The Returning Husband Refuses to Divorce Chapter 8

“……What did you say?”

The next morning.

Ines could hardly believe her ears at the unexpected news delivered first thing in the morning.

The young knight bowed respectfully before speaking.

“His Grace issued an order last night. He instructed us to dismiss all the servants from the castle except for the minimum number required to keep things running. We’re currently recruiting new servants, so if you could wait just a little longer, we’ll assign you a personal maid again……”

“Ah, n-no…… That’s all right.”

It wasn’t as though she’d had a personal maid in the first place, so that wasn’t much of a problem. There was something else that concerned her far more.

He’s dismissing all the servants? Why?

It was a rather drastic order for a master who had returned after five years away.

Once dismissed in disgrace from a noble household, the servants would find it difficult to secure similar employment elsewhere.

Since they were the very people who had tormented her, Ines couldn’t care less what happened to them…… but wouldn’t this be inconvenient? If so many people were dismissed all at once, how was the castle supposed to function properly?

“There was also an instruction for you to move to a different room, My Lady.”

“Pardon?”

The knight belatedly added, looking somewhat hesitant.

“Ah, it wasn’t an order, but a recommendation. His Grace said that your wishes must always come first. If you don’t want to move, you may certainly stay here. However……”

The knight glanced around Ines’s shabby room, his eyes shifting awkwardly. He seemed inwardly surprised by how plainly the room was furnished. No matter how one looked at it, it hardly seemed suitable for a duchess.

In the end, Ines was made to move rooms before she had even eaten breakfast.

What on earth is going on?

Her new room was the finest in the castle after the duke’s own chambers.

As far as she knew, even Selena, the former duchess, had been unable to use this room because she had been a second wife.

Faced with this sudden stroke of what could hardly be called ordinary good fortune, Ines was utterly bewildered.

Is it really all right for me to accept something like this?

She felt uncomfortable and ill at ease, as though she were wearing clothes that didn’t fit.

At the same time, an inexplicable feeling stirred inside her.

Why is he treating me so well?

……No, more importantly, why had he driven out all the servants?

There was only one person who could answer all these questions.

“Where is His Grace right now?”

Warm spring sunlight streamed down over the training grounds.

Despite having returned only the day before, the knights were already hard at work training.

Zecard had been sparring with his subordinates for the first time in ages when he suddenly turned his head.

“Ines?”

His opponent looked puzzled when he abruptly stopped swinging his sword. But Zecard offered no explanation and simply left the training grounds.

And sure enough, before long—

“Is His Grace inside?”

Ines had actually come all the way to the training grounds to look for him!

She peered anxiously around the entrance, looking just like a cat.

At the sight of her adorable figure, a smile had already spread across Zecard’s face.

“What is it?”

“Ah, Your Grace.”

Seeing a familiar face, Ines brightened when she spotted Zecard. She pursed her full lips as though hesitating over what to say, then spoke rather timidly.

“Could I talk to you for a moment?”

Of course she could.

He was practically grateful. He had been desperately holding himself back to give Ines time to adjust, and now she had come looking for him of her own accord.

“By all means.”

With a pleasant smile, Zecard naturally led Ines toward his chambers.

Meanwhile, Ines was feeling rather awkward.

……I didn’t mean for things to go this far.

She had only intended to thank him for changing her room.

But for some reason, Zecard seemed to be in such a good mood that she couldn’t bring herself to say she had only come to offer her thanks and then leave.

In the end, Ines found herself sitting across from him in his chambers once again.

“First, I wanted to thank you. I didn’t expect you to take such care with my room when you’ve only just returned.”

Since he had said little beyond discussing his own circumstances yesterday, she had assumed he wasn’t particularly interested in her. She had never expected him to pay such careful attention to her living arrangements. She was secretly rather touched.

“It’s only natural. You are my wife, after all, Ines.”

“……Even though I haven’t agreed to extend our contract yet?”

“You have been my wife for the past five years. And although we haven’t extended the contract, neither have we terminated it.”

Since he wasn’t wrong, Ines had no response.

“It is the treatment you rightfully deserve, my lady. So please, don’t refuse it.”

How could she turn him down when he put it that way? Reluctantly, Ines answered in a small voice that she understood.

She sipped her tea, feeling awkward, and thought to herself.

……What a strange man.

Knowing that she was receiving special treatment made her feel strangely giddy. It was almost as though she were someone precious to him.

Of course, that couldn’t possibly be true.

“By the way, I heard that you often skip breakfast.”

Zecard’s words pulled Ines out of her thoughts.

“Pardon? Yes…… That’s true.”

“May I ask why?”

Why was he asking about something like that?

“It’s just…… My stomach doesn’t feel very good in the morning.”

She didn’t suffer from any particular chronic illness, but Ines wasn’t especially healthy either. Besides, she had never been particularly fond of eating, even as a child.

Zecard’s expression darkened at her answer.

Ines flinched.

Did I say something wrong?

She seriously considered whether there had been anything in her response that might have displeased him.

At last, Zecard spoke with a grave expression.

“You’re too……”

Too what?

“Far too thin.”

Ines’s shoulders sagged in relief.

To think he had been seriously worrying about something like that.

“But I’m actually quite healthy. I’ve never even been seriously ill.”

Yet even after hearing her answer, Zecard’s expression showed no sign of brightening.

“My heart aches.”

“Pardon?”

Zecard spoke with a dejected expression.

“It pains me to think that my wife has been suffering so much, and I knew nothing about it as her husband. I have failed you terribly.”

No, I don’t think that’s quite right……

“Now that I’m back, all your suffering is my responsibility. No, this was something I should have been taking care of even before then. I made you suffer because of my own shortcomings. Please, don’t forgive me.”

His words were so earnest that they bordered on solemnity, and Ines felt her head begin to spin.

“P-Please don’t say that.”

It would be a lie to claim that she had never resented him during the five years he had been away.

But that didn’t mean she had ever wanted him to go this far. Ines spoke soothingly, trying to reassure him.

“You must have had a difficult time on the battlefield. How could you have worried about things here as well? It couldn’t be helped. And it’s not as though I suffered all that much.”

At Ines’s gentle words, Zecard lifted his head and looked directly at her.

The moment she met his blue eyes, Ines hesitated.

An intense, unfamiliar emotion stirred beneath their surface, something she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Huh?

“Then, would you grant me just one favor from now on?”

Though Ines had no idea what was going on, she instinctively recoiled a little.

“……If it’s something I can do, I’ll try.”

As though he had been waiting for those exact words, Zecard promptly replied.

“Please have your meals with me from now on.”

“Meals……?”

Zecard smiled brightly, as though he had never been dejected at all.

“Seeing you skip meals pains me terribly. So from now on, I want to personally, with my own hands, take care of absolutely everything for you, one thing at a time.”

Ines was horrified.

“There’s no need for……”

But when she saw Zecard’s expression darken again with alarming speed, she hurriedly changed her answer.

“All right. Fine. I’ll eat with you.”

Only then did Zecard’s expression brighten once more.

Looking at his face, Ines couldn’t help thinking that he resembled the witch in a fairy tale who fattened up children before eating them.

Is this really okay……?

Then, suddenly, Ines remembered something.

“Come to think of it, the Madam probably wouldn’t be very happy about me joining everyone at mealtimes……”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

What did he mean, it wouldn’t be a problem?

Rather than explain, Zecard simply smiled.

“Well, it’s lunchtime now. Shall we eat first?”

 

***

 

“You good-for-nothing wretches!”

BANG!

Selena Evanhardt slammed her fist against the door.

“How dare you……!”

She had been thrown out of her usual chambers and confined to a storage room in an annex. Unable to contain her fury, Selena screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Open this door at once!”