I Failed to Divorce My Husband

Aiden’s face, which was bright with a smile toward Erin, gradually became serious and his lips slowly opened.

“I have a condition too instead,” Aiden said suddenly.

“What is it?” Erin asked with a hidden feeling of anxiety at the sudden proposal.

Aiden had a calm expression.

“During that time, we’ll be a married couple.”

“…Of course, that’s obvious?”

Erin tilted her head in confusion.

“Erin, there’s no such thing as a married couple who are just friends as you mentioned.”

“…”

Aiden’s gaze grew darker. At the same time, his voice became even lower.

He had a dangerously intense look that made him seem like a completely different person.

“I won’t stand it anymore.”

“….”

The words that flowed out through Aiden’s voice sounded so dangerous.

Erin was so tense at the moment that she almost leaned back.

Despite knowing that Erin was taken aback, Aiden spoke more actively.

“I will do everything I’ve wanted to do with my wife during that time.”

Was it a misconception? Erin felt that Aiden’s voice was hot.

It was as if he was warning her of the danger and telling her to be careful on her own.

“I have to do at least that much too, right?”

“….”

Aiden’s gaze and tone of voice as he said those words

, the atmosphere itself made Erin tense.

She couldn’t even guess what Aiden was thinking when he said something like this, which made her feel uneasy.

If she accepted this proposal now, she felt like she would regret it later.

But Erin couldn’t answer right away and hesitated.

She didn’t want to refuse Aiden’s proposal, and she knew it must have been the result of his long consideration.

She didn’t even want to hurt Aiden by turning him down.

“….Alright.”

Erin eventually agreed.

The two of them agreed on a grace period before deciding on their divorce.

Upon hearing Erin’s answer, Aiden made a sweet smile.

It was like rolling a piece of candy in his mouth.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Erin.

He had a face that imagined what they would do in the future.

Erin felt the danger of being swayed by him if she made a mistake, especially since she had already weakened to him several times.

But then it happened.

Erin noticed Aiden’s jawline, which had become sharper than usual.

Of course, the sharp jawline made his masculinity even stronger.

Seeing that, she reminded herself that he hadn’t eaten properly.

Erin spoke with a sharp look in her eyes.

“Then let’s have a meal now.”

She couldn’t worry about what Aiden said for now; she had to feed him something.

Erin immediately instructed the employees to prepare a meal.

Aiden burst out laughing at her firm tone.

“Yeah. Let’s eat together.”

“I’ll be watching you by your side.”

Even though Erin deliberately spoke with a frightening expression, Aiden still smiled as if he loved her for it.

Various dishes were quickly arranged on the table, from a soup that was good for digestion to the meat that looked burdensome for a sick person to eat but was basic for Aiden.

Erin stared at him through and through as if she was watching over him from his side.

“Eat up, hard. A lot.”

She urged Aiden’s fork.

When she thought it wasn’t enough, she even put food on Aiden’s plate herself.

“I’ll be watching whether you’re eating more or less than usual.”

Aiden ate hard until Erin was satisfied.

After watching him eat slowly for a long time and then finish with tea, Erin nodded with satisfaction and smiled contentedly.

Even though his face wouldn’t change just from what he ate now, in her eyes, his face looked much better.

“Well, I’m going now. Don’t work today and rest well.”

Erin tried to stand up and leave, but Aiden grabbed her hand.

“Let’s sleep together.”

“What?!”

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Aiden spoke with a melancholy expression as if muttering to himself.

“…Alright. I’ll leave, so go to sleep quickly.”

Erin, who was about to fall for it in an instant, hardened her resolve and answered firmly.

Aiden shook the hand he had grabbed slightly.

“It’s only two weeks… Can’t we do this much?”

“….”

“We’re a married couple.”

But instead of letting go of her hand, Aiden used the recoil to pull her slightly towards him.

Startled, Erin was led to fall onto his body.

As Aiden didn’t let go of her hand, the two of them were looking at each other while their bodies were touching.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became strange.

It seemed intentional on Aiden’s part, and Erin couldn’t even think straight enough to resist.

Erin was confused.

They had slept together several times before.

But his expression and tone of voice now weren’t suggesting that.

The image of the man she had been aware of until now permeated strongly.

It was dizzying enough to paralyze her thinking, so she couldn’t bring herself to resist even as his face came closer to hers.

It was when Erin hugged his neck as if to respond to him.

Erin snapped back to her senses at her own actions.

“No.”

Erin refused and pushed Aiden away with difficulty regaining her composure.

But Aiden still stubbornly looked at her as if not giving up.

She flinched for a moment, but Erin put even more force into her face and said firmly.

“No distractions now. Just rest properly.”

“….”

Erin gently pushed Aiden onto the bed.

He stared at her intently, and even with her small gestures, he fell weakly onto the bed with his back against it.

“If you don’t take care of your body, all those conditions are meaningless.”

Erin warned sternly and quickly left the room.

Aiden was left alone, looking at the ceiling with a disappointed smile.

He had tried to hold on to her, but she slipped away.

It was regrettable, but it was okay. After all, today was not the only day they had.

At the moment, satisfaction outweighed regret.

He had achieved what he wanted.

Aiden bit his lip with his thumb.

In fact, just being with Erin was enough to whet his appetite.

“Of course, Erin’s heart hasn’t left.”

That fact alone gave him a sense of fullness.

Aiden’s lips turned up in satisfaction.

The foundation of today’s plan came from the employees.

Aiden lightly closed his eyes and savored the plan as if chewing on it.

“The Madam requests medicine for the Duke. Especially if anything seems even slightly off, she reacts sensitively.”

“If the Duke shows any weakness, she will definitely turn her heart away.”

When he first heard the employees’ words, he was unsure but intrigued.

It seemed like the least fitting way for him, but it was certainly effective with Erin.

Pretend to be weak. Pretend to be sick. Pretend to be pitiful.

Erin responded to that image.

And it worked.

Aiden had never actually collapsed from the start.

From the moment she signaled her approach to wipe his hair, he was awake.

But not everything was fake.

The symptoms the employees spoke of were true. He really hadn’t slept or eaten.

He just didn’t collapse to that extent.

Aiden was excessively strong and sturdy as Erin knew him.

Because he liked Erin worrying about him so much, and even her gaze was filled with affection, Aiden didn’t want to open his eyes.

He wanted to stay like that endlessly, but he had no choice but to open his eyes.

Aiden was confident. Confident that he could hold onto Erin’s heart.

And confident that he could be a man for her.

To her, he would not just be a friend, just as she was not just a friend to him.

His heart couldn’t possibly beat alone.

***

“My heart.”

Erin grabbed her chest.

Clearly, Aiden’s earlier suggestion to “sleep together” had a different meaning than before.

When she realized that fact, her heart almost leaped out of her chest.

“No. Pull yourself together. It’s just the probation period for two weeks.”

Erin was prepared not to give in to Aiden.

Then she shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off the image of Aiden from earlier.

“Let’s work. Working is the best way to get rid of distracting thoughts.”

It was when Erin returned to her room to check on the documents she had been putting off.

There, she saw the invitation that had been left untouched on top of them.

She was sure she had checked it before.

“Oh right. This was here. I completely forgot.”

As Erin remembered the contents of the invitation, her eyes widened.

Lately, she had been so focused on the problems with Aiden that she had forgotten about other things.

And of all things, there was a scheduled formal reception.

And it was happening tomorrow.

Erin hadn’t bothered to prepare for it, thinking she would no longer have any reason to attend such events because of her divorce from Aiden.

But they were supposed to attend the royal palace reception together.

“This is going to be a disaster again.”

Rumors about their divorce had already spread everywhere.

Even though they had tried to keep an eye on the employees at Lianster, there were still people coming and going.

And among them were members of the Council of Elders.

As soon as the elders heard about the divorce, they began spreading rumors.

Those who saw Erin as a thorn in their side probably wanted to use this divorce as an opportunity to make it irreversible.

“Who cares about mere rumors.”

Such rumors wouldn’t affect Erin’s decision.

But anyway, she had already made up her mind to go through with the divorce no matter what happened.

Erin ignored the actions of the elders for fear that it would only cause more trouble in the divorce proceedings.

That fact wouldn’t change…

But still, it was clear that the next two weeks were going to be quite troublesome.