YCKTML Chapter 85

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“Why did you tell me to come? What do you want to say?”

As Rupert was about to approach me, Damon grabbed the sword from its sheath and stood in front of me to block him. Then, a spark flashed in Rupert’s eyes.

“Then you…”

Rupert recognized Damon at that moment. Even in the hunting competition, Damon had spoken to me while I was with Rupert. 

I stopped Damon, judging that it was dangerous due to the harsh atmosphere. “Damon, it’s okay. Leave it.”

“My lady, please be careful.”

Damon placed his sword back on the scabbard and stepped back. I thought Rupert’s eyes blazed when he looked at Damon, but he turned to me and sighed before I could confirm it.

“You even came with an escort knight? I said we were just going to talk.”

“…I always have him with me now.”

Rupert looked around and pointed to my carriage.

“Let’s talk.”

“Okay.”

I was relieved he didn’t ask us to go inside the townhouse.

Before getting into the carriage, Damon blocked Rupert again and said, “Leave your sword before entering, Duke Clifford.”

“Count Rosen, you must have still been a kid the last time I saw you. You’ve gotten cocky.”

“I am only responsible for milady’s safety.”

Rupert looked displeased, but he released the sword and nervously handed it to Damon.

Thank goodness he was being relatively obedient.

Rupert wanted to escort me into the carriage, but I turned to Damon instead and held his hand.

Rupert and I sat facing each other, and Damon stood a little further away with the carriage door open on purpose.

“Tell me now.”

“Do we have to leave this door open?”

“…Yes, that would make me feel at ease.”

Rupert then took a deep breath and suddenly grabbed his head with both hands. I was puzzled by how painful it looked.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“These days… I’ve been having headaches. Especially when I’m agitated.”

Why was that? I was a little worried, but I didn’t make it obvious. Things would get complicated if Rupert had even a little hope.

Luckily, Rupert spoke first.

“Why are you in such a hurry to get a divorce? After all, our contract period was for one year, and if we complete that period, I’ll pay back the four billion gold debt and the rest of the other four billion.”

“I have money, so I don’t have to stay in the marriage.”

“Did…did you hate it that much?” He sounded hurt. 

I replied coldly, deliberately not looking at his face, “Yes.”

“…Is that so.”

As I glanced at him, muttering self-deprecatingly, I offered a little comfort as calmly as I could.

“Our marriage was contractual anyway, and I don’t want to blame you anymore. We just have to finish it neatly and live well for each other.”

In any case, in order to reach an agreement here, I had to calm him down so that he wouldn’t change his mind. 

I carefully spoke, paying attention to the tone of my voice. “Chloe… Where is she now?”

Before I found out that Chloe was a black magician, I figured it was natural for Rupert to marry her, but now I couldn’t recommend it.

“Chloe…?” Rupert, who was bowing his head, suddenly looked up to stare at me and muttered stupidly.

“Yes, Chloe. Don’t you know?”

“Chloe… Ugh.”

Again, Rupert shook his head in agony. Looking at him, it seemed that it wasn’t just a headache.

“Rupert, Rupert.”

I grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly, and he took a deep breath before returning to his senses.

“As expected, Chloe was the problem.”

“What?”

Suddenly, I watched as Rupert jumped and went down the carriage. Then he looked at me and knelt on the ground.

“Rupert, what are you doing?”

Damon, who had been standing outside, stared at Rupert in surprise.

Rupert’s blue eyes looked at me in sorrow.

“Please… Could you forgive me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll let Chloe go. No, I won’t see her anymore if you don’t like it. So please… Let’s just not divorce.”

For a moment, I was taken aback and at a loss for words. But since he came out like this, I had to keep my cool as much as possible.

“Get up, Rupert. This won’t change anything.”

“Erin, Erin Spilet,” Rupert repeated as he crawled on his knees and hung around the entrance of the carriage. “I know how hard it was for you. I stupidly realized my heart too late. You’ll regret it if you leave like this. Erin, you used to love me, look at me.”

As he spoke, I looked into Rupert’s eyes to see tears welling up. 

The tears reminded me of the day I sent the divorce agreement. Would the result have been different if our first meeting had been different?

The answer was no.

Although Rupert was a bad husband to Erin, it wasn’t just the reason that I decided to divorce him.

I didn’t love Rupert, not even for a moment. No matter how well things changed and we got along, I would only have seen him as a good friend.

If I were really Erin, I would have been shaken if Rupert told me he’d abandon Chloe. But, I wasn’t her.

“Stop it. I have come to see you as promised, so please sign the agreement.”

Rupert was silent for a while. I urged him, thinking that I couldn’t waste more time.

“Where is the agreement I sent you? Is it in the house?”

“I’ll get it.” 

As he bit his lip and nodded his head, Damon snuck in.

“You there.” But Rupert’s heavy voice stopped him. “Stay still, because if you move one step, I will kill you.”

The way he spoke to Damon was ruthless. His tone made me wonder if this person was the one who desperately clung to me.

“Rupert.”

Rupert, who did not answer my call, muttered as he bowed his head, “If we divorce like this, the Crown Prince will not be safe.”

“…What, what do you mean?”

Then he raised his head and turned to me. There was still earnestness in the eyes looking at me, but behind it was a mixture of obsession and anger. The sight instantly terrified me.

“If you keep the marriage, I will continue to be a strong supporter of Enoch Dwell Rikephoros, but if you divorce me, I will do the opposite.”

“…Are you going to commit treason now?”

“Treason is what you say when you disobey the Emperor. Now, Enoch isn’t an Emperor but a mere prince. He could be deposed at any time.”

“Rupert…!”

The corner of Rupert’s lips rose when he saw how flustered I was. He seemed to think his words had worked.

Of course, what he said about Enoch was shocking. I didn’t know Rupert could say such words so openly.

“What do you think? I know you are very close with the Crown Prince. Are you going to betray him? If you lose me, that handsome prince will suffer greatly.”

“You’re threatening because I won’t hang onto you.”

“I’m sorry for that. But it’s better for me to be mean than to lose you.”

I gritted my teeth in anger. I resented myself for having sympathized with him for a while. It had certainly shaken me to think that Enoch could be in danger.

‘I’m sorry, Your Highness.’

“Yes, but it has nothing to do with me if His Highness is in danger. My resolve has not changed. So, Rupert, sign it.”

I spoke to him wearily, and Rupert looked up at me like a convict sentenced to death.

He slowly stood up. I thought he was finally giving up.

But as soon as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly rushed into the carriage and started strangling me.

“I’d rather lose you like this…”

“R-Rupert…Ugh…!”

For a moment, the tremendous pressure made it impossible to breathe. I struggled like crazy, but Rupert was already out of his mind from the start.

Damon and the knights ran up to him and tried to pull him off. However, since it was a small space, several people could not rush in, and Damon couldn’t withstand Rupert’s power.

As soon as Damon pulled out his sword and tried to cut Rupert, Rupert stepped back, grabbed Damon by the collar, and threw him on the floor. Rupert had Damon’s sword in his hand.

“Ugh,” Damon groaned, grabbing his bloody arm.

“Cough, cough…!”

I was able to get out of his grasp. But another problem followed.

Rupert kicked Damon as if trying to kill him. Upon closer look, he was smirking, his expression like that of a devil. A chill ran down my spine when I saw him. 

“You’ve gone insane… No.”

Rupert’s tremendous momentum prevented the Imperial Knights from attacking hastily. It looked like he was going to stab Damon and kill him if they made a wrong move.

I immediately jumped out of the carriage and hugged Rupert from behind.

“Rupert, please, stop it!”

Rupert tried to violently shake me off, but I held on desperately.

And soon, he became silent.

“Rupert?”

When I slowly loosened my grip on him, Rupert staggered helplessly, dropping his sword to the ground.

I turned around and went in front of him before beckoning the knights to move Damon to one side.

Rupert’s blue eyes flickered frantically, revealing confusion.

“Ugh, I…”

Was it not his will? Could it be that he was being influenced by black magic?

I reached out to him.

And at that moment, Rupert pulled away, and our eyes met. The corners of his eyes were all red, and fear was clearly reflected in them.

“Ru…pert.”

He ran away mid-call without answering. I looked in the direction he disappeared, my heart pounding at the ominous feeling.