I Am Trying to Divorce My Villain Husband, But We Had a Child - chapter 31

Episode 31

 

 

 

…Madam!

 

 

 

Your Highness!

 

 

 

“Ugh….”

 

 

 

Elisa, who was wandering in her dream, woke up upon hearing a faint voice from afar.

 

 

 

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the morning sunlight seeping through the crack in the door and a strange ceiling.

 

 

 

Slowly blinking her eyes, Elisa tried to recall the situation before falling asleep but paused.

 

 

 

‘Um, my memory…’

 

 

 

Until she drank alcohol, she remembered everything vividly.

 

 

 

Falling off the cliff while trying to escape the monster, being rescued by Richard, coming here to avoid the snowstorm.

 

 

 

And the feast of flesh-colored memories engraved in fragments in her mind because of the alcohol.

 

 

 

‘It must be a dream, right?’

 

 

 

Elisa tried to shake off the memories she didn’t want to believe in, but they were memories that couldn’t be erased even if she wanted to.

 

 

 

It would have been better if she couldn’t remember anything at all. The scattered memories tormented her even more.

 

 

 

Richard, quickly….

 

 

 

She urged him desperately, stealing his lips and even clinging to him as much as possible to make him consider her needs.

 

 

 

“This is insane! Am I really crazy? How could this happen…!”

 

 

 

Denying the reality she didn’t want to believe in, Elisa shook her head, but she found evidence that she could no longer deny.

 

 

 

Richard, asleep in her arms.

 

 

 

As if proving that the memory was not a dream, he was naked.

 

 

 

Moreover….

 

 

 

“My whole body hurts….”

 

 

 

Even a slight movement caused intense pain.

 

 

 

Her waist hurt a lot.

 

 

 

Not only that, but it felt like she was catching a cold, perhaps because of overturning plenty of cold water yesterday.

 

 

 

Still, she couldn’t remain a perpetrator like this.

 

 

 

Elisa tried to get out of Richard’s embrace with the intention of putting on clothes at least.

 

 

 

But his strong arms seemed unwilling to let her go, rather pulling her closer and holding her tighter.

 

 

 

The distance that was already close between them became even closer, and Elisa’s face turned red against his.

 

 

 

“Why is a sleeping person’s strength so strong? Is he really asleep?”

 

 

 

As Elisa grabbed one of his arms and groaned, Richard, who felt her movement, opened his eyes.

 

 

 

Meeting his gaze, Elisa froze in place.

 

 

 

“Your body is a bit…”

 

 

 

“I’m sorry, Richard!”

 

 

 

As soon as Richard opened his eyes, the first thing he did was to examine Eisa’s condition, but he stopped short.

 

 

 

Elisa quickly withdrew from his embrace and bit her lip.

 

 

 

“I must have been out of my mind yesterday because of the alcohol….”

 

 

 

“….”

 

 

 

“I know ‘sorry’ won’t cut it… I’m truly sorry. This won’t happen again.”

 

 

 

Richard’s expression noticeably hardened at Elisa’s words.

 

 

 

Elisa thought it was because of today’s events that had upset him.

 

 

 

Today’s events were clearly not what he wanted.

 

 

 

“Elisa.”

 

 

 

Richard was about to say something with a sigh.

 

 

 

“Madam! Your Highness! Are you nearby?”

 

 

 

Thompson and the knights’ voices could be heard not far away.

 

 

 

Elisa startled and quickly got up. She had to handle this situation before they discovered her and Richard.

 

 

 

But at that moment, her feverish head spun, and her body weakened.

 

 

 

“….Elisa?”

 

 

 

Feeling Richard’s warmth embracing her, Elisa lost consciousness.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Back at the castle, Elisa remained bedridden.

 

 

 

The doctor said it was just a simple cold, but Richard couldn’t stay still.

 

 

 

He blamed himself as he watched Elisa suffering from a high fever.

 

 

 

“It’s my fault.”

 

 

 

Elisa was already in a bad condition, and he couldn’t control his desires and ended up making a mess.

 

 

 

Moreover, he couldn’t consider her feelings as a first-timer and pushed her despite her struggles.

 

 

 

It was an emotion he had suppressed for nearly 8 years. Once they burst out, he couldn’t control himself.

 

 

 

Suddenly, Elisa’s words from before came to his mind.

 

 

 

“Don’t be swayed by anyone’s will at first, and be with the person you truly love.”

 

 

 

“Why?”

 

 

 

“Huh? Well… because I want to share every precious moment with the person I love.”

 

 

 

Even though she clung to him, he should have pushed her away. He should have won her heart slowly and then embraced her.

 

 

 

That was what he thought he should do, even though the sequence was wrong….

 

 

 

“How can I push away this face?”

 

 

 

He couldn’t push away the desperate embrace, the warmth gently enveloping him, the voice calling out his name as if pleading, or the eyes filled with tears.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, they had shared their first time together, so he thought their hearts were already connected, despite the wrong order.

 

 

 

“I know ‘sorry’ won’t cut it… I’m truly sorry, and this won’t happen again.”

 

 

 

Until she said those words.

 

 

 

Richard wanted to talk to her about what happened, but feverish Elisa collapsed.

 

 

 

His feelings of frustration towards her, who had spent a passionate night with him but now seemed to be nothing, turned into guilt and self-loathing.

 

 

 

Along with that self-loathing, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed at himself for not being able to control his desire and constantly remembering the night before.

 

 

 

“…Crazy bastard.”

 

 

 

Anne, who was nursing Elisa while keeping an eye on Richard, was startled by Richard’s sudden curse.

 

 

 

Since a while ago, Richard had been emitting a chilling vibe like a predator as he watched the sick Elisa, and now he was swearing.

 

 

 

“S-Scary…”

 

 

 

Of course, to Anne, Richard was an intimidating superior, but she had never felt scared when Elisa was around.

 

 

 

Richard next to Elisa always seemed strangely gentle.

 

 

 

Anne wished Richard would leave the room quickly.

 

 

 

Then, as if someone had heard Anne’s wish, a knock echoed.

 

 

 

“Your Highness, I have something urgent to report.”

 

 

 

Richard heard the voice and immediately rose from his seat. He glanced worriedly at Elisa’s feverish face for a moment before turning and leaving the room.

 

 

 

Outside, Thompson was waiting for him.

 

 

 

“Madam, are you feeling any better?”

 

 

 

“She’s gradually getting better with the fever subsiding. What’s the matter?”

 

 

 

“Ah, it’s about yesterday’s incident when monsters appeared in large numbers.”

 

 

 

Thompson handed Richard a leather pouch.

 

 

 

“We found this from the body of the Daiwolves we confronted yesterday. It’s not just from Daiwolves but also from the bodies of other monsters. At the time, it didn’t seem noticeable as the souls were not completely consumed.”

 

 

 

The Devil’s Soul Stone was a stone that emerged from the land inside the canyon northwest of the Rubellin Territory.

 

 

 

Anyone who absorbed it gradually lost their soul and became a monster that attacked surrounding creatures, leaving only their body behind.

 

 

 

The monsters living in the canyon instinctively knew its danger, thus avoiding approaching it.

 

 

 

This meant someone had taken the contaminated stone from the polluted land and injected it into monsters near the Rubellin Territory.

 

 

 

“But there’s supposed to be a barrier there.”

 

 

 

The land inside the canyon was contaminated, and only a few plants and monsters lived there.

 

 

 

The ancestors had set up a barrier in the canyon to protect the peace of Rubellin Territory and even the peace of the continent.

 

 

 

Ordinary people were not allowed to enter the canyon.

 

 

 

Yet someone had brought the Devil’s Soul Stone from the contaminated land beyond the barrier.

 

 

 

“Who could have done such a thing….”

 

 

 

Richard looked at the Devil’s Soul Stone with a cold gaze, then returned it to Thompson, saying, “We need to investigate the canyon. Prepare for it.”

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Without rest for two days, Richard and the knights finally arrived at the canyon.

 

 

 

The path leading to the contaminated land was deep within the canyon.

 

 

 

It was a desolate land where nothing grew except for a few resilient plants.

 

 

 

Only a gigantic canyon, about the size of a castle, sat atop the fog-filled wasteland.

 

 

 

“There are soldiers over there.”

 

 

 

Soldiers waiting nearby were visible. They were the ones guarding the canyon.

 

 

 

Thompson, who was about to approach them unconsciously, stopped and stiffened his expression.

 

 

 

A black aura flowed from the bodies of the soldiers wandering around, and the purification swords they had were shattered or missing.

 

 

 

The purification sword, imbued with the power of purification, appeared no different from a regular sword but could cleanse creatures consumed by Devil’s Soul Stone.

 

 

 

It was given to Rubellin by one of the ancestors of the Serierat family, who guarded the canyon.

 

 

 

“…They’ve completely succumbed to the Devil’s Soul Stone.”

 

 

 

They were almost annihilated due to killing each other, and the surrounding monsters were the same.

 

 

 

Watching the soldiers wandering around, neither alive nor dead, Richard spoke up.

 

 

 

“Grant them peace.”

 

 

 

As soon as Richard spoke, the soldiers consumed by the Devil’s Soul Stone began to approach.

 

 

 

The knights of Rubellin drew their purification swords and faced them.

 

 

 

As the purification swords pierced the soldiers consumed by the souls, the Devil’s Soul Stones absorbed within them shattered.

 

 

 

At the same time, the soldiers returned to being ordinary corpses.

 

 

 

After dealing with the bodies of the soldiers, Richard approached the canyon.

 

 

 

The land inside the canyon seemed blocked, but it was actually a barrier set up at the entrance of the canyon to prevent ordinary people from accessing it.

 

 

 

When Richard caused a strong wind to temporarily dispel the fog, weakening the mana forming the barrier, the entrance to the canyon became visible.

 

 

 

“Let’s go.”

 

 

 

Richard entered the canyon with the knights.

 

 

 

After pushing through the dense mist for a while, they came to a barren plain.

 

 

 

There was a massive lake on one side of the plain.

 

 

 

The clear and clean lake in such a murky and thick place felt quite strange.

 

 

 

Agile recognized the lake immediately.

 

 

 

“That’s the Lake of Purification.”

 

 

 

Arien, the ancestor of the Serierat family, one of the four families that founded Arencia, poured all her power into creating this lake.

 

 

 

She hoped that her power would stop the evil forces from the canyon from crossing into the empire.

 

 

 

Although occasionally blind to the corrupting influence, some had crossed the barrier into the contaminated land, but the monsters from the polluted land couldn’t cross into the empire.

 

 

 

For over a thousand years, the lake had guarded the entrance to the canyon according to her wish.

 

 

 

But now, someone had crossed the barrier and entered this land, misusing the power of the Devil’s Soul Stone.

 

 

 

“We don’t know what might come out from here. Stay alert, everyone.”

 

 

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

 

 

As Richard and the knights ventured into the contaminated land, they kept their guard up.

 

 

 

However, to their disappointment, nothing happened even after they ventured for a while.

 

 

 

Just when the tension among the knights began to ease off,

 

 

 

“Your Highness.”

 

 

 

Thompson, who had discovered something, urgently called out to Richard.

 

 

 

Before he could say anything, Richard’s gaze had already shifted in that direction.

 

 

 

At the edge of Richard’s vision stood a black figure.