To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 3

“Madam, your sleeve is frayed.”

“Eh!? Oh… you’re right.”

Since marrying my husband, my outings had mostly been to the store run by the Parlis family in town, often going in place of my husband, so I hadn’t had the luxury to go shopping for myself.

“Do you want to go shopping?”

“Yes, I haven’t had the chance to go out since coming to my husband’s house, so I was hoping to have some time tomorrow to go.”

“…You’ve never gone out since coming here?”

“No, I haven’t. However, my husband did mention going shopping before, but since I wasn’t invited, I didn’t bring it up myself…”

“…I’m sorry. We’ll go shopping together someday.”

“……”

(But I don’t have high hopes for someday… it’s always been like this…)

“…But the problem is… without me…”

“Is something wrong? It doesn’t have to be tomorrow, you know…”

“…Actually, I’ll be away from the house for a few weeks… I have to visit a business partner. I was just about to ask you to take care of the house and the store while I’m away…”

My husband looked at me with his hands clasped on the desk, his expression troubled.

“…I see. If it’s work, please don’t worry about me; I can go whenever, so please be careful while you’re out…”

“Haah, thank you… It helps to hear you say that. I plan to leave tomorrow morning.”

“Understood.”

I felt genuinely happy to see my husband smile and say it would help him.

“It’s planned for three weeks, but if you have any questions, ask the butler or the head maid.”

“Yes.”

He was loading a large amount of baggage onto the cart, making a noise as he did so.

(Does he really need this much for just himself…?)

Seeing Emily rushing down the stairs made Sophia gasp.

“I’m sorry, it took me a while to get ready.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Hearing their conversation, Sophia thought it was unexpected.

“Um… my husband, aren’t you going alone…?”

“Ah… I forgot to mention yesterday… Emily said she wanted to come along… I told her it would be a long journey…”

“It’s unfair for Big Brother to go alone.”

“No, it’s work… You don’t need to worry; I’ll take responsibility…”

“B-but…”

“Sorry, I’m counting on you for everything else.”

“I’ll get souvenirs!”

I was only watching as the two got into the carriage…

“…Madam…”

The butler, head maid, and maids nearby were worried about me and stayed close by. I went shopping for clothes with the maids and recalled spending the first night alone in the house without my husband, crying almost every night since we got married without spending time together.

When my husband and Emily returned, he merely said, “I’m sorry for being away.”

Returning to his room for the first time in a while, Alec was astonished at the mountain of documents on his desk.

“Wha… what’s this mountain of documents?”

“It’s your work, my lord.”

“Wha…! I told you I’d leave the work to you!”

“Yes, and that’s why I did my job. I’ve been busy managing the store, so I didn’t have time to handle your work as well.”

“…”

“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll be taking a break from work for a while, and I suggest you do the same…”

“!!”

I left my husband’s room and returned to mine.

“Don’t let anyone into my room, not even Emily…”

After telling the maid this, I heard my husband and Emily arguing in the hallway a few minutes later.

“…Marquis is busy now, so he can’t attend to Emily…”

That day, Sophia felt good.

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Having finished my work in place of my husband, I was walking down the hallway to return to my room.

“Marquis is quite frustrated…”

Seeing the head maid and the butler talking in the hallway, I thought that Emily was involved again. The discussions that troubled the head maid and the butler were always related to Emily.

“…What’s going on? It’s unusual to see both of you talking…”

“Oh! Madam…”

“…Madam, it seems the Marquis has given you more work…”

“…Don’t worry about it, it’s the usual thing…”

Everyone in the mansion knew about the relationship between my husband and me. He often left work unfinished and entrusted the rest to me, spending more time with Emily… Everyone was concerned about me, with one maid even saying, “Please don’t say you’re going to leave the mansion,” so I couldn’t leave.

“I heard my husband was troubled. Did something happen?”

“…Actually, they were discussing building a greenhouse for Miss Emily in the garden…”

“A greenhouse for Emily?”

“Yes, and to create that greenhouse, they were saying they would remove the flowers planted around the garden… Most of those garden flowers were lovingly nurtured by your late mother-in-law… I never expected them to be disposed of, as she used to say they must not wither…”

“…”

Since marrying into the Paris family, I had only seen a designated area of the garden… I had never been shown the back garden where my late mother-in-law treasured her flowers.

I saw my husband and Emily walking together and called out to them.

“…Husband, are you with Emily?”

“Oh, y-yes, I have some business… I’m sorry for leaving the work to you.”

“…”

I knew that whenever my husband was with Emily, he would always avert his gaze when I noticed.

“Sister, listen! Soon, my greenhouse will be completed! Big Brother promised to build it for me after I mentioned wanting flowers of my own. I’m so excited! When it’s done, I’ll invite you over!”

“…”

Seeing Emily’s beaming smile made me wonder just how much money my husband was spending on her…

“W-wait, Emily… It’s not decided yet… You shouldn’t tell my wife about it…”

“…Is it inconvenient for you if I know?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

“I can’t interfere with what you decide, so please do as you like…”

“If that’s what you say…”

“However, I heard there are flowers in the garden that my mother-in-law cherished…”

“!”

“I have never seen my mother-in-law’s garden… If you’re going to build a greenhouse for Emily, I have no right to say anything, so please do as you wish.”

“…”

After watching my husband struggle with his thoughts, I walked away, remembering hearing Emily crying and lamenting that the greenhouse plans had fallen through.

“Madam, thank you very much… We were able to preserve the late madam’s garden… This is all thanks to you speaking with the Marquis.”

The head maid and butler thanked me, and I was genuinely happy for the first time that my husband had listened to my opinion.