Chapter 56

56

"Madam, Madam! Something terrible has happened!"

I was sitting by the window in the well-lit study, reading a book, when I was startled by Charlotte's sudden cry and lifted my head.

‘She said she would bring snacks…’

Why did she return with a pale face and an urgent look? …Could it be that our escape plan was discovered by Theodore? I first looked around and then tried to remain calm as I asked,

"…What happened?"

"Mrs. Seymour…! She’s in Madam’s room!"

"…?"

It was something I never imagined. I opened my eyes wide and froze, but soon regained my composure and stood up.

"Calm down and tell me again. What did Mrs. Seymour do?"

"Mrs. Seymour has made a mess of Madam’s room!"

At this, I flinched and then stiffened, speaking in a low voice.

"Let’s go to the room."

Charlotte and I hurried to the room. When we arrived, the room was in complete disarray, and the deranged Mrs. Seymour was struggling with the servants.

"Let go! Let go of me!"

"Mrs. Seymour, you mustn’t do this!"

"You need to return to your room…!"

…It was a chaotic scene. I stood against the wall and calmly asked the hesitant Jenna.

"What happened here?"

"Well, when I came…."

Jenna’s story went like this: She had come with the maids to clean my room, but the door was already open, and Mrs. Seymour had turned the room into a mess.

…It was truly an absurd situation. My room was supposed to be locked, so how did she get in?

"Jenna, did you lose the key I gave you this morning to clean?"

"T-that…."

Jenna’s face turned stark white, and she stammered, looking very flustered. …Her reaction explained everything.

Jenna had lost one of the keys to my room.

"I’m sorry, Madam! I didn’t realize…! I was sure I had put it in my pocket…."

"…."

I sighed softly as I watched Jenna bow repeatedly and apologize.

According to the rules, such a mistake should be punished, but since I was about to leave, I didn’t feel like doing so.

I just found the situation absurd.

"Alright. There’s no point in talking about what’s already happened. From now on, be more careful with the keys."

"Madam…! Thank you…! I’m really grateful that you forgive me, Madam…."

Jenna looked touched, her eyes welling with tears. …It seemed like I had created a misunderstanding. I was just annoyed.

"Ugh! Let go! Let go of me!"

Mrs. Seymour was still causing a commotion. As she thrashed about, the servants struggled to hold her and eventually fell to the ground. It was astonishing how much strength she had for her slender frame.

"You!"

Suddenly, Mrs. Seymour pointed at me. Her bloodshot eyes glared at me. I met her gaze with a look of disgust and asked,

"Are you going to stop pretending to be insane now, Mrs. Seymour?"

It was a test. Whether it worked or not, Mrs. Seymour flinched. …Was she really pretending to be insane?

"You…! It’s all your fault!"

Just as she lunged at me,

"…!"

A strong arm wrapped around me from behind. At the same time, a cold scent tickled my nose. The person who held me protectively and blocked Mrs. Seymour was unmistakable.

‘…Theodore.’

When I lifted my head, I saw his cold blue eyes. He was glaring at Mrs. Seymour, not at me.

"Have you gone mad, Aunt?"

"T-T-T-Theo… Theodore… my nephew…."

Mrs. Seymour, staggering, tried to touch Theodore. He fiercely slapped her hand away and glanced at the servants, ordering them,

"Take Aunt to her room."

"Yes, Master."

The servants grabbed Mrs. Seymour’s arms again. With Theodore’s presence, she no longer resisted and was led away by the servants.

"…The room is in a mess. I’ll call the maids to clean it up."

Theodore, speaking in a softer tone than usual, released me. However, he didn’t seem entirely friendly. …It seemed that the lost memories were not returning.

‘Jane, have you heard anything from the Duke’s doctor?’

‘Ah, well…’

I recalled the conversation I had with Jane the night before when she came to examine me.

‘The Duke’s doctor said… since he has already experienced partial memory loss twice, it might be better not to try to recover the lost memories.’

‘It might be better not to try to recover the lost memories?’

‘Yes… because it could lead to a split personality, which is dangerous…’

‘…?’

After hearing a bit more from Jane, I finally understood what she meant.

‘The doctor said that there is a risk of the Duke’s personality splitting into two: the original Duke who remembers you and has never forgotten the past, and the new Duke who doesn’t remember you and is getting to know you again.’

…It was a strange story. I didn’t know that partial memory loss could lead to a split personality.

…There were various theories about Theodore’s memory loss. It could be Owen and his magic, or simply a head injury. The area near the rift is said to have a significant imbalance of magical and elemental energies, which could be a factor.

None of these theories were certain. Not yet.

Regardless, I planned to leave soon and didn’t want to get deeply involved in this issue. However, I intended to leave a letter with my speculations and investigations about Owen and his mage, to help Theodore in some way.

Now, the only thing left for me was a short remaining life. I wanted to live peacefully in a place without Everett and Valentino, even if it was for a short time.

If you ask if I regret not being able to take revenge on Owen, Hessen, and Duke Everett… of course, I do. But if I were to seek revenge, I wouldn’t be a match for those devils, and Charlotte would be in danger.

Charlotte deserved to be happy. She would want to stay by my side as long as I lived, but after I’m gone, she could find a new life.

That was my hope.

I wanted Charlotte to leave this place with me, live with me for a while, and then find a new life in the future.

If Charlotte could be happy, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t take revenge on Everett’s devils.

‘…’

I slipped out of Theodore’s embrace. He let me go without resistance and stared at me intently, as if trying to gauge who I was. I avoided his gaze and approached Charlotte. She was just picking up the key that Mrs. Seymour had dropped.

Charlotte spoke to Jenna, who was standing on the side of the room, in a somewhat reproachful tone.

"Miss Jenna, what if you lose the key? It’s a good thing Madam wasn’t in the room when Mrs. Seymour broke in, or it could have been a disaster. Madam is already in poor health…."

Jenna, who I expected to be angry, hesitated and then bowed deeply, mumbling,

"I’m sorry… I’ll be more careful from now on."

"Oh… alright, let’s clean up the room."

"Yes…."

Jenna and Charlotte started to clean the messy room. I looked around to see if anything important was missing or damaged.

‘After all, I’ve stored everything important in the safe…’

For example, the funds needed for the escape, the map marking the escape route, and the documents detailing the specific escape plan… all of these were stored in the safe, and I always carried the key with me.

But things I didn’t consider important were left in drawers or on the desk… one of them was…

‘The divorce papers…’

I searched for the divorce papers I had just signed last night. I planned to leave them with a letter for Theodore before I escaped.

Once he signed the papers, one copy would be sent to the Everett family, another to the King, and the last to the Archbishop, making the process straightforward.

After that, Theodore and I would be officially divorced. There would be no one to oppose the divorce.

Even if Mrs. Seymour had seen the divorce papers, it wouldn’t matter much. She might even be pleased. Whether she was truly insane or just pretending, I couldn’t tell.

‘Where are they? Did they fall on the floor?’

I bent down to look at the floor and, as I turned toward the door, I noticed Theodore was still in my room.

He bent down and picked up a white sheet of paper. My seal, shining silver, was stamped on it, and my signature was visible next to it.

…So, the paper Theodore had picked up was the divorce papers.