Louisa had an extremely bewildered expression.

Being suddenly pushed to the ground was shocking enough, but the person who had pushed her was her husband, whom she never expected to be here.

She pressed her hands on the ground to raise her upper body and said,

“Ed, how on earth did you…”

Her muscles must have been startled, as her arms lost strength and Louisa collapsed forward. Edward rushed over in panic.

“Are you alright?”

He hurriedly grabbed Louisa’s arm. Despite the rough movement, his touch was very delicate, as if afraid she might break if he held her wrong.

“I’m fine. I just can’t seem to put strength in my body because I’m surprised.”

Louisa, too, first checked her husband’s condition in this sudden situation. Edward, kneeling on the ground, had a somewhat dazed expression, either from relaxed tension or being in shock.

Louisa leaned her head towards him and asked,

“Are you alright? What’s suddenly going on?”

Edward finally came to his senses at her question. He flinched in surprise and hurriedly tried to move away from Louisa, but ended up misplacing his hand and falling on his backside.

Louisa was startled and reflexively shrank back a little. She asked again in a small voice,

“Ed. Are you okay? What on earth is going on?”

Louisa was just bewildered by this situation. But looking at it now, it seemed that Edward was even more flustered than she was.

“Well…”

Edward habitually searched for an excuse to make up.

What should I say? Should I say there’s a business contact here? No. What if my wife starts asking this and that?

As he was looking for an excuse to avoid the situation, he soon came to his senses.

How much pain had such short-sighted words caused his wife?

He would no longer hide anything from his wife.

He answered Louisa’s question honestly.

“Suddenly, a car appeared behind you. You were walking on the road, so… I’m sorry.”

His words were a bit disorganized. However, Louisa, unable to pay attention to her husband’s state, asked about the surprising fact that had come out.

“A car from behind?”

Louisa’s lips parted slightly in surprise.

She had clearly checked both sides of the road before crossing. Due to her fear for safety that had developed since her hearing deteriorated, she had always been thoroughly observant of her surroundings…

She turned her head to look in the direction the car would have passed.

However, there was nothing visible on the road anymore.

Since there was no reason for her husband to make up such a thing, there was only one answer.

In that brief moment, he had jumped in to save her from a car approaching so fast that it appeared and disappeared quickly.

When that thought occurred to her, she felt a surge of anger. Louisa shouted in an agitated voice,

“How could you jump in like that? You could have been hurt!”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please don’t be angry.”

“I—”

How much I wished for your happiness, for you to live a life for yourself…

Louisa, unable to continue her words, closed her mouth. Her tightly closed lips trembled along with the surrounding muscles that had tensed up.

Edward’s heart ached as he saw his wife’s face looking at him with eyes filled with deep sorrow.

He couldn’t bear to see his wife sitting on the cold ground any longer. He stood up first and extended his hand to Louisa.

“Let’s get up.”

Louisa, who had been looking at him reproachfully, reluctantly took her husband’s hand.

She took a deep breath, trying hard to calm her emotions. The doctor had emphasized several times that avoiding stress was most important for her condition to improve.

She greeted Edward, who had saved her.

“…Thank you.”

In truth, she wasn’t thankful. She lowered her head, not confident in hiding her expression while lying.

She saw her husband’s large hand holding hers. His hands had always had big knuckles, but the veins on the back of his hand seemed more prominent now, as if he had lost weight.

She gently stroked Edward’s hand once.

It was neither a strong nor a weak touch. Edward suddenly felt sad at the emotion conveyed through that fingertip.

How could she look at him with such sorrowful eyes when her own body and mind were broken, being in a place like this… What luxury did she have to worry about him?

Unaware of his inner thoughts, Louisa raised her head and asked,

“Ed. But what brings you all the way here?”

“Ah… There’s a lecture here.”

“A lecture?”

Louisa murmured, seemingly puzzled. Then she soon made a small exclamation as if she understood.

“Ah, you came for a guest lecture at the college.”

She nodded to herself in understanding.

“Come to think of it, it’s more strange that someone like you hadn’t received any lecture requests until now.”

Edward felt a bit embarrassed and quietly closed his mouth. In his opinion, this lecture was practically a seat he had bought with money.

Given the nature of higher education dominated by nobles, he would never have been offered such an opportunity. His wife seemed unaware of this yet.

Louisa smiled gently and said,

“It’s Edward Allen’s first public lecture. The students must be very excited.”

“Well…”

Edward trailed off in his response. Louisa looked at him with straightforward eyes and said,

“Don’t say that. Just look at Alisa.”

“What about her?”

“You don’t know how much Alisa’s eyes lit up and how she chattered on after seeing an article about you recently. She said she really wanted to see the institute you’ve established.”

“Ah. She actually came already. Though I couldn’t take her to the research institute.”

Edward recalled the noisy girl who had visited recently. Louisa covered her mouth with her slightly clenched fist and laughed softly.

“I see. Alisa must have been quite disappointed.”

The conversation between the two was affectionate, unlike a separated couple. However, unlike before, the places they had to go now were different.

The two, who had fallen silent for a moment, quietly looked at each other.

Louisa silently endured Edward’s gaze pouring onto her.

She understood the general situation. Now it was time to conclude this chance encounter.

She opened her lips to bid farewell to her husband.

“Well, thank you. Be careful on your way… Oh my, Ed!”

However, before she could finish her goodbye, Louisa’s eyes widened as she discovered something.

She grabbed his right arm, which had become tattered from being scraped on the rough ground.

“Why on earth were you just standing there in this state!”

“This? Ah.”

Edward only then checked his own condition.

Glancing at his right arm, shoulder, and side, he saw that the fabric was roughly torn where it had been scratched.

He moved his right arm back and forth a few times.

Louisa was staring intently at Edward’s face, trying to read his expression and words.

Edward said nonchalantly,

“It moves well and there’s no bleeding. It’s fine.”

“Is that the absolute truth without a hint of lie? If that’s a lie, I’ll be truly angry, Edward.”

When Louisa was really angry, she would become serious like this and call him by his name instead of a pet name.

Feeling a bit guilty, he quietly nodded.

“I’ll ask one last time. Are you really not hurt anywhere?”

“Not at all.”

“What time is your lecture?”

Edward took out his pocket watch to check the time.

“There’s about 40 minutes left.”

“40 minutes…”

Louisa fell into thought.

No matter how she thought about it, it would be better to visit the hospital once and change clothes, but 40 minutes was far too short to do both things.

‘He can’t cancel the schedule for his first lecture.’

Inevitably, she had to choose one of the two.

After lowering her gaze and being lost in thought for a while, she looked up at Edward. When their eyes met, he raised his eyebrows with round eyes.

It was a natural face that seemed to have no painful spots at all.

Louisa made a decision, trying to ignore the things that bothered her.

“Alright. Let’s try to finish within that time.”

She grabbed Edward’s hand firmly.

Louisa came out through the main gate and immediately hailed a cab.

As soon as the car stopped, Louisa led Edward to the back seat. Not knowing what was going on, he squeezed his large body into the back seat of the cab, led by his wife’s delicate hand.

Louisa said to the driver sitting in front,

“Take us to Madame Lang’s shop, please.”

Madame Lang was a designer who ran a boutique and tailor shop with her tailor husband, and was the owner of the shop Louisa had originally planned to visit with Daniel.

Edward understood why his wife was doing this only after hearing the destination she mentioned.

She had been concerned about the damage to his clothes.

That fact somehow stirred something in his heart. His heart felt ticklish and his nose tingled.

Lately, he had become more prone to tears. Edward rubbed his face with his palm once to avoid showing a wavering expression, then said to his wife,

“More importantly, you really have no trouble conversing now. Other people would be completely fooled.”

“People who know my condition are considerate when speaking to me, just like you. Like. This.”

She spoke very clearly, opening her lips wide.

Finding it somewhat uncharacteristic of his wife, Edward let out a small laugh. Seeing him laugh, Louisa also chuckled and said,

“Actually, I still find it a bit difficult in places like new stores I’m visiting for the first time.”

“You’ll do well. I’ve never seen anyone as strong-willed as you.”

Louisa then narrowed her eyes and looked at him with a subtle gaze.

“What… why.”

“Well. I think I know one more person right away.”

“What. Who.”

Edward stuttered in confusion at her subtle look.

“There is. Someone whose will is not just strong, but constant.”

It sounded like she was blaming him, but also seemed like she was teasing him a bit. However, in any case, Edward thought his wife’s words were wrong. He corrected Louisa’s words.

“If you’re talking about me, that’s wrong. You’d be surprised to hear how easily I change.”

How much I’ve changed just because you disappeared…

‘You’ll probably never know for the rest of your life.’

A bitter taste spread across his lips.