Episode 2
2. Running Into My Husband on the Street
Ashley didn’t say anything, but it felt like she’d read my mind.
She gave me this soft, affectionate smile and glanced at me carefully.
“I really like you, you know.”
“I like you too, my lady.”
“So please… don’t smile like someone who’s about to leave for somewhere far away. I mean it.”
I could only give her a bitter smile, no words.
The one who’s leaving soon… is you, my lady. And sooner than me, too.
Ashley’s future—getting run over by a carriage—kept weighing on me.
I wanted to stop it, desperately. But if I rushed things, I’d mess everything up.
First things first. I still have time to deal with Ashley later.
At least I’d managed to avoid getting pregnant tonight.
I really had changed the past.
Back in my room, finally able to breathe, I heard something outside the door. I quickly stood up and pressed my ear against it.
Who is that?
Heavy footsteps for a moment… then fading quickly, like whoever it was knew I was standing right there.
Was it Calios?
I imagined it for half a second, then shook my head.
No way. He wouldn’t bother coming to check on me just because I said I wasn’t feeling well. He’s never cared about me.
Planning what to do next, I slowly drifted off.
I don’t want to sleep…
But I always ended up passing out from exhaustion.
And as soon as I did, the dreams came—the ones filled with Calios.
No matter how I tried not to see them, those memories shoved themselves in my face.
I dreamed of the day we first met, back when we were engaged and I was so excited. But the boyish Calios just gave me a cold, cutting look and said:
[Weren’t you hoping to marry my brother instead? Too bad.]
Then the night I got pregnant, his cruel words and rough hands.
[You care so much about appearances. Fine—I’ll treat you like that.]
Even after five years of marriage, I’d never gotten pregnant, and people whispered I was barren.
Some even said Calios stayed holed up with me in bed for days at a time because he had bizarre, twisted tastes, not because he was trying to give me an heir.
They said that’s why I still wasn’t pregnant—because he cared more about strange, shameful acts than anything else.
After he came back from the war, he only got rougher. And since there was some truth to those rumors, every time I overheard them I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
Still, I blamed myself. Maybe I really am barren.
But then—after one particularly violent night—I found out I was pregnant.
I’ll never forget the day I told him, trembling with a strange mix of fear and hope.
Calios froze. His perfect face twisted.
[…Pregnant? After all this time?]
The look in his eyes—cold and resentful—snapped the last fragile thread of hope I’d been clinging to.
Shouldn’t a man be happy about his heir?
Why…?
But I didn’t let myself wonder for long. Right. That’s just the kind of man he is.
And so I learned what true, bottomless despair felt like.
Now I’d have to live like a ghost in that giant mansion with a child he’d never love.
I’d rather he just let me go. But he didn’t.
It was like he wanted to watch me wither away in that lonely place.
In that case… Baby, maybe you’d be better off not being born.
Maybe that tiny, forbidden thought was why I fell sick and died with my baby.
A punishment from heaven.
Then the dream snapped, and I woke up.
Sunlight was already streaming through the window.
“Ah…”
I was drenched in cold sweat.
Reaching for water, I knocked over the glass on the nightstand, shattering it.
Clang!
The sharp sound jolted me awake completely.
I wouldn’t live that nightmare again. That was all that mattered.
Steeling myself, I rang the little bell cord. Jenny, my maid, rushed in.
“Today’s going to be busy. Get everything ready.”
She fixed my hair and dress, then asked,
“Where are we going, my lady?”
“The bank.”
“The bank? All of a sudden?”
I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I had to start somewhere.
After thinking for a moment, I said with a faint smile,
“Let’s go. It’s such a beautiful day.”
Stepping out of the suffocating mansion, I felt a pang of regret.
I should’ve come out more often instead of hiding in the garden, afraid of people’s stares and gossip.
The sunlight brushed my cheek. I looked around, drinking it in.
It’s so lovely out here.
I ignored the curious stares of people recognizing me.
I didn’t care about rumors anymore.
I was going to die anyway—so this time, I’d do whatever I wanted.
At the bank, the director himself came to greet me and ushered me into a luxurious room.
“I’d like to check my personal funds.”
“Of course, please wait here.”
But my account was more pitiful than I’d thought.
The director shifted awkwardly.
“Do you… need a loan, my lady?”
“No. I just came to check.”
Most of my dowry had gone to pay off my family’s debts. There wasn’t much left.
Calios had sent money in the early days, but that had stopped long ago.
As I left the bank, I frowned.
I need money. But how do I get it?
If only I had some way to earn it myself…
Even so, what was left amazed Jenny. Her eyes sparkled.
“My lady! I’ve never even seen that much money before!”
I laughed softly.
“Oh, come on. You must’ve seen plenty back at the count’s estate.”
“I wouldn’t know… I only came after things started going downhill.”
“…Right. You stayed even after that, though.”
Jenny was loyal. She never left me, not even at the end.
She offered to pick up a dress for me—one of the cheap ones I’d ordered. I wasn’t expecting much.
It was always the same dull black or gray, colors that hid stains and lasted long.
Waiting for her, I sighed and glanced toward the shop.
What’s taking so long?
Then I heard it—horses and wheels clattering loudly.
Huh?
A huge carriage was rolling toward me.
When I saw the golden lion crest, my eyes widened.
The Duke of Benedict’s crest.
The carriage was stately, almost intimidating, and people stopped to gawk.
Calios? But I heard he went to the capital early this morning. Is he back already?
I hurried to step aside, trying to avoid him.
But the carriage stopped—deliberately.
The door opened, and out stepped a tall man with a frame to match.
