‘How did I end up here?’

Melly thought as she stared blankly at the tree branches swaying like they were dancing in the wind and rain.

Pulling herself together from the shock of the divorce papers that had left her dazed, she had slipped out of the mansion on the pretext of visiting Jeyna Andert, then stopped the carriage midway.

‘I’ll walk from here.’

After getting out of the carriage, Melly walked aimlessly, going wherever her feet took her.

She tried to stay on the main road for safety, but had to turn onto side streets because of some people watching her intently.

She had forgotten that she was a well-known figure.

It seems that even with a veil, a famous person has a certain aura about them.

For instance, the aura of an abandoned woman that can never be hidden by money and jewels.

Anyway, after realizing that the veil couldn’t completely conceal her, Melly stuck to side streets from then on.

That’s how she ended up in her current state – crouched under the eaves of an abandoned barn, shivering.

“Aaagh!”

Every time lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, Melly covered her ears and screamed.

When she had boldly left home, she never imagined she’d end up in a situation like this.

The pouring rain was fine. But of all things, it had to be a night with lightning strikes, which she feared most.

It seems bad things really do come all at once.

All she had was a small handbag containing a coin purse and a few cosmetics, her clothes were soaked through, and lightning kept spreading its vein-like branches across the night sky without pause.

A thunderous boom that sounded like something being smashed echoed across the land.

Melly screamed again and buried her face in her knees.

Even the heavens seemed to be scolding her.

‘Should I go back home now?’

From the moment the thunder and lightning started, Melly had been tempted.

It wouldn’t be impossible.

Edric might not have returned home yet. Or even if he had, he might not know his wife was absent. No, even if he knew, he might not care at all.

So she could just go in, wash up, and go to sleep as if nothing had happened.

But…

‘No. Anything but that.’

Something inside her firmly held onto her wavering resolve.

Melly slowly opened her eyes. She also removed her hands from her ears, which had been pressed tightly against her face.

Now nature’s admonishment no longer frightened her. Because moments even more terrifying and hopeless came to mind.

‘You’re helping just by staying at home.’

‘Why did I get married? Because back then, I thought it was love.’

[The undersigned couple, having confirmed their lack of intention to continue the marriage, submit this petition without attributing fault to either party and seeking an amicable agreement…]

Edric Ryan Pelton’s beautiful signature, elegantly scrawled on the divorce papers. And her own empty signature line.

She had to remember that moment until the day she died.

I am a human being.

Not a plant that silently listens to whatever is said, but a person who gets angry, irritated, cries, and feels happiness.

Therefore, going back there would be tantamount to giving up on being human.

Melly pushed off the ground and stood up.

Though a stronger gust of wind knocked her down once, Melly got up again and stepped out from under the eaves.

The muddy ground clung stickily to Melly’s ankles. It was extremely difficult to take each step.

The stormy wind swirled around Melly as if it might blow away her small body.

But Melly did not yield.

She would think of the fierce rainwater as bathwater washing away Edric Pelton’s traces from her body, and the wind as a gift sent by God to blow away the outer shell of self-loathing.

Nothing, not even fate, could send her back to the Pelton mansion.

Melly kept walking.

Though her rain-soaked clothes clung to her body like a second skin and didn’t flutter in the wind, she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

Melly’s heart fluttered like it did long ago when she set the direction for her life in Milord Square.

And for some reason, she felt she had to endure to the end no matter how difficult and painful it was. An uncontrollable, strong vitality was seething inside her.

Like when she was pregnant with a child long ago. A child she couldn’t protect…

Now the rainwater poured down on her head as if being dumped from buckets, and the wind immobilized her as if giving a final ultimatum.

But Melly pressed steadily forward, steeling her resolve.

Now I must live as the subject of my own life. And that process will certainly not be easy.

It might feel like sailing a tiny boat across a vast ocean, relying on a single sail. And that vast ocean won’t be peaceful either. Storms will rage at times, and waves will rise high as if to swallow the boat.

But.

‘Still, it’s better than being by your side.’

Melly was certain.

Edric Pelton. I will now leave your world behind.

Instead of a comfortable life exchanged for self-esteem, I will live a life that is arduous and difficult, but true to myself.

For the past five years, no, even longer, I’ve only looked at you and loved you, so now I will love the girl inside me who has been torn to shreds – Melly Enwood.

“Take care. My Edric.”

Melly softly bid farewell. Suddenly, the wind and rain stopped.

As if forgiving her for straying from her place, nature abruptly ceased its scolding.

The pitch-black night sky began to show through gaps in the gloomy gray clouds.

Melly let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps because she was exhausted from battling the wind and rain, her body trembled severely. Or maybe the wind and rain had actually been acting as a support, keeping her precarious body from collapsing.

As her body stabilized and the situation improved, she remembered what she needed to do.

Melly tugged at the delicately crafted diamond ring on her left hand. She hadn’t taken it off since it was placed on her finger at the wedding ceremony five years ago, except when washing.

Perhaps that’s why.

As if it had become one with her body, the ring wouldn’t come off.

Melly twisted the ring this way and that. She pushed it to one side, trying to create space for the ring to slip off, even to the point of digging into her skin. But the ring only moved a tiny bit, not even reaching the first knuckle.

Melly became stubborn.

She reached into her handbag. It was full of rainwater. As she rummaged through it as if stirring bathwater, she suddenly touched a blunt stick. It was lip balm.

Melly took it out and rubbed it on her wet hand like soap, then coated her entire ring finger. Then she tried twisting the ring again. The range of movement seemed to increase, then it got stuck again at the first knuckle. Melly applied more lip balm, and with that, the ring came off, painfully compressing the joint.

And at that moment.

“…!”

Suddenly the sky lit up as bright as day.

It was a pure white light, so bright that even the veins of pointed leaves could be seen clearly.

That light struck the oak tree in front of her dead on.

The severed upper part began to tilt, losing its balance. Towards her, Melly.

The tree accelerated frighteningly, about to crush her before she could even dodge.

Melly squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the ring tightly.

[This is the timeline separator]

Edric returned to the mansion.

He thought Melly might have come back while he was away.

But.

“I’m sorry, but not yet…”

The butler trailed off. Melly had not returned.

The coachman who had accompanied Melly when she went out said that suddenly, on her orders, he had pulled the carriage over to the side of the road a block away from the Andert viscounty residence.

‘I’ll walk from here. I’m feeling a bit motion sick. It’s not far, so it’s fine to walk.’

Then she said she would send a note when the gathering was about to end, told him to wait at a fairly well-known restaurant nearby and have a meal, and even gave him money.

“I deeply apologize, Your Grace. I had no idea this would happen. Please forgive me.”

The coachman who had belatedly grasped the situation and returned alone trembled as he apologized. In fact, it wasn’t his fault. Not obeying the Duchess’s orders would have been the real mistake.

“Wait until called.”

Edric forgave him.

He was still calm for now.

The rain had let up and the wind had died down since earlier, so Melly would probably return soon. She was surely having a cup of tea somewhere with a nice view, talking about needing time alone or some such nonsense.

But despite the improved situation, anxiety was rapidly creeping into various corners of Edric’s mind. He didn’t want to remain in that state for long.

He tried to think of places Melly might go. Suddenly he remembered a classmate from Roines Girls’ School that she had been close to for a while.

‘Was her name Annette?’

It seemed so.

There should be a paper with the address written down somewhere.

Edric went to Melly’s quarters. Oz, who had been tidying up, turned around with a start.

“Your Grace, what brings you here…”

“Do you know where Melissa’s friend Annette lives?”

Oz tilted her head to one side, thinking, then said:

“It should be among the letters Madam exchanged. Please wait a moment, Your Grace.”

She went into Melly’s dressing room and returned carrying a small wooden chest.

Then she opened the lid of the box and took out a handful of letters, flipping through them one by one.

Suddenly her hand stopped.

“Here it is, Your Grace.”

Edric took the letter she held out. It had Annette Felice’s name and address written on it.

He was certain.

At this hour, there was nowhere else Melly would go but this lowly address.

As he left Melly’s quarters, Wilson followed, saying:

“I’ve had the carriage prepared in advance.”

Wilson’s face was full of expectation for praise. But Edric said coldly:

“We’ll go by car. Prepare the car.”

“Yes…”

Wilson ran downstairs with a dejected look.

The car wheels got stuck in the mud twice due to the rain-soaked road conditions. But with the motor’s propulsion, stronger than horses, the wheels easily pulled out of the mire.

It was well past ten o’clock when they arrived at Annette’s house.

Visiting someone else’s home at this hour was extremely rude regardless of class, but the boundary between courtesy and rudeness had already begun to blur in his mind, so Edric knocked on the front door without hesitation.

“Who on earth is it? At this hour…”

A woman with dark brown hair who appeared to be Annette flung open the front door irritably, then suddenly froze in place.