After Sardin disappeared to carry out my order, only Janet and I remained in the carriage.
“Are you alright?”
Janet inquired, her expression brimming with concern. I smiled at her.
“Yes, better than ever.”
A little while ago, I discarded an item that would give Erich hope.
‘The hope that he could find my body.’
However, without proof of my death, Erich wouldn’t be able to marry anyone, including his beloved Medelin, for the next five years.
Without my body, people wouldn’t recognize my death.
‘But no matter how hard he looks, he’ll never find my body.’
Finally, I spoke to Janet.
“If you want to leave, you can go. I won’t stop you.”
This was a calculated move, even if someone discovered I was alive.
Even if Erich knew I was alive but couldn’t find me, he wouldn’t be able to divorce me.
This statement came from my confidence that Erich would never find me.
I hadn’t revealed my entire plan to anyone except Sardin, and I had concealed various identities and cards.
‘Well, it’s not surprising they fell for the trick. When I left the estate, even Landon, who helped me, fell for the trick.’
Janet looked at my smiling face and sighed.
Then she spoke to me in a firm voice.
“I’ve told you, haven’t I? I will stay by your side.”
I still didn’t understand why she remained with me.
Honestly, I couldn’t trust her.
But in the end, I had managed to take away one of Erich’s cherished subordinates.
‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt him to lose one of his own.’
During the years I lived as the Duchess of Blant, I lost the little things I once had.
From my name, Cornelia Odile Schwanhilt, to my original status as a princess, I was reduced to a mere noblewoman.
Some of my vast wealth was taken as dowry, and my ability to discern likes and dislikes became useless.
My opinions were ignored, and I had tried to fit myself into the Blant ducal house to avoid being hated.
I wanted to be the Duchess of Blant and become a part of their family.
But despite my efforts, there was no one around me.
Except for Sardin, who had always been with me, no one paid attention to me.
They didn’t want me to interact with others; they preferred that I remain quiet.
I went from never caring about others’ opinions to constantly worrying about them.
But because I loved him, I thought it was only natural to lose those things.
As a result, I even lost my precious child.
Meanwhile, what about Erich?
He remained the empire’s hero, Erich Lennon Blant, not caring about anyone’s opinion. By marrying me, he had solidified his position as the leader of the noble faction, and his position remained firm.
People always surrounded him.
He maintained his friendship with his childhood friend Medelin, his subordinates were loyal, and many nobles constantly surrounded him.
Unlike me, who was alone and had nothing, he hadn’t lost a single thing.
That’s why I decided on this petty revenge.
‘So, suffer for five years too, Erich Lennon Blant.’
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
‘Still couldn’t find her today.’
As the sun began to set, Erich stared hatefully at the relentlessly flowing river.
He had lost track of how many days he’d spent doing this, or how many times he’d scoured the wretched river that had swallowed her.
However, what he couldn’t give up was the sense of relief that came from failure.
‘I issued a missing person search order in the capital and mobilized knights, but we found nothing, not even a scrap of clothing. So, she must still be alive.’
As Erich continued to search, people kept telling him that Cornelia was dead.
However, he was certain she was alive because he had a reason to believe so.
‘If it’s Janet and that slave… they must have saved Cornelia.’
Although Sardin was a thorn in his side, even Erich acknowledged his skill.
After all, he was on the brink of transcending his limits.
Just then, someone called out urgently.
“Your Grace!”
It was Chester.
“We found this!”
Chester handed something to Erich.
Although it was tattered like a rag, it was a hat made of luxurious green fabric, adorned with a black ribbon.
It matched the description of the hat Cornelia had been wearing when she disappeared.
As the Duke calmly took the hat, Chester soon opened his mouth with a somber expression.
“Near the spot where we found the hat, some people reported seeing a body in a green dress floating downstream. Your Grace? What’s the matter?”
He could hear people talking around him, but none of it registered with Erich.
This hat wasn’t Cornelia’s.
He tried to deny it, but he couldn’t.
He could pride himself on remembering every piece of clothing Cornelia had ever worn.
And in his memory, this hat undeniably belonged to her.
The hat’s tattered state seemed to hint at its owner’s tragic death.
Erich clenched his fist, and his eyes flashed sharply.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way she died so easily!’
Although she had been living as a common noblewoman after marrying him, Cornelia had stood out more than anyone else since her princess days.
Her extensive knowledge in various fields, her broad perspective, and her insight as a ruler were unparalleled.
If she had been born a man, everyone would have unanimously considered her the next emperor.
No wonder the emperor himself had stepped in to marry her off to himself and keep her under close watch.
But even that hope was crumbling in the face of this raggedy hat.
Erich squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Yes, Cornelia is…’
Although he had pretended to ignore her, as if she were an existence he could never have, he had always kept every detail of her etched in his mind.
The smile that occasionally appeared on her stubborn face, as well as her innocent expression when she fell asleep after becoming angry, warmed something inside him.
In that moment, he realized.
She had been a pillar in his weary life.
<It’s unlikely, but if I ever find someone I love and start a family with, I will do my best to love her. I want to give the love I never received.>
And someday, just as he had vowed to God in his solitary thoughts, she became his only family.
But what did he do for her?
Thud!
<I’m your wife! I’m your family, too! Why are you ignoring me?>
He knew how much she wanted to be part of the family, but he said nothing.
He ignored her, turned a blind eye, and hurt her.
In order to deny his jealousy towards “Erich” and his base desire to covet her.
But Cornelia, who was always inexplicably angry and obsessed with Erich, changed at some point.
<Exactly. I’ve been sensitive, getting angry over nothing, resenting you, and being annoying. I understand why you don’t like me.>
Yes, he knew.
He had brushed it off, thinking they could just talk again, but she was already disappointed and resigned.
Not to “Erich” but to him.
‘I’m…….’
His vision blurred.
He remembered the feelings he’d been denying all along.
‘Daring to love her without knowing my place… and hurting her.’
I should have been honest.
You did nothing wrong. In fact, I never disliked you.
That it was all my fault.
In fact, I’m not your husband but his stand-in, so I kept my distance.
I cowardly deceived you, pushing you away and disregarding you in order to deny my feelings.
So, instead of blaming yourself, I should have asked for forgiveness and told you to hate, resent, and despise me.
But now, even that chance may never come again.
Because he had failed to protect her.
A terrible pain gripped his heart.
At the same time, he remembered the assumption he’d been avoiding all along.
‘If she’s dead…’
The pure, translucent skin, the shimmering purple eyes, the round forehead, the fine black hair, the nicely shaped nose, the long eyelashes that cast deep shadows when her eyes were closed, the stubbornly sealed red lips—Cornelia’s image was still vivid.
‘If I can’t see her again now, how can I live?’
Looking at the tattered green hat, he felt fear and despair he had never experienced, even on the battlefield.
And then he crumbled.
