I Am Trying to Divorce My Villain Husband, But We Had a Child - chapter 40

Chapter 40

#6. Caught

A few days later, Richard found himself having to vacate the mansion.

When he attempted to capture the rogue Lothar, who was involved with the devil’s soul stone, he heard news of his son Philip approaching the estate and chose to hide from Richard.

Fortunately, his location was quickly discovered, but there was a problem.

The place where he had hidden turned out to be one of the branches of Alita’s top. It didn’t bode well for Rubelin’s knights to rush in and capture him there.

So, in the end, Richard decided to go there himself to deal with him.

When Elisa woke up, Richard was already dressed and ready to leave, wearing a coat.

In the dim light of dawn, Elisa silently watched him.

Richard, unaware that Elisa was awake, put on leather gloves with an indifferent expression.

Perhaps because the sun hadn’t risen, his demeanor felt colder than usual. No, it was a face that even felt eerie.

At that moment, Richard, who was casually glancing around, met Elisa’s eyes. At the same time, the chilly aura in his eyes disappeared.

He approached and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve brought a substitute to stay with Maurice. If you feel unwell, don’t hesitate to call for help. And even if you don’t have an appetite, don’t skip meals.”

Elisa burst into laughter at Richard’s worried nagging.

Richard looked at Elisa with a puzzled expression.

“You’re nagging like our parents.”

In Elisa’s memories, her parents were not the Roengreen couple but her parents from her past life.

They were too busy fighting each other to care about their daughter. To them, their daughter was merely a shackle keeping them in a terrible marriage.

Having grown up under such parents, Elisa found Richard’s nagging amusing.

As Elisa laughed, Richard’s expression softened. It almost seemed like a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s still dawn, so you should sleep more.”

“No, I’m awake now. I should see my husband off.”

Elisa reluctantly got up to see Richard off.

Knights and Richard’s horse were waiting in front of the mansion.

Before mounting his horse, Richard turned to Elisa.

“I’ll be back.”

Instead of a farewell, Elisa stared at him intently.

Seeing Elisa’s puzzled look, she quietly approached and hugged him. Then she gently patted his back.

Unexpectedly, both Richard and the surrounding servants were taken aback by the unexpected physical contact.

“I’m sure my lady doesn’t want to be left behind, Your Highness.”

“Oh, come on.”

Thompson, who was standing beside her, yawned softly, and Agyle glanced at him, nudging his arm.

The other knights and servants coughed awkwardly, casting their eyes downward.

“Take care, Richard. Don’t overdo it, and don’t get hurt.”

Richard found Elisa’s actions puzzling but felt good about it.

No, actually, he felt sad.

For some reason, her act of hugging him goodbye felt like she was holding onto him, not wanting him to leave.

He didn’t want to leave her behind, but there was no choice. He needed to resolve this matter quickly so he could stay by her side.

Richard mounted his horse, leaving Elisa behind. Instead of immediately departing, he glanced down at Elisa silently.

Elisa waved her hand first as Richard hesitated to leave. Only then did he turn away. The knights followed behind him, and the sound of hooves gradually faded away.

Watching him leave, Elisa muttered softly to herself.

“I’m glad I could say goodbye this time.”

Once Richard’s figure disappeared completely from sight as he left the mansion, Elisa turned and headed back to her room.

Then she spoke to Anne, who followed behind her.

“Anne, let’s get ready to leave.”

Anne hesitated for a moment, seeming reluctant, but soon went to pack her things and entered the dressing room.

In reality, there wasn’t much to pack. She had left the settlement funds with the Alita branch.

Since most of the clothes were bought with her own money, she planned to leave them behind except for a few outfits she would wear in the coming days.

While Anne packed, Elisa sat at the table to write a letter to Richard.

But as soon as she picked up the pen, she felt at a loss for words.

“If I disappear without explaining, Richard will surely be confused.”

He might even come looking for me to hear the reason.

Above all, with his abilities, he could easily find out the truth, so I needed to come up with a plausible reason to stall for time.

“Should I lie and say I have someone I love?”

When I suggested divorce, he immediately speculated about that reason.

“That might be the most certain way.

If I say I want a divorce because I want to marry someone else, what can he do?”

Elisa decided to write a letter with that kind of content. But…

“Why do I feel reluctant to say such things?”

She couldn’t bring herself to move her hand. During that time, ink spilled onto the letter paper.

She couldn’t understand why her hand wouldn’t move.

After tearing up several sheets of paper, Elisa was finally able to write a brief letter.

[Richard,

Wherever you are, whatever you do, I always wish for your happiness.

Sincerely, Elisa.]

As she folded the letter, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Why am I suddenly crying?”

Elisa quickly wiped away the tears.

It felt sad to leave a familiar place, and her emotional fluctuations intensified due to pregnancy.

As Elisa composed herself, Anne, who had finished preparing, approached her.

“Madam, everything is packed.”

“Then wait a moment. I’ll leave a letter for Richard in his room and come back.”

Elisa took the letter and went to Richard’s bedroom. Naturally, it was empty.

Elisa placed the letter so that its corner could be seen between the books on the table. Then she looked around the room.

“It’s just like when we were children.”

Richard’s room was just like it was when Richard and Elisa shared a room as children. The scent of the owner of the bed was still present.

“When I leave this mansion, I’ll miss this room the most.”

As Elisa carefully looked around the room, she entered Richard’s dressing room.

Since Richard went to war, whenever Elisa occasionally came down to the estate, she always used this room, so it was familiar to her.

The dressing room was now filled with Richard’s clothes instead of Elisa’s dresses.

“I should have seen myself wearing these clothes at least once. What a pity.”

While Elisa was rummaging through the dressing room, she found a brooch in one of the jewelry boxes.

It was a platinum brooch engraved with the crest of the Rubelin Duchy, the brooch Richard wore when he went to the royal hunting grounds as a child.

The handsome face of Richard as he descended the stairs that day was still vivid in Elisa’s memory.

“I guess it’s okay to take this one?”

As Elisa was fiddling with the brooch, she secretly took it and left the dressing room.

Since there were plenty of brooches, no one would pay much attention anyway.

Elisa took one last look at Richard’s room before returning to her own room. Then she called for Grayson.

“I have something to sort out, so I’ll stay in the northern cottage for a while. Bring Anne with me, and don’t let anyone else in.”

Elisa had never used the cottage before.

Grayson was worried that it wasn’t something serious, but he didn’t ask. It was the virtue of a servant not to question or interfere with what the master didn’t explain.

“I’ll get it ready right away.”

An hour later, Elisa was ready to stay in the northern cottage.

Elisa and Anne entered the cottage together.

Although it had hardly been used, it was always well-maintained, so both the exterior and interior were clean.

“This way, Anne.”

Elisa climbed the stairs to the second floor, reminiscing about the memories of when she and Richard had come to the cottage as children.

On the second floor, there was a room used only by the Rubelin family’s nobles.

The room was luxuriously decorated as befitting a noble’s room. It was as lavish as the rooms in the main house, if not more so.

Elisa approached the wardrobe on one side of the room.

Behind this wardrobe was a secret passage that led to a small forest far from the mansion.

That was why Elisa had come to this cottage.

Recalling her childhood memories, Elisa remembered that the key to open the secret passage was hanging in a frame next to the wardrobe.

Young Richard in her memory had said to her, “Turn the frame counterclockwise, and it will open.”

As Elisa tried to turn the frame, Anne, startled, rushed to stop her.

“I’ll do it, Madam!”

After hesitating for a moment, Anne succeeded in turning the frame.

As if by magic, the wardrobe moved aside on its own, revealing a staircase leading down underground.

This secret passage was something Richard had told Elisa about before he went to war.

If her safety was ever threatened, she was to escape through this passage.

“No matter where you hide, just stay alive. I will definitely come for you.”

Elisa stared blankly at the stairs.

“I’m using the path you showed me to escape from you.”

Lost in thought, Elisa was interrupted by Anne.

“Madam?”

“Let’s go.”

Leading the way to protect Elisa from any potential danger, Anne descended the stairs.

Elisa glanced back in the direction of the main house.

“Goodbye, Richard.”

Then she turned and descended the stairs.

As the two of them descended the stairs and concealed their presence, the frame returned to its original position, and the door to the passage closed.