After Sardin had disappeared to do my bidding, only Janet and I remained in the carriage.
"Are you well?"
Janet asked me, her face filled with concern.
I smiled at her.
“Yes, better than ever.”
A while ago, I got rid of an item that would give Eric hope.
Hope he can find my body.
However, without proof of my death, Eric will be unable to marry anyone, including his beloved Madeleine, for five years.
Without my body, people won't acknowledge my death.
But no matter how hard he searched, he would never find my body.
Finally, I talked to Janet.
“If you want to leave, you can go.
I won’t stop you.”
This was a calculated move, even if someone found out I was alive.
Even if Eric knew I was alive but couldn't find me, he wouldn't be able to divorce me.
This statement came from my confidence that Eric would never find me.
I have not revealed my full plan to anyone except Sardine, and have hidden various identities and cards.
Well, it's no surprise that they fell for the trick.
When I left the duchy, even Landon, who had helped me, fell for the trick.
Janet looked at my smiling face and sighed.
Then she spoke to me in a firm voice.
“Didn’t I tell you?
I will stay by your side.”
I still don't understand why you stayed with me.
Honestly, I couldn't trust her.
But in the end, I was able to take one of Eric's dear female subordinates.
Well, losing one of his followers wouldn't hurt him.
During my years as the Duchess of Brant, I lost the little things I once had.
From my name, Cornelia Odile Chauvannelt, to my original status as a princess, I have been reduced to a mere noblewoman.
Some of my huge wealth was taken as dowry, and my ability to discern what I liked and what I didn't like was rendered useless.
My opinions were ignored, and I tried to make myself fit into the family of the Duchy of Brant to avoid being disliked.
I wanted to be the Duchess of Brant and become part of their family.
But despite my efforts, there was no one around.
Except Sardine, who was always with me, no one cared about me.
They didn't want me to interact with others; They preferred me to remain calm.
I went from not caring about other people's opinions to constantly worrying about them.
But because I loved him, I thought it was normal to lose those things.
As a result, I even lost my precious baby.
In the meantime, what about Eric?
Empire hero Eric Lennon Brant remained unconcerned with anyone's opinions.
By marrying me, he consolidated his position as the leader of the Nobles Faction, and his position remained stable.
People were always surrounding him.
He maintained his friendship with his childhood friend Madeleine, his subordinates were loyal, and many nobles constantly surrounded him.
Unlike me, who was alone and had nothing, he did not lose a single thing.
That's why I decided on this petty revenge.
So suffer for five years too, Eric Lennon Brant.
“I still haven't found it today.”
As the sun began to set, Eric stared with hatred at the relentlessly flowing river.
He kept track of how many days he spent doing this, or how many times he searched the wretched river that had swallowed her.
However, what he couldn't give up was the feeling of relief that came from failure.
“I issued a search warrant for a missing person in the capital and mobilized the knights, but we found nothing, not even a piece of cloth.
So, she must still be alive.”
As Eric continued to search, people kept telling him that Cornelia was dead.
However, he was sure she was alive because he had reason to believe so.
If it was Janet and that slave...they must have saved Cornelia.
Although Sardin was a thorn in his side, Eric recognized his skill.
After all, he was about to exceed his limits.
At that moment, someone called out urgently.
“Your Highness!”
It was Chester.
“We found this!”
Chester handed Eric something.
Although it was torn like a rag, it was a hat made of fine green cloth, trimmed with a black ribbon.
It matched the description of the hat Cornelia was wearing when she disappeared.
While the Duke calmly took the hat, Chester soon opened his mouth with a gloomy expression.
“Near where we found the hat, some people reported seeing a body in a green dress floating downstream.
Your Highness?
What’s the matter?”
He could hear people talking around him, but none of that registered with Eric.
This hat was not Cornelia's.
He tried to deny it, but he couldn't.
He took pride in remembering every item of clothing Cornelia had ever worn.
In his memory, this hat undoubtedly belonged to her.
The torn condition of the hat seemed to hint at the tragic death of its owner.
Eric clenched his fist, his eyes flashing sharply.
"Don't be silly.
She couldn't have died that easily!"
Although she was living as an ordinary noblewoman after marrying him, Cornelia was more prominent than anyone else since her days as a princess.
Her vast knowledge in various fields, broad perspective, and insight as a ruler were unparalleled.
If she had been born a man, everyone would unanimously consider her the next emperor.
No wonder the Emperor himself intervened to marry her to him and keep her under close surveillance.
But even this hope was crumbling in the face of this tattered hat.
Eric closed his eyes.
“Yes, Cornelia is...”
Even though he pretended to ignore her, as if she was an existence he could never possess, he always kept every detail of her engraved in his mind.
The smile that sometimes appeared on her stubborn face, as well as her innocent expression when she fell asleep after getting angry, warmed something inside him.
In that moment, he realized.
She was a pillar in his weary life.
One day, as he vowed in his lonely thoughts, she would become his only family.
But what did he do to her?
Tak-!
He knew how much she wanted to be part of the family, but he didn't say anything.
He ignored her, closed his eyes, and hurt her.
In order to deny his jealousy towards Eric and his despicable desire to possess her.
But Cornelia, who had always been inexplicably angry and obsessed with Eric, changed at some point.
Yes, he knew.
He had ignored it, thinking they could talk again, but she had been disappointed and had already given up.
Not for Eric, but for him.
“I...”
His vision changed.
He remembered the feelings he had been denying all along.
I dared to love her without knowing my place...and to hurt her.
I had to be honest.
You didn't do anything wrong.
In fact, I never hated you.
That it was all my fault.
In fact, I am not your husband but his surrogate, so I kept our distance.
I cowardly cheated on you, pushing you away and ignoring you in order to deny my feelings.
So, instead of blaming yourself, I should have asked for forgiveness and told you to hate me, resent me, and despise me.
But now, even that opportunity may never come.
Because he failed to protect her.
A terrible pain gripped his heart.
At the same time, he remembered the assumption he had been avoiding all along.
“If she was dead...”
The pure, transparent skin, the sparkling purple eyes, the round forehead, the soft black hair, the beautifully shaped nose, the long eyelashes that cast deep shadows when her eyes were closed, the stubbornly closed red lips—the image of Cornelia was still vivid.
If I can't see her again now, how can I live?
Looking at the tattered green hat, he felt a fear and despair that he had never experienced, even on the battlefield.
Then it collapsed.