Chapter 5
So I left the house.
To pull the monster away from my delicate wife.
Hoping she’d escape her fear just a little and find some color amid those gloomy shadows.
Yes, that’s exactly how it was.
……But should this really be called a success?
Somehow, instead of finding color, she’s become a chaotic, jumbled rainbow.
Dante was changing clothes in the other room upon hearing the report that Serphina had been laid in the bedroom.
In his mind, the image of Serphina sprawling dramatically the moment he opened the door kept repeating alongside the image of her coughing violently, her back bent over.
Gone was any trace of the woman who’d once been confined to her room, withering away like a dying flower.
Dante, who’d been taking off his outer garments, froze mid-motion, dazed.
“My Lord? Why are you standing there like that?”
He didn’t even notice Barhan had quietly entered the room until the latter pointed it out.
Startled, Dante finished undressing while scolding him.
He demanded why Barhan had come in without making a sound.
Barhan replied indignantly, as if deeply wronged:
“I knocked dozens of times. My knuckles were raw from it—but you didn’t respond at all, so I worried you’d fainted or something.”
He knocked dozens of times?
Dante hadn’t heard a single knock.
Yet Barhan’s reddened, swollen knuckles proved he wasn’t lying.
“……Next time, knock a little louder.”
“Good heavens. So you really intend to break this old man’s hands, is that it?”
Barhan chuckled heartily as he took Dante’s outer coat.
Throughout, Barhan wore a gentle smile.
His lips, pressed tightly shut beneath that subtle smile, gave no sign of opening.
Dante glanced at him once, twice, three times.
When Dante kept staring pointedly at his tightly closed lips, Barhan’s expression hardened.
“Please stop staring at my lips like that. It’s making me uncomfortable.”
“What insolence—!”
“Exactly. So let’s avoid making each other uncomfortable any further. If you’re curious about something, just ask me plainly.”
Struck by Barhan’s piercing remark, Dante briefly held his breath.
Then he rubbed his temple with his index finger and sighed.
“How is my wife doing? Should we call a physician?”
Though it was clearly a question, Barhan looked as though he’d just received a perfectly satisfying answer.
But only for a moment.
In an instant, his ever-calm face darkened.
“…Surely she’s not unwell, is she? Do we need to summon a doctor immediately?”
“No, not at all. Madam is resting peacefully now, and her coughing stopped shortly after.”
“Then why that expression?”
“Well…”
Barhan hesitated briefly.
He weighed whether it was right to say anything or not. But ultimately, His Grace was both Madam’s husband and master of this mansion.
That meant he had the right to know what rumors were circulating here.
Barhan steeled himself and spoke.
“There are rumors going around that Madam seems unwell.”
Dante’s face instantly hardened into ice at those words.
Unwell?
Now that he thought about it, his wife was indeed extremely thin.
Her frame was so slender and fragile she looked as if she might snap if handled carelessly.
Earlier, hadn’t her legs dangled helplessly in the air when just a few maids were supporting her?
He could clearly picture the pitiful way her toes had flailed in midair.
“Has a physician been called to examine her?”
“Yes. According to the doctor, she’s merely a bit frail but has no serious issues. He said regular meals and proper nutrition would resolve everything. However…”
“There’s something bothering you, isn’t there?”
This time, Dante struck right to the heart of the matter.
Rather than explain, Barhan simply nodded.
“It’s just… Madam said something rather strange, and that’s troubling me a bit.”
“What did she say?”
“When I asked why she suddenly started growing medicinal herbs in the garden, she answered that she wants to live out the rest of her life without regrets… No, never mind. That was a slip of the tongue.”
With that, Barhan bowed deeply and quickly left the room,
leaving behind only the instruction that dinner was ready and His Grace should come to the dining hall on time.
Alone again, Dante’s mind was tangled with thoughts.
First off—
Growing medicinal herbs in the garden?
Barhan had mentioned it so casually that Dante himself had briefly doubted his own ears.
It wasn’t that Madam had suggested planting flowers or trees in the garden.
She’d actually said medicinal herbs?
But Barhan was already gone, leaving no one to question.
“Well, I suppose it’s possible.”
Dante quickly chose to accept it rather than keep questioning.
She was a woman from the capital, after all—perhaps growing medicinal herbs in gardens was all the rage there.
He shouldn’t think so narrowly.
But once that thought passed, worry welled up inside him.
“To live out the rest of my life without regrets…”
On one hand, it sounded like the words of someone who’d gained wisdom about life.
On the other, it carried an oddly ominous feeling.
Especially when he remembered her violent coughing earlier and her painfully thin body…
Dante decided he absolutely had to go check on Serphina right after changing.
Ideally, without her noticing.
Even if Serphina had changed, she might still regain her old fear the moment she saw him.
Perhaps she’d only left her room because he hadn’t been present.
Thinking that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Just as Dante, shirtless, sat perched on the desk about to sigh again—
Bang!
“My Lord, why are you in here—!”
……
……
The door suddenly burst open, and a thin but strong voice leapt in—only to cut off abruptly upon seeing Dante’s bare torso.
Blue eyes met green eyes.
Then, very slowly… very deliberately… the green eyes drifted downward… downward… downward…
“M-Madam?”
The green eyes snapped back up only when Dante called out to her.
Her pale, clear face stared blankly at him for a moment.
Then, like a flower bud bursting open into full bloom, she smiled radiantly.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry! I must’ve unconsciously let my instincts take over.”
[This is the timeline separator]
I’ve just realized something anew.
Namely, that my husband’s face is insane.
Good heavens! Oh my goodness!
Can that truly be the face of an actual human being? Could it possibly be a sculpture? I am utterly astonished.
Moreover, my husband’s physique was perfect too.
His muscles were firm and sharply defined—so much so that they reminded me of the neat furrows in the field I’d once tilled myself.
Oh, my goodness.
Then why on earth was I ever afraid of that man?
I couldn’t understand my past self even a few months ago.
Fear must’ve blinded me so completely that even my actual eyesight temporarily regressed.
While I marveled inwardly, savoring the vivid impression of that striking face, a voice came from behind me.
“You may turn around now.”
I slowly turned.
The male lead stood stiffly in the room, fully changed into neat indoor attire.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I should’ve knocked, but I was in such a hurry that I just opened the door.”
“No, it’s fine.”
His tone was blunt, yet sounded gentle.
Was it because his face looked gentle?
Well, did it even matter?
Whether it was his looks or his personality—at least one of them was kind, and that was enough.
“But more importantly, how are you feeling? Is it really okay for you to be up and walking around like this?”
“Of course! I was just out of breath earlier because I ran too hard.”
“Ran too hard…?”
“Yes. When I heard His Grace had returned, I sprinted as fast as I could—I wanted to go greet you.”
Though I ultimately failed.
I’d only meant to welcome you home, but all I managed to show you was sheer panic.
“You… sprinted all the way here just to greet me?”
“Yes. You’ve worked so hard and come back home. I wanted to tell you how relieved I am that you returned safely, even though it must’ve been exhausting.”
Dante said nothing.
He just stared intently at me with an unreadable expression.
I didn’t bother trying to decipher his look.
Instead, while he remained silent, I quickly decided to say what needed saying.
First of all—
“I’m sorry for everything until now.”
Starting with an apology.
“Even though our marriage was political—and I know it was the same for you too—I realize now that I was the only one trembling in fear, refusing to adapt and constantly avoiding you. Thinking back, I imagine you must’ve been offended. Seeing me flinch like I’d seen a ghost every time we met… that probably felt awful.”
“No. I never thought that way.”
“…Really?”
“Truly.”
“Wow. Heavens above, your heart is as vast as the Pacific Ocean! Ah—wait, it’s not the Pacific here, it’s the Sahabra Sea. Your heart is as vast as the Sahabra Sea!”
I was genuinely amazed.
If I were Dante, I’d probably feel really offended.
Like, ‘Am I some kind of dung beetle or something? Why are you avoiding me like that?’
But then again…
That’s exactly who Dante was in the original story.
Instead of resenting his wife for failing to adapt, he gave her alimony and a house and agreed to a divorce.
All while carrying his own fair share of emotional wounds and trauma.
What a warm-hearted man from the frosty North!
Remembering the original Dante while looking at the one standing before me now made my heart swell with emotion.
I stepped briskly forward and firmly grasped Dante’s hands with both of mine.
“From now on, let’s get along well. Let’s eat meals together, do all sorts of things together, and build lots of memories. Let’s be good friends!”
That way, we could part beautifully as close friends—
without any trauma, with healthy and happy hearts.
Afterward, the male lead would get his happy ending with the female lead, and I’d get mine with my medicinal herbs!
Lost in my perfectly crafted vision of the future, my eyes sparkled—yet Dante’s expression looked strangely off.
Slightly put out, maybe?
…Huh. Does he not want to be friends with me?
Was he angry that I avoided him before and now suddenly want to be friends?
Did he finally realize how ridiculous this whole situation was?
Worried over what to do if that was the case, I suddenly remembered something in my pocket.
Ah, right. I had that.
