If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 44

 

At the time when Miela was wandering the streets with her maids, Leonhardt was in the middle of a government meeting.

 

“It’s been quite some time since I asked you to prepare the trade report with Argen.”

 

Leonhardt was not using his ability.

 

However, the Foreign Minister seemed to feel a strong sense of intimidation just from making eye contact, breaking out in cold sweat as he answered.

 

“I’ll complete it within a week, no, within three days.”

 

Just as Leonhardt was about to respond to the Foreign Minister, his aide approached with a pale face.

 

For him to rush in during the middle of a government meeting like this, it must be urgent.

 

“Let’s take a break.”

 

Leonhardt interrupted the meeting and gestured toward his aide.

 

The aide, who squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, whispered in Leonhardt’s ear.

 

That Miela had suddenly left while on her way to a salon gathering, leaving word that she wouldn’t return to the Imperial Palace today.

 

Leonhardt frowned upon hearing that she hadn’t gone to the House of Duke Roderick either, but was wandering around the Commercial District with her bare face showing.

 

“How dangerous.”

 

Of course, she had guards with her, but crowded places were difficult locations to provide security.

 

After confirming Miela’s location with his aide, Leonhardt immediately left the palace.

 

Though Leonhardt was known as a workaholic, at that moment the fact that he had been in the middle of a government meeting had vanished from his mind.

 

Only after arriving at the restaurant where Miela was said to be and seeing her sitting alone by the window did his anxiously beating heart finally calm down.

 

Fortunately, the restaurant owner had tactfully cleared the interior, so there were no people except for the maids and guards positioned at a distance.

 

Leonhardt slowly approached Miela, who was bathed in winter sunlight and looked as if she might fade away at any moment.

 

The closer he got, the more anxious he somehow felt.

 

As if Miela were someone who might disappear just like this.

 

Startled by fear, Leonhardt urgently reached out and grabbed Miela’s wrist.

 

“Ah.”

 

Miela, who had been blankly staring out the window, turned to look at him with a small exclamation.

 

Her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying.

 

Focus gradually returned to her blue-green eyes that were like the warm southern sea.

 

“Leon?”

 

Miela called his name in a whisper.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“When did you arrive?”

 

“Just now.”

 

Leonhardt carefully brought his hand to her eyes, as if wiping away Miela’s already dried tears.

 

“What are you doing, that tickles.”

 

Miela flinched and pulled her body back.

 

“Your eyelashes were stuck together.”

 

Leonhardt withdrew his hand and made an excuse for no reason.

 

Though they were married, they weren’t the type to have physical contact without attaching even such trivial reasons.

 

‘I hope she didn’t cry too much.’

 

Leonhardt, who had been standing still for a moment, sat down across from Miela.

 

Miela, who was always full of presence and sparkling, felt unusually dim today.

 

And she looked tired.

 

Leonhardt wanted to say something, anything, to comfort Miela, but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

 

Because he already knew the reason why Miela was struggling.

 

‘Miela must have become unhappy by marrying me.’

 

The Imperial Palace was too bleak a place for the bright and innocent Miela to endure.

 

The thoughts he had kept trampled down, afraid they might take root and grow, came back to life infused with Miela’s tears.

 

His heart ached as if being squeezed.

 

He hoped Miela wouldn’t cry, but at the same time, his desire for her to stay by his side even if she did cry brought on self-loathing.

 

He bit his lips and clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

 

It was self-destructive behavior, but the pain was rather welcome.

 

And as if punishing him for this, Miela’s weak voice reached his ears.

 

“I don’t want to be Empress. Really.”

 

Miela had simply meant that it was too difficult and exhausting.

 

But to Leonhardt’s ears, it sounded like she wanted to leave his side.

 

Leonhardt, struck by fear at her lifeless voice, responded sensitively to Miela’s words.

 

“It’s not a position you can step down from just because you don’t want to do it.”

 

And he added as if driving in a nail.

 

“Have some sense of responsibility.”

 

Miela knew this fact well too.

 

She had simply needed comfort.

 

She pouted her lips in disappointment.

 

In fact, if Miela had truly been someone without a sense of responsibility, she wouldn’t have been struggling in the first place.

 

Effort only goes into trying to do well, after all.

 

“Who doesn’t know that?”

 

Miela snapped sharply.

 

Though it was due to anger, she seemed to have regained her usual self thanks to it.

 

Warmth gradually returned to Leonhardt’s fingertips as he felt somewhat relieved.

 

As his expression, which had been coldly frozen like a marble statue, relaxed, Leonhardt’s chilly atmosphere also became somewhat gentler.

 

However, the air froze cold again at what Miela said as she buried her face in her arms like someone who had become utterly exhausted.

 

“Why can’t an Empress get divorced?”

 

It was a thoughtless remark made in a fit of pique at Leonhardt for not indulging her complaints.

 

But for Leonhardt, who had always had a high level of anxiety about their relationship, it was a fatal statement.

 

Leonhardt knew he should respond as if it were a joke, but ended up being sensitive anyway.

 

“If you really want to part ways with me, the only method would be death.”

 

Leonhardt’s true feelings were that he’d rather die before being abandoned by Miela.

 

However, Leonhardt’s characteristic way of speaking, lacking in eloquence and clumsy with human relationships, had a tendency to distort his true intentions quite magnificently.

 

Leonhardt deeply regretted his words after speaking them.

 

But he couldn’t take back what had been said.

 

As is often the case with people for whom regret is a luxury, Leonhardt simply endured in silence.

 

“Hey, what kind of thing is that to say!”

 

Miela got angry with an irritated expression.

 

As she scolded him, stomping her foot on the ground as if venting her anger, Miela didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving him, so Leonhardt relaxed.

 

But he shouldn’t have.

 

This day was the decisive moment that cracked their relationship, which had been reasonably harmonious.

 

Perhaps recalling the same day as me, Leonhardt made a bitter expression.

 

I probably have a similar expression too.

 

However, we deliberately avoided each other’s eyes.

 

‘I don’t want to ruin the relationship we’ve finally recovered.’

 

Looking back now, I had acted too childishly.

 

‘Leonhardt must have been going through a difficult time too.’

 

Compared to Leonhardt who had to start from negative, my situation was better since I originally had a lot.

 

Even if the noble ladies tried to suppress my spirit, it was just subtle attacks while being mindful of the House of Duke Roderick.

 

‘If it were now, I’d laugh and counter such ticklish attacks.’

 

Even if there was a lot of work, I had many capable people around me.

 

It was just that being responsible for doing something was unfamiliar to me.

 

‘…I really was young.’

 

Though it was a past that hadn’t even been that long ago, it felt distantly far away.

 

‘When I first regressed, I shuddered thinking about my first life, but now it’s fine.’

 

To be honest, I was even a bit embarrassed.

 

I smiled and playfully teased Leonhardt as if the subtle atmosphere that had surrounded us moments ago was nothing at all.

 

As if what had happened here in the first round never occurred.

 

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going in?”

 

When I kept pushing his back, Leonhardt walked with a bewildered expression.

 

Even after we sat facing each other at the seats we were guided to, Leonhardt seemed confused as I acted nonchalantly.

 

‘Until just a moment ago, I was lost in regret thinking about the past, but now I’m fine again, so it’s understandable he’d find it strange.’

 

But having become a bit embarrassed about the past, I planned to keep acting composed like this.

 

Anyway, Leonhardt didn’t have the perceptiveness to see through my pretense of being okay, neither in the first round nor now.

 

As expected, his confusion gradually seemed to settle in the direction of thinking he might have been mistaken.

 

By the time the appetizers for our respective orders came out, Leonhardt’s attitude, which had been doing his best to read my mood despite not being good at it, had also returned to normal levels.

 

Leonhardt’s eating pace, which had been slow, regained its proper speed.

 

Mother, who had been watching wondering if the food didn’t suit his taste, asked with a smile.

 

“It must be quite different eating out like this, right?”

 

“Indeed.”

 

Leonhardt nodded while holding a cute rabbit-shaped spoon and eating the soup from the children’s course meal.

 

“This is delicious.”

 

“Oh my, it seems the ‘Warm Carrot Soup Picked from Tosuni’s Garden’ suits your taste.”

 

Leonhardt, who had been eating well just moments before, frowned as soon as he heard the menu name.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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