Chapter 2: The bride has returned from the church to her family home.

When the carriage returned to the estate, the butler Lloyd greeted it with a broad smile and then collapsed on the spot.

He must never have imagined that I would step out of the carriage still wearing my wedding dress.

This was the first time I had ever seen the normally composed Lloyd like this since I was old enough to remember things.

Feeling sorry that the elderly butler might hurt his back, I reached out my hand.

“Young Lady?
Maria-sama?”

“Yes.
It’s me.
Get up already.
You’re troubling everyone else.”

The servants were frozen in their bowing posture.
I knew it was my fault, so I wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

Lloyd stood up and tried to regain his usual calm.

“What on earth happened!?
Mead, explain what happened.”

The coachman Mead hesitantly walked over.

“I don’t know.
I was waiting outside the church.
Then the young lady came out of the chapel alone and said, ‘We’re going home.’”

“I stopped the wedding.
Mead, go back and pick up Father and the others.
Sorry for the extra trouble.”

Mead and Lloyd froze.
As expected of the longtime retainers of the Count Kruse household, even in shock, their expressions did not change.

“…Uh, um.
Young Lady!?”

“I’m going to rest in my room.
Bell, please.”

Ah.
Bell is… not here.

Bell, my personal maid, is still waiting at the church.
She was supposed to accompany me directly to my marital home.

“I left Bell behind.
Send another carriage to fetch her.”

Leaving those words behind, I headed for my room.
As I noticed several maids hurrying after me, I realized something.

I need to change out of my wedding dress.

This dress is troublesome both to put on and to take off.

Feeling fed up, I spun around and said.

“Two of you will be enough.
And please bring me some warm soup and bread.
I’m hungry.”

At my words, two of them turned toward the kitchen.
The other servants were still standing there in a daze.

“It’s like seeing the former Great Madam.”

I heard Lloyd mutter as he followed behind.

Once I was freed from the heavy dress, my spirits lifted instantly.
I felt like staying in just my undergarments.
Or maybe a nightdress.

But since it was only three in the afternoon, that felt improper.

So I had them dress me in the simplest, loosest dress I owned.

“Come to think of it, my nightdresses were sent to the marquis estate too.
Even if they’re returned, I don’t think I’ll feel like using them.”

When I said that casually, the maids flinched.
An oddly tense atmosphere spread through the room.

They must be confused by my unusually forceful tone, so unlike my usual self.

It was as though they were handling something fragile.
The maids wouldn’t even meet my eyes.

Not just my nightdresses, but several days’ worth of clothes and small daily necessities had already been sent ahead to the marquis estate.

Without those small items, daily life would be extremely inconvenient.

My usual brush, hand mirror, and cosmetics.

My favorite handkerchiefs and indoor shoes.

For now, I had no choice but to have guest-room items brought in.

I bitterly regretted not making my decision a few days earlier.

Just as things finally settled down, my meal was brought in.

They had been thoughtful.
On the tray were my absolute favorite things: green pea potage loaded with generous amounts of butter and fresh cream, along with freshly baked bread.

Swallowing hard, I immediately picked up my spoon.

I melted the cream and butter into the thick soup and brought a spoonful to my mouth.

Ah.
It’s deeply delicious.

For the past few days, everything I ate had felt like chewing sand.
The large silver spoon made me happy.
The blue-green soup was beautiful, and that made me happy.
Being able to taste it with my tongue made me happy.

When I swallowed, my stomach grew warm.

Happy.

Come to think of it, for the two months before I died, I hadn’t been able to eat properly.

Even after returning, I had been desperate the entire time, and I don’t remember the taste of any meals at all.
I must have just been mechanically putting food into my mouth.

“It’s delicious.
Please tell Chef John thank you.”

As the servant carrying the dishes left, Butler Lloyd knocked on the door.

“Come in, Lloyd.”

He stood silently at an angle in front of me.
But he said nothing.

“Why don’t you say something?”

When I prompted him, he finally opened his mouth.

“I was unsure where to begin.
With the fact that you have returned home.
That you have stopped the wedding.
Or that your personality seems to have suddenly changed.”

I sensed a slight hint of sarcasm, but I let it pass.

Now that he put it that way, I wasn’t sure where to start either.

“I came home because I stopped the wedding.
I stopped the wedding because Jason-sama has a mistress and an illegitimate child, and because he was planning to kill me.
And the reason my personality seems different is because I’m extremely excited right now.”

Lloyd pressed his fist to his stomach and sucked in a sharp breath.

As expected of a man known as the perfect butler, it was impressive that he didn’t show his agitation openly after hearing all that.

“I understand.
Please rest at your leisure.
I will inform you once everyone has returned.”

Before leaving the room, he turned back once.

“You resemble the former Great Madam very much right now.
So much that it feels nostalgic.”

He smiled and left.

For some reason, Lloyd looked younger than usual.
Perhaps it was because of that mischievous expression.

Once I was finally alone in the room, I let out a long breath.

I really did it.

I caused something completely unthinkable.

I asked myself.

‘Did I really do that?’
‘Was it a dream?’
‘No… even in a dream, I don’t think that version of me would appear.’

Something surged up in my throat.

What came out was a suppressed laugh.

Once it escaped, I couldn’t stop it, and it turned into hysterical, uncontrollable laughter.

This is awful.
I’ve never laughed like this before.

Even when I tried to stop, I couldn’t.

I bent over, clutching my stomach with my arms as I kept laughing.

Eventually I ran out of breath and finally stopped.
Tears were spilling down my face.

It seems I had been laughing and crying at the same time.
No wonder it hurt so much.

I never knew that laughing and crying could be this exhausting.

But I also felt refreshed, as though I had finally drawn a clear line under something.