The solitary meal in the spacious dining room was excessively quiet.

Edward put down his fork after just a few bites. He had a lot on his mind and didn’t have much appetite.

As he stared blankly at the innocent food, Paul, standing behind him, cautiously spoke up.

“I’m sure madam didn’t intend to not reply on purpose. Please don’t be too disheartened.”

At his voice, Edward’s shoulders, tense with anxiety, flinched. But he soon replied in a dejected voice.

“Did you hear that? Are you asking if I’m the kind of person who worries about such things?”

Edward leaned back heavily against the chair.

“What reason could there be to crush me like this? Who have I been living for all this time……”

He buried his face in his hands. Paul looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

“I’m sure madam didn’t speak without knowing that. It’s just that she wasn’t accustomed to it.”

“What? What exactly?”

Ahem. Paul Johnson cleared his throat a few times instead of answering the question. Then Edward asked irritably.

“Don’t tell me you’re saying the same thing? That I’m not the kind of person who would say such things?”

Edward’s eyes narrowed sharply. Receiving the piercing gaze, Paul merely raised an eyebrow. Though he didn’t speak, it was an affirmative gesture.

“Don’t jest, Paul.”

Edward recalled the night this mess had started.

Why had he driven to her house in that early dawn in the first place? She should have just comfortably gone in without worrying about him and gotten a good night’s sleep, but instead she had to come out and make him worry like that.

Why did she never listen to what he said?

He felt both resentful and hurt by his wife who didn’t seem to care about easing his worries.

“…How much I worry about her.”

“Master.”

“Let’s say for argument’s sake that you’re right. Even so, isn’t that reaction too much? We’re married after all, so couldn’t I be curious, couldn’t I worry?”

“Master.”

“She always used to say those things, so how could she—”

How could she, when she always used to.

Edward suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He felt a chill run through his heart. The words he had been muttering began to painfully pierce his chest.

“Words she always used to say.”

The words Louisa always used to say.

He remembered all too well.

Because it was too late and she was worried, because she didn’t know if everything was alright, because she was concerned if something might have happened.

He couldn’t forget. These were words he had heard just days ago.

Edward muttered helplessly, dropping and raising his hands.

“I, I……”

He had always been too busy facing problems, and got angry at his wife for not listening to him.

In that endless repetition, he had forgotten at some point.

That what he thought was all the same were actually different incidents and times.

How many times had she packed these words into her actions?

Asking while expecting no reply, sending that sadness into the void, how many times had she repeated this?

‘How hard it must have been for you too. Did you also…’

Hurt like this?

Edward stood up from his seat.

His throat choked up and he could no longer continue the meal.

* * *

On a usual day, Edward would have left the house at dawn, skipping breakfast, but today he was unusually seated in the dining room at the proper time.

“…This is bad.”

Edward frowned deeply as he saw his face reflected in the glass.

His eyelids, which had spent hours filled with tears, were swollen and boasted an unparalleled plumpness.

Even when he should be showing his best handsome face, even the clear eye lines his wife used to love were ruined. He became very displeased.

The sound of someone coming downstairs was heard. Edward, who had been holding cold glasses to his eyes with both hands, hurriedly put down what he was holding.

“Ed?”

Louisa, who had come down for breakfast, called him in a small voice, as if surprised. She looked alternately at the two glasses of water placed in front of Edward and at him, then said.

“You’re not going to work today?”

“I can go a bit later for a while.”

Since his wish was soon to be Jeffrey’s wish as well, it should be fine to go later. Probably.

He unnecessarily cleared his throat and turned his eyes away, removing one of the water glasses in front of him.

Louisa said as she sat down.

“That’s good. At least you can rest a little.”

“Well… I suppose.”

“But it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen you have breakfast.”

“I thought it might be good to eat breakfast too.”

“I see. It’s a good choice if it’s not too burdensome on your stomach.”

Louisa said cynically.

Edward usually refused breakfast, saying it was burdensome.

He glanced at Louisa and began to speak.

“You know what you were worried about before? Ah, that thing about the fire article at our research institute.”

Edward, who had inadvertently brought it up, quickly added a word. His wife’s worries were not just one or two.

“Ah. That incident.”

“Yes. That was resolved well. There were some questions, but everything passed without any major issues, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I see. That’s good.”

Louisa nodded quietly. Edward waited for her words for a moment.

But soon, unable to bear the prolonged silence, Edward spoke.

“I’ll probably be able to come home early today.”

“I see. Alright.”

“But just in case, if I end up being late… I’ll contact you.”

Louisa’s replies, which had been coming smoothly to other words, stopped.

After a moment, she moved her hand that had been suspended in the air and said.

“Okay. I understand.”

“If you’re really worried because it’s late, wake up Paul and send him.”

“How can I do that to someone who’s resting?”

“I can make it up to him later, so just do that if you need to.”

Louisa sighed. Edward cleared his throat unnecessarily at her gaze, staring at him.

Louisa continued her meal, silently moving her fork. Edward kept observing her expression. Then, as their eyes met, Louisa quietly opened her mouth.

“Ed.”

“……”

“As I said yesterday, there’s really no need to do this now.”

“It’s not like that.”

“I’m the same as you. I want you not to have a hard time. It’s difficult for you to suddenly act like this after being consistent for years.”

“It’s really not.”

His expression distorted sharply.

“It’s not difficult. I want to do it… that’s why.”

Edward smiled, trying hard to lift the corners of his mouth. Louisa blinked rapidly and turned her gaze to the side.

“Is there anything else you want to hear?”

“It’s okay.”

“Usually… there was a lot.”

“It’s all in the past now. There’s really nothing now.”

At her words, Edward felt his heart sink.

This wasn’t good. The fact that she, who always had many questions, had nothing to ask meant that she was no longer interested in him.

Had his realization come too late?

No. These thoughts were meaningless. He would do his best to solve the problem at hand. As he always had.

He spoke calmly, clenching his hand tightly.

“By the way, didn’t you say you were going to the Earnest facility today?”

“That’s right. I’ll be back around evening.”

“I see. Take care.”

Louisa looked at him with a surprised face at Edward’s greeting.

[You’re going again today? What are you going to do there? Clean up after the kids?] [……If such things are needed, I’ll do that too.] [Please, Louisa. Where on earth is there a noble who does such things directly? Why do you keep creating situations that will cause gossip?] [That’s not really something to worry about. It’s a bigger problem if we can’t do what needs to be done because of such things.] [Louisa.]

The usual image of her husband passed through her mind.

Her husband these days was certainly different from usual. It was a surprising change.

But precisely because of that, she could tell. Her husband’s change was driven by guilt and remorse.

They were in a relationship that only exchanged fatigue. It would not be easy to find love and happiness at this end.

Louisa finished her meal first and stood up. She decided to bring up what she had put off saying the day before.

“It will take some time to prepare the divorce papers. For now, it’s difficult today because I have a schedule, but I’ll prepare them in the near future, so please keep that in mind.”

Edward’s mouth, which had seemed like it would agree to anything she said, snapped shut.

Louisa looked at him for a moment, then turned around and left the dining room.

Edward sat there, staring at the door she had left through.

The scenery of the house filled with sunlight instead of gaslight. His wife leaving first, turning her back, and him eating breakfast alone.

Quite ridiculously, there was nothing familiar to him in his house now.

* * *

Louisa made simple preparations and went out.

She regularly volunteered at a childcare facility operated by the Earnest family.

This was something she had been doing steadily since her time in Greenburgh. Even after moving to the capital, she continued to volunteer at a facility of the same foundation.

Of course, Edward was quite displeased with her coming here. However, that was just because he didn’t like her not minding difficult work, and he had never prevented her visits themselves.

Louisa thought that was probably because he understood the situation of the children here.

Karen Earnest, the eldest daughter of the Earnest family, greeted her warmly.

“Oh my. Louisa! Welcome!”

“Karen. Have you been well?”

“Of course I have.”

She approached Louisa and gave her a light hug.

“You’ve lost a little weight in such a short time. How did you get even more delicate?”

“Really? I guess I’ve been moving around too much. I just got back from Quenel.”

“Ah, that’s a nice place. I went there last year too, and it’s really beautiful this time of year.”

She approached Louisa and gently lifted the corners of her mouth with her fingertips as she spoke.

“It would have been the best travel destination if a smile had been added too, I suppose.”

Louisa gently stroked the awkwardly raised corners of her mouth with her fingertips. Karen looked at her and smiled brightly, then said.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind. How about it? There’s nothing better than this at times like that.”

She shook the blanket she was holding and showed it to Louisa as she spoke.