The Returned Husband Refuses to Divorce - Chapter 27

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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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Helien Bron.
Without thinking, Ines’s hand clenched into a fist.
Her nails bit into her palm.
‘It’s all right.’
She drew a slow breath.
‘Nothing will change.’
Until moments ago, everything had gone according to plan.
Hans was captured, and Julia, who had drawn him here, was apprehended as well. Ash and the knights had witnessed it all.
All she needed to do was remain composed.
…That was all there was to it.
Helien examined the Ritual Pattern spread across the floor, the Short Dagger beneath her feet, and Julia, now in custody, in turn.
“We received a report that a Heresy Ritual was to be conducted here tonight.”
In her hand lay the Anonymous Letter delivered to the Temple delegation that afternoon.
“The sender’s name was not disclosed.”
Helien’s gaze fixed on Julia.
“High Priestess!”
Suddenly Julia let out a scream.
Julia thrashed against the knight holding her, trying to wrench free from his grip.
“High Priestess, please save me. I beg you!”
“Stay still!”
The knight barked at her, but it was no use.
Julia practically crawled across the floor toward Helien.
“Just as I told you before, there is a Witch in this castle!”
Ines’s fingertips twitched.
“I couldn’t tell you the truth then—I was under duress. But now I will tell you everything.”
At once, Julia’s finger pointed toward Ines.
“That woman is the Witch!”
In an instant, all eyes turned to Ines.
……
She needed to protest. To call it the absurdity it was.
But Ines could not bring herself to believe that the Temple would take her side.
‘What if Helien believes Julia instead?’
It made no rational sense, and yet the fear gripped her.
“She—this lady—ordered me to acquire that object!”
Julia’s voice sounded distant, as though coming from far away.
“I only did as I was told. But then Hans found out, and he used it to blackmail me…”
“You lying—!”
Hans lunged, but Ash held him back.
“Be quiet.”
“I was wrong. But I didn’t act of my own will!”
Julia broke into tears.
“I was terrified. What on earth was she planning to do…!”
Ines’s lips hardened.
It was then.
“Ines.”
At the sound of that voice, Ines lifted her head.
‘Ah.’
He stood there.
Zeckard Evanhardt. Her husband.
Ash immediately bowed his head.
“Your Grace.”
The surrounding knights and servants hastily paid their respects. Helien too inclined her head lightly.
But Zeckard’s gaze was fixed on Ines alone, on no one else.
His eyes swept over her in an instant.
Her disheveled clothes, her slightly reddened wrists, and Hans pinned to the ground.
Zeckard’s expression vanished.
“Why is that man here?”
His voice was low enough to raise the hair on one’s skin.
“I shall explain, Your Grace.”
Ash gave a brief report of what had transpired moments before.
When Zeckard finished his explanation, he looked back at Ines.
……
Ines stepped backward without thinking.
In that moment, a dream she had seen days ago came flooding back.
〈Please believe me, Your Excellency.〉
The Zeckard in that dream had not abandoned her.
Instead, he had tried to bear everything in her stead.
But she did not believe it.
‘Will he truly believe in me?’
Would he protect her as he had in the dream, only to harbor suspicion in his heart?
She was afraid.
She found herself wishing he had doubted her from the start, as others did—at least then she would not have to hope.
……Then there would be nothing left to expect.
Without thinking, Ines spoke.
“I didn’t do it.”
Her voice was so small, too small even to be called an excuse.
But Zeckard did not hesitate for a moment.
“I know.”
……Ah.
It was the simplest answer.
Now Ines could say nothing at all.
Only then did she realize that all along, her heart had been waiting for exactly those words.
The tight knot in her chest began, slowly, to unwind.
Ines drew a quiet breath.
“……Thank you for believing me.”
Zeckard’s gaze wavered.
But before he could speak, Ines stepped forward.
The rigid look that had possessed her moments before had already settled into composure.
“This is slander without evidence. I see no reason we should hear the accuser’s words.”
Ines did not even deign to face Julia.
“If there are questions to be answered, then they may be investigated. There is no reason to endure this commotion or to listen to every claim of a flagrant offender.”
With those words, the atmosphere began to shift.
Aside from Helien and Zeckard, who had arrived later, most had witnessed how the matter had unfolded from the beginning.
Sensing the change in the air, Julia seized Helien in desperation.
“Save me, High Priestess. You heard everything. I told you everything. You know what the truth is!”
But Helien merely regarded Julia with a cold gaze, as one might look at an insect.
“How presumptuous—you forget your place, yet dare lay hands upon the Archpriestess.”
Helien’s voice was frigid as she shook Julia off.
She smoothed her sleeve with a flick of her fingers, brushing away the contact.
“And what you have just spoken is not testimony.”
Julia froze.
“If you wish to raise accusations of heresy, bring proper evidence first. The Temple does not condemn a woman as a witch on the mere speculation of a servant.”
Helien gazed down at the pattern on the floor.
“This pattern was drawn just moments ago. The pigment used is nothing but common dye, and the ritual arrangement has three inversions—it holds no power whatsoever.”
Despair rose in Julia’s eyes as she lay discarded on the ground.
Then a voice, cold and settled, was heard.
“Ash.”
Zeckard’s gaze fell upon the accused.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Lock them both in the Underground Prison.”
Hans’s eyes widened.
“What? Wait—!”
“Ensure they have contact with no one until the investigation is complete.”
His expressionless face was chilling.
“Find everyone involved, down to the last person.”
“I shall obey your command.”
“No, wait! Your Excellency!”
“And I will interrogate them myself.”
Julia let out a scream.
“No! I really——!”
But no one listened to her.
“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t! The Duchess is no witch!”
Julia’s screams echoed through the Corridor as the knights dragged her away.
“Your Holiness! Please believe me! Please!”
Her voice grew fainter and fainter.
After a moment, silence finally descended.
“……Sigh.”
Ines exhaled softly.
It was over.
Only then did it feel real.
‘It’s really over.’
Somehow, her fingertips had gone cold. She must have been tensing without realizing it the whole time.
It would have been a lie to say she hadn’t been afraid.
In the middle of it all, she’d found it as hard to breathe as if she’d been thrown back in time. Especially when Helien appeared—she’d been certain Helien would side with Julia and attack her.
But in the end, she hadn’t run.
She’d recognized the wrongness, orchestrated the trap, and held the line until the very end.
‘I did it.’
Her chest swelled a little with something that felt like pride.
And the reason she’d had to stop this wasn’t simply because of her own innocence.
If Ines really had been branded a witch, it would have given them grounds to attack not only her but Zeckard as well for raising and protecting such a woman as his Duchess.
She’d prevented that.
‘This time, I was the one who helped.’
She’d given back just a little to the person who had always been the one protecting her.
At that thought, a smile spread naturally across Ines’s lips.
Then, a large hand caught her wrist.
Ines looked up.
“Zeckard.”
She broke into a bright smile at the sight of his familiar face.
“Everything turned out all right.”
Zeckard deserved much of the credit for being able to finish her words without breaking down midway.
If it weren’t for him, Ines might have collapsed entirely.
“I’m truly grateful. I owe it all to you.”
For believing in me.
But the moment she saw his face clearly, Ines’s smile faltered.
His expression was twisted in a way that was almost grotesque.

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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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