IMTVD| Chapter 23

Episode 23

Edwin had gone to see the village chief, wanting to learn more about the “new settler” in town.

He wanted to know just how hard Emilia’s life had been here.

So he stopped by the chief’s house, asked a few questions… and got answers he could hardly believe.

“Ah, you must mean Amy.”

“Amy?”

“Yes, that’s the name of the woman who settled here.”

Hearing that she was living under a new name was surprising enough but there was more.

“How’s she getting by here?”

“Getting by? What do you mean?”

“I mean, is she alone with no one to help her? Is she struggling to adjust?”

“If that’s what you’re asking she’s adjusting well.”

“…Adjusting well?”

That was not the answer he’d expected.

The chief eyed him for a moment, then spoke carefully.

“In fact, I hear she’s working with the villagers today, clearing weeds. If you’re really that curious, why

not go and see for yourself?”

The chief had only said it because he figured a highborn like Edwin would never actually bother to watch a commoner

work.

But Edwin couldn’t believe what he was hearing—this woman, once a marquis’s daughter, now working in the fields?

“Where is it?”

He wanted to see for himself.

After a moment’s hesitation, the chief told him the spot where Emilia was working.

Edwin went there and waited. And after some time, she appeared dressed for labor.

I prayed it wouldn’t be true…

His gaze locked on her. No fine dresses. No jeweled necklaces.

Gone were the chandeliers and marble floors just dirt under her feet now.

Seeing her like this left him dazed. She didn’t even glance at him, as if avoiding eye contact on purpose.

“Milady is… over there…”

The knights who’d followed him looked just as stunned. How could someone who’d spent her life as a marquis’s

daughter and then a duchess be out here, dressed like a commoner, working the fields? It defied every aristocratic

instinct they had.

At first, Edwin just stood there, numb. But then he came to his senses and walked toward her.

“Edwin?”

She hadn’t noticed him approach until his presence was right beside her. Startled, she looked up at him.

Sweat glistened on her forehead, her breathing uneven. He stepped up next to her.

“What are you doing?”

And without waiting for an answer, he bent down and started yanking out thick weeds with his bare hands.

They were tall enough to reach his stomach—villagers used sickles and knives to cut them. But that thought never

crossed his mind.

The weeds stung his unprotected hands, but he didn’t stop.

He just wanted to help her—wanted to take some of the strain off her.

Emilia reached out and grabbed his arm. Only then did he stop and look at her.

“Emilia.”

What the hell am I looking at?

A man who’d probably never done a day of this kind of labor in his life was here, pulling up weeds like it was nothing.

In the Grand Forest, some weeds were poisonous.

After a year here, Emilia could tell most of them apart, but she still wore gloves and used tools for the job.

All the villagers did. Even for something simple like weeding, you never went barehanded.

But Edwin didn’t know that. He was just relying on sheer strength.

“I just wanted to help you.”

When their eyes met—his dark, night-sky eyes—she briefly wondered if she was looking at a real person.

She forced herself to look away.

“This isn’t helping.”

“Then what is it?”

He sounded almost hurt. He probably thought she was scolding him.

That wasn’t it.

She just didn’t want his hands ending up damaged like hers. Yes, his hands were already calloused from sword work,

but it wasn’t the same.

“Look. You’ve already hurt yourself.”

She stepped closer and took his hand, looking at the raw, red marks in his palm. Her gaze softened.

He felt the urge to pull away—partly embarrassed—but he couldn’t. It wasn’t that she was holding him tightly; he

simply couldn’t bring himself to break the contact.

He didn’t even realize his face was flushing as she fussed over his hand.

“Your hands are in rough shape too.”

“I had to. To survive.”

“Come back with me, Emilia.”

She froze.

She’d been about to look away—but instead, she turned to him fully.

His face was tight with emotion, almost on the verge of tears.

“I was wrong. I’m sorry for leaving you alone at the ducal estate. And from now on… if you want to talk to me, I’ll

never turn you away again.”

She didn’t know how to process this.

It was so sudden. She’d never believed he’d truly apologize to her. Even now, with the words out of his mouth, she

wasn’t sure she could trust them.

Is he really sincere?

But those dark eyes… they held nothing but truth.

She couldn’t just shrug it off—not when the man who had once been her light was saying it.

She glanced around.

Thankfully, they were far enough from the others that their words wouldn’t be overheard but they couldn’t hide the

sight of the two of them talking. She could already imagine the gossip.

But right now, Edwin mattered more.

She went to a nearby villager.

“I think I should treat the duke’s injury. May I take him back to my house?”

“Of course go ahead. Leave it and it’ll just get worse.”

The villagers had seen what happened, so they let her go—but their looks were… complicated.

Ignoring them, she took Edwin’s hand and started leading him toward her home.

He didn’t resist. In fact, he was… happy.

The first time they met, she’d rejected his touch. Now she was the one holding his hand.

Neither spoke all the way to her door.

Once there, she hesitated.

Should I really let him in?

In Cardinal, her home was considered neat and decent—but compared to the Casper ducal estate, it was nothing.

“Emilia?”

Suddenly she felt embarrassed.

Whether she liked it or not, back when she was part of the Herman family, she could stand beside him as an equal.

But now… this was all she had.

Emilia the commoner.

No longer a noble. No longer his wife.

And it was because of him.

It was almost funny, letting a man who’d once been her husband into her humble home out of concern for him.

“I was just thinking about something.”

But maybe it didn’t matter anymore.

She pulled the door open, ready to accept her situation for what it was.

He was the head of one of the greatest houses in the empire. She was just Emilia now—a woman nobody welcomed.

The moment the door opened, Edwin pulled her into his arms.

“Edwin?”

“Don’t make that face.”

Just being near him felt like a light breaking through the dark depths she’d been drowning in.

She tried to pull away, startled, but his arms only tightened.

By the time she realized she couldn’t break free, he was whispering in her ear.

“I’m sorry, Emilia.”

“You’re the only one for me.”

Hearing him murmur that, it was like some of the sadness in her heart eased away.

She wanted to ask him—

Then why… why did you treat me like that?