The Reason Why She Wanted To Leave

“…Yes. What should we do?”

Rivet asked me in a cautious voice. However, I couldn’t make a decision easily.

Why did Ains suddenly come to see me?

I put down the fork I was using to pick at my salad and looked at Rivet.

Staring at Rivet wouldn’t provide any answers, but in my confusion, I looked at her and thought about how to respond.

“First, escort him to the drawing room. I’ll be there soon.”

Rivet instructed another maid to politely escort Ains to the drawing room. I watched this and fell into thought for a moment.

Even before the divorce, Ains had never sought me out first. Apart from asking for a divorce, he had never brought up any other matters with me.

But now, after the divorce, Ains was showing an uncomfortable amount of interest in me.

Of course, I knew well that this interest wasn’t out of affection for me. He simply seemed displeased with everything about me after the divorce.

I understood his feelings. As the former Duchess of Graham, it must have been unpleasant for him to see me entangled with Cadia.

He was probably visiting related to that matter.

Even though I was handling things on my own, he didn’t seem to trust me, so having a serious conversation with him once might not be a bad idea.

Before heading to the drawing room, I checked my attire. Since it was early in the morning, I wasn’t dressed properly to receive guests.

Rivet, being perceptive, quickly tidied me up and finished by smoothing out the hem of my dress.

“All done.”

“Thank you.”

After thanking Rivet, who always worked hard, I headed to the drawing room where Ains was waiting.

When I arrived in front of the drawing room, I saw familiar faces. They were Ains’s aides, Jacob and Jackson.

The two of them bowed deeply upon seeing me.

“Greetings, Viscountess Marves.”

“It’s been a while, Viscountess Marves.”

I responded with a brief nod and approached the door, passing by them.

“Announce me.”

“Yes.”

The servant lightly knocked on the door twice and then spoke.

“Viscountess Marves has arrived.”

The door opened silently as the servant spoke.

Before entering, I took a deep breath. Only after calming my somewhat trembling heart did I step into the drawing room.

Ains was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room, enjoying refreshments.

As I approached, Ains, who was sipping tea with his legs crossed, lifted his head to acknowledge me. Despite being the guest, he acted as if he were the host.

Ordinarily, such behavior would have been seen as rude, but it was different since it was Ains Graham, the only Duke of the empire, doing it.

He was in a position where even such rude behavior seemed natural. And he had no obligation to show any courtesy to a lower noble like me.

“You’re here. Sit down.”

“That’s my line.”

I snapped back at Ains, who was offering me a seat.

Ains set down his teacup on the saucer and waited for me to sit. Reluctantly, I sat across from him.

Only then did Ains lift his head to look at me. His eyes were the same as usual, but today they felt slightly different.

“Duke Graham, what brings you to my residence so early in the morning?”

I asked first, seeing him remain silent.

Only then did Ains move his hand and take something out of his coat. He placed it on the table with a thud. The shape of the bottle was familiar.

“That’s…”

“You know what this is, don’t you?”

I couldn’t deny Ains’s words. The bottle he had taken out and placed on the table contained the sedative.

It hadn’t been found in the dining room, so Ains must have had it.

As I reached out to take the medicine, Ains snatched the bottle first.

When I looked at him in astonishment, he glanced at the bottle. Inside were small pill-like medicines. I knew better than anyone what those pills were.

“Trintz disease.”

The name of the disease that had tormented me so much came out of Ains’s mouth.

He turned his gaze from the bottle to meet my eyes.

“I heard it’s a disease where the mana within the body gradually hardens. Is it true that you have this disease?”

Ains mentioned the main symptoms of the Trintz disease. These were things he originally shouldn’t have known. This meant that Ains had already investigated before coming to see me.

“You’ve already looked into it.”

I was curious as to why he was talking about my illness when he hadn’t shown much interest in me before the divorce, but I nodded while looking at him.

“Yes.”

Ains frowned upon hearing my answer.

“Why did you hide the fact that you were ill from me?”

There was a faint anger mixed in Ains’s voice.

Why did I hide my illness?

Yes, it was true that I had hidden it from him. But rather than hiding it, it was more accurate to say that I simply hadn’t mentioned it.

He had never been interested in me in the first place.

No matter what I did, no matter how I felt, no matter where I was hurt. Over the past few years, he hadn’t shown a shred of interest in me.

About half a year ago, when I severely injured myself by falling down the stairs due to the early symptoms of Trintz disease. If he had come to see me even once and asked if I was okay, I wouldn’t have hidden the illness from him.

What was the point of telling him I was ill when he didn’t even glance at me when I was a wreck? Telling him would only have hurt me more.

His indifference hurt me more than the physical pain…

I couldn’t understand why he was suddenly asking why I had hidden it when he hadn’t known or cared about anything before.

Strangely, hearing his words made me feel even calmer.

“Would anything have changed if I had told you? You would have continued to ignore me as you always did. Why not keep doing that?”

“Cecilia.”

Ains quietly called my name as he listened to me. I paused and waited for him to speak.

“I admit that I wasn’t interested in you. But our relationship wasn’t a close one anyway. Still, an illness is different. If you had told me about your illness…”

“If I had told you? Would you have gotten me medicine?”

“I would have.”

At Ains’s words, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. But I quickly regained my composure.

“No, you wouldn’t have.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because until the divorce, you didn’t care even when I was injured. You were indifferent even when I was a wreck from falling down the stairs.”

“That was…”

Unable to refute, Ains opened his mouth but then closed it again. His silence felt unbearably cruel to me. It felt like my old wounds were being confirmed once more.

If only he hadn’t denied it. Then it wouldn’t have felt so bitter.

I continued, trying not to show the rising sorrow inside me.

“Would you have gotten me medicine if you had known I had the Trintz disease?”

No matter how many times I thought about it, the answer was always the same.

So why now, after the divorce, was he acting this way?

I had a feeling I knew why without thinking too hard. He didn’t want to be seen as a bad person to others.

He had been cold to me for ten years, but now that we were divorced and completely strangers, he suddenly had a reputation to manage with me too.

“And you don’t need to worry about the illness anymore. I’ve already been treated.”

“Treated?”

Ains’s eyebrows twitched at my words.

“Does someone who’s fully treated cough up blood?”

Ains sneered, likely referring to what happened at the Duke’s residence yesterday.

Indeed, I had collapsed coughing up blood right in front of him, so even someone as indifferent as him must have been shocked. I nodded with a bitter smile.

“It’s just an aftereffect. It’ll disappear with time.”

I had already taken the treatment for Trintz disease, and I no longer feared my mana hardening. Instead, I was left with the aftereffect of my mana occasionally going out of control and clashing with my body.

For some reason, Ains frowned deeply.

“Disappear with time? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I would believe that?”

“What if you don’t believe it?”

I found it absurd that he didn’t believe it was just an aftereffect. Explaining my illness to him in detail or making him understand the symptoms seemed foolish. We were already divorced; did I really need to explain my health to him?

Contrary to my thoughts, Ains continued speaking, his face contorted with anger.

“Why are you going to such lengths to hide your illness from me? You’re still sick.”