I Supported My Fiancé for 10 Years After He Said, 'Let's Get Married When I Succeed,' but When He Finally Did, He Dumped Me. By the Way, I'm a Witch and Turning 30 Next Year!! - Episode 11
I had a bad feeling about this, so I told Merv Maple to enter through the back door.
Rymer marched straight up to me and started complaining about something unexpected.
“What’s with that kid earlier?”
“Kid?”
“You were holding the hand of a child wearing a cape, weren’t you?”
Was he talking about Merv Maple? I thought I had hidden him well, but it seems Rymer saw everything.
“Don’t tell me… That’s your secret child?”
“When exactly was I supposed to have been pregnant?”
“You’re a witch, aren’t you? Can’t you secretly give birth or something?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That child was entrusted to me by the previous generation.”
“Is that true?”
“Why would I lie?”
Rymer gave me a doubtful look.
I let out a long, deep sigh.
“More importantly, what are you trying to pull!?”
“What do you mean?”
I was surprised at how cold my own voice sounded.
Just yesterday, I had cherished Rymer so much, and yet now, it felt strange.
“Don’t play dumb! You know exactly what I mean!”
“I have no idea. What are you talking about?”
“Don’t mess with me!!”
People passing by started staring at our argument.
Not wanting to cause a scene, I urged him to step inside the pharmacy.
It was his first time here. I had invited him before, but he always found it too bothersome to visit.
“How did you even find this place?”
“I asked around. I’m surprised… This is a proper shop.”
He had apparently assumed I was running a business in some run-down shack about to collapse.
Rymer looked around the store, unusually impressed.
“So, what do you want?”
When I asked, Rymer suddenly snapped back to attention, furrowed his brows, and started accusing me.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know! What’s the deal with the rent being five gold coins!?”
“What about it?”
“The landlord came by today to collect it! He just stood there with a straight face and demanded five gold coins!!”
I had no idea what he was talking about at first, but then I remembered—yesterday, Rymer had claimed he had already paid the rent.
He must have mistakenly thought that the two silver coins he gave me every month were for the rent.
“Listen, Rymer, I need you to stay calm and hear me out. The two silver coins you’ve been paying each month were for community maintenance fees.”
“What?”
“The rent is five gold coins.”
Back when we got engaged, Rymer was a regular knight earning five silver coins a month.
Later, he passed the Holy Knight exam, and his salary increased to two gold coins.
His pay had improved compared to ten years ago, but after we moved to a row house in Central District, the rent became unaffordable.
“No way… The rent is five gold coins, and the maintenance fee is two silver coins?”
“The landlord told us that when we were looking for a place, remember?”
“He did not!”
“You just weren’t paying attention.”
Our kind-hearted landlord had explained the costs multiple times, probably worried that we, being so young, wouldn’t be able to afford them.
“The rental houses in that area may be in the Central District, but it’s a neighborhood for middle-class people in their fifties or sixties who are well-off.”
Most of the neighbors were old enough to be our parents. It wasn’t a place for young people like us without noble titles.
“That’s nonsense! Back when we lived in the lower town, the rent was only one silver coin!”
“That’s because that apartment complex was managed by my father’s friend, so we got a special deal. In the capital’s central area, rent skyrockets.”
I wanted to yell, You clueless rich boy!!, but if I stooped to his level, it would only taint my soul.
I swallowed my words.
“If you don’t believe me, go ask the couple next door.”
“You probably told them to lie for you!”
“After parting ways with you last night, I came straight here. How exactly would I have arranged such a thing?”
“You could have! You were just lazing around all day anyway!”
“Haaahhh…”
He didn’t even realize that I worked from morning to night.
How had I never noticed how foolish he was before?
Honestly, I should be thanking him for breaking off our engagement yesterday!
“There’s a contract in the drawer of your chest upstairs. You signed it yourself. The rent is clearly written there, so go check.”
“You’re just trying to get rid of me with some made-up excuse!”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“It’s a lie!!”
The moment Rymer shouted that, the entire pharmacy shook with a loud BANG!!
“Wah!!”
On top of that, a deep, monstrous voice roared from the back of the store.
“Whaaa!!!”
Panicked, Rymer spun on his heel, yanked the door open, and bolted.
Just as I was wondering what had happened, a voice called from behind me.
“Are you alright?”
“Dryad, did you do that?”
“Yes.”
Apparently, Dryad couldn’t tolerate Rymer’s shouting anymore and decided to scare him off.
Even though the entire pharmacy shook, not a single product had fallen.
“I made sure nothing got knocked over,” Dryad said proudly.
“As expected of a tree spirit.”
For once, Dryad did something helpful.
As thanks, I gave him a cup of hot water mixed with brown sugar.
“Is he gone?”
Merv Maple peeked out cautiously.
I had ended up scaring him too.
“I’m sorry about that guy.”
“It’s okay.”
I never imagined Rymer would mistake Merv Maple for my secret child.
If I had been pregnant, I wouldn’t have been able to work through the sickness and fatigue.
Clearly, Rymer never cared about me—only about the money I made.
“Merv Maple, that man is dangerous. If he ever comes here again, hide somewhere, okay?”
“Got it.”
I also asked Dryad to keep Rymer out of the pharmacy.
“Understood!”
I needed to take my own precautions too.
Maybe I should put up some kind of anti-Rymer barrier, like a bug repellent.