A clear autumn night with the moon hanging in the sky.

In the Allen mansion where everyone had gone to bed, only a faint light remained as the night deepened.

Edward, who hurriedly got out of the car, pulled out a heavy pocket watch from his breast pocket. Opening the lid to check, he saw the time was already approaching 1 AM.

‘If I was going to be this late, I should have contacted them.’

His lips dried up in urgency.

Although he tried to appear calm in front of the employees, from the moment he exceeded the target time of one hour, his heart too began to beat as if it would jump out of his chest.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this year was devoted solely to this project.

Searching and searching for materials that could withstand such high power, unable to find suitable ones, he changed the design and changed it again.

As those times flashed by like a kaleidoscope, he didn’t know for sure, but if Louisa had been in front of him, he might have grabbed his wife and burst into tears.

Just like he did in Greenberg’s small laboratory back then.

It was in the midst of raising a toast and chatting about past stories with the employees. As the excitement subsided a bit, he suddenly thought of Louisa waiting at home.

Louisa.

His heart sank.

Louisa, who would be waiting alone in the reception room again.

Louisa, who would be staying up all night worrying because of his lack of contact.

Edward immediately checked his watch. But the time was already late, past when even the telegraph office had closed.

As soon as he confirmed this, a chill spread through his body as if cold water had been poured from the top of his head.

From then on, his heart started beating wildly for a different reason. He immediately left his seat and headed straight out.

‘How should I apologize? What should I say?’

Edward moved his steps almost at a run.

Even as he took each step, dozens of scenarios were playing out in his mind. But none of them resulted in a good outcome.

Bang. Edward opened the front door and entered.

Before his eyes, he saw the familiar soft glow of the gas lamps.

Fortunately, it seemed no lights were on in the house. But he couldn’t be sure. He walked briskly down the hallway with long strides.

Stopping in front of the reception room, the door was tightly closed with no light seeping through. No, it seemed like there was no one inside to begin with.

He swallowed hard once and grabbed the doorknob.

Click.

With the sound of the latch turning, the door opened.

The light from the hallway began to dimly illuminate the inside.

Edward looked at the place where Louisa always sat beyond the open door.

That empty seat.

Looking at the chair where no one sat, he quietly closed the door.

Inside the dark reception room. As if entranced by something, Edward approached the chair where Louisa always sat.

When he grabbed the backrest, he felt the characteristic coldness of metal.

He placed his hand on the cushion covered with the soft velvet his wife loved. The cold cushion, devoid of any warmth, stabbed at his heart.

He silently caressed the cushion for a while, then pulled out the chair and sat down.

He recalled his wife looking out the window. He too turned his head towards the window.

He saw the two large lamps illuminating the main gate of the mansion.

The position where one could first notice if anyone was entering through the main gate.

His eyes suddenly grew hot with tears.

His unkind wife, who never listened no matter how many times he asked, had listened to his words for the first time today.

“Oh my goodness, master!”

At 5 AM, Mrs. Johnson, who was coming down for morning cleaning, exclaimed in surprise.

“What are you doing here at this hour? Don’t tell me you spent the night here?”

Just then, Mrs. Johnson noticed the empty bottle and glass on the table. She said in an even higher voice,

“Good heavens. Did you finish this whole bottle?”

“…Don’t mind me and continue with your cleaning.”

Edward said as he got up from where he was sitting.

Mrs. Johnson, not knowing what to do, fumbled about before saying she would bring some honey water since he seemed to have drunk, and went to the kitchen.

Having missed the chance to leave because of that, Edward sat back down in his seat.

After contemplating, he decided not to go to work today. Since he had achieved his goal, it would be fine to just stay by Louisa’s side for one day.

He asked as he received the honey water Mrs. Johnson handed him.

“When does Louisa usually wake up?”

“These days, madam wakes up around 6:30.”

“Is that so?”

It seemed her wake-up time had been pushed back since she no longer had to help with his work preparations.

This time, he decided to help with Louisa’s work preparations.

It was always something his wife did for him, so he wanted to do it for her at least once. No, he had to do it.

To find out what else he was missing, he needed to try whatever he could.

He gathered the things needed for morning preparations, like towels and robes, as Mrs. Johnson provided them.

At 6:30, he knocked on his wife’s door and heard a response to come in from inside.

Click. As he opened the door and entered, he saw Louisa stretching in front of the wide-open window.

In her nightgown with messy hair.

It was a sight rarely seen from her, who could be called the epitome of neatness. Edward couldn’t help but smile despite forgetting the situation.

“Mrs. John… Ed?”

Louisa, who had turned around, seemed flustered as her eyes shook while looking at him.

“Good morning.”

“It seems I’ve been saying this quite often lately, but what are you doing here with those things?”

“I ended up not going to work today. You have a meeting, don’t you? I wanted to help.”

“It’s alright. You must be busier.”

Louisa’s voice wasn’t much different from usual. But the subtle line she was drawing was clearly felt.

Edward lowered his gaze as if he were a sinner bowing his head. He tried to open his mouth to make an excuse.

“Yesterday was a bit hectic. Actually, a project I’ve been preparing recently was completed yesterday.”

“Ah… I see.”

Louisa nodded. But even though she must have heard his excuse, there was no noticeable change in her expression.

“Congratulations on achieving a good result. I wish I could have shared in the joy with you. I’m sorry my congratulations are late.”

“No, it’s me who just told you now.”

“Still. You don’t have to feel sorry either. Work is important, right?”

“Of course it’s important, but this time it really wasn’t. It wasn’t intentional.”

“I know.”

Louisa smiled weakly. She walked listlessly to the bedside table and picked up the bath bundle Edward had brought, saying,

“Anyway, it’s your rare day off, so you should go and rest.”

“No. I’ll help you.”

Edward said urgently.

“Since it’s a rare day off, I want to be by your side. I mean it.”

He became anxious at his wife’s roundabout rejection. It seemed as if Louisa no longer wanted to give him her company.

His desperate eyes met Louisa’s. He saw her lips move as if she wanted to say something.

He felt he knew what words would come out of her mouth. Edward spoke before she could.

“I’m sorry.”

It was the first apology to fall between the two who had always only argued.

He felt Louisa’s surprised gaze fixed on him. Edward received her gaze fully and said,

“I’m truly sorry. This won’t happen again.”

As he hurriedly spoke, he felt the awkwardness in his own words and added,

“I mean… even if we end up divorcing later.”

It was a difficult thing to say, but he meant it sincerely.

From now on, he would never again create situations that would make Louisa feel these emotions.

She looked at him with deeply sunken eyes, then let out a deep sigh.

“Alright. Do as you wish.”

The engineer, who had always had a delicate touch, had shown quite a knack for handling women’s hair from before.

Edward used to braid her short bob in various ways, and today too he demonstrated that skill by braiding her hair and then neatly pinning it up.

Mrs. Johnson sincerely praised him, saying the master had a hidden talent they didn’t know about. Feeling proud, Edward fussed about trying to find a dress that matched the hair ornaments he had put in, but ended up being scolded once by Mrs. Johnson and had his choice taken away.

As it became time for Louisa to leave, Edward said he would go down to the garage first.

There, Paul Johnson had already arrived and was starting the engine.

“Master. Good morning.”

Paul Johnson greeted him. Edward strode towards Louisa’s car and said,

“You can go and do your work now. I’m planning to take Louisa myself today.”

“Will you do the same for her return?”

“I’m not going to work today.”

Edward opened the driver’s door of Louisa’s vehicle and nodded for him to get out. Paul laughed and got out of his seat, saying,

“Master. About what you said yesterday.”

Edward, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned to look at Paul Johnson.

“Is there a reason you don’t attend parties with madam?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

Edward frowned as if displeased. But faced with Paul’s ever-gentle expression, Edward finally gave an answer.

“…There is.”

“If I may dare to guess that reason, I think it might have been out of consideration for madam.”

Edward nodded at Paul’s words.

Paul contemplated how to convey this, then decided to just get to the point.

“I think it would be better if you attended this party together, master.”

“What did you hear to say such a thing?”

“Madam told me to just bury this story, but…”

He began to talk about what he had asked Louisa and confirmed yesterday.

“For men, having a distant relationship with their wife is not such a great flaw. They can freely take mistresses or lovers as they please, and some even boast about it if the mistress is beautiful.”

Edward frowned at the sudden topic.

Still, it was true. Originally, he wasn’t very interested in others’ affairs, but thinking of Congressman Valeria who loudly talked about his mistress, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“But it’s different for the legal wives who are pushed aside and relegated to the back room by such beautiful mistresses. They become the ones who are neglected, who couldn’t even keep what was theirs.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true. But why is this story coming up now?”

“Master. When people see a couple with a distant relationship, they tend to think like this. That man must have a mistress.”

Edward’s eyes widened as if he had been hit hard on the back of the head.