Chapter 13: A Vivid Prophetic Dream

It had already been about half a year since I divorced my former husband.

Even if I had stayed in the baronial household, the divorce would have gone through eventually.

At times, I wondered whether it would have been better to stay and talk things through before divorcing.

But why was it, I wondered?

No matter how I thought about it, I could not believe that any meaningful conversation could have taken place between him, his mistress, and myself.

I did not even know what kind of woman his mistress was.

I had not been found by them.

Part of it was because I had deliberately cut off contact with my family home as well.

And even if they had tried to look for me, I had spread misleading information before leaving.

With the servants’ cooperation, I had had them spread rumors in every direction that ‘Baroness Electra went that way.’

Even if they tried to trace my whereabouts through eyewitness accounts, they would surely end up searching in entirely the wrong places amid the flood of false information.

…Why had I gone that far?

Even I was not entirely sure.

Thinking back, this feeling seemed to have continued ever since I saw that prophetic dream.

Of course, I had been wary of some malicious unknown party.

But more than that, I absolutely did not want to have any involvement with my former husband and his mistress.

…And then.

I believed that they would try to look for me.

Even after committing infidelity, they would put on the faces of good people.
Of righteousness.

They fully intended to divorce me and part ways, without a doubt.

And yet, they would not even think of preparing compensation or offering a sincere apology.

What they wanted was simply to show me and talk about their so-called ‘love.’

They would search for me just for that reason alone.

It was revolting, and I was certain that getting involved would only bring loss.

“…Why do I think this way?”

There was far too little basis for such a belief.

And yet, for some reason, I was convinced.

That was why I fled from them and hid.

I spread false information and took measures so that I would not be found.

“Haa…”

Even I could not understand my own thoroughness.

Everything stemmed from that prophetic dream.

If I were to see it once more, would I understand?

The miracle that changed my life.

A miracle is called a miracle precisely because it happens only once.

Surely, it would never happen again.

…Or so I thought.

◇◆◇

I was dreaming.

(…Ah, this is—)

I immediately understood that it was that prophetic dream.

However, unlike before, there was a sense of detachment, as though I were watching a play unfold before my eyes rather than experiencing it myself.

“Electra, I’m sorry.
I fell in love with Livia.
That’s why I want to divorce you.”

“Eh…?”

I was left speechless by the words spoken by my husband, who had returned from the battlefield after two years.

There was no way I could keep up with them.

Nor could I accept them.

Inside, I was in complete turmoil.

But the words he spoke were so incomprehensible that I could not even bring myself to cling to him and cry.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m divorcing you.
I met the person I love.”

“…I have heard the rumors.
But that is not the issue.”

I already knew about the woman who was being spoken of as the partner of my husband, now praised as a hero on the battlefield.

“I’m sorry, Lady Electra!”

The woman brazenly interrupted the discussion between my husband and me.

“It’s because I loved him…!”

From that point on, it was unbearable to hear and unbearable to watch.

None of it made sense.

More than anything, the matter that needed to be discussed now was not love or such trivial things.

It seemed to me that they had no intention of treating me as a human being.

That was why I thought I could not deal with them any longer.

A sensation of my heart rapidly freezing over, accompanied by the thought, ‘Do whatever you want.’

I tried to leave as quickly as possible.

I felt that wandering homeless would be better than staying there and dealing with them.

To me as well, they were no longer human.

They felt like monsters whose very words were repulsive.

I did my best to freeze my expression and remain calm.

And I tried, as much as possible, not to listen to the words spilling from their mouths.

Even so, their unpleasant arguments and words still reached my ears.

Enduring it all, ignoring them, I began preparing to leave the house.

There had been no wedding ceremony, my chastity had been taken, and the only small mercy was that I had not conceived a child.

Even if I had borne a child, that man would surely have taken it away from me.

I could not believe that a child raised by them would live happily.

If they had a child together, that child would undoubtedly be prioritized.

I would have been kept alive in name only, and the child would have been raised to resent me, their true mother.

That was why not having had a child with him was the greatest blessing I had received in those two years.

I left the baronial household.
There was no one to see me off.

Because of the impostors who occasionally appeared, my reputation had fallen, and I had caused trouble for the servants.

They must have even thought that the days of hardship were finally over.

I had heard that I had also caused trouble for my family home.

In such a situation, there was nowhere for me to go.

The ‘me in the dream’ sought protection from a nearby church.

Yes.
A nearby church.

The ‘me in reality’ was staying at a church far from the Carlson territory and the Vent territory.

But the me in the dream could not go far.

That was likely the mistake.

The way people treated me, knowing my bad reputation, was not kind.

What had I done to deserve this?

For two years, I had somehow protected the territory in my husband’s absence.

Why did I have to suffer like this?

The painful days continued.

I did not know how much time passed.

Then, while I was living at the church, a letter arrived from my former husband.

Even receiving a letter at that point was incomprehensible, and its contents left me speechless.

He wrote that he was struggling with managing the territory and would hire me, since I knew its workings well.

There was no apology, and the tone felt strangely condescending.

Had my former husband really been that incompetent?

He should not have been so incapable as to fail at running a territory.

And with the head steward Said there, even an incompetent man should not have failed at managing a barony.

Thinking about it, two possible causes came to mind.

One was that his new wife and my former husband were spending money recklessly without any plan.

The other was that they had dismissed capable servants, starting with the head steward.

People who felt no remorse over infidelity, who neither apologized nor reflected, would surely not be able to tolerate servants who spoke reasonable opinions.

The Carlson Barony was likely facing a crisis.

They needed me to rebuild it.

Otherwise, the people would suffer.

I could infer that much.

…However.

I was not kind enough to go that far.

So I ignored the letter.

After that, I began to feel an ominous presence.

I felt as though someone was watching me.

So I ran.

And just as expected, someone pursued me.

Desperate not to be caught, I ran with all my might, and eventually I was cornered… and threw myself into a river swollen into a raging torrent by days of rain—

“…Hah!”

And then the ‘me in reality’ jolted awake.

I was on a simple bed for sisters inside the church.

“Haa… haa…”

This was reality.

A church far from the Carlson territory, a place blessed with people who treated me kindly.

I had once again seen that prophetic dream.

“Prophetic…?”

No.
It was not prophecy.

Because that scene was not the future.

It was an entirely different history, one I had not walked, one I had avoided.

“…Haa.”

I still had no certainty.
But perhaps…

Though I did not recognize it as such…

Perhaps, once… I had died.

That was the feeling I had.