Chapter 2: Little Luggage, Plenty of Evidence
The morning after I declared I wanted a divorce, I woke earlier than anyone else in the mansion.
The sky was still dark.
Frost covered the world outside the window, and the tips of the garden trees glimmered white.
Only the recuperation room in the south wing remained as softly warm as ever.
Lucy breathed quietly in her sleep.
She had struggled to fall asleep last night.
After I announced the divorce, Gilbert had shouted for quite some time.
Lilia cried, the servants lowered their eyes, and Lucy trembled in my arms.
That was why I packed during the night.
Lucy’s underclothes.
Soft socks.
Small bottles filled with powdered medicinal herbs.
Her fever records.
Her favorite stuffed rabbit.
Three dresses for myself would be enough.
I would leave behind the jewels and decorations, taking only what was necessary.
But I took every document.
A copy of the marriage contract.
The inventory of my dowry.
The receipts for the renovations to the south wing recuperation room.
Lucy’s medical certificates.
The account records proving that my family had been paying for Lucy’s treatment.
And the petition for separation and divorce mediation addressed to the Royal Capital Court.
Perhaps because the memories of my previous life had returned, my mind had been astonishingly clear since last night.
I still had emotions.
I still felt anger and sadness.
But I had no time to drown in them.
When leaving a house with a child, luggage, destination, and evidence must come before emotions.
I had seen it happen many times in my previous life.
“Milady.”
A restrained voice called out as the maid Hannah entered.
She was the servant who had accompanied me from my family home when I married into this house.
Her black hair was always neatly tied back, and she was usually calm and composed.
But this morning, her complexion looked pale.
“The carriage is prepared.
The coachman is from House Weiss.
It has been brought around to the back gate.”
“Thank you.
I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
“I do not feel dragged into anything.”
Hannah shook her head.
“I serve you and Lady Lucy.
Not the marquis.”
Her words warmed something inside my chest.
“Hannah.”
“Please save the crying for inside the carriage.
We do not have time right now.”
“…You’re right.”
When I smiled slightly, Hannah’s lips softened just a little as well.
Before waking Lucy, I held my hand over the fireplace in the recuperation room.
People considered my magic unimpressive.
It did not create fire.
It did not heal illness.
All it could do was preserve existing warmth and gradually transfer it into things that had grown cold.
In noble society, people had mocked it as “hot water bottle magic.”
But this magic had carried Lucy safely through the winters.
I moved the remaining heat from the fireplace into the blankets and warmed Lucy’s change of clothes.
I wrapped the medicine bottles in thick cloth and cast small spells to keep their temperature from dropping.
Just then, the door was thrown open roughly.
“Milady, this is an order from the master.
Lady Lucy’s belongings are to be moved to the north wing.”
The one who entered was Ada, a maid employed by the marquis house.
She called me “milady,” but there was no respect in her voice.
Because Gilbert treated me lightly, many of the servants behaved the same way.
She was one of those who delayed cleaning Lucy’s room and brought medicinal broth after it had already gone cold.
The moment Ada saw the bags at my feet, her eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
“Preparing to leave.”
“You were serious?
There is no way the master will permit this.”
“I am not seeking permission.
The petition for separation was sent to the Royal Capital Court first thing this morning.”
“The court…?”
Ada’s expression changed.
I placed a hand on the medicine box atop the desk.
“Do not touch this medicine box.
These are medicinal treatments prescribed based on Lucy’s medical records.
If you interfere with removing them, it will be submitted as obstruction of a young child’s medical treatment.”
“You’re making this sound far too dramatic.”
“Whether it is dramatic or not will be decided by the court investigators.”
Ada bit her lip in frustration.
At that moment, footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Heavy footsteps filled with irritation.
“Noelia.”
Gilbert stood in the doorway.
He probably had not slept well last night.
There were faint shadows beneath his eyes.
Even so, his handsome features remained immaculate, and his silver-gray hair was perfectly arranged.
Once upon a time, I had thought this man beautiful.
Now, he only felt distant.
“You truly intend to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Lilia’s condition worsened last night.”
“That is unfortunate.
Please summon a physician.”
“She needs your magic.”
“I will use my magic for Lucy.”
Gilbert stared at me as though seeing something unbelievable.
“Were you always such a cold woman?”
“No.”
I picked up Lucy’s cloak.
“I am simply a woman who will not leave her daughter in a cold room.”
“Lilia has done nothing to you.”
“I am not blaming Lady Lilia.
I am rejecting your judgment.”
“A wife should support her husband.”
“A husband should have protected his daughter.”
Gilbert’s face stiffened.
In that silence, Lucy woke up.
She looked at me sleepily, then noticed her father standing at the door.
“Papa…?”
Her voice was tiny.
Still clutching her stuffed rabbit, Lucy hesitantly reached out her hand a little.
Gilbert never looked at it.
His eyes were fixed on the documents in my hands.
“Withdraw that petition.
If you do now, I will forgive you.”
Lucy’s hand slowly lowered.
I lifted my daughter into my arms.
I dressed her in the cloak I had warmed beforehand and pulled the hood over her head.
Lucy buried her face against my shoulder.
“Mommy… was Lucy a bad girl?”
“No.”
I answered immediately.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Gilbert let out an irritated breath.
“Noelia, stop using the child to attack me.”
“I am not attacking you.
I am merely recording things.”
“What?”
“The fact that you ignored this child’s outstretched hand will also remain on record.”
Gilbert’s lips moved, but no words came out.
I glanced toward Hannah.
She picked up the luggage and carried the medicine box.
Two guards from House Weiss stood waiting in the hallway.
“If you leave, you will not be able to come back so easily.”
Gilbert spoke in a low voice.
Holding Lucy in my arms, I turned back toward him.
“I am leaving precisely so I will never return.”
The carriage waiting at the back gate was modest, but warmly prepared inside.
Thick blankets covered the seats, and heat-retaining stones rested at our feet.
When I sat Lucy down, she anxiously grabbed my sleeve.
“I didn’t say bye-bye to Papa.”
“That’s true.”
“Lucy wanted to say bye-bye.”
Those words pierced my chest.
I stroked her hair.
Soft chestnut-colored hair.
It had a slight curl to it and always stuck up after waking.
“If we ever meet again, you can say it then.
But today is the day we go somewhere warm.”
“Somewhere warm?”
“Yes.
A place where you can drink warm soup and sleep in a soft bed.”
Lucy thought about it for a moment, then gave a tiny nod.
“With Mommy?”
“Of course.”
The carriage began to move.
The mansion gates slowly faded into the distance.
I never looked back.
What I had left behind in that mansion was not lingering attachment to my husband.
It was the people who tried to take my daughter’s room away from her, and the past I had decided never to return to again.