Chapter 59
Eric was in a good mood.
Not only that the opening ceremony ended successfully, but he also had friendly conversations with nobles. Furthermore, it seemed that he showed a much more affectionate side to Chloe than expected.
Having done this much, she must have been satisfied to some extent.
As he saw the people off, Eric thought that the day wasn’t bad overall.
Everyone welcomed him with great hospitality, and they went away rejoicing. He felt better. After seeing everyone off, he finally went to find Chloe… only to hear surprising words. Chloe went back first!
He obviously asked her to go with him, but why did she go back first? What went wrong?
Eric was worried and held his heart throughout the carriage ride.
At that moment, he thought, quite astonishedly, that Chloe had grown so prominent in his heart. Her existence had taken so much weight, and yet he felt a good feeling… he felt good about this feeling again. He was surprised.
He obviously was annoyed and disliked Chloe’s past self.
No, did he…?
He must have been honest with his feelings after drinking a little. He felt good, so there was no bad feeling that sunk into his heart. Eric began to think about his own feelings.
He remembered the first time he met Chloe.
He first saw her at the academy entrance ceremony. At the time, he gave a speech as a senior student. Standing alone in front of so many people to express one’s opinion was a formidable task, and Eric was rather exhausted.
At that time, he saw Chloe.
She was standing in the middle of the crowd, and he could think of her as a lily standing tall in a field overgrown with weeds. That was because Chloe was noble and upright—she seemed to harbor the pure white truth.
So, he naturally took notice of her. But the words she gave back was…
“Didn’t you say you were a commoner?”
The words were like a dagger in his chest.
Eric may have hated Chloe since then. So after that, he kept looking at her, looking for her, and maybe that was it. He was trying to somehow catch her and return the dagger she had put in him…
Still, Chloe was a woman without even the slightest crack.
Because of that, he hated her… he hated her terribly…
But not now.
He had come to like Chloe to some extent, given the considerable weight she was carrying in his heart now. Was this the love Chloe was talking about? He didn’t know that though somehow he came to think deeply about her.
This was a feeling that gave Eric a kind of pride, and he felt the desire to show it openly to Chloe, to tell her how he felt when he got home. She would like it. She was swayed even now, so maybe she wouldn’t bring up the topic of divorce anymore.
Chloe would always be by his side.
Everything was perfect in his plan.
Eric got off the carriage and entered the house, thinking that the day would end beautifully. The house was tranquil, with only Daniel and Andrea as the servants.
When they moved, Eric planned to hire a few more servants. Since they would have many servants, he would ask Chloe to manage them.
She would surely like it, too. She would become the Madam. Eric thought as he crossed the hall. She would be even more proud of himself if she could do something in the capital that she couldn’t do in the North.
For now, he thought it would be better to stop by his room to change first and meet Chloe. Since he had been outside for a long time now, there was a lot of dust, and it was also a bit stuffy.
Eric loosened his tie and grabbed the doorknob.
At that time.
“Darling.”
Hearing Chloe’s voice, he turned around and saw her standing at the end of the hallway and walking towards him.
“You are late.”
“It took a little while to see everyone off. Is that why you went back first?”
Eric looked into Chloe’s face. Fortunately, she didn’t look sick. It meant that the sickness was not as bad as it was a while ago.
“I thought you were sick, so you went back first. Though I’m glad, it doesn’t look like that.”
As he uttered with a little relief, Chloe replied.
“Can I speak to you for a moment?”
Eric narrowed his brows slightly.
“What happened?”
He then rolled up his sleeves and spoke again.
“Actually, I want to wash. Being outside for a long time makes me feel stuffy.”
“It won’t take long.”
Chloe cut Eric off. Then, she smiled a bit self-pitifully. This was a rather bizarre mockery, so Eric couldn’t help but wonder.
She raised her eyes to look directly at him before speaking again.
“So, please give me a minute.”
Eric then agreed, and Chloe started walking towards the parlor. Even though he felt a bit dazed, he followed her.
Arriving at the parlor, Eric first showed her to the seat, then reached out his hand toward the cupboard. He was thinking of drinking a glass of wine to celebrate the good day. As his fingertips touched the wine bottle, Chloe suddenly opened her lips.
“Darling.”
Chloe said while showing only his back to Eric.
“We’re getting a divorce.”
Eric put his hand away from the wine and grabbed the whiskey.
The mention of that damned divorce… It was really disgusting. Today, he did nothing wrong. He was proud that he had created a good atmosphere and made Chloe very comfortable. But why was she saying this again…?
Damn it.
Grabbing the bottle of whiskey, Eric turned around and walked toward her with rather rough steps. He should say something to her today. He couldn’t tolerate any more fooling around.
“What else bothers you today?”
He sat down across from Chloe and said.
“If you’re going to talk about divorce every time you’re bothered like that, why did you marry me in the first place? Now, I even doubt the sincerity of the love you speak of.”
Hearing Eric’s outspoken words, Chloe’s eyes widened a little before she slowly lowered her gaze.
“I heard the story from Count Jassen.”
…What story?
Eric could feel his heart skip a beat for a moment. He licked his trembling lips and took a deep breath. Meanwhile, Chloe gazed at him and continued talking slowly.
“That the nobles made a bet on us. Because of that, you declared that you would not divorce me and even talked about your love for me.”
Eric’s eyelids fluttered at those words because it felt like he was being caught. He clenched his fists desperately, hiding his expression.
“Do you believe what that punk says?”
Chloe stared at him instead of answering.
The moment she saw the fake version of him in her eyes, Eric thought he couldn’t fool her any longer, and he was forced to tell her the truth.
“Yes. I’ll admit it. At first, it was for that reason. But not now… Now, I want to get along with you more.”
“Are you saying that I should believe that again?”
Chloe let out a laugh.
“How long must I believe you? I don’t even know how many times it is now. I am so tired now.”
As she stared at the whiskey glass in front of Eric, she slowly raised her gaze to look at Eric’s chin, his lips, the tip of his nose, and his eyes. She stared into his dull gray eyes. In his eyes, there was her. Though was that really Chloe herself…?
Perhaps, it contained a different Chloe that he thought of. She questioned herself.
“I…”
Chloe opened her mouth slowly.
“I only wanted one thing from you.”
She let out a low laugh.
“I only wanted you to love me.”
A sigh escaped Eric’s teeth.
Chloe’s words continued, directly witnessing his sigh, “That must have been really difficult for you. So, you keep making me feel this way. Hard, tired, sad…”
“….”
“I will give up now. To be loved by you.”
“That’s why…!”
Eric finally couldn’t stand it and shouted.
“I said I’ll give you that love now!”
“Honey.”
Chloe gave him a sad smile.
“Love is not something you give. It’s something you do.”
At those words, Eric bit his lower lip. She was right.
Love was not what he gave, it was what he did. Still, why did he think he would give Chloe that love until now? This was his own big mistake. Nonetheless, Eric was not one to admit his mistakes and apologize because he was terribly arrogant and selfish.
“Not as much as a divorce.”
“Is it because of honor?”
“Yes. You’re right.”
“Even if I die?”
Eric’s breath stopped. Chloe grabbed her skirt and lifted her chin.
“Darling.”
She didn’t want to talk this much. She didn’t want to receive cheap sympathy from Eric, and moreover, she wanted to make her death a secret that only she knew.
However, as the situation turned out to be this, now she had to confess to him.
“I’m…”
Eric had a strong hunch that he shouldn’t listen to Chloe’s following words. He shuddered and tried to interrupt her words.
“Stop talking…”
“Dying.”
But, Chloe didn’t wait for him.
“I’m now dying.”
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