflect your will at all. Looking back, it’s just embarrassing. I want to make you comfortable now, even if it’s a little late.”

I discreetly wiped away the tears that hadn’t fallen with my sleeve and glanced at his reaction.

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes. I sincerely wish for the Duke to meet a woman whom you truly love and be happy.”

A smirk crossed Diart’s face as he stared at me silently.