Chapter 31

The words that spoke like leaving him was her wish, even the handwriting—everything was embedded in his mind and wouldn’t leave. Whenever it surfaced, the surging rage blinded his eyes and turned him into a war demon.

Then, ironically, over the past two years he’d been able to seize the war victories he’d so asdesperately wanted.

“What irony… The victory I needed to protect her and me… our families.”

Now he seemed to just rampage without even knowing what he was fighting for.

Ethan opened his closed eyes and quietly sat up. The deep pain between his shoulder and chest hurt enough to numb the left side of his torso, but he took slow, deep breaths and pushed himself up to lean against the headboard.

He took slow, deep breaths.

Thanks to the operation he’d thought was the stupidest gamble of his life, this battle would at least conclude without many casualties.

Except he hadn’t been able to rejoin them. His presence here was unknown to both the enemy and his allies.

Since walking back on his own two feet was the only option, Ethan had no choice but to recover quickly. If he sent word by letter, there was no telling where or how it might leak.

Today was unusually noisy. The estate, which normally only echoed with the voices of a few women and his attending doctor, had become tremendously chaotic.

Had guests arrived? When he was at the ducal estate, she never attended social gatherings or invited anyone.

Come to think of it, he became very curious about what she’d been doing for the past year. What she’d been doing living in the count’s estate with nothing—without him.

Ethan braced himself against the bed with his right arm and tried to move his body. Once strength entered his upper body, the wound hurt like it might tear open.

With only his brow slightly furrowed and both eyes pressed shut, Ethan looked from the side like he was meditating and taking deep breaths.

Being injured and in pain wasn’t a one or two-day affair, nothing to make a fuss about. Every time he’d returned with wounds, he’d worried about Sehera seeing him, but that didn’t mean he could avoid returning to the ducal estate.

Once the wave of pain subsided, he moved his legs and got down from the bed. There weren’t even slippers near the bed. It was natural, since people hadn’t even considered he might get up yet.

“The floor is… not too cold, at least.”

Perhaps because the weather had warmed up considerably, the floor wasn’t so cold he couldn’t step on it. Rather, the cool sensation returning to his feet that had been confined to the bed seemed to bring a refreshing energy to his head, which had been aching constantly.

Voices, laughter, and footsteps scattered throughout the estate began moving in a rush. Then those sounds seemed to gather in one place before moving away in that direction.

“I’ve become a scout.”

With just a little attention, he could hear where and how people were moving. In war, and at distances where he could only sense presences, he’d become able to roughly gauge what those people’s emotions might be.

His heart sank at the thought that he was truly becoming optimized for war.

Of course, becoming a knight was work done with the mission to fight and protect, but in a fight that had lasted three years, his body and mind—unable to recharge themselves by any means—had only withered.

Each step was difficult. Strength wouldn’t enter his body properly, and when it did manage to enter, pain starting from his left shoulder would sweep through his entire body, forcing him to stop and rest.

Still, he kept moving his feet steadily.

The greatest obstacle appeared before him—the stairs.

The count’s estate felt incredibly small compared to the ducal estate, but from this vantage point looking down at these stairs, they seemed like those of the imperial palace itself.

He gripped the railing and moved his body slowly. Fortunately, the pain was bearable as long as there were no major jolts. Concentrating all his nerves on his throbbing chest, he descended step by step.

A voice came from somewhere inside the stairwell.

Boisterous conversation mingled with tremendous laughter seemed to explain how she’d been living here for the past year.

Then his right foot caught on the floor and his body tilted, forcing him to quickly plant his left foot. Because he couldn’t control his strength, the foot that struck the floor hard sent pain spreading through the wound area like it was tearing open again.

At that moment, laughter burst out from inside. A young man’s voice, an old man’s laughter, a chattering girl’s voice… quite a few people’s voices were mingling together.

What was so enjoyable, how was Sehera laughing in there… he suddenly became curious about such things.

Ethan quietly closed his eyes, waited for the pain to subside, then moved forward. His slow steps, one foot after another, were heading clearly toward the dining room where people’s voices could be heard.

Gripping the door handle as his final railing, Ethan hesitated for just a moment. During the not-short time he’d been walking, the voices that had briefly grown serious came back to life, and then people suddenly started moving.

Since he smelled food, he’d thought it was the dining room, but the sounds he heard now—rustling noises—made him think they might be distributing gifts or something.

How leisurely. With that thought, Ethan put strength into the hand gripping the door handle.

The door opened, and just when the sounds from inside began to be heard more clearly, the noise vanished in an instant. The gazes of the people inside had instantly shifted toward him.

Only then did Ethan think about what his appearance must look like right now.

When traveling to war, any appearance was fine. Whether neat or a mess, his very appearance was terror to his opponents.

Ethan first saw surprise in the eyes of those looking at him and figured any appearance would get the same reaction. Then his gaze immediately fixed precisely on Sehera.

He’d wanted to see how she was laughing, but with his appearance, that energy had completely vanished.

“Can you move?”

A voice filled with concern, but its end was cold. It seemed like words that started with worry about whether he should be moving with that body and ended with questioning why he’d come down.

“…Yes.”

She looked at him with indifferent eyes, then quickly turned her head to look at the people seated around the dining table.

People holding gifts of various sizes in their arms. A young girl and men who appeared middle-aged or older, a middle-aged woman and two young men who seemed to be peers, and one woman. Roughly just over ten people were filling the dining table in the count’s estate.

Looking at the table filled just right without room for him to squeeze in, Ethan frowned.

When she’d told him not to acknowledge her, could it be that all these people didn’t know she’d divorced?

“Lady Sehera? Who is this? He looks very ill…”

One of the young men sitting closest to Sehera asked her a question. One of the two young men had shaggy hair covering his eyes and clearly looked like someone who worked here.

But the man who’d just spoken to her was different. A man wearing the luxurious clothing of a minor noble had such striking looks that all those things seemed ordinary.

Looking at his clothes alone, the decorations weren’t flashy and the colors were subdued in design—probably a choice to neutralize his flashy appearance.

Ethan stood there silently, looking at Sehera.

He became interested in how she would introduce him.

She who’d told him not to acknowledge her would thoroughly ignore him. She’d probably say he was someone she didn’t know. She wanted to hide it.

He didn’t know why, but that was very… humiliating.

She looked back and forth between that young man and Ethan with slightly trembling eyes, then let out a deep sigh.

She might scold him for ruining the pleasant atmosphere. But he didn’t regret his actions.

“A while ago, I found someone collapsed with a serious injury in the estate’s backyard… and it turned out to be Duke Croft.”

But his prediction completely missed the mark. Sehera explained the reason he’d come to the estate’s backyard, described the shoulder wound, and ultimately introduced him as her ex-husband.

Anyone living in Planer territory would know that the territory’s young lady had been married to Duke Croft.

Indeed, they immediately recognized who the “Duke Croft” Sehera mentioned was, and their gazes uniformly turned unfavorable.

Among them, the girl sitting relatively close to Sehera began glaring at him with intense eyes that seemed ready to boil over.

Did she want to say it was all his fault that their young lady had returned as a divorcée?

“You’re really okay to move around, right? I think I heard from Himoph that you shouldn’t move much yet.”

Though the words held concern, she didn’t stand up. She just looked at him while remaining seated in her place. The atmosphere felt like he’d mistakenly barged into their serious conference room.

“I’m fine if I move slowly. There’s pain, but this much is manageable.”

His gaze was directed only at Sehera.

“What should we do? Right now there’s nowhere here for you to sit that wouldn’t be very uncomfortable for your body.”

Romina quickly looked around and spoke quietly to Sehera.

That woman who seemed bold enough not to care about the mention of Duke Croft was the woman who’d frequently stopped by his room to bring food. He’d thought she was either a maid or someone who made food.

Having come to this place with only the thought of wanting to see her, Ethan hesitated for a moment. He’d seen her face. Her unsmiling face. He’d heard her concern. Though it ended coldly. She’d even revealed in front of everyone that he was her ex-husband.

And despite revealing that fact, he realized she was leaving him standing at the entrance without making any offer.

Now wasn’t the time to feel relieved that she’d revealed his identity. It was practically confirming that he was an unwelcome guest regardless.

“Ah, then since we’ve nearly finished eating, shall we move to the drawing room? There should be a place where His Grace could sit comfortably there.”

But then Fredil stepped forward and made that suggestion.

Sehera, who’d been looking at Ethan, immediately looked away to her side.

He didn’t look stupid enough not to pick up on her atmosphere and words… what was he scheming, even putting a duke in front of him?

“That… sounds good too. Shall we all move?”