C61
The embassy maiden came to see us while we were chatting in the garden and said,
"Miss, a man came saying he wanted to see Ethel-nim."
"Who?"
"Well. He didn't say his name, but he was tall, and by his way of speaking, he seemed like a knight. I couldn't see his face clearly because he was wearing a cloak. I don't think he's a reporter."
Could it be Terence by any chance?
"Should I guide him here?"
Suddenly, I got up from my seat.
"No, I'll go out and see. Where is he?"
"In front of the back door."
"Diana, I'll be back in a moment. Vinetta?"
"Yes."
Vinetta appeared out of nowhere and naturally followed me. She acted as my escort even after I left the villa, following Terence's orders. She said it was still time to be careful because there were many journalists targeting me.
As I headed toward the back door of the ambassador's residence with a somewhat excited heart, I felt like I had been splashed with cold water.
"Wife."
For some reason, Leandro, looking disheveled, was waiting for me alone, leaning against the wall.
I am also very stupid. If Terence had come to see me, he would have revealed his pseudonym, Tay, but he wouldn't have hidden his name suspiciously.
"I wonder why I didn't remember this simple fact before..."
I looked at Leandro with even more resentment for my stupidity.
"Why did you come here?"
When I looked closely, I noticed that, unlike someone who was very formal, he was wearing only underwear, and his hair was tangled. Did he escape after being caught?
"It's not too late. Let's cancel the divorce right now."
My head was throbbing.
"Please, face reality. We're already done."
"It can be reversed. No, let's start from scratch."
"Oh, seriously, why are you being like this? Leandro, you don't love me. What's the use of pretending to love someone when it's already too late?"
"...I love you. I like you."
At this point, I felt pure curiosity.
"Then tell me. You love me, but why did you treat me coldly? Don't try to disguise it this time, and don't say embarrassing nonsense like in court."
This time, too, he remained silent.
"If you're not going to talk, I'm leaving."
"Just wait a moment!"
The man who grabbed me urgently barely opened his trembling lips.
"In fact, I also... I don't know."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, it's hard to explain! I like you. That's right, but... I can't make love to you normally like other lovers."
"Then it's not love."
"But this is the first time I've felt like this for a woman who isn't even a family member!"
Leandro looked genuinely offended as he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt as if he were frustrated.
"From the first time I saw you, I inexplicably fell in love with you. I couldn't take my eyes off you while you treated my hand, and I was constantly worried about the vacant expression on your face."
I don't know about the emptiness, but if he refers to his hand, it seems to mean that he got injured the first time he visited the Wallace Mansion to buy the abandoned mine for his sister.
I applied medicine to Leandro's palm, which had been scratched by a tree branch on the way to the mountain. For some reason, I felt like he was looking at my face up close.
"Was it love at first sight?"
"Yes. I was sure it was destiny. It was the first time I felt something like that."
"But it turns out you didn't like me rationally, right?"
Leandro's face hardened.
"I heard you talked about it with the head butler."
"That..."
Leandro exhaled deeply and said, as if confessing an important secret.
"The first night, I felt that something was wrong. I just didn't feel like doing that with you."
"......"
"Before that, I didn't have a strong desire to kiss or hold someone in my arms like others did, but... I just thought that was my natural tendency. I didn't have any special feelings for any woman until I met my wife."
Once he began confessing, the words came out slowly. Perhaps he always wanted to confide in someone.
"Even so, the moment I touched my wife's shoulder, thinking we had to fulfill our duty as a married couple, I felt a strong sense of rejection. Like when you commit a sin."
The man's body trembled like an aspen.
"I could never overcome that feeling of rejection. After that, I had no choice but to keep running away. At least I wanted to be kind to you, but..."
"You were afraid that I would have hope again and ask you to treat me like a real wife."
"...that's right."
Is that why Leandro, who was kind to me before we got married, suddenly changed his attitude?
"Have you ever thought about telling your truth?"
"I tried countless times. There were some occasions when I used the help of alcohol."
I guess that was the reason he sometimes came to see me when he was very drunk. Now I understand.
"But I was afraid that you would get hurt or angry and leave me immediately."
Leandro's eyes welled up.
I admitted it honestly. Leandro was beautiful. As expected of the older brother of the heroine, his beauty was not dimmed by his disheveled appearance and awkward crying. It was even pathetic.
I raised my hand. And then I grabbed him by the neck forcefully.
"Don't lie so atrociously. Are you afraid that I'll hurt you? Can't you speak because you're afraid I'll leave?"
"W-wife..."
"Didn't you see me hurt by your cold treatment? Didn't you see me cry every time I ignored you and pushed you away? You simply didn't want to admit the mistake you made."
He looked at me without understanding.
"You made the mistake of confusing the friendship of a sister with love and marrying a woman who was like a sister."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Do you think I don't know?"
I haven't forgotten what Leandro said when he apologized for the wedding dress incident.
"'Liena and my wife are similar. Things like impressions and atmosphere.'"
It still wasn't something I could identify with at all, but those words stayed in my heart, whether I knew it or not.
It buried itself deep at that moment but resurfaced later when I heard the head butler say that Leandro didn't feel that I was of the opposite sex.
An infatuation that doesn't include romantic feelings and the familial love he feels for his younger sister. There were consistent parts.
But until then, it was just a small suspicion. As much as Leandro loved his sister, I thought it couldn't be possible.
However, something he confessed to me a while ago convinced me.
"You said you fell in love with the way I treated the wound in your hand, right?"
That damn wound.
"That was the reason you opened your heart to Liena for the first time. You only accepted her as family after the wound in your hand healed."
Leandro's voice trembled.
"H-How can my wife...?"
"How do I know? I can't help but know it. Because it was a famous scene from 'Return and Walk on a Path of Flowers.'
I looked back at the content of the novel.
Leandro didn't like his younger sister from the beginning. When he was a child, he felt uncomfortable with the sudden intrusion of a stranger into his life.
Why is there so much fuss from his father, his younger brother, and other employees about a girl they've known for a short time being cute?
Those were the words Liena used with Leandro, who had that question.
"Leandro, where does it hurt? Why are you crying? My God, your hands are red!"
As a reference, if we interpret it as "Leandro, where does it hurt? Why are you crying? God, your hands are red!"
Liena was five years old at that time, but her pronunciation was incorrect because she had been abandoned in an orphanage.
"Go away! It has nothing to do with you!"
"Why doesn't it matter? We're family! (Why do you say it doesn't matter? We're family.)
"That damn family! I don't recognize you as family. And don't make a fuss because my father scolded me!"
"Hump... I agree with what Leandro says. But you're still a child."
"What?"
"You can't hit children no matter what happens! I need to talk to dad! (You can't hit children no matter what happens! I need to talk to dad!)
"Why, why... are you making a scene? I've always despised and hated you..."
"Hehe, you're asking the obvious. Even if you hate me, I love you! (Hehe, you're asking the obvious. Even if you hate me, I love you!)
Through this process, the two were reborn as the brother and sister they are today.
In fact, it was none of my business whether Leandro and Liena had a deep friendship or not. However, the idea of getting involved in their relationship was something I would have avoided.
"If you like your sister so much, live with her for the rest of your life! Don't make people look foolish!"
Leandro shook his head violently.
"No! It's true that Liena became my precious younger sister because of that, but still, my wife healed my hand..."
"Do you want me to believe that?"
"Please believe me!"
"If you want me to believe you, what should I do first with that confused expression on your face?"
She was an avid reader of 'Return and Walk on a Path of Flowers,' and although it was a formal relationship, it was clearly visible to me, who had been married to him for the past two years. Currently, Leandro was shocked by what I said.
It bothered me a lot. Just because I didn't love him didn't mean I wasn't angry at Leandro's atrocities.
"It was great, wasn't it? To be able to act as a lord, you had to separate from your beloved sister, but just then a substitute appeared."
"That, that's not true!"
"You just lie to me all the time."
"Just one last chance...!"
"It's enough. I don't want to waste my emotions on people like you over this little thing."
"Wife!"
"Goodbye, Leandro. If you have a conscience, don't appear in front of me again."
I turned around. And I didn't look back."