Chapter 076
“Hmm. Ah! I’ve been feeling this for a while now, but you and your husband seem to be getting along really well these days?”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Joy changed the topic back to Evan and threw a question my way.
Given that Joy remembered how Evan had been avoiding me since our kiss by the lake, it was only natural for him to be curious about the two of us just now.
“Last time, Evan hurt his arm, so we spent a lot of time together.”
I had been by his side for several days, persistently giving him advice that wasn’t really advice until his arm healed, so I could only explain it like that.
‘It seems like he finally opened his heart to me.’
The days I spent trying to realize my feelings for Evan and get closer to him flashed through my mind like a montage.
At first, my desire to marry him stemmed simply from wanting to repay a favor.
But at some point, I began to wish for his happiness and developed a desire to watch him from the side for a long time.
‘Then I guess I can bring that up now?’
Having finished my thoughts, I looked back at where Evan was.
The contract condition stated I would divorce him after a year of marriage.
Initially, I had set that condition for him, who was refusing to marry, but now it seemed that this contract condition was no longer necessary.
‘Moreover, without this condition, it seems we could become even closer.’
I was very curious about what kind of expression Evan would have if I brought up the topic of nullifying the contract.
Would he turn red and be flustered like last time?
Imagining that made me eager to talk to him as soon as possible, my mouth itching to start a conversation.
At that moment, I had no idea.
How big of a misunderstanding I had been living with until now.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The next day. The optimal moment to bring it up came sooner than expected.
The protective magic for the border area was progressing smoothly, and I was in a good mood with reports that the lives of the residents had also improved significantly.
Moreover, as my time with Evan increased lately, taking walks in the garden after dinner was becoming a daily routine.
“It’s getting quite chilly now.”
As evening fell, the cool air brushed against my skin.
The season was shifting from the humid summer to autumn before I even realized it.
“What are you thinking, wearing something so thin? What if you catch a cold?”
Evan glanced at the dress I was wearing and spoke with a disapproving expression.
The dress I had on was a thin summer dress made of a fabric that allowed for plenty of airflow.
At that moment, a warm sensation suddenly settled on my shoulders.
“What if you give me your coat and then catch a cold yourself, Evan?”
I fiddled with the outer garment he had draped over me and said,.
He responded with a slight laugh, as if he had just heard an absurd joke.
“I’d prefer that to seeing you collapse and suffer like last time.”
Though his tone wasn’t particularly affectionate, his concern for me was evident, so I said nothing more and tightened the garment he had given me.
How long had we been walking peacefully in the garden?
I subtly took Evan’s hand as he walked slowly to match my pace.
At the same time, Evan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me.
“…What’s this?”
He looked completely taken aback, not expecting me to suddenly hold his hand.
“My hands are cold.”
Evan’s expression momentarily showed he was at a loss for words at my boldness in gripping his hand tighter, but he didn’t pull away.
As we held hands and strolled through the garden in silence, I slowly gathered my courage and spoke up.
“Time seems to fly by. It’s already been three months since we got married.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. At this rate, a year will pass in the blink of an eye.”
Having mentioned the year, I subtly turned my gaze to Evan.
However, his face, still focused on the garden, made it hard to tell what he was thinking.
“Speaking of which, about the condition we agreed on to divorce after a year…”
“Divorce, you say?”
Only then did his gaze, which had been fixed somewhere in the garden, shift to my face.
“Yes. I was thinking that we could do away with that condition now.”
I mustered the courage to express what I wanted to say.
I believed that our feelings for each other had grown strong enough that such a condition was no longer necessary.
“W-what do you think, Evan?”
I even stuttered like a child confessing to their first crush.
“……”
But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t hear Evan’s response.
Looking up in confusion, I met his gaze and couldn’t help but let my lips turn downward.
I witnessed a tangle of emotions in Evan’s eyes that were too difficult to express.
“Dahlia.”
Finally, after a long pause, he spoke my name.
“We will proceed with the divorce as planned on the day that marks one year.”
“……What?”
At first, I thought I had misheard.
His answer was completely different from what I had expected, and I stared at him with a blank expression.
But all I could see in front of me was Evan’s expression, which had stiffened as if what he just said was a fact.
“But we…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence and just opened and closed my mouth.
Unlike the cold first impression, he had been kind to me all this time, and his face would turn red every time we held hands. And that kiss by the lake that day.
I wanted to ask what all of that meant.
There were so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice them.
‘Why do you have that expression?’
Evan’s face, so close to mine, looked incredibly pained.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and his lips, which had twitched several times, eventually pressed together firmly.
Slowly, he withdrew the hand he had been holding.
“The wind is getting colder. If we stay out any longer, you really will catch a cold, so we should go inside.”
Could the man who coldly declared we would divorce in a year really be the same person who was worried about me catching a cold?
“Why do we have to get divorced?”
“……”
“So everything I’ve felt until now was a delusion?”
Even as I spoke, a hollow laugh escaped me.
No matter how little experience I had with love, it couldn’t possibly be an illusion.
I laughed incredulously at my own words. Even if I’d never experienced true love before, it couldn’t possibly be a delusion.
“It’s a delusion.”
A firm voice came from him, as if to leave no room for hope.
The man who had made me feel love for the first time was now dismissing that feeling as a delusion.
“It’s a lie.”
“Dahlia.”
Evan called my name, watching me deny his words as a lie. My eyes felt like they were welling up, and I knew I couldn’t bear to hear any more from him at that moment.
“I’ll go inside first. As you said, Evan, if I stay out longer, I might really catch a cold.”
Until the moment I hurriedly left, Evan didn’t try to stop me.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The next day.
“Good morning, customer… Aah! What happened?”
As soon as Joy opened the door to my office, he gasped in shock and shouted loudly.
He rushed over to where I was sitting, turning his head this way and that to examine my face, and then spoke in disbelief.
“How can someone become a completely different person in just one day?”
“What do you mean…?”
“Look in the mirror. Your face looks like a corpse. How can I not be shocked?”
I raised my hand and waved it at Joy, trying to silence his loud voice, which was echoing in the room.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s not? What’s going on?”
Joy’s once lively voice had now dropped to a low tone.
“Just… I suddenly have a lot on my mind.”
I weakly said as I ran my hand over my tired face.
I felt too miserable to explain in detail what had happened with Evan.
midori
thanks! evan, you coward! i really admire dahlia for speaking out, and i feel so sad for her