We're Married, After All - Chapter 83
“I… I told you I want to know! Don’t I have the right to know? Everything happened because of me.”
“That’s exactly why you don’t need to know. Also… because I don’t want you to.”
Laurea’s brow furrowed deeply. She seemed unable to comprehend what she had just heard.
But Danel didn’t need her to understand. Explaining it further wouldn’t make his reasoning any more rational or comprehensible.
Danel removed his coat and gently draped it over Laurea’s shoulders. Even though she wore a cloak, she was still in her nightgown, suggesting she had rushed out of the house as soon as she woke up.
What could have made Laurea so desperate? He deliberately avoided asking himself that question, knowing the answer would only tempt him to stay by her side.
“As you might have guessed, I committed countless sins just to become your husband. None of it is your fault. It was entirely my selfish desire… So, you don’t need to know. No… you must not know.”
“So, because they’re your sins, I’m not allowed to know? What you were thinking, what you wanted, what you did because of it—all of it—even though you did it because of me?”
“And yet… you still call it something that happened because of you. Even if I were to confess everything, nothing would change.”
“… …”
“Of course, if you want me to pay for my crimes, I will. But it won’t change anything. The only difference would be that you’d carry the weight of my sins, as much as you believe you deserve, for the rest of your life.”
A strong gust of wind scattered the remaining ashes. The smoldering cinders spread with a sharp, acrid smell. Worried that the sparks might touch Laurea, Danel instinctively raised his arm to shield her face.
“So… go back, Laurea. Live your life, untouched and innocent. None of this has ever been your fault.”
“You expect me to live without knowing what you did or why?”
“Yes, as if nothing ever happened.”
Danel slowly lowered his hand, as if releasing something he had been holding onto for too long. In that moment, he let Lauréa go.
But Laurea didn’t move a single step. She merely parted her lips as if tasting the weight of his words.
After a brief silence, she finally spoke.
“Is that so?”
Her cold voice left Danel momentarily speechless. The water in her eyes was replaced by a fierce, burning anger. He was gripped by the sudden urge to flee—to throw himself into the burning ruins behind him.
But Laurea turned around before he could even think of moving.
She walked toward her horse and pulled a spear from the saddle’s weapon strap. With a swift movement, she flung the spear at Danel’s feet.
Danel glanced down at the weapon lying at his feet. Blood stained the s***t of the spear.
He slowly turned back toward Laurea, scanning her for injuries, but there was not a single drop of blood on her.
If it wasn’t her blood… then whose was it?
‘No… It couldn’t be.’
Danel’s eyes darted back to the blood-soaked spear. That was when he noticed something stuck to the blunt end of the spear—a strand of golden hair, just like his own.
“Before coming here… I met someone. Finding you was hard, but finding him was quite easy.”
“… …”
Danel’s breath hitched as he realized who she was referring to.
He had expected Laurea to find Petios eventually. He’d even left behind his tracking journal in case she decided to search for him. He thought she might want to save Petios, just as she had pleaded before. By the time she found him, Danel would be long gone from this world, incapable of harming anyone anymore.
So why… why did this happen?
“… How… was he?”
“The moment he saw me, he shot an arrow without a word… It’s almost as if he knew why I’d come. Perhaps… because he was my fiancé for so long?”
Laurea chuckled bitterly.
“So, I beat him until he passed out. He might even be dead.”
“… …”
“If I report what happened, the documents you left behind will mean nothing. I’d be guilty of a major crime—probably sentenced to execution before I could even give birth… He was my former fiancé, after all.”
“Laurea.”
“Maybe people will suspect I killed you too. Imagine—‘The woman who killed both her fiancé and her husband.’ They might call me a witch… If I confess, maybe they’ll burn me alive in the royal capital’s public square.”
“What are you saying?!”
Danel clenched his teeth, his voice trembling. He could barely contain the storm brewing inside him.
The thoughts that had plagued him ever since that fateful day surged up again, threatening to drown him.
With a desperate restraint, he forced out his words:
“Why… Why do you reject even the freedom I tried to give you? Why must you always be so… cruel to me?” “Freedom… Is that what you think this is?”
Laurea laughed—a hollow, exhausted sound devoid of any real emotion.
“When did I ever ask for this? Not only did you ignore everything I ever said, but you even burdened me with things I never wanted. And now… you dare call it ‘freedom’?”
“Is there… anything you want from me?”
“Then… why do you think I came all the way here?”
Danel’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. His lips trembled as if trying to form the question his mind couldn’t fully grasp.
Why had she come here?
The very fact that she was standing before him defied all logic. He had chosen this place because no one knew about it—because only he could remember the memories tied to this place. Even now, as the flames consumed the old cottage, no one had noticed…
Why had she come to him?
