How could she have refused with such harsh words, as if it were so difficult to walk just a few steps away?

Even he found it ridiculous.

He covered his mouth and giggled for a moment.

Passersby turned to look, finding it strange. When they realized it was the famous Duke Edric Pelton, whose name graced the headlines weekly, they were shocked first. And second, what surprised them was… the tears flowing from his eyes as he laughed, his shoulders shaking.

Edric felt the warm stream of tears running down his cheeks.

But he didn’t wipe them away, letting them flow freely. The gaze of others no longer occupied even a fraction of his consciousness.

His mind kept replaying his words and actions that had hurt Melly.

‘There will be no consummation tonight.’

‘Divorce? If that’s what you want, I’ll gladly give it to you.’

‘Because of love. I thought it was love back then.’

They were sharp and scathing words, like spear tips. Even he thought they were hard to forgive.

But Melly apologized instead, feeling sorry.

‘I’m sorry for provoking you with unnecessary words.’

‘I’ll take your advice to heart.’

To be considerate of him, she killed her own heart. She must have said it was fine and tried to believe it herself.

She must have constantly whipped herself, believing all the fault lay with her, in order to endure this incompetent husband.

Now Edric stopped laughing and crying.

He removed his hand from his mouth and took a deep breath.

It felt as if traces of Melly must be somewhere here.

As if the breath she had exhaled must be somewhere. He felt he could only survive if he found and absorbed even that much.

But how cruel of her.

She didn’t even leave that behind.

Her punishment cut into his heart with ruthless severity.

[This is the timeline separator]

Another month passed after that.

An occasion arose where he had to reply to an invitation to a banquet from one of the collateral relatives.

Edric wrote his and his mother’s names in elegant handwriting on the list of intended attendees enclosed with the invitation. As he put down the pen after finishing that, he finally realized.

That he was starting to get used to Melly’s absence.

Without realizing it, he had adapted to a daily life without Melly.

But for him, it was not overcoming but another frustration and despair.

Because it felt as if his connection with her had ended forever.

How could that be possible?

How could it end so suddenly with her, with whom he had spent more than half his life?

He simply could not accept it.

Before she drifted further away from him, pushed by the currents of time, Edric had to find her.

Anxious and impatient, he racked his brains.

‘Where else might Melly have gone? Are there even any such places left?’

He searched everywhere – her friends who weren’t really friends, relatives who weren’t really relatives, and even acquaintances who might as well not exist.

But Melly was not found in any of those homes, and not a single one of them knew her whereabouts.

Melly was truly alone in the world.

Perhaps she had endured the neglect and coldness all this time thinking her husband was all she had left, he realized.

At that thought, Edric felt a more heartbreaking pain than ever before.

It was because he realized he had caused her so much pain that she finally let go of the hand she had been desperately clinging to and walked into a world of poverty and isolation.

‘I can’t make any promises to you.’

‘I thought it was love back then.’

The garbage words he had spewed must have circulated through her veins, and on some weak day, activated like a virus to eat away at her mind.

Edric remembered the jarring brightness of the smile that had bloomed on Melly’s face. He also recalled her unnaturally submissive attitude.

Melly had been sick. Only now did he see it.

If only she had had even one place to confide in, she wouldn’t have gotten so sick.

If not a person, then even a tree trunk. Even a diary.

“…!”

Suddenly Edric’s eyes lit up.

A diary.

Yes. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

He sprang up from his seat.

His vision spun, it had been so long since he’d gotten up. But he didn’t give himself time for his sight to recover before heading straight for the dresser. Bumping into things here and there, he reached the dresser and searched through each drawer for Melly’s diary.

It was in the very last drawer, buried under a nobility register that was taken out maybe once a year.

After confirming Melly’s feelings, he had almost forgotten about the diary’s existence.

In a way, it was natural. Back then, all that mattered was that he had been given control.

Edric adjusted his glasses and quickly skimmed through Melly’s diary.

He wanted to find any content that could be a clue to finding her as soon as possible.

“……”

But as he turned the pages, his reading speed slowed.

There was something more important than clues written in Melly’s diary.

It was Edric himself.

Edric saw himself through her eyes.

To her, he who was the epitome of a strong and dignified man, a great nobleman admired by all, was just a fragile and soft being she wanted to caress.

He thought he was dominating Melly, but in fact, he was the one being dominated.

She was looking after him in every way, from one to ten.

[This is the timeline separator] [July 4, 50.

I had a headache.

It was because I tasted the tea too many times while brewing it for Edric yesterday.

But when a smile of satisfaction I had never seen before bloomed on Edric’s face, my headache completely disappeared.

His smile was the most powerful painkiller.

I didn’t find the price I paid for that smile painful at all.] [September 16, 52.

I’m worried about Edric’s eyesight, which is getting worse and worse.

Today at noon, he squinted at the wall clock and ended up asking me for the time.

Even though it wasn’t that far away.

The problem is reading books by candlelight until late at night. He’s pushing himself too hard. It’s because he’s the heir to the great Pelton duchy, and he needs to have qualities befitting that.

I may not be able to help with his education, but I can pick blueberries for him.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll pick blueberries covered in the first dew from Herden Forest and put them on his table.

No, it would be better to make them into juice for easy consumption. Edric pursues anything fast and efficient.

And… I wish I were a more distinct person.

Distinct enough for him to recognize clearly no matter how bad his eyes get.

But my impression, my presence is too faint for that. When his eyes get worse, I’m sure I’ll be the first to become invisible.

Then I’d rather become his glasses.

An existence that illuminates the world clearly from the closest distance.

Yes. That’s it.

I want to be such a person. I want to be an existence indispensable to him.

If I could become that, I think I wouldn’t mind even if he mostly forgets about me in everyday life.] [This is the timeline separator]

“……”

Edric took off his glasses.

The room had darkened to the point where he needed to light the oil lamp, but Edric needed neither light nor clear vision.

He waited for hope to be withdrawn from his heart, just as the sun had withdrawn its light from its dwelling.

[I wanted to become his glasses.]

That’s what Melly said. And that’s what she became.

[I want to be an existence indispensable to him. If I could become that, I think I wouldn’t mind even if he forgets all about me in everyday life.]

Surprisingly, all the wishes she wrote in her diary came true exactly as she wrote them.

Her existence, which seemed dispensable, was actually so enormous that it couldn’t be exchanged for anything in the world. She was light, sun, and a witch. When she left, she took his heart with her.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel this gaping hole in his chest.

Edric hated this feeling.

He wanted his heart back. He would trap that witch and threaten her to give back his heart. After getting it back, he would create a hostage to prevent her from leaving his side. A hostage called a child that she so desperately wanted.

But the witch had disappeared, and clues were nowhere to be found.

Damn it.

[I want to become Edric’s glasses.]

She achieved what she wanted.

She was the medium, no, everything that allowed Edric to view the world with clear vision.

Now that such a person had disappeared, what was he supposed to do looking at this superficial world through these mere pieces of glass?

Edric’s hand gripping the glasses tightened.

With a cracking sound, shards of the broken lenses stabbed into his palm. The metal frame of the glasses crumpled like clay in his fist, which was clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Feeling the blood that quickly seeped out trickling down his wrist, he muttered softly.

“Why didn’t you say you wanted to become my eyes instead of my glasses? If you had, I would have plucked them out right here.”

If only he could shake off this sense of loss even that way, he would gladly do it.

[This is the timeline separator] [June 19, 56.

The day before yesterday, Edric brought the woman he would marry.

She was a beautiful woman.

She possessed the elegant dignity Edric desired, a high level of intelligence, and above all, beautiful looks.

The two of them matched well, as if they were destined partners from birth.

I was certain she would marry Edric without incident and shine in high society.

And though it pained my heart, I resolved to sincerely bless the two of them.

But I saw it.

She was deceiving Edric.

She kissed a man other than Edric. And it was with a man she called her distant younger cousin.

After much deliberation, I told him about it, but Edric just laughed.

He said it was fine. As long as the child she bears is his child, that’s all that matters. He said such things are no obstacle to marriage at all.

At that moment, I finally realized what Mother had been so insistent about.

That he and I live in different worlds.

I could bear Edric’s child and love only him for my entire life, but it seemed Edric didn’t need that.

For him, possessing a part of that woman was more valuable than possessing all of a woman like me.]

That was Melly’s last diary entry……