The Returned Husband Refuses to Divorce - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“A-about our village?”
Her wariness was unmistakable.
Ines decided to change tactics.
“I’m not reproaching you. I just thought I heard you mention things were difficult back then. I wondered if there was anything I could do to help.”
At her soothing tone, Mei bit her lip.
‘She’s wrestling with something.’
Ines sipped her warm tea and waited patiently for the answer.
“…It’s not really much of a story.”
After a long pause, Mei spoke hesitantly.
“A few years ago, a strange illness began spreading through our village.”
What seemed trivial at first gradually consumed the village, claiming lives.
Yet no one knew what the sickness was called.
“Since we don’t know what it is, we can’t treat it…. Ordinary medicines were useless. The only thing that showed any effect was Holy Power.”
At the word “Holy Power,” Ines stopped mid-sip.
“Fortunately, the Temple sent a Shrine Maiden right away, so we’ve been able to treat people steadily. They haven’t fully recovered, but at least they haven’t gotten worse. And no one’s died since then. It’s been such a blessing.”
Ines could piece together the situation now.
‘So that’s why she said those things back then.’
Either way, since the Shrine Maiden was treating the village directly, it would have been possible for Mei to find work at the Duke’s Residence.
As for the other servants, they’d naturally find someone from such a village unsettling. Not that ostracism was justified, of course.
“B-but it really isn’t contagious. I’m perfectly fine. So please don’t worry.”
Misreading Ines’s grave expression, Mei hurried to add more.
“And… thank you for offering to help earlier, but truly, it’s not necessary. We have the Shrine Maiden in our village.”
Mei seemed to place considerable trust in this Shrine Maiden.
‘I’ll leave it for now.’
The situation didn’t seem urgent.
According to Mei, no one was dying anymore.
Besides, with the Shrine Maiden already stationed there, Ines couldn’t easily intervene. It would look like a challenge to the Temple’s authority.
But…
“How did you come to have that pendant, anyway?”
The pendant was severely contaminated with Magical Corruption.
“That’s… my mother’s keepsake.”
“A keepsake?”
“Yes. She passed away from the illness several years ago.”
Ines intuited immediately that the illness Mei spoke of was not a simple affliction, but the village’s Mysterious Plague.
Mei hesitated before continuing.
“Actually, I almost wasn’t allowed into this castle because of my hometown. Luckily, a position opened up, but… there was a condition that I had to abandon everything I owned. In case anything I had might spread the infection.”
From those words, Ines grasped the hidden truth.
‘It was only because Zekard came back and replaced the servants that Mei barely got hired.’
Normally, even if the illness had no contagion whatsoever, they wouldn’t have chosen a servant like Mei. There were always plenty of people wanting to work at the Duke’s Residence.
“I begged and begged the housekeeper until she finally let me keep this one pendant. So it means a great deal to me.”
Then, suddenly, Mei bowed at the waist.
“Thank you so much!”
Caught off guard, Ines blinked.
But Mei pressed on with resolve.
“Thanks to you, I was able to recover my pendant safely. You’re my benefactor.”
Ines simply blinked again.
As the silence stretched, Mei’s face flushed and she apologized hurriedly.
“I-I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Ines waved her hand.
‘That was unexpected.’
Mei’s gesture struck her as somehow striking.
“You don’t need to thank me. Those girls were the ones at fault. You were just reclaiming your own things.”
“But you…”
“I simply disciplined servants who caused a commotion in front of everyone. It wasn’t something I did for your sake.”
Ines drew the line with a soft but firm voice.
‘This is better.’
It was better that the two not become entangled. For Ines’s sake, not Mei’s.
‘I’ll be gone in a year anyway, and Mei has to stay here.’
“In any case, I’m glad you found your pendant. Next time, be more careful so it doesn’t get taken again.”
Ines deliberately drew the conversation to a close with a polite knot.
It was a circumspect gesture—maintaining distance.
‘Strange. I thought she’d keep pretending not to know.’
Given everything she’d observed of Mei’s behavior, it was a reasonable inference.
Which is why Ines hadn’t anticipated what Mei did next.
“……No. That’s not true.”
A small voice spilled from Mei’s lips.
“What did you just……?”
“It may have meant nothing to you, but it wasn’t nothing to me.”
Ines turned back to look at Mei and started.
Tears had welled up in Mei’s eyes.
“Why……?”
Ines found herself at a loss for words.
Why was she crying?
As Ines struggled with the confusion, Mei continued haltingly.
“I…… avoided you, didn’t I?”
Ines stiffened.
“I know you understood that. I know I deliberately kept my distance, that I failed to serve you properly…….”
Mei’s voice began to tremble.
“And yet you said nothing to me.”
“Mei.”
“If I were you, I think I would have hated it.”
At last, tears spilled down Mei’s cheeks.
“Someone who wasn’t even kind to me…… I think I would have just pretended not to notice. But you didn’t do that.”
Ines couldn’t bring herself to answer.
“You found my Pendant, and…… I know you made sure it didn’t look like you were taking my side, so the other servants wouldn’t resent me even more.”
“That was…….”
“So it wasn’t nothing to me.”
Mei wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled.
“I’m…… I’m truly grateful. Sincerely so.”
It was strange.
In all her years, it wasn’t as though Ines had never seen tears shed before her.
But most often, those who wept had poured out resentment or anger upon her.
This was the first time someone had cried like this—from gratitude alone.
‘……What should I do?’
Ines hesitated for a moment, then finally drew out a handkerchief.
“Will you calm down first?”
And she carefully wiped Mei’s eyes.
At that, Mei’s face only contorted further.
“Hng…….”
“Why are you crying harder?”
“I’m…… I’m sorry…….”
“I wasn’t asking for an apology.”
Flustered, Ines finally let out a small sigh.
Then she did what she could—she gently patted Mei’s back.
As if what had been held back suddenly broke free all at once, Mei began to cry quietly.
Ines made no further attempt to console her.
She simply remained at her side, letting her weep freely.
‘What on earth is happening?’
She was still bewildered.
Yet strangely, she found she didn’t dislike it.
It was only after a long while that Ines realized something.
This was the first time this small servant had shown her such honest feeling.
And perhaps……
Mei no longer wished to avoid her.
* * *
That night.
Ines lay still in bed, gazing up at the ceiling.
‘Will I dream again tonight?’
Yesterday’s nightmare kept circling through her mind.
Even knowing it wasn’t real, fear gripped her.
The woman in the dream felt so terribly, so deeply, that the thought of experiencing it again seemed as though it would shatter her entirely.
That was what terrified her most.
But……
“Perhaps it meant nothing to you, but it meant something to me.”
For some reason, Mei’s voice echoed in her mind.
Ines still couldn’t understand it.
Was gratitude something to be spoken of so solemnly? More than that, was it even gratitude worthy of such fervent thanks?
And yet that trembling voice had stirred something within her heart in the strangest way.
Gathering her courage, Ines closed her eyes.
‘Zekard.’
His figure appeared almost visible before her.
The image of him disappearing into the snowstorm from her dream overlapped with the caring, attentive presence of her “husband” in waking life.
If circumstances came to pass as they had in the dream—all evidence pointing toward her as the culprit—what would he do?
There was no way to know.
Even as husband and wife, he had no real reason to trust her word without any evidence.
And yet……
Ines hoped, as she quietly drifted into sleep, that he might still believe in her, if only a little.

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