Won’t you divorce me?
“Yurika. Won’t you divorce me?”
“Eh? What did you say just now?”
It was a sunny afternoon.
It was when I was enjoying lunch with my husband for the first time in a month. I doubted my ears when my husband fired such a question at me.
We have been married for three years. It was a common political marriage between a Baron’s daughter and Count’s son. My husband, Anton, is 26 years old. I, Yurika, am his second wife, 21 years old. He and his late wife had a son together, the adorable, six-year-old Noah.
Although this was a political marriage out of convenience, I had a good relationship with him and Noah. So, what does he mean by asking if I won’t divorce him? What will happen to Noah if we divorce?
“Umm, Anton. I think that I heard you speaking of divorce, did I perhaps mishear what you said?”
“No, your hearing is normal. I said I wanted to divorce you.”
It appears that I didn’t mishear him. Anton was serious. My head went blank.
Anton wants to break up with me?
He seldom returns to the mansion because his work increased as of late, we had not even performed our duties as a married couple for over two years now. Still, he treated me kindly, so it never occurred to me that he was dissatisfied with me.
When I looked at Anton unable to accept, his well-ordered features instantly grimaced. At that moment, I felt prisoner to the darkness of his obsidian eyes.
“… Did I do something wrong?”
We were sitting at the balcony seats that the servants carefully set up. We finished our meal, and I was about to enjoy an after a meal tea with him.
When I first met Anton, he complimented my tea-making skills. I was so happy then I made sure to always prepare tea after his meals. The fragrance of my husband’s favorite tea leaves tickled my nose. I felt like the steam was standing between me and my husband.
Anton is the eldest son of General Count Garland and he’s destined to succeed in his father’s position one day. He currently acts as the Commander of the Imperial Guards. He’s in charge of the palace defenses and imperial family’s guards. Hence, he stays at the palace almost every day and seldom returns to this mansion. He’s a very busy person.
Being able to spend time like this truly comes once in a month, but he brought divorce in the conversation. I couldn’t accept this.
“No, you did not do anything wrong. It’s just…”
“It’s just…?”
Anton told me that there were no faults with me, but he appears to have a reason for this. He was hesitating to speak up, though. His swimming gaze stopped at around my shoulders, on my dull, ashen hair. When I held out a teacup, he extended his hands but stopped midway.
I have greyish hair tinged with red streaks and olive-brown eyes. I wasn’t blessed with marriage proposals because of my poor appearances, but he got married after an introduction by my fifth sister. When the plain me married the handsome husband, I received a lot of dissatisfaction from the jealous young noble ladies.
Anton might be dissatisfied with my appearance.
He was opening and closing his palms on top of the table, and said “three years” while looking at me vexingly.