When I Asked My Husband for a Divorce, He Said He’d Be Bringing Home a Young Woman, So I Left - 20
At that moment, I died.
It was a nasty cold that took me—swift and sudden. Perhaps my already weakened body from illness played a part.
I don’t remember the moment of death itself.
When I came to, my mother was holding my hand, just as I had wished.
She looked exactly as she had in her portrait, and it wasn’t my imagination—warmth radiated from her touch. When I clung to her, the warmth only grew stronger.
Below us, the count’s estate was visible.
Despite the roof, I could somehow see inside as clearly as if I were holding it in my hands.
My body, eyes closed, was bathed in light—and beside me stood Ixel.
Why was Ixel here?
Surely not to cast Duel’s healing light upon me?
Why?
He shouldn’t do that.
Even if he did, I was already dead.
A life lost can never be reclaimed.
Why now, of all times?
I had to stop him.
If I didn’t, the blame would fall on everyone else.
I had to stop him.
Yet, despite thinking that…
I could only stare at Ixel, whom I hadn’t seen in so long.
His appearance was unchanged from when he had whispered love to me—though the soul inside was no longer the Ixel I had loved.
Perhaps because I had embarked on the journey to the afterlife, my emotions were utterly flat, devoid of any fluctuation. My heart and feelings felt detached, crumbling away like fine sand.
I understood then—this was how I would dissolve into the world, ceasing to be me.
I could distinctly feel the dark emotions I had so feared welling up from the depths of my heart, yet it was as if I were hearing someone else’s curses—my heart remained eerily calm.
On either side of me, my father and brother clutched at my hands desperately. My nephew clung to my sister-in-law, who hung her head. And Ixel, shouting something, raised his hands.
Though I could see inside the estate, I couldn’t hear any voices.
Were they calling my name?
If they were, then the voice I heard at the end hadn’t been an illusion.
As I watched, a carriage arrived at the estate in a hurry—the way it stopped made the driver’s panic obvious.
The door opened, and a woman stepped out.
My calm heart lurched.
It felt as though my still heart was pounding in my ears.
A woman around twenty years old—someone I’d never met before.
I had seen her likeness in paintings circulating through town.
Why was she (Charlotte) here?
Had she chased after Ixel?
Not content with stealing my husband, did she now intend to trample through the home where my loved ones lived, muddy boots and all?
I wouldn’t allow it.
How far must you torment me?
Was destroying my happiness not enough for you?
I won’t forgive you.
I’ll never forgive you.
Why couldn’t you just die?
Why couldn’t you just disappear?
Vanish… Vanish, vanish, vanish, vanish, vanish, vanish, vanish…
The depths of my heart swirled into a vortex, swallowing me in an instant, a murky flood overtaking me.
My trembling fingertips darkened.
Tug.
The moment my mother pulled my hand, everything froze, and I snapped back to myself.
She was smiling at me.
Ah…
…That was close.
I was… losing myself just now.
The blackened parts of me flaked away like dried leaves.
When I looked back at my mother, she nodded and gently pulled me forward again.
I nodded in return.
Let’s… just go.
From now on, time would flow without me.
It’s… fine.
Everything… is fine.
“Wait!!”
There was no way she could be calling for me—yet I turned anyway.
In that instant, my eyes met Charlotte’s.
She could… see me?
Huh?! But how?! Even as a spirit mage, I’d never heard of anyone being able to see the dead.
As I stood frozen in shock, Charlotte sprinted toward me, arms outstretched.
“No! …Lies, lies!! Don’t go!! Wait, hey, wait!! Come back, hurry!!”
But my mother and I were in the sky—Charlotte’s hands couldn’t reach us.
“No…!! It’s not… I never meant for this…!! No, no…!!”
Her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the ground, hands covering her mouth as she stared at me unblinking.
What wasn’t what she meant?
I was dead. I was leaving.
No more black whirlpools would rise in my heart.
Without lingering, I let my mother’s warm hand guide me, passing through the silent sky.
Though screams echoed behind me, I didn’t look back.
With my mother beside me, I soared like a bird over the earth, swam above the sea, and dove into a rainbow—until we arrived in a strange, boundless space.
Neither white nor bright, yet pure all the same.
And there, the gods awaited.
Countless pillars stood in layered circles, and at their center, my mother and I landed.
Was it instinct? Without a doubt, though they took the form of pillars, these were the gods of this world.
A voice resonated.