The Abandoned and Terminally Ill Lady Married a Monster - Chapter 54
Chapter 54
“…Yes.” I couldn’t disagree with her question, so I answered in the affirmative, though my conscience pricked me.
Unbothered by my guilt, Mother hummed cheerfully to herself before asking another question. “Whose daughter-in-law are you?”
“I’m the daughter-in-law of the Blashur Dukedom…”
“That’s right.” Why was she so delighted? Her emotions were baffling. Even more baffling was the fact that I’d planned to bring up divorce today, yet she seemed to anticipate it, asking whose daughter-in-law I was.
“From now on, let’s manage the Blashur household together. It would be too much for our dear one to take over immediately, while still adjusting, so let’s spend some time enjoying ourselves. Hmm, let’s see.”
Manage the dukedom? I knew nothing about aristocratic duties, let alone managing the Blashur Dukedom. Even if I started from scratch, it would take ages. I had no foundation. And more importantly, I couldn’t stay here long.
The weight of responsibility and guilt, the shame of my ignorance, and the guilt of deceiving Mother as if I were a typical noblewoman, all crashed down on me.
“How about we go boating tomorrow? It’s still too early for you to work. It’s better to get accustomed to this place while having fun.”
I couldn’t bear their generosity. I didn’t deserve it. To even pretend to accept it, we needed to be somewhat compatible, but I wasn’t, not at all.
“I told you not to be greedy!” Father’s voice suddenly exploded in my ears. The world distorted. My heart pounded as I abruptly stood up. The table rattled, and my chair toppled onto the lawn with a thud. Mother’s blue eyes widened in surprise. But her shock didn’t register. A drumbeat, like the judgment of sin, echoed from somewhere.
“Mother, I, the truth is… I don’t know anything. I’m practically an idiot. So, so…”
“Dear?”
“I’m, I’m sorry.” My fingertips turned icy. Mother called out behind me, but I couldn’t hear her properly. Everything was white, hazy, and indistinct.
I shouldn’t have agreed to this marriage. I’m tainting innocent people with my filth.
I fled in a daze, ending up in the bedroom. I should have run outside, but what was I doing here? To make matters worse, the man who had become my husband just yesterday was inside.
“I was just about to call you for lunch. We’re on the same wavelength.”
“….”
“Ailee?” Kin strode towards me. He took one look at my face and grabbed me tightly.
“Are you ill? Why are you so pale?”
“…Kin.”
“What happened? Someone, get the physician…!”
Before he could call for a doctor, I gripped his forearm. I hadn’t meant to squeeze so hard, but I couldn’t control my strength. His startled eyes met mine. I choked out the words, “Divorce me.”
The words I had struggled to utter. The words I had postponed with the selfish desire to stay, with the ridiculous excuse of being swayed by him.
Only after realizing how utterly unsuitable I was for this place could I finally speak them.
***
White hair fluttered, then dwindled to a dot and vanished. Minerva’s eyes followed Ailee’s retreating figure. The chair lay on the grass, stained with green, and the white tablecloth was tinged with the orange hue of spilled tea.
Ailee Lizziana. Minerva knew the name of the woman her son had declared he would marry the moment he returned home. How could she not? The name kept resurfacing in society, whenever it threatened to fade from memory.
Ailee Lizziana, the mutant, the anomaly born without abilities, the source of scandal. Yet, in stark contrast, the second daughter and eldest son of the Lizziana County were hailed as brilliant prodigies, having graduated early from the academy. Those envious of the County would bring up Ailee’s name, and the Count and Countess’s faces would twist with fury.
“I wish people wouldn’t mention the name of my ailing child.”
The Count, who had once insisted Ailee wasn’t lacking in ability, but merely ill, had at some point begun to deny her existence entirely.
“She is not my daughter.” His eyes, filled with a murderous rage I couldn’t reconcile with any paternal feeling, confirmed everything. “Lane and Lizzy. These are my wonderful children. I don’t understand why you would even mention the other one. Let’s move on.” Ailee’s reputation within society was already in tatters, but the Countl’s words and demeanor painted a vivid picture of her life within the family. Back then, she only felt pity, nothing more. She hadn’t involved myself further; it wasn’t her affair.
Minerva, recalling the whispers surrounding Ailee, sighed, a breath laced with regret and self-reproach. “I was too hasty.”
She’d known a debutante from such a household wouldn’t have received a proper upbringing, yet she hadn’t considered it deeply enough. Knowledge and action were two separate things.
‘How strange and difficult this must all be for her.’
Not only had Ailee likely endured neglect, but entering a family of higher standing, she must have been terrified of revealing her lack of proper education and etiquette. Born into high nobility, gifted with inherent magical abilities, and accustomed to privilege from a young age, Minerva had simply never considered Ailee’s perspective. With heavy steps, she forced herself to move forward.
