The Returning Husband Refuses to Divorce Chapter 20

“Y-your village?”

May was openly wary.

Ines decided to take a different approach.

“I’m not scolding you. I thought I heard you mention that things were difficult back then. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help.”

At Ines’s coaxing words, May bit her lip.

She seems to be thinking it over.

Ines took a sip of her warm tea and calmly waited for her answer.

“……It’s not a particularly remarkable story.”

After a long pause, May cautiously began to speak.

“A strange illness started spreading through our village a few years ago.”

At first, people hadn’t thought much of it. But the disease gradually spread, claiming the lives of the villagers.

Yet no one knew what the illness was called.

“Since we didn’t know what kind of disease it was, we couldn’t treat it…… Ordinary medicine was useless. The only thing that had any effect was holy power.”

At the mention of holy power, Ines stopped drinking her tea.

“Fortunately, the temple sent a priest to our village right away, and he’s been treating the people ever since. They haven’t recovered completely, but at least their conditions aren’t getting any worse. No one else has died, either. We’re truly grateful for that.”

Ines could roughly understand the situation now.

So that must have been what they were talking about back then.

In any case, with a priest personally treating the village, May had presumably been able to secure a position at the ducal castle.

That aside, it was understandable that the other maids felt uneasy about May coming from such a village. That didn’t make their ostracism of her right, of course.

“B-but it really isn’t contagious. I’m perfectly healthy, too. So you don’t need to worry.”

Perhaps she had misinterpreted Ines’s serious expression, because May hurriedly added, “And…… I really appreciate your offer to help earlier, but it’s all right. We have a priest in our village.”

May seemed to have considerable faith in this priest.

Should I leave things alone for now?

From the sound of it, the situation wasn’t particularly urgent.

According to May, no one was dying anymore.

More importantly, if a priest had already been dispatched, it would be difficult for Ines to intervene. It might even appear that she was challenging the temple’s authority.

Still……

“By the way, how did you come to have that pendant?”

The pendant had been severely contaminated with demonic energy.

“That…… It was a keepsake from my mother.”

“A keepsake?”

“Yes. She passed away from the illness a few years ago.”

By instinct, Ines realized that the illness May was referring to was the mysterious disease ravaging the village, not an ordinary ailment.

May hesitated before continuing.

“Actually, I almost wasn’t allowed to work at this castle because of where I came from. Fortunately, a position happened to open up…… But there was a condition that I had to abandon everything I owned. It would have been dangerous if the disease had spread through any of my belongings, however unlikely that might have been.”

From those words, Ines grasped the truth behind the situation.

She only managed to get hired because Zecard replaced the servants after returning.

Under normal circumstances, even if the disease wasn’t contagious, the castle would have had little reason to hire a maid like May. There were countless people eager to work at the ducal castle, after all.

“I begged and pleaded with the head maid, and she finally allowed me to keep that one pendant. It’s very precious to me.”

Just then, May suddenly bowed deeply at the waist.

“Thank you so much!”

Ines, who had been lost in thought, was taken aback.

But May continued earnestly.

“Thanks to your help, My Lady, I was able to get my pendant back safely. You’ve been my benefactor.”

Ines could only blink at her.

When the silence stretched on, May’s face flushed red, and she hurriedly apologized.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right.”

Ines waved her hand dismissively.

How unexpected.

May’s behavior was surprising in a way Ines hadn’t anticipated.

“You don’t need to thank me. Those girls were the ones in the wrong. You simply got your own belongings back.”

“But, My Lady……”

“All I did was reprimand the maids for causing a disturbance in front of everyone. I didn’t do it for your sake.”

Ines drew a gentle but firm boundary.

This is probably for the best.

It would be better if the two of them didn’t become too involved with each other. Not for May’s sake, but for Ines’s.

I’ll be leaving in a year anyway, while May will have to stay here.

“In any case, I’m glad you found your pendant. Be careful not to let anyone take it from you again.”

Ines deliberately brought the conversation to a close with those words.

It was a tactful way of maintaining some distance.

How unexpected. I thought she’d keep pretending not to know until the very end.

Given May’s behavior up until now, it had been a reasonable assumption.

That was why Ines was completely unprepared for May’s next words.

“……That’s not true.”

May’s voice was small and quiet.

“What did you say just now……?”

“It might not have been a big deal to you, My Lady, but it was to me.”

Ines turned back toward her and was startled by what she saw.

May’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“Why……”

Ines was at a loss for words.

Why is she crying?

While Ines stood there bewildered, May continued haltingly.

“I…… I avoided you, didn’t I?”

Ines stiffened.

“I know you were aware of everything. That I deliberately stayed away from you, that I didn’t serve you properly……”

May’s voice began to tremble.

“And yet, you never said anything to me.”

“May.”

“I think I would have hated it.”

At last, a tear slipped from May’s eye.

“If someone didn’t even treat me kindly…… I think I would have just pretended not to notice. But you didn’t do that, My Lady.”

Ines couldn’t bring herself to answer.

“You found my pendant, too…… And I know you deliberately made it seem as though you were scolding everyone equally, so the other maids wouldn’t hate me even more.”

“That was……”

“So it wasn’t a small thing to me.”

May wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled.

“I-I’m truly grateful. From the bottom of my heart.”

It was strange.

Ines had certainly encountered people who cried in front of her before.

But most of them had poured out their resentment and anger toward her.

This was the first time someone had cried out of gratitude.

……What am I supposed to do?

Ines hesitated for a moment before finally taking out her handkerchief.

“First, why don’t you calm down?”

Then she carefully wiped the tears from May’s eyes.

At that moment, May’s face crumpled even further.

“Sniff……”

“Why are you crying even harder now?”

“I-I’m sorry……”

“I wasn’t telling you to apologize.”

At a loss, Ines finally let out a small sigh.

Then, having no other choice, she gently patted May on the back.

As though everything she had been holding back had finally burst forth, May began to cry in earnest, keeping her sobs as quiet as she could.

Ines stopped trying to comfort her.

She simply stayed by May’s side, allowing her to cry as much as she needed.

What in the world is going on……?

Ines was still bewildered.

But strangely, she didn’t dislike it.

Only after a long while did Ines suddenly realize something.

This was the first time the little maid had openly expressed her true feelings in front of her.

And perhaps……

May no longer wanted to avoid her.

That night.

Ines lay quietly in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Will I have another dream tonight?

The nightmare from the previous night kept circling through her mind.

Even though she knew it hadn’t been real, she was afraid.

The emotions of the woman in that dream had been so intense and profound.

If she experienced them again, she felt as though she might completely fall apart.

But then……

〈It might not have been a big deal to you, My Lady, but it was to me.〉

For some reason, May’s voice came to mind as well.

Ines still couldn’t understand it.

Was gratitude really something that needed to be expressed so solemnly? No, had she even done anything worth being that grateful for in the first place?

And yet, that trembling voice had somehow touched her heart.

Ines gathered her courage and closed her eyes.

Zecard.

The man’s image seemed to appear right before her.

His retreating figure disappearing into the blizzard in her dream overlapped with the image of her kind and considerate “husband” in reality.

If a day came when all the evidence pointed to her as the culprit, just as it had in her dream, what would he do?

She couldn’t know.

Even if they were married, there was no reason he should believe her words without any evidence.

And yet……

As she quietly drifted off to sleep, Ines found herself hoping that, even so, he would believe her just a little.