Clang!
The glass bowl shattered into pieces. Clutching her throbbing head, Estelle turned around to see a startled maid staring at her.
“You… you’re awake!”
The maid shouted towards the door. Immediately, the attending physician and other maids rushed in to check on Estelle.
Still dazed, Estelle let them examine her, when Claude, still in his outdoor clothes, burst through the door roughly.
Bang!
“Estelle…!”
Even though it was already pitch black outside, indicating night had fully fallen, he hadn’t changed out of his outdoor attire.
“How are you? Is there anything wrong with your health? You were fine, talking normally, then suddenly collapsed!”
xThe examination didn’t find anything wrong with her body. It seems more like a mental issue.” the doctor suggested.
Hearing this, Claude grabbed Estelle’s shoulders and pressed her for answers.
“Are you really okay? There’s no pain anywhere…?”
Thud!
Estelle instinctively brushed Claude’s hands away.
“…Estelle?”
“I… I’m fine.”
However, avoiding Claude’s gaze with her pale face made it clear something was amiss.
Claude, equally puzzled, bent down again to meet her eyes.
“Are you sure you’re not feeling unwell? You don’t look good.”
“No… It’s not that… I just want to go back now.”
It felt as if someone had stirred her insides violently. She felt nauseous and queasy.
Or was it because of Claude?
Through her wavering vision, she could see Claude’s worried face, but it no longer evoked any feelings.
“Why…?”
Claude quickly sensed the change in Estelle.
“Why won’t you look me in the eye?”
“I… I think I should go back. How long have I been lying here?”
“Go back? Where are you going? You’re not well enough yet.”
Only then did Estelle feel the cold sweat trickling down her spine.
As the sweat cooled, it felt as if a chill settled over her.
When she tried to get up forcefully, she stumbled.
“Estelle…!”
“Don’t call me that!”
Estelle shouted sharply. The pain in her head intensified with the outburst, so she had to catch her breath a couple of times.
“Don’t… call me that.”
“What is going on?”
Claude, frustrated, asked. If he couldn’t call her Estelle, what should he call her?
“You… you shouldn’t call me that.”
No one else mattered, but not Claude. He shouldn’t.
Claude, who was about to say he didn’t understand what was going on, suddenly froze.
The look in Estelle’s eyes, which met his briefly, was excessively fierce.
It was so chilling that it sent shivers down his spine.
A gaze mixed with intense resentment and hatred pierced through Claude like a sharp dagger.
‘You’re the one who killed Estelle.’
The words she couldn’t bring herself to utter lingered in her mouth.
However, since the Estelle standing before him was very much alive, she chose to remain silent.
“Wait…! Wait, M… no, Madam.”
Thud.
Claude grabbed her in a hurry.
“Did I do something wrong? If I did, I sincerely apologize. I…”
“Let go of me, Duke.”
“Damn it. What else do you want me to do?”
“Let me go!”
As Estelle forcefully pushed his hand away, the door burst open violently.
Bang!
The door hit the wall so hard it almost broke.
Step, step.
Amidst everyone’s attention, a person strode in confidently.
Under the chandelier light, her lemon-colored hair shone even more brightly, and her sky-blue eyes seemed almost transparent.
Holding a lawyer’s license in one hand, she made a grand entrance.
“Empire Law, Article 115, Clause 3. A lawyer has the right to meet their client at any time, and the exercise of this right shall not be obstructed.”
Estelle saw an almost divine halo behind her.
“I’m here to see my client, Your Grace.”
Natasha smiled languidly.
“Natasha…! You’ve come at the right time. I… I want to go home now.”
Estelle quickly hid behind Natasha’s back. Ivan gently placed his hand on her trembling shoulder as if to reassure her.
“Lawyer…”
Claude’s face twisted in frustration.
Natasha’s constant interference was extremely annoying.
“My client has the freedom to change her residence and the right to stay wherever she wishes, so she wants to leave here now.”
“Estelle’s ‘home’ is still here until the divorce is finalized.”
“Shall I file a change of residence report tomorrow if you wish?”
She didn’t back down even a bit.
This was the first time anyone had spoken so freely in front of Claude.
Most were intimidated by his status and appearance.
She was the first formidable opponent he’d ever faced.
“Your Grace. If you obstruct further, we will take legal action. Be aware that this could work against you in court.”
As Natasha spoke, Claude clicked his tongue. Moreover, Estelle, who stood behind Natasha, seemed to be getting paler, which added to his dilemma.
“…I’ll prepare a carriage.”
“Such generosity, Your Grace.”
“I want Estelle to get home safely, so don’t refuse this.”
Natasha had no reason to reject this offer, so she nodded in gratitude.
Claude watched Estelle’s back as she slowly moved away for a long time.
“…Damn it!”
Crash!
Only an innocent vase shattered from his frustration.
The irreversible mistakes of the past were suffocating him.
***
Estelle sat silently inside the shaking carriage.
Wrapped in the blanket Natasha had given her, she sat lifelessly. Natasha and Ivan watched her intently.
Clatter, clatter.
Each time the carriage jostled roughly, Estelle’s frail body seemed on the verge of collapse.
“…Natasha.”
She finally broke the heavy silence.
And awkwardly curved her lips into a pale smile.
“Did you finish the other things you had to do?”
“Yes, I finished that well. But before that, Sir Gideon told me briefly, but what exactly happened?”
She was just meeting with Claude before leaving, with just a slight sign of uneasiness.
How could she suddenly be found collapsed in the Duke’s mansion?
According to Gideon, she suddenly collapsed while she was alone with the Duke. Why would a perfectly fine Estelle suddenly lose consciousness?
“You didn’t eat or drink anything in there, right? If they used some kind of drug, it’s best to detect it while traces are still in your system.”
“What? No, that wasn’t it. The reason I collapsed was simply…”
Natasha had no idea how to explain it.
‘Yeah. Come to think of it, ever since I woke up in this world, something felt off.’
Upon hearing that she had lost her memory, her parents seemed oddly relieved. They had always been overly protective.
‘And when I first went to see Claude, the first thing he said was that, right?’
—Do you have no pride?
—Excuse me?
—To appear before me again after hearing that, that’s impressive.
The pieces of the puzzle seemed to be falling into place.
Right. The ‘real’ Estelle hadn’t just died. She had… by her own hand…
“Ugh!”
Estelle retched unconsciously.
“Should we stop the carriage for a while? Do you want to take a break?”
“No, it’s fine…”
Estelle forced herself to cover her mouth, mumbling in reply.
“If it’s hard to talk, just close your eyes.”
“It’s not because of the nausea. It’s just… suddenly learning too much…”
Natasha found herself staring intently at Estelle.
The nape of her neck was wet with sweat, her cheeks slightly flushed, and her eyelashes clung together from dried tears.
She quickly realized what had happened.
‘Has her memory returned?’
No. Her demeanor was almost the same as before. Perhaps only a small part of her memory had come back.
Yes. For example…
‘Things like what happened with Duke Richard.’
Oh dear.
Natasha and Ivan had decided to keep quiet about this matter, but who would have thought the person involved would recover her memories on her own?
They hadn’t anticipated this, so they were inwardly flustered, but Natasha calmly pretended not to know anything.
“Whatever it is, it seems you’ve found another reason for the divorce, right?”
“…Yes, something like that.”
“Then nothing much changes, does it? Except that the judge’s ruling might be a bit longer.”
Natasha shrugged.
“We’re already in the process of divorcing.”
Those words reassured Estelle. That’s right. Nothing would change.
Estelle planned to leave for a foreign country after the divorce, and Claude was expected to live happily ever after with Lydia, the heroine.
“…You’re right, Natasha.”
Apart from the deeper settling of her shaken heart, not much else had changed.
***
With testimonies from about 200 employees who worked at the Count of Blanche’s estate and the diagnosis from her attending physician who had examined her back then, combined with the testimonies of Count and Countess Blanche themselves standing as witnesses, Estelle’s amnesia became an established fact.
The claim that she behaved like a completely different person before and after losing her memory also supported this assertion.
Natasha also submitted Estelle’s psychiatric evaluation, arguing that she had been suffering from extreme mental anguish.
Several debates followed, but they were not enough to overturn the court’s verdict.
In the end, the judge raised his gavel.
Bang, bang, bang!
“I will deliver the verdict.”
Estelle and Claude met several times in court afterward, but Estelle avoided him altogether.
“The Duchess of Richard completely lost her memory after the attempted poisoning incident, and although this caused some confusion for those around her, considering the circumstances, the torment that took place within the Duke’s household was beyond what could be endured.”
Claude tightly shut his eyes.
“From the beginning, it was a marriage of mutual benefit. To uphold that contract, the Duchess has endured severe mental suffering until now. Considering that there is no longer any intention to maintain the marriage, the collapse of this household is deemed inevitable.”
The judge read the ruling smoothly. Natasha gave a faint smile of victory.
“I pronounce the Duke and Duchess of Richard divorced.”
Bang, bang, bang!
“A subsequent trial will be held to discuss alimony and the division of property…”
The judge’s voice faded away, and Estelle and Claude met each other’s gaze in silence.
Unlike Claude, Estelle’s face remained cold and motionless.
“Did it have to be this way?”
Claude mouthed the words.
Estelle responded with a silent movement of her lips, a reply Claude would never understand.
“The Estelle who loved you died back then.”
The dead can’t return to life.
Never again.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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