I looked at the desk bewildered.

....Hey, why is that broken?

‘Is the wood rotten?’

After a brief glance, Rupert snatched the papers from my hand.

“Oh!”

I reached out my hand reflexively, but to no avail because of the height difference.

“What are you doing!”

“That’s what I’m going to say.”

He looked at the papers with a displeased expression.

“This is divorce papers.”

“....yeah?”

“You even signed an autograph.”

“I did this in advance so as not to cause trouble with each other.”

“You said you knew what I was thinking?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Of course. You seemed uncomfortable talking to me first, so I took care of it.”

“....”

I showed him the divorce papers which were prepared in the sense that he shouldn’t feel uncomfortable because I didn’t care at all.

But his face became scary.

“Why did you make this in advance?”

Then, knowing that something was wrong, I slowly retreated.

“....aren’t you here for this?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then why did you come? There’s no reason to come here other than this, right?”

At the same time, the divorce papers in his hand were crumpled at once.

I know he is angry right now.

‘Dude, why the hell!?’

The shattered paper looked like my future.

“Well, I don’t know what it is, but we’ll talk about it, we....”

I muttered as I looked up at him in tears.

***

Noel’s green eyes are frightened.

First of all, Rupert also tried to calm her. He had no intention of frightening her.

In fact, he had no particular reason for coming here in the first place.

From the beginning, he had impulsively brought only a few of his subordinates, and when he saw Leander’s face, he chased him away more impulsively.

So it was natural that he had nothing to say in response to her question about why he came here.

‘There are many things I want to ask you.’

How did you become friends with Leander, what was in Leah’s letter, why did you prepare the divorce papers in advance, and so on....

But the question stuck on the tip of his tongue did not come out easily.

This is because the moment he asks these questions, he has no choice but to admit it to himself.

That he is emotionally entangled with her.

‘How pathetic!’

I feel like the most idiotic person in the world.

It was even more so when I think of the self-denial that I have been thinking about alone.

‘I can’t believe that the ending of this idiotic act is that I’m pissed off at the divorce papers my wife gave me.’

He once had the rational judgment that signing the divorce papers would be better for him, her, and even his daughter’s well-being, yet he had a much bigger heart that he absolutely doesn’t want to think about that anymore.

Even so, Rupert was a well-objectified human being.

In other words, he knows very well that he has a bad temper, is unlucky, and is stubborn.

He has never been so dedicated enough to put up with doing things he didn’t want to do for others.

‘It’s better to just admit it all.’

He can’t avoid getting emotionally involved with his wife and daughter.

When he came to such a conclusion, the confusion that had tormented him was cleared away.

“Noel.”

Rupert spoke in a rather friendly tone.

“First of all, I will clear up the situation.”

She asked, reassured by his calm look, “How?”

“For now, we can’t get a divorce.”

As a human being who thinks and acts at the same time, Rupert immediately threw the papers at the fireplace.

The flame burned the crumpled paper in an instant.

“....Huh?”

Noel was still confused because the scene in front of her could not follow her thoughts.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I have no intention of doing it.”

“....Am I still dreaming?”

“No.”

“Ouch....”

Immediately pinching her cheek, Noel knew this was real.

‘Reality!?’

There was only one she could think of.

“....Did you eat something wrong?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t want to bother going through the divorce process, so you plan to stab me right away....?”

“Why do you come to such a conclusion?”

Rupert frowned and strongly denied it.

“Then what is it?”

“I won’t divorce you.”

For him, emotions surged over his head, and he even felt refreshed because that was the answer he came up with after deep thought.

“....”

But from Noel’s point of view, it was really sudden.

She wasn’t optimistic enough to sum up Rupert’s palm-flipping attitude(*), saying, ‘You must have finally fallen in love with me.’

(*His attitude changed 180°).

“Why all of a sudden?”

It was natural to have doubts when people changed, and Noel stepped back even further.

No matter how many books she read, she had no way of knowing exactly Rupert’s inner state, who had turned his mind 180 degrees.

All she remembers is that until the very end he pushed his wife and his daughter away and acted like they were of no value.

He also broke his promise to act as a parent.

‘Remembering it makes me angry.’

Noel said in a displeased voice, “Rupert, what do you want from me?”

“I want you and Leah coming back to the mansion.”

“Why? You hate me and Leah.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, it was worse. You had nothing to do with us.”

Noel also remembered the conversation she had after waking up from fainting.

That’s definitely how he said it.

There was no room for excuses.

“It’s weird that a person who said that suddenly came and asked me to come back.”

Her doubts were justified.

At this point, Rupert has no choice but to reveal his honest thoughts to some extent.

“It’s true that I thought it didn’t matter at first. I thought I’d forget it soon if you two were away, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.”

More precisely, it was impossible.

“....”

Only then did Noel roughly guess his intention. She wasn’t able to know Rupert’s complicated psychology in detail, but,

‘It is a common occurrence in human relationships.’

He thought she was annoying and unnecessary when she was around, but the thought that he might not be able to see her at all makes him sad.

However, it is a bit surprising that Rupert also has such feelings.

‘This may be a temporary whim.’

“If that’s the reason, I’ll reject it.”

“But living in the mansion would be more comfortable for you. There are only a few passengers here, and the size of the villa is much smaller—”

“Obviously, Marquis Ainel, compared to Ainel mansion, this villa can be described as shabby.”

Noel grew angry little by little.

“I’m not going back though.”

You made a promise, and then you broke it. You said you had nothing to do with me and Leah, but suddenly appeared and said you wanted us to return to the mansion.

“I’m not a good dog, who comes when you tell me to come and goes when you tell me to go.”

“....”

Rupert was deeply perplexed. He didn’t know she would show such a strong attitude.

Noel in the past was uncontrollable, and recently she was bold but somewhat self-conscious.

However, the Noel in front of him was neither of them.

“Even now, if you ask for an apology for my past mistakes, I will bow my head as much as I can. I will sincerely reflect.”

Her green eyes had a noble dignity.

Indeed, she is not the ‘Noel Ainel’ he used to know.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to look at you and tune in to you. I don’t want to be swayed anymore.”

How long has it been since I saw someone expressing their opinions without mixing any fear, contempt, or even a word of expectation? (Rupert)

“I’ll say it again, Rupert. I and Leah won’t be swayed by your momentary stubbornness.”

Noel coldly pushed him away. Just like Rupert had done to her that day.

“So go back now.”

***

I took a deep breath as I recalled the situation.

‘I ended up facing Rupert head-on.’

In fact, until now, I have tried to avoid direct conflict with him as much as possible.

When I think of the original story, it was like my death flag.

‘Well, I can’t help it this time.’

There were times when I thought it would be nice to be able to get to know him, but now I give up.

‘Besides, Rupert’s attitude can change at any time, like flipping the palm of the hand.’

I have already experienced it, and I do not want to go through the same experience again.

The strange thing is that Rupert gave up too easily.

In the past, he would have been angry, or at least sarcastic.

Besides, this was the villa of the Ainel family, and he could drive out me and Leah if he wanted to.

‘Is there any special intention of his action?’

I went to the drawing-room with that thought.

Rupert didn’t come here alone. He came with a few members of the Raven Knights.

During the conversation with Rupert, the members who accompanied him were staying in the drawing-room, the maid told me.

I heard roughly who came, so I couldn’t send them back without seeing their faces.

‘There are things I need to check myself.’

After thinking about that, I knocked lightly and opened the drawing-room door.

The two people who were sitting stood up in surprise.

“Oh, madam!”

“Sir Aren, Sir Hillis, you don’t have to be so polite.”

At my words, Aren and Hillis sat back down.