I Am Trying To Divorce My Villain Husband, But We Have A Child - Chapter 77

Chapter 77

The night before the foundation day, Elisha went to bed a little earlier than usual to prepare for the upcoming intense schedule. As usual, Richard watched the sleeping Elisha and blew a gentle breeze into their room to dispel the heat of the summer night. Then, a knock sounded at their door. Richard, startled, checked his wife’s condition. Fortunately, Elisha seemed to be in such a deep sleep that she didn’t hear the sound. Before the knock rang again, Richard got up from the bed, put on his robe, and headed to the door.

‘Perhaps it’s ‘that thing’?’ Although the room’s lights were usually left on, few servants rarely visited late at night. Thus, it meant it was an urgent matter.

He could think of one ‘thing’ that could be this urgent. Richard hurried to the door and opened it. In front of him, stood the butler, Grayson.

“Were you sleeping?”

“No. What’s going on?”

“I have a letter from Sir Colt.”

Colt was one of the subordinates that Richard had sent to the Divine Tree Forest a week ago. If there was news from them, he had told the servants to bring it whenever the lights in their bedroom were lit.

“Then have a good night, Your Grace.” Grayson, who delivered the letter, quietly went away.

After closing the door, Richard, who walked over to the table, hurriedly opened the letter.

[As you ordered, I searched the villages around the forest.

Any girls with blonde hair and green eyes who lived in the village at that time are either still living in the village or have married into a nearby village.

There are quite a few girls who died at a young age, but none of them are missing. We’ll take a look around one last time before we go back.]

The content of the letter meant that no trace of Elisha had been found anywhere.

‘But Aaron said that Albert Rubellin had definitely brought Elisha from the Divine Tree Forest area.’

If not from a nearby town, where the hell did he get Elisha from? Richard sighed and put the letter down.

In the end, he was back at the starting line once again.

* * *
The day of the foundation festival was bright. Elisha and Richard decided to bring only four knights, including Thompson, as escorts to take them to the temple.

It was because knights usually do not enter the temple. After all, they cannot carry weapons around the temple, and everyone gathers inside the temple, thus if you go accompanied by several knights in front of the temple it can become complicated to check each person for weapons. For that reason, most nobles participating in the foundation ceremony would bring as few escort knights as possible.

“Then go ahead safely, you two.”

Grayson, who had come to see the two off, closed the carriage door. Soon the wagon departed. As always, Richard hugged Elisha’s back and waist to minimize the vibrations of the carriage. While being held in his arms, she had been looking out the window while enjoying the wind coming in through the gap, and eventually Elisha peeked at him. He was going through papers that had to be reviewed urgently.

The expression on his face as he read the documents was so indifferent that it felt cold. It was completely different from the way he looked at her. Overlapping his present image, the image of him kissing and whispering to her a few days ago appeared in her mind.

“I don’t do this with anyone else.”

What the hell did that mean? At that time, Richard was immersed in the joy of feeling the child’s kicking for the first time and forgot about it, but she remembered his words, which she couldn’t bring herself to ask for their true meaning since that day.

‘Of course! Of course you shouldn’t do that with anyone! You have a wife!’

But he didn’t seem to be upset simply because she doubted his fidelity. At that moment, a possibility flashed through her mind.

‘Maybe Richard to me…’

Even that small possibility made her heart go thump- thump- and run wild. It was a thought I had never thought about before. But now it was too late to ask again, and above all…

‘I’m afraid to ask.’ That possibility might only be a delusion.

Just as she wanted his body at one point, as if it was just an instinctive desire, she was afraid that was all that he felt. If that was the case, how would she feel?

‘No, why are you afraid of the answer?’

As she was questioning her feelings, Richard, who was reviewing the documents, turned to Elisha.

“Elisha?”

“Oh…?”

Suddenly meeting his eyes, Elisha’s heart fluttered. Her heart pounded as if wondering if he could hear her thoughts.

“Is there anything you want to say? You’ve been looking at me for a while now.”

“Ah… that…”

After hesitating for a while, Elisha came up with an appropriate story.

“Co- come to think of it, this is my first time attending the founding festival. Have you ever attended the founding festival?”

“I attended for the first and last time the day I inherited the Duchy.”

“How was it?”

“…Boring.”

Elisha burst into laughter at his direct review. Without leaving space for any further thought, it was an answer that immediately made her understand what the founding festival was like.

Richard frowned slightly, then put his hand on Elisha’s belly with a worried expression on his face. Since the first time he felt the baby’s kicking, whenever he was with Elisha, he would put his hand on her belly out of habit.

“If you feel a stomach ache or are tired, don’t hold back and tell me right away.”

“Don’t worry. My baby is very strong because he looks just like his dad.”

As if agreeing with Elisha’s words, the child in her belly kicked. The two parents, who felt it, burst into laughter at the same time.

Soon after, the carriage arrived in front of the temple.

“Your Grace, Madam, we have arrived.”

Elisha was escorted by Richard and got off the carriage. Many carriages of other noble families had already arrived in front of the temple. There was one family in particular that stood out among the wagons with different family patterns.

‘Marquis Dion?’

Marquis Dion and Mikaela appeared with many knights, unlike the other nobles who had at most four escorts. Appearing with that many knights in front of the already crowded temple was a nuisance. When Richard saw Marquis Dion’s cheeky face, his forehead scrunched. At that moment, a familiar voice was heard from the side.

“Duchess and Duke.”

It was Olivia.

Like Elisha and Richard, she was also wearing white robes suitable for the foundation festival. Next to her, there was a man, who looked like an idol-like pretty boy, wearing the same white robe. The man bowed his head slightly to Elisha and Richard to greet them politely.

“It is an honor to meet you, Duchess, Duke. My name is Cedric Beltane.”

“Ah, Young Marquis. As I’ve heard, you’re quite handsome.”

“Haha, it’s embarrassing to hear that from the wife who has the most handsome man in the empire as her husband…”

When Elisha smiled and greeted him, Cedric, who was looking at her blankly, blushed and smiled shyly. Seeing that, Richard’s expression hardened.

“I heard a lot about you, Madam, from my mother. My mother and younger sibling are indebted to you.”

“Oh no, don’t say that, anyone would have done the same as what I did.”

“I will treat you to a meal in the near future. I’ll invite you to my residence on a nice day.”

Richard changed the subject before Elisha replied that she would be glad to accept.

“Is the Young Marquis deciding on his marriage partner? I’m sure there must be quite a few people talking by now.”

His words meant that he needs to find his partner without looking at someone else’s woman. Richard gave strength to the arm wrapped around Elisha and hugged her a little more tightly, as a warning against Cedric. Like an animal protecting its young. Only Elisha, who couldn’t see Richard’s expression because she was looking at Olivia and Cedric, didn’t notice his chilly expression. On the other hand, Olivia saw it and burst out laughing as if it was funny.

“Madam is so popular that His Grace must be very upset.”

“Pardon?”

“Just a joke. It’s almost time, shall we go in?”

The people turned and entered the temple one by one. The central chapel was grand as it was in the center of the temple. The stained glass that adorned each window, and the light that penetrated through them, added to the magnificence. In the center of the huge chapel where the light gathers, there was a pulpit, and the goddess statue was located in the middle.

The front was already filled with nobles and priests who had arrived earlier. Elisha and Richard went to their seats and waited for the foundation ceremony to begin. Before long, Aiden, who appeared from the side door of the pulpit, climbed up to it. Soon after, the doors of the temple that had been closed were opened, and with light beaming through the doorway, the emperor entered wearing a robe

“His Majesty the Emperor is entering!”

The nobles lined up on both sides of the walkway bowed their heads toward the Emperor. Richard and Elisha also bowed lightly. The Emperor strode forward and stood up behind the pulpit.

“We are gathered here today to give infinite glory to our ancestors who made us who we are today and to pray for our country’s future prosperity. I hope you all will do it with reverence.”

That marked the beginning of the foundation festival.

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