Thus Began Your Regret - Chapter 38

The World Expo was just around the corner.

This event, held once every five years, was a massive exhibition that could be considered a battleground for all kinds of inventors, engineers, and artists.

Getting the opportunity to exhibit here required passing a strict screening process. However, regardless of who you were, ultimate success depended on gaining the recognition of investors and the public, making the practical secondary evaluation by visitors after exhibiting the most crucial part.

Edward had been at the site since dawn when the workers started, giving various instructions.

The early morning was quite chilly now, with breath visible when speaking.

Although it was a bit too cold to wear just a fall frock coat, both Jeffrey and Edward were too busy moving about to notice the chill.

“Check the rails once more before the test run!”

Edward shouted towards Jeffrey.

Allen Company’s exhibit was a ‘high-power mana engine’ that ran on mana stones as fuel.

The exhibition was planned as a means of transportation that could move around inside the expo grounds during the event, with rails installed over about half of the expo area and a mana locomotive running on top.

In the distance, Jeffrey could be seen giving instructions to the workers.

The engine and train parts had already been inspected dozens of times.

Tomorrow, on the long-awaited opening day of the expo, the train loaded with the high-power engine he had developed would start moving.

Edward suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion and ran both hands over his face.

He had finally finished at least one thing. It felt like one of the many things filling his mind had been emptied out.

He walked away from the crowd to a corner of the expo grounds. Hiding in the shade, he leaned against the wall and rummaged through his coat pocket.

A neat milky-white cigar case came out of his pocket. He opened the case and took out a reddish-brown pouch of Oliva Maduro.

It was something he occasionally turned to in times of unease like this.

Edward lit the end of the cigar and quietly let out a sigh.

“Hoo……”

He exhaled a long breath, mixing thoughts of his wife with the smoke.

‘I wonder if she slept properly. It’s about the time she would usually be up.’

He hadn’t properly seen his wife’s face since that day.

Partly because he didn’t have time, and partly because when he finally made time to go, his wife was already asleep.

Edward looked up at the sky, half-hidden by the high wall, feeling frustrated.

It was a blessing that he had been too busy running around the site to have time for other thoughts.

Otherwise, he would have once again been unable to do anything, sitting in his lab, dwelling on his wife’s lifeless expression and suffering all the while.

He looked at the people bustling about in front of him. There were works completed and waiting to be shown to people tomorrow, along with their creators.

Tomorrow was the opening of the expo, and once this engine was unveiled through the expo, it wouldn’t take long for it to gain momentum.

“…Has it already come to this time.”

The promised date was now close at hand.

Two months at most. After that time passed, it would be farewell to his wife.

Edward closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

He had tried his best during the given time.

But he simply couldn’t find a solution. No matter what he brought or did, their relationship continued to flow differently from what he thought.

He pressed his fingers firmly against his temples, where a headache was forming.

‘There’s really no time left now. If I don’t do something, really…’

Louisa will leave me.

‘But what can I do about it.’

He laughed lowly, as if mocking his own situation.

‘Even if I go back, I might not even be able to hear a single greeting.’

He couldn’t help but laugh at himself. His wife wouldn’t allow him anything, so would anything really change if he went back?

His wife didn’t even want to look at him and found it burdensome to even hear his voice, so was there really any chance for things to change?

Edward felt a deep sense of defeat and loneliness.

Could he not be by his wife’s side? Was it impossible for him to even gain his wife’s sympathy like others could?

That thought made him feel utterly miserable. But even so, he couldn’t help it.

Because he loved her.

Edward straightened his back from leaning against the wall and stood up.

Even though Louisa would probably push him away, even though it would inflict another painful wound on him.

Still, he had to go.

Edward took heavy steps towards his wife.

[This is the timeline separator]

The eve of the World Expo.

All around Lindbloom, people who had come from various places were gathered in small groups, drinking and talking.

However, unlike the atmosphere in the capital, the Allen mansion was filled with a tense air, as if walking on thin ice.

Edward, the owner of the mansion, opened the front door and entered. Mrs. Johnson called out to him and ran over as soon as she heard the door open.

“Master!”

Edward looked quizzically at Mrs. Johnson, who was hurriedly approaching him before he could even take off his coat.

“What is it?”

Mrs. Johnson wiped her hands, still wet from not being properly dried in her haste, on her apron as she spoke.

“There’s something strange with the madam.”

“Louisa?”

Edward felt his heart sink. He immediately asked back.

“What’s going on?”

“The madam has barely been eating and hasn’t been coming out at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“While you were away, the madam has been practically in seclusion.”

“While I was away? The entire time?”

“Yes.”

Edward immediately understood the situation.

During his absence, she must have been wearing that terrible expression he dreaded the whole time.

He hurriedly took off his coat and gloves as he asked.

“What about meals?”

Mrs. Johnson received his belongings.

“I’ve been bringing them up, and she’s been eating just a little…”

“I’ll go up and see her first. Is she sleeping?”

“No. When I saw her earlier, she was awake.”

Edward immediately headed towards Louisa’s room.

With each step up the stairs, his heart beat more fiercely.

Knock knock. He knocked on his wife’s door.

There was no answer.

“Louisa.”

He called his wife’s name. But it remained silent beyond the door.

He recalled their last date. The way she struggled even to hear his voice.

Does she still not want to exchange any words with him?

With an aching heart, he let out a long, sigh-like breath and clenched his fist.

Edward knocked on the door again and called his wife’s name.

“Louisa.”

He rubbed his chest, overwhelmed by the rising emotion.

‘Is this how you felt too….’

The one he loves refuses even to talk to him.

The moment he realized this, he felt a pain piercing through his heart, and he couldn’t bear it without grasping at his clothes.

Being ignored was too painful.

He kept asking himself. Does his wife really not love him anymore? Is it really completely over between them?

But the most miserable thing was that all of this was happening only in his own mind.

Left alone in the time he had spent with his wife, feeling as if only his wife had left.

He recalled the words his wife had once said to him. Words that repeated like a nightmare, impossible to forget. That day’s conversation replayed vividly in his nightmare, down to every single word.

[Do you have no intention of talking to me anymore?]

Hearing those words, his past self speaks without even looking at his wife.

[That’s right. I’m tired of being like this with you. It’s too exhausting.]

In the dream, another version of himself stands in the middle of the reception room, watching the entire situation.

[Do you… really mean that?] [Yes, I mean it. So please, that’s enough.]

He shouts at himself to please shut up, asking if he’s gone mad, but what has already happened simply unfolds before his eyes like describing a scene from a book.

Edward desperately wanted to turn back that moment.

How must Louisa have felt that day?

‘Please.’

Please, Louisa.

Don’t tell me not to do anything.

Look at me and smile. Talk to me like you always used to.

Give me just one more chance, even if it’s only once.

After knocking a couple more times, he finally couldn’t bear the continued silence and flung the door open.

“Louisa!”

Beyond the opened door, he saw his wife sitting in a chair in front of the terrace, blankly staring out the window.

She slowly turned her head. Edward called his wife’s name with a slightly trembling voice.

“Loui…sa.”

But unexpectedly, Louisa responded to his call.

“You’re back. You must be tired.”

At those words, a warm sensation suddenly spread throughout Edward’s body, as if blood was circulating again.

But apart from the momentary relief, the discrepancy between the information he had heard and what he was seeing stirred his senses.

He felt as if every hair on his head was standing on end as he opened his mouth.

“Mrs. Johnson was saying… that you haven’t been eating well.”

“I wasn’t feeling well. You saw it too. It lasted unusually long this time.”

His wife smiled faintly.

She was smiling at him, clearly addressing him, but strangely, his anxiously beating heart wouldn’t calm down.

“It seems you haven’t been going out much either.”

“My condition wasn’t good. I felt a bit weak.”

Louisa’s voice flowed as calmly as ever.

All of his wife’s answers were things he could understand. It even seemed like the most like her he had seen recently. Always calm, answering questions honestly.

“I see… Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. I’m sorry if I worried you.”

It was no different from her usual self, making all the thoughts he had before opening the door seem meaningless.

As she used to in the past, perhaps after a few days, her emotions might have settled, and she might greet him with a smile again.

“But it’s getting late, so I’m a bit tired. I’m going to bed right away, so don’t worry and go rest too. You must be exhausted.”

“Ah… Alright. You get some good rest too. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

His wife’s tone as she bid him goodnight was as peaceful as if all the recent events had been a dream.

But why? He couldn’t shake off the uneasiness lingering in a corner of his heart.