Chapter 6

Eric’s gaze hardened coldly.

“Yes. That’s what I think.”

After Chloe said this, Eric let go of his grip over her shoulders. Once again, he brushed up his hair and gritted his teeth.

“That’s what you, my wife, thinks..”

He looked down at her with an unreadable look that she had never seen before.

“Even when I don’t do anything, they still say that kind of sh*t.”

In the end, her husband grew livid.

Eric wasn’t the type to be angered easily.

It was normal for thorns to rise or the temperature to drop around him, but he never fully expressed his anger through his facial expressions or through his gestures.

At this moment, his black eyes were hazy and his cheeks were flushed red.

Both of his hands felt weak as they trembled, and there was a stiffness in the back of his neck and on his shoulders that wouldn’t go away.

With his anger so visibly palpable like this, Chloe’s shoulders quivered.

‘I don’t think I should say anything more.’

And so she took a step back, with the intent to keep quiet from now on.

But then Eric’s lips opened.

“Daniel!”

He shouted in a loud voice, and the previously shut door immediately opened halfway.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Daniel peeked through the open gap.

Yet Eric didn’t even glance at him.

His eyes were still intensely focused on Chloe with a burning gaze.

“Send a telegram to the estate at once with the order to get rid of all the maids serving my wife.”

“Darling!” Chloe cried out as she heard this, then lowered her voice to try and convince him. “They didn’t say it to my face—I only happened to hear it while they were talking. I was the one who overheard it, so.. don’t fire them for something as trivial as that.”

“Trivial? Is that something trivial?”

She could see him shaking in anger.

“Servants have a duty to keep their mouths shut. Whether you overheard it or not isn’t the point.”

Eric’s words weren’t wrong. Of course, it was the servants who were at fault.

But Chloe didn’t want them to suffer because of her.

She didn’t want to be burdened any further. She already felt terrible because her marriage was failing, so she didn’t want to think about ruining other people’s lives on top of that.

“But— Darling, it’s winter now. You know how difficult it would be if they left the estate on a cold day like this.”

That’s why Chloe kept dissuading Eric.

However..

“..Darling?”

Chloe unconsciously reached towards Eric.

Because his face suddenly turned white.

His eyes were swirling with many different emotions.

Those emotions came and went in a flash, so it was hard to guess what they were.

But Chloe could see that Eric was definitely shaken at this moment.

‘Why? Was it something I said?’

Thinking about retracting her outstretched hand, it froze in midair.

Feeling embarrassed by the look Chloe had as she stared at him, Eric brushed a hand over his face and pushed back his fringe once more. Then, he raised his chin.

“Any husband wouldn’t be able to stay calm after hearing such insulting words. If I could, I’d send those maids to the guillotine for blasphemy against an aristocrat.”

“But Darling..”

“Thanks to you, I’ll be a merciful nobleman who’ll only fire them. Daniel, take care of this matter.”

“..I understand.”

Wary of the tense atmosphere between Chloe and Eric, Daniel closed the door without saying anything more.

It was just the two of them again.

Chloe glanced at Eric, whose shoulders no longer trembled in rage.

He was the same as usual again, but there were still traces of strong emotions in his stance.

So Chloe focused more on composing herself. She drew in her thoughts and focused on calming her mind.

‘..Let’s try to avoid a fight.’

In any case, their relationship would end soon, so she didn’t want to argue with him anymore.

But this was still too much.

Not just because Eric was adamant about firing the maids.

There was nothing for her to be upset about regarding their dismissal, and the guilt she felt could be pushed to the back of her mind for now.

There was only one reason why she felt so incensed at this moment.

Because Eric had ignored her opinion yet again.

As expected, it was always going to be like this.

She at least wanted to be heard. She was still his wife and the Madam of the estate—if she was treated with any respect at all, she would have been able to decide on her own!

‘But why is he so affected by it?’

Chloe wiped the cold sweat off her chin with the back of her hand. Then, she took a large breath and spoke.

“Those maids reached a reasonable conclusion anyway.”

And at that, Eric’s expression became distorted.

“Just what are you—!”

“Because you’re never by my side in the first place!”

Chloe raised her voice for the first time.

It was disgraceful to do so, but it was even more disgraceful to keep holding it in.

Chloe closed her eyes and continued with a determined tone.

“We never even shared the same bed, that’s why they talk like that. I must not be good enough—you must have a lover. They can’t help but think that way.”

It had been five years.

During this entire period, Eric never stood by her side.

He never even embraced her warmly. He never held her hand. He never.. He never did anything for her.

‘Why did I ever fall for such a man? Why did I! And why do I still continue to love this man even in a situation like this?!’

Her heart was numb. The misery she felt clogged at her throat, threatening to reduce her to tears every time she opened her lips to speak. But Chloe stood her ground.

Even when she had been beaten by her father to the point that her ankle’s bones were fractured, she didn’t let her tears escape.

She couldn’t cry over this.

She shouldn’t.

“So.”

Eric’s voice was faint, but ironically, it was still crystal clear. His cold voice reached her ears.

“So they’re saying that kind of nonsense because I don’t sleep with my wife?”

Chloe slowly opened her eyes and exhaled slowly.

As she lifted her gaze, she saw Eric’s distorted expression.

“It’s my fault again. Everything.”

Frozen stiff in her place, Chloe looked up.

And their gazes met.

Blue eyes pointing towards her ducal lineage and black eyes revealing his lowborn blood.

Chloe stepped back unknowingly.

“Ha..”

Eric sighed exasperatedly.

“You keep looking at me like I’m a monster.”

A dry palm swept down his face.

“Please go back as soon as daybreak tomorrow morning.”

Before Chloe realized, Eric had already turned his back on her.

So she couldn’t see what kind of expression he had or what kind of emotions flashed through his eyes.

If she were to hold him back and look at his face right now, would anything change?

Slam!

The door closed behind him.

No. Nothing would change.

Chloe sank to the floor.

Slam!

Eric, who closed the door loudly, held onto the doorknob—then, he quietly held his breath, thinking that Chloe might open the door and come out.

But the door stayed shut, and he couldn’t hear anything inside the room.

Eric rubbed the back of his neck and bit his lower lip.

‘Don’t you have a lover?’

As soon as he heard those words, it was like he could practically feel steam rising from his ears.

He was beyond angry—he was livid.

He rarely ever stepped outside this lab. He was here all day and all night struggling to make more of his inventions so he could find more investors.

Just who did she think he was doing this for?!

He wanted to yell and let it all out. But that wasn’t something he could do.

Chloe Rolph wasn’t the kind of woman who would condone any reprehensible behavior.

’We never even shared the same bed, that’s why they talk like that.’

As she had spoken about a private matter between a married couple, she didn’t hesitate for even a little.

All this time, she continued to exude a noble elegance. She was completely different from him.

He looked down at his right foot, covered under his pants and thick socks.

Even under all those layers, it wouldn’t change the fact that it was a mechanical prosthetic leg.

Would he have been able to show this to her?

To Chloe Rolph?

He could already imagine what kind of gaze she would have.

She would be disgusted by the mere sight of his amputated foot.

She already looked at him as though he was a monster, but after seeing this, he would be reduced to something even more revolting in her eyes.

Recalling Chloe’s pale face, Eric soon shook his head with a bitter sigh leaving his lips.

“Have you finished talking, Your Excellency?”

It was Daniel’s voice.

Waiting for Eric and Chloe’s conversation to end, Daniel approached the other man with lighthearted steps.

“Goodness, you should stop yelling at the Madam. Isn’t it too much if even I can hear everything from outside?”

Eric frowned, but Daniel continued.

“Madam looked very sick today. What if she collapses? Your Excellency should be nicer to her while she’s here.”

“What, do you think she’s going to die?”

“Well, I’m not thinking anything that extreme. Maybe something like divorce since Your Excellency is always angry.”

“Nonsense.”

Eric gave it a thought.

Divorce? Chloe?

Ridiculous.

Eric scoffed as he looked around, staring at his surroundings that were so full of dust.