The Reason Why She Wanted To Leave

Ains was only able to return to his daily routine the next day. However, he did not feel particularly motivated.

On his way to the Graham Trading Company after finishing his work at the mansion, Ains paused his horse and looked somewhere. It was in the direction of the Marves Viscountess’ residence, not far away.

By coincidence, he spotted a figure standing by a window on the third floor of the Marves Viscountess’ residence. Although the distance made it difficult to clearly identify who it was with his naked eye, he believed it was Cecilia.

He couldn’t think otherwise. There were few people with platinum blonde hair at the Marves Viscountess’ residence, and most importantly, the distant figure seemed to recognize Ains among the crowd and was watching him.

Feeling conflicted, he stared at the figure by the window for a long time.

Cecilia was right about everything, from her illness to the aftereffects she experienced after taking the treatment. Although he had already heard about it from Dr. Watt, he had also confirmed that the most recent buyer of the Tieria flower at the Reflen Auction House was the Marves Viscountess.

He had instructed Jackson to investigate Cecilia’s past, which he had previously shown no interest in. Since Cecilia had lived at the Graham mansion from a very young age after losing both parents, it wasn’t difficult to find out about her.

Moreover, the person who could testify in detail about Cecilia was within the Graham mansion.

Rachel Lorette, the head maid who had served Cecilia for a long time, provided detailed information about her.

Cecilia had recognized her illness about half a year ago. Although she had previously complained about the inconvenience of her body’s stiffness, the incident of falling down the stairs due to her body freezing was the starting point for discovering her illness.

Since then, Cecilia had searched extensively for a treatment for her illness and eventually realized that she needed the Tieria flower.

She had requested Ains to increase her allowance to participate in the auction, but Ains, unaware of the situation, had refused her request.

Afterward, Cecilia found a temporary solution by absorbing mana stones.

As a major customer of the Graham Trading Company, the Mage Tower provided high-grade mana stones as part of her allowance.

Although it was rare for mana stones from the Mage Tower to be released to the outside, the trust between the Graham Trading Company and the Mage Tower allowed for special provision.

After hearing the whole truth, Ains pondered whether he would have obtained the medicine for Cecilia if he had known everything.

He could confidently say he would have done so in his current state, but he couldn’t be sure if he would have done the same for Cecilia before their divorce. Perhaps, with a narrow-minded heart, he might have demanded a divorce in exchange for obtaining the medicine for her.

Both now and in the past, Cecilia had been nothing more than a shadow of his grandfather to Ains before their divorce.

As he thought about it, the figure that had been watching him from the mansion disappeared behind the curtains.

Nevertheless, Ains couldn’t easily leave his spot.

“Your Grace, are you alright?”

Jackson asked Ains out of concern. Ains slowly nodded and turned his gaze away from the Marves Viscountess’ residence.

“Let’s go quickly. We’ve been delayed too long because of me.”

As Ains resumed his journey, Jackson and the attendants followed him.

* * *

Even while conducting business at the trading company, Ains frequently drifted into thoughts. Most of them were about his past with Cecilia.

When Cecilia first came to the Graham mansion following Damon Graham after losing both her parents, their relationship wasn’t bad. In fact, it was quite good.

Ains, who had lost his mother to illness, and Cecilia, who had lost both parents in an accident, became each other’s only friends who could comfort and heal each other’s wounds.

Ains, who managed to maintain a bright demeanor by relying on his father, made great efforts to make Cecilia, who was always in despair, smile.

He picked flowers for her, took her to secret places in the mansion only he knew about, and learned to stay silent by her side so she could talk comfortably.

As time passed and Cecilia began to open her heart, an incident occurred.

Ains’ grandfather, Damon Graham, pressured Ains’ father, Alex Graham, to join the monster subjugation force. Ains begged Alex not to participate, but Alex volunteered for the monster subjugation force and eventually returned as a corpse.

That was when it started. The huge rift between Ains and Cecilia.

When Ains began to hate Damon Graham, he also came to hate Cecilia, whom Damon Graham had brought to the mansion. Although their marriage was proposed by Damon Graham, it was purely to obtain the title of Duke and control of the Graham Trading Company.

Ains felt sorry for Cecilia, who became part of a loveless marriage, but he couldn’t show it because Damon Graham was behind her.

First, he had to take everything from his grandfather and become independent both mentally and materially. He managed to get everything he wanted: the title, the trading company, and the position of the head of the family.

But the emptiness couldn’t be filled.

For someone who had lost his mother and then his father in quick succession, the title or the position of the head of the family could not be a compensation.

Cecilia tried to comfort him, but because Damon was behind her, he couldn’t fully accept her comfort. As their cold marriage continued, Cecilia’s mood became increasingly darker and spoke less.

Ains remembered Cecilia’s bright childhood and couldn’t stand to see her lose her vitality, caught between Damon and himself. So he pushed her away more harshly, ignoring her and continually demanding a divorce.

He thought it was an action for Cecilia’s sake, but in conclusion, it seemed like a wrong judgment.

With these thoughts coming to mind one after another, he couldn’t focus on his work. Eventually, he pushed aside the documents he hadn’t finished yesterday.

Ains raised his hands and swept his face before standing up. He decided that it would be better to meet Cecilia once more than to stay here.

When Ains postponed his work and went outside, Jackson and Jacob stood up with a puzzled look. They were also checking documents in the office.

“Where are you going?”

Jacob, realizing that Ains wasn’t just out for a walk, asked.

“You don’t need to follow. I’ll go alone.”

“But…”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“…Yes.”

Eventually, Jacob and Jackson, intimidated by Ains’ firm attitude, awkwardly saw him off.

Ains left the Graham Trading Company building and rode his horse towards the Marves Viscountess’ residence. Today, the road felt unusually long.

After riding without rest, he finally arrived at the Marves Viscountess’ residence.

Just as he was about to head for the main gate, he sensed a strange mana phenomenon nearby. It felt as if someone had deliberately condensed mana around them.

If this phenomenon had occurred at the Mage Tower or a knights’ training ground, it wouldn’t have been unusual, but unfortunately, the energy was coming from the rear garden of the Marves Viscountess’ residence.

He dismounted and began to walk towards the place where the mana was felt.

After walking a short distance, Ains reached the vicinity of the rear garden of the Marves mansion. Through the low fence and sparse garden trees, the inside of the rear garden became visible.

At the center of the mana were two people, both familiar to Ains.

Cecilia Marves and Master Cesare of the Mage Tower.

Master Cesare was reaching out to Cecilia, condensing mana, and Cecilia stood with her eyes closed amidst the concentrated mana.

Ains instantly understood what they were doing.

It was a training method that senior mages or knights used to help their juniors feel and manipulate mana more easily.

From his guess, Cecilia had sought Master Cesare’s help to overcome the aftereffects of the Trintz disease. Since she had been receiving mana stones from him, it wasn’t very strange for her to seek his help.

However, watching this scene made Ains feel strangely uncomfortable.

It was something he could have done for her.

Ains had inherited his father’s swordsmanship skills and was very adept at handling mana.

People praised him, saying he might become a swordsman surpassing his father, Alex, who was known as the Empire’s Sword. In fact, his skills were so good that he was highly regarded as a knight.

Helping Cecilia feel mana was nothing to him.

Was it because someone else did what he could have done? He couldn’t control the boiling emotions inside and gritted his teeth.

He had felt a similar emotion before. When Cecilia was with Viscount Moldovan, he felt something similar.

But today was very different from that time. The emotions were much more intense and violent than back then.

At that moment, Master Cesare sensed something strange and turned his head.

His eyes met Ains’.

Despite Ains’ intense gaze, Master Cesare did not avert his eyes. Instead, he stared back, puzzled as to why Ains was looking at him in such a way. Then, suddenly, Master Cesare turned his gaze to Cecilia. He seemed to understand the situation roughly.

Suppressing a laugh, he turned back to where Ains had been standing, but Ains was no longer there.