I Am Trying to Divorce My Villain Husband, But We Had a Child - chapter 66

Chapter 66

The carriage soon arrived in front of the temple.

Elisa entered the temple alongside Richard.

A passing priest noticed Elisa and, recognizing her, approached with a delighted expression.

“You’ve come again, Duchess.”

“Hello, Priest Silica.”

“But, the person next to you is…?”

“Oh, this is His Grace, the Duke.”

Upon hearing that, the priest, recognizing Richard, greeted him with a far more nervous expression than when he addressed Elisa.

“Welcome, Your Grace.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The two exchanged brief pleasantries.

After they finished, Elisa asked, “Do you happen to know where Leon is?”

“The child is likely in the east chapel.”

“And His Holiness?”

“His Holiness is offering prayers in the west chapel.”

Just as the priest finished speaking, a small shadow came running towards Elisa with a pitter-patter.

Richard instinctively caught the child.

It was a young boy with golden hair and bright red eyes that shone like a blazing sun, and chubby cheeks.

Elisa saw the child and smiled brightly.

“Leon?”

“Sis!”

Richard looked at the child with curious eyes.

Elisa had said Leon had red hair, the same as Christian. But the child before him had golden hair.

Richard asked Elisa, “Didn’t you say he had red hair?”

“Oh, this is a wig. His Holiness said it was to avoid suspicion, and he was passed off as a distant relative.”

Elisa whispered this to Richard, then took Leon’s tiny hand.

“Leon, have you been well? You haven’t caused any trouble, right?”

“Mhm!”

Elisa handed Leon the paper bag that Richard had been holding.

It was filled with bread and cookies she had brought for him.

Seeing this, Leon beamed as if he had received the whole world.

Watching him, Elisa smiled and spoke to the priest.

“Then, I’ll head to the west chapel now, Priest.”

“Shall I escort you?”

“No need, I’ve memorized the temple layout by now. You must be busy, don’t worry about me.”

With a bow, Priest Silica disappeared.

As she was about to head to the west chapel, Elisa suddenly turned around to Richard, who was following her.

“Richard, you should go to the resting room with Leon.”

“…Aren’t I going with you?”

“You came to see Leon, didn’t you? I have something to discuss with His Holiness.”

Richard had indeed used that as an excuse to accompany her.

In the end, all he could do was stare after Elisa as she headed towards the west chapel.

At that moment, he felt something tugging at the hem of his pants.

It was Leon.

“I’ll take you to the room.”

Richard looked at the child before him, surprised.

Children around the age of four usually shied away from him instinctively, as if scared. But this child fearlessly spoke to him, which intrigued him.

Even though asking someone else might have been faster, Richard decided to follow Leon without complaint.

However, keeping pace with the small child, who walked with tiny steps, soon became frustrating.

Richard eventually picked him up.

The boy, who had been focused on finding the way, finally looked at Richard and asked, “Mister, are you Sis’s friend?”

Richard’s brow furrowed at that.

‘He calls Elisa “Sis,” but me… “Mister?”’

Considering he and Leon’s father, Christian, were around the same age, it wasn’t entirely wrong to call him that.

But what bothered Richard more was that the child referred to his relationship with Elisa as “friends.”

Richard corrected Leon’s misunderstanding.

“No. We’re married.”

“What’s married?”

“It means two people have gotten married.”

“So, did you marry Sis?”

“Yes. Elisa is married to me.”

“Leon is going to marry Sis too!”

Well, well. The little guy’s got good taste.

Richard gave an exasperated look.

“Elisa is already married to me, so she can’t marry you. You can only marry one person.”

At those words, Leon’s eyes wavered. Then, tears quickly welled up in his large eyes.

“No! I can marry her too! You’re mean!”

In the end, Leon burst into loud sobs.

Richard frowned at the piercing sound of Leon’s crying.

“Kids are so loud,” he thought.

After making the child cry, Richard wondered what he was even doing.

As he watched the crying child, he suddenly remembered the fruit-flavored candy in his pocket. He pulled it out and offered it to Leon.

It was something he’d gotten into the habit of carrying around when Elisa was dealing with morning sickness.

“Stop crying and take this. You like candy, right, kid?”

“Candy…?”

As expected, Leon’s interest was piqued. But he couldn’t open the wrapper by himself.

Seeing this, Richard unwrapped the candy with his free hand and handed it to him.

Leon took the candy and popped it into his mouth. The sweet grape flavor spread across his tongue.

“It’s delicious!”

The boy smiled through teary eyes.

“So simple,” Richard thought as he watched Leon. Then, almost to himself, he muttered, “When you grow up, you’ll meet someone good.”

Though, of course, no one would be better than Elisa.

With Leon leading the way, they finally arrived at the resting room. Richard set him down.

Leon quickly scurried over to the fireplace.

Richard watched the boy with indifferent eyes but then suddenly flinched.

A spark had flown from Leon’s hand.

Startled, Richard hurried over and scooped the boy up.

“If you play with fire, His Holiness will scold you.”

“No! I was trying to make it warm for Sis. His Holiness said I did a good job.”

It was only then that Richard realized Leon had been trying to light the fireplace.

The power of a noble family was something inherited, but those unaware of their abilities couldn’t control them.

Typically, children of noble blood grew up knowing their powers, learning to master them from a young age. However, there were rare exceptions.

In times of extreme danger, or when feeling intense emotion, latent powers could manifest unexpectedly.

Richard himself had discovered his power when he was being hunted by assassins sent by Albert, who intended to kill him.

Leon, too, had likely grown up unaware of his power, having been born an illegitimate child. His abilities must have manifested in a moment of desperation.

As these thoughts passed through Richard’s mind, Elisa’s voice suddenly echoed in his memory.

“When I saw that child, I thought of you. I couldn’t turn away.”

It was now early summer, and the warmth of the fireplace wasn’t needed. But Richard didn’t want to snuff out the small flame.

A gentle breeze gathered around Leon’s hand, helping the small flame catch onto the logs.

Before long, the logs began to burn.

Seeing this, Leon clapped his hands and laughed.

“Look, Mister! Leon started the fire!”

A faint smile briefly passed over Richard’s face as he watched the cheerful boy.

When Elisa entered the west chapel, only Aiden remained, as if the service had just ended.

He stood alone in the center of the chapel, gazing up at the statue of the goddess.

Quietly, Elisa approached him.

Sensing her presence, Aiden spoke.

“I wish to make a confession to you, Duchess.”

Elisa looked at him with a curious expression.

In his usual calm voice, Aiden continued, “I serve the gods, but I do not believe in them.”

Elisa was startled by his words.

While such a statement might be expected from an atheist, it was shocking to hear it from the Pope, who served as the spiritual leader of the empire.

“I merely use the authority of the gods to protect the people I care about. Sacrilegiously so.”

Since the day Julia died, he had abandoned his faith.

His goddess was not the statue before him but his beloved wife, and his sense of justice came from the words she had left behind in life.

“How can I claim that my selfishness is greater than your kindness?”

Aiden lowered his gaze from the goddess and turned to face Elisa.

“It seems I sought the purity I lost in you.”

He hadn’t expected it from anyone else.

He had rejected the transparent goodwill of others, quickly dismissing them without a second thought.

But for some reason, he had hoped for that purity in her.

Though he couldn’t explain why, one thing was clear.

She possessed a strength he did not.

A strength that allowed her to protect others with a pure heart, without losing her inner light.

That strength had moved him.

“Will you help me, help the temple?”

Elisa blinked in surprise at Aiden’s request.

Then, with a bright smile, she nodded.

“If that is what Your Holiness wishes, gladly.”

At Elisa’s radiant smile, a smile finally spread across Aiden’s lips as well.