Chapter 18 (1/2)

Chapter 18

“Why did you stay still?”

On the way home, this was Eric’s answer to Chloe after he had ruminated the fact.

“What I mean is why did you allow yourself to be battered like that?”

He seemed to have heard the conversation she had with the Countess and her group earlier.

Chloe stared at Eric as he spoke once more.

“I don’t want to see my wife being disregarded.”

“They weren’t wrong.”

And this was Chloe’s immediate answer.

She was sick of staying silent. In any case, she didn’t need to broach the subject of the divorce again. She spoke in a very sarcastic tone.

“I am a noble, elegant Marchioness, and at the same time, I am a frigid woman who is not loved by my husband.”

“Chloe.”

“You always speak that way. But did I say anything wrong?”

Eric shut his mouth. Was that the scent of alcohol lingering around Chloe? He frowned deeply.

“Darling.”

Chloe put her hands together. The locomotive shook, but Chloe remained poised.

She never faltered.

“Did the Fourth Princess ask you to marry her?”

Eric’s eyes grew wide, then he closed them slowly. Behind his gaze were worries and concerns that were piling up.

He pressed his forehead with his fingertips, frustrated, and he sighed deeply.

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Yes, it is.”

Chloe thought that this should be pointed out.

And she felt again how the small hope she was fostering might not have completely burned down and disappeared. Coming over her entirely, Chloe felt frustrated once more.

“Darling.”

Chloe spoke in a voice that seemed to be fading out, but it was nonetheless a powerful voice that was like a persistent candlelight enduring a gust of wind.

“Is that why you’re refusing to divorce me?”

“What?”

“So that you won’t marry the Fourth Princess?”

Eric was in disbelief. That’s right, the word disbelief was the best fit.

He was refusing to divorce so that he wouldn’t get married to the Fourth Princess? Him? Eric Aslan?

He could refuse the marriage as much as he wanted.

The reason he had left Prince Harris to his own machinations was because Eric had plans for him in the future. But Chloe seemed to have formed a misunderstanding.

His pride was shot.

So he wanted to say this—

I am a great person enough to ignore a prince’s orders. I am a man who holds the king at the palm of my hand. I control the entire kingdom.

He wanted to shout it all so loudly that Chloe’s ears would grow tired of these words.

But even if he did, Chloe wouldn’t believe any of it. To her, he was someone who merely bought a title to become a Marquis, someone who would never be able to erase his origins as a commoner.

And so that was the reason these words came out stiffly. He did not want to tell her the truth.

“If that’s the case, then what are you going to do?”

Eric stared at Chloe’s faultless, immaculate face.

Chloe closed her eyes for a moment, but she soon lifted her gaze.

“Then…”

Chloe thought about it.

So far, her husband had poured four million pounds into the Duchy for her.

Whether he felt any affection for her or not, it was an undeniable fact that she owed Eric a lot of money.

And Chloe never gave anything back. She just received all that money.

“Then I won’t be able to insist on divorce.”

Therefore, Chloe had to fold her resolution halfway.

She never did anything for him, but at the very least she knew enough about insisting on what she should and what she shouldn’t.

But that didn’t mean she had given up on divorce completely.

“I understand that the Fourth Princess receives a lot of marriage proposals. And the royal family is also pushing for her marriage.”

“That’s right.”

Chloe leaned back.

“Once the princess wishes to marry someone else, please divorce me.”

Eric’s expression was stiff.

He loosened his tie, took out a small machine and a cigar from his coat pocket, put the cigar between his lips and turned the cogwheel of the machine.

Chiiik. A small fire was conjured, and he lit the cigar with it.

“Why do you want to divorce me?”

The sweet smell of the cigar filled the locomotive, cloudy smoke accompanying it.

Chloe slowly breathed in.

The scent of his cigars was always like this.

At first, it was soft and sweet like the fragrance of coffee, but as time went on, it would become a bitter, sour scent.

Just like the pitiable love she had for him.

When she first married Eric, she thought that they would fall in love together. A soft, steady love.

But what was the result? Only love that had the unpleasant stench of old, rotten fish remained.