“If you want, I can help you get a divorce. You didn’t want the marriage with the King, did you?”
Leticia silently looked at Noel. Her black eyes, dark as berries, looked worriedly at Leticia.
“I wish for you to be happy, Lady Leticia. I hope that you can be with the one you love.”
“…….”
“Do you really need to keep up a marriage you’re forced into to the very end?”
Leticia didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she whispered softly.
“A forced marriage…….”
She nodded slowly with a faint smile.
“You’re right. I’d forgotten.”
Her past life.
Leticia had never dared to dream of a divorce. The only way for her to live had been to kill Deitrian.
But Deitrian wouldn’t be the same. If divorce had been an option, he would have certainly chosen it.
“Since it’s an unwanted marriage…… I should make sure before getting married.”
She had momentarily forgotten in her own thoughts.
The fact that Deitrian would not be pleased with their marriage.
In this life, she didn’t want to impose the same burden on him as in the past.
And to do that, she had to make sure before getting married.
‘I have only half a year to keep you.’
‘After that, I will let you go.’
“Noel, I have a favor to ask. I want to see him tonight.”
* * *
On the way back after the tea party, Deitrian didn’t say a word.
No, he couldn’t.
It was hard enough to suppress his boiling anger. Even though he tried to forget for a moment, the blood she had shed did not leave his mind.
Moreover, it was not the first time he had left her injured. That fact drove him mad.
He wanted to rush to the royal palace right away to check on her, but he couldn’t. The holy knights were still surrounding the villa.
“Your Majesty, just wait for two days. Just endure for two days.”
Yulken, noticing Deitrian’s unusual demeanor, said.
It was no use. He could see her if he waited for two days, but those two days were hard for him.
So, as soon as he entered the villa, he locked the door and gave an order to his emissaries.
“We must find a secret passage to escape from here”
He had to see her. That was his determination.
“There must be a passage somewhere that can escape from this place out of their sight.”
There must be a secret passage somewhere that Leticia used to save Enok.
He decided to follow the path she had taken to reach her.
“A secret passage, you say?”
Suddenly, they had to find a secret passage.
The emissaries were taken aback, but they quickly obeyed Deitrian’s command. They knew their lord wouldn’t give a frivolous order.
“Why are you so angry, Your Majesty?”
“It seems the Holy Maiden and her daughter got into a big accident.”
“Our usually composed Your Majesty, being so furious… What on earth did they do?”
The search was not easy. The entire group of emissaries searched tirelessly, but they found nothing until the sun set. It was to be expected.
A secret passage wouldn’t be so easily noticeable.
As time went on, Deitrian grew more anxious.
‘Right at this moment, she might be lying there injured without receiving proper treatment.’
He ransacked the palace like a madman. Every suspicious-looking brick was tapped, and every painting was turned over.
But nothing was found.
He couldn’t bear it any longer. At this rate, he thought it would be better to just slay the holy knights, as he wouldn’t be able to control himself any longer.
Just then, another miracle happened.
“What’s this?”
When Deitrian returned after taking a short break, there was a neatly folded paper on his desk. In one corner, it had the signature “Leticia.”
‘Leticia? Could it be that she sent me a note?’
His eyes widened.
He unfolded the paper with slightly trembling hands.
“I have something to tell you before the wedding. I want to see you tonight.”
The message was clearly written, along with the time and place of the meeting. It even mentioned the secret passage through which he could leave the palace without being noticed by the holy knights—the very passage he had been desperately searching for all day.
“She really sent me a note.”
Deitrian quickly checked the time on his clock. Thankfully, there was still time before the scheduled meeting.
“Heh.”
Deitrian plopped down on the bed. He held the small note as if it were a lifeline. His eyelashes trembled under his closed eyelids.
She wanted to meet him.
“That must mean she’s okay.”
He felt a sense of relief.
Finally, a sense of relief washed over Deitrian. The meeting time written on the note was midnight. The time spent waiting for her felt like a dream.
It seemed to stretch on endlessly, yet at the same time, excitement filled his heart.
When the white moon had risen high in the night sky, Deitrian quietly slipped out of his bedroom.
Outside the window, the torches of the holy knights flickered red. Relying on the dim light, he made his way through the dark corridors of the palace.
As Leticia had instructed, he opened the door at the end of the corridor, and a cluttered storage room filled with odds and ends greeted him.
There were cobwebs here and there, as if no one had touched the place in a long time. In the innermost part of the room, a wooden decorative cabinet stood against the wall. As he pushed it to the side, he noticed a brick jutting out slightly.
“Hah.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle softly. What he had been desperately searching for was now so noticeable that he wondered how he hadn’t seen it before.
He pushed the brick gently, and as Leticia had said, the wall behind it moved with a creaking sound. It seemed to be a quite cleverly concealed device, as the sound wasn’t too loud.
It didn’t seem like the holy knights outside or the diplomats inside the palace would have heard it.
A moment later, with a dull thud, the brick wall moved forward, creating a gap big enough for a person to enter.
Carefully, Deitrian stepped inside, and the brick wall closed behind him, sealing him inside the secret passage.
As soon as he stepped inside, the slanted wall leaned back to its original position, sealing the entrance behind him.
The inside of the passage was pitch-dark. In the darkness, the sound of dripping water echoed faintly.
Without panicking, Deitrian took out a small gem, a holy artifact Leticia had sent along with the note. It contained the power of light.
Whispering the activation word softly, “Light,” a faint glow started emanating from the artifact. Blinking as if trying to adjust to the darkness, it gradually brightened until it resembled a small candle.
Deitrian relied on the light and moved forward carefully. He wanted to hurry and reach her, but he needed some time to calm his racing heart.
Nevertheless, as he reached the end of the passage, he was practically running.
Finally, when he was met with the faint light seeping through the old wooden door, his heart pounded like a drum.
Feeling the cold touch of metal, he gripped the doorknob tightly. Through the widening gap of the door, a long green meadow came into view.
And right in the middle of that garden, she stood.
Deitrian couldn’t catch his breath for a moment. She looked so beautiful standing under the moonlight.
Her delicate profile, gazing up at the night sky, seemed to emit its own light. Her green eyes sparkled like stars, and her long golden hair cascaded gracefully like waves.
Was it because he had fallen for her?
She looked like a scene from the most magnificent painting ever created by the greatest artist in the world.
Lost in admiring her, Leticia sensed his presence and slowly turned her body.
“Ah.”
She let out a soft gasp and then smiled faintly.
“Nice to see you again, Your Highness.”
Her perfectly shaped lips formed a gentle curve. Distracted by staring at her lips, Deitrian barely regained his composure.
“Are you… alright?”
Despite having so much to say, concern was the first thing that came out of his mouth. He had been worried about her since the end of the banquet, and that concern had plagued him all day.
“My well-being?”
Leticia tilted her head curiously and then smiled again.
“Yes, I’m always in good health.”
“But…”
Deitrian’s words faltered for a moment, but he mustered the courage to continue.
Having witnessed her getting injured several times, Deitrian couldn’t believe it. He had seen her collapse twice, once at the central temple and once near the western palace. However, he remembered the forgotten fact – she didn’t remember their encounters.
“Actually, there’s something I really need to tell Your Highness,” Leticia spoke, her tense demeanor palpable. Deitrian’s expression mirrored her seriousness.
“Please, go ahead.”
He wondered what could be bothering her. Perhaps she had some worries. If that were the case, he decided he would first resolve her concerns and then discuss their relationship.
However, what she said next was beyond his imagination.
“There’s something I want you to promise me before we get married.”
“What promise do you speak of?”
Leticia bit her lip, clearly anxious. After a moment of silence, she looked at him with determination.
“After six months, I hope you will grant me a divorce.”
Deitrian was stunned, his mind unable to process her request.
“…pardon?”
“It’s a forced marriage, isn’t it? I don’t think there’s a need to continue an unwanted marriage.”
“An unwanted marriage.”
He repeated her words in a daze. Slowly, he began to understand her meaning.
She wanted a divorce from him.
She didn’t want to marry him.
“So, you’re saying you want a divorce from me.”
He couldn’t believe it, so he asked again. Leticia nodded firmly, her lips still tightly pressed together. The branches above swayed in the wind.
Deitrian stared at her in confusion.
‘What on earth is going on?’
After receiving her note, he had imagined countless conversations they would have. In those scenarios, she would smile, blush, and sometimes act awkward around him.
But he could never have imagined this.
‘She wants a divorce from me?’
She didn’t want him. His mind went blank, and he couldn’t find the right words to say.
As Deitrian remained speechless and frozen, Leticia spoke again.
“I understand. Your Highness, you don’t want to break the sacred marriage vow.”
What is she talking about?
He tried hard to gather his thoughts while looking at her tightly held hand.
‘Is she saying that he doesn’t want a divorce because of the sacred marriage vow?’
He shook his head unconsciously.
The marriage vow meant nothing. No, it might have meant something at one point, but ever since he met her, his world had turned upside down.
What mattered to him was her. He wanted to say that he wanted to be with her, that he only cared about her.
“But please, think it over carefully. What’s more important than a vow is the heart, isn’t it? When you truly love someone, you shouldn’t be bound to each other like prisoners.”
Leticia called herself a prisoner.
“So, I think it’s better to part ways at the right time.”
Her voice sounded so desperate. Deitrian, who was still standing there, murmured softly.
“A prisoner, huh…”
It felt like something inside him was crumbling. After a long while, he managed to reply.
“I see.”
I was your prisoner.
“If that’s what you wish, I will do as you said.”
Desolation washed over him. He never imagined that the budding affection in his heart would shatter so messily.
“Is that all you want to say?”
“No.”
Deitrian slowly raised his head.
Under the moonlight, she still looked lovely, but unlike before, facing her was painful.
“As you know, after the wedding, we will hold the night vigil. My mother will send people to verify the night vigil. To handle that situation well, we need to be prepared.”
For some reason, Leticia looked even more distressed as she spoke those words.
Deitrian easily caught her intention. She couldn’t spend the night vigil with a man she didn’t love, so she wanted him to pretend they spent the night together.
Deitrian let out a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Don’t worry. I will never force you to do something you don’t want. So, there’s no need to prepare for the night vigil.”
“No. I need to.”
Sweat trickled from Leticia’s tightly held hands.
A few hours ago, after Noel had left, Leticia remained alone in the room, going over what she wanted to say to Deitrian.
She wanted to tell him not to feel burdened because they would part ways in six months. However, something strange happened.
The words “I will divorce you” kept getting stuck in her throat. The mere thought of saying them brought tears to her eyes.
At first, she didn’t know the reason, but soon she realized it.
It was because of her desire for Deitrian.
They had finally met, and she only had six months left. She had no intention of letting her feelings develop, so she thought, “Why not indulge in a little desire for him?”
As the thought extended, she couldn’t help but feel selfish for wanting more from him despite having such a short time left.
She wondered if there was a way to approach him without causing him pain. After much consideration, she finally came up with a shallow excuse.
“We need to prepare so that you can handle that day well.”
Leticia took a deep breath.
At this moment, this excuse was more important than her request for a divorce.
She had practiced this line several times, yet it still didn’t come out easily.
“If we practice beforehand, wouldn’t it be better for you on the actual day?”
“Practice?”
“Yes.”
Leticia looked at him with trembling eyes.
“I thought maybe if you had some practice with me, you would feel better on the actual day.”
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