If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 97
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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It was laughable that Agatha had been turned away at the door by a mere servant.
Yet, she couldn’t entirely blame them, as it was Cain who had given them the authority to treat her with such disregard. They were simply taking cues from their master and finding a twisted sense of satisfaction and pleasure in their disrespect.
If Cain was honest and asked to annul the contract, they wouldn’t have to continue this charade of a marriage and unwanted life together. But his silent avoidance left her at a loss for how to approach him.
Was he trying to avoid the responsibility of ending the contract first? Was he waiting for her to suggest ending it? Agatha couldn’t fathom his intentions.
That’s why, today, she was determined to have a conversation about his true feelings and their future plans. With a heavy heart, she turned and headed toward the main building.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
As the sun set, a gentle rain began to fall. The damp, earthy smell of soaked wood filled the corridor as she entered the second floor.
It had been a long time since she had gone to the study. She remembered the day she had called Cain from there, discussing urgent matters with his knights just before their wedding, which was abruptly interrupted by an outbreak of battle.
She had entered the study a few times after that, but it was always with caution, never really taking in the room since it felt intrusive without its owner present. The last meaningful conversation they had in this house was probably back then.
After their wedding, Cain had left for the capital immediately and had scarcely acknowledged her since his return, as if their month together in Arta had never happened. He was frighteningly indifferent.
Creak.
The heavy wooden door made its usual groaning sound. The eerie noise sent chills down her spine. As she turned, she noticed the large window, which took up half the wall, was wide open.
The wind blowing through the window scattered a few pieces of parchment around the room.
Agatha hurriedly closed the window and gathered the scattered parchments, placing them neatly on the desk.
“….How unlike him to leave his desk in such mess.”
Cain was meticulous about leaving no trace of his presence. His study, the space where he conducted his work, was always impeccably organized. Yet, the study before her now was in complete disarray.
“This is…”
Something caught Agatha’s eye among the cluttered papers. It was a small drawing, roughly the size of her palm.
The sketch depicted a woman with red hair and the letter ‘E’ inscribed beside her.
Agatha couldn’t tear her eyes away from the drawing. The woman in the picture had a blank expression, but there was something captivating about her. She seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, a face that didn’t align with conventional beauty yet held a strange allure.
Agatha instinctively felt that this woman was the reason for Cain’s coldness. His attempts to distance himself from their marriage contract. Why he didn’t want to stay at the mansion, why he didn’t want to see his wife, Agatha. Everything, including his indifference towards everything related to Kristin—all seemed to point back to this woman.
The initial shock of seeing the woman’s face was soon replaced by a faint sense of defeat. Cain was not truly her husband, so why did she feel as though something had been taken from her?
Feeling a surge of self-pity, Agatha quickly placed the drawing back where she found it.
Who was this woman? What was her name? What was her story? Was the letter ‘E’ her initial?
She momentarily forgot the purpose of her visit to the study, Agatha was overwhelmed by the presence of the woman in the drawing. She had never genuinely believed that Cain would distance himself from her for the sake of another woman, but now, faced with tangible evidence, she felt a wave of dizziness.
This was different from the anger of a wife whose husband had been taken. It was the sense of loss from someone she thought was on her side drifting away.
The feelings Agatha had for Cain were purely betrayal and loss.
Of course, the reason for the betrayal wasn’t his change of heart. It was the complete lack of consideration for someone with whom he had shared a significant part of his life and made promises.
Instead of cowardly avoiding her and running away under the pretense of newfound love, he should have confessed his change of heart and discussed their future. The thought that she meant so little to him that he wouldn’t even share such matters made Agatha feel a profound sense of unfairness.
It wasn’t about a relationship between a man and a woman; it was about the integrity between two people being shattered. She felt pity for the trust she had placed in him.
“What are you doing here?”
Engrossed in the drawing of the woman, Agatha had momentarily forgotten that she had come to see Cain. The icy voice startled her, making her shiver as she looked up.
The owner of the voice, standing by the window with eyes as cold and piercing as the moonlight, was Cain.
