Chapter 7: The Wife Was Not at Home

“Is Electra really not in the house?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Why?
Harid wondered.
No reason came to mind.

“…While I was away, was she always out indulging herself?”

When Harid asked that, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

“At the very least, please do not say such things about Lady Electra in front of the other servants.
I cannot understand why you would demean Lady Electra in such a manner, my lord.
For these past two years, she has truly devoted herself to the Carlson Barony.
All of us servants hold her in high regard.
Naturally, she carried out her duties splendidly.”

“…Are you saying that I neglected the work of this house?”

Annoyed by the head steward Said’s strong words, Harid shot back.

“My lord, you must be exhausted.
The things you have been saying for a while now make little sense.
Why must you speak so of a man who fought on the battlefield?”

“Then what was that just now?”

“To show respect to the baroness who married into this house and fulfilled her duties admirably.
And to admonish the master of the house for directing unfounded and insulting suspicions toward such a woman.
Both are only natural for those who serve the House of Carlson.
Rather, failing to do so would make us unfit as servants.
Truly, my lord, what are you saying?”

“Enough!”

Irritated, Harid hurried to the study.

He had thought it might be unused and in disarray, but that was unfounded.
The room was clean and neatly arranged.
He could begin working there immediately.

“Electra’s letter, is this it?
…Huh?”

Harid picked up the letter placed conspicuously on the desk.

At the same time, another folded sheet slipped down and fell to the floor.

As Harid reflexively bent to pick it up—

“…What?”

He froze when he realized what the paper was.

“What… is this…?”

It was an official divorce document issued by the kingdom.

In fact, Harid himself had brought the same document with him today.
Naturally, it already bore his own name.
He had planned to present it, believing Electra would cling to him in tears, and even so, he had resolved to steel his heart for the sake of his beloved Livia.

But the divorce document Harid picked up already bore his wife Electra’s name.

The two documents were like matching halves of a single whole.

“Why…”

Harid’s hands trembled.

He was about to shout at the head steward to demand an explanation, but stopped and turned instead to Electra’s letter.

He roughly unfolded the stationery and began to read.

‘Dear Harid Carlson.

I have always prayed for your safety.

However, upon hearing reports from the battlefield that you had found someone you love, I made up my mind as well.

It seems that I am no longer necessary.

I did wonder just what you were doing on the battlefield, but…

I have also been informed of your exploits, so I do not doubt your achievements.

I also sensed malicious intent in the way such news was reported.

I cannot allow my presence to trouble the people of the territory or cause suffering to the servants.

Therefore, I will proceed with a divorce at once.

I have made arrangements so that the servants may continue their lives even if the master of the house is absent for some time.

Electra Vent.’

Without realizing it, Harid sank to his knees on the spot.

‘P.S.
I am deeply disappointed in you.
It seems I was a fool to try to remain chaste for someone like you.
From the looks of it, you enjoyed infidelity to your heart’s content on the battlefield.
That truly surprised me.
So such knights do exist?
I would like to think you are the only one.
At this point, I am even glad that I can divorce you.
I never wish to see your face again.
Farewell.’

From the sharp words on the page, he could feel his wife’s anger.

It was true that today, Harid had intended to demand a divorce from Electra.
He had assumed she would cling to him in tears.

But when he opened the lid, this was what awaited him.

Awkwardness, guilt, and perhaps naïve optimism.
Somewhere within him, he may have been expecting that something would remain unchanged even after he demanded a divorce.

No—he had arrogantly thought that even if she became an ‘obstacle,’ he would simply ‘endure’ until the divorce was finalized.

All of it had been splashed with cold water head-on.

Shame.

Had he believed that his wife loved him?

Disappointment.

A sense of loss.

The woman he had planned to divorce was already gone.
He should have been able to feel refreshed.

And yet—

An unpleasant, lingering feeling.

Something different from regret.

“I was… abandoned…?”

Yes.
He had intended to abandon her.

But this felt as though he had been the one discarded.

No—she had taken the initiative and filed for divorce first.
In truth, Harid was the one who had been thrown away.

For someone about to begin a new romance, it was infuriating.

The fact that things had gone exactly as his absent wife intended irritated him deeply.

“My lord, have you read the letter?”

“Said, when did you receive this letter…?”

“About a month ago, I believe.
After we were informed that your return was in sight.”

“…Why.”

“Yes.”

“…Why didn’t you stop Electra?”

“Did you want us to stop her?”

“Of course!”

Harid stood and glared at the head steward.

“Why?”

But Said calmly returned the question.

“What did you say?”

“You intended to divorce Lady Electra, did you not?
That is why you brought that young lady back with you.”

“Th-that’s…!”

“You had prepared a divorce document yourself, had you not?”

“Gh…!”

Harid looked away.

Over his clothes, he clenched the divorce document he had prepared.

“…Men often believe that a woman who has shown them affection will swear eternal love to them.
It is nothing more than a fantasy.
Between you and Lady Electra, there was not even such love to begin with, was there?
If so, is it not only natural that she would give up on you after your infidelity?
My lord… you intended to abandon Lady Electra today, did you not?”

“I—I…!
But I was thinking about her future as well…!”

“Unnecessary, for Lady Electra.
In consideration of your achievements as a hero, she even declined any compensation.
She said that rather than waste time quarreling with you, she wished to begin a new life at once.
…I sensed not even a fragment of lingering affection toward you from Lady Electra.”

“Gh…!”

At last, Harid understood the source of the unease he had felt from the servants earlier.

They were angry.

Angry that Harid had chosen Livia.
Angry that he had intended to abandon Electra.

For two years, it had been Electra who bore the weight of the House of Carlson.

During that time, the servants had come to stand on her side.

A new life would begin in a manor filled with people who harbored nothing but anger toward Harid.

Rather than drawing a line under the past, he found himself surrounded by hostility from those left behind.

Their hearts were not with him, but with his wife.

And there was nothing Harid could do about it.

The wife from whom he had sought a divorce…
Was already no longer in the house.