Refusing Your Ex-Husband’s Obsession: A Guide - Chapter 35

Chapter 35 – How is that even possible?

Translator: Yonnee

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Ciel brought Aiden with him to the Lemond fief, which was next to the Closch fief. He wanted to go straight to Closch, but they didn’t have a portal.

He knew that it was an underdeveloped territory as it was located at the outskirts of the empire, but he wasn’t aware that they didn’t even know they had no portal.

So, from the Lemond fief, they rode a carriage the rest of the way.

As Aiden had just come out of his seclusion from the detached manor, was busy marveling at the passing scenery.

If Ciel were to be honest, what he’s doing right now was entirely not like him. His decision to come here was not planned at all, and he acted quite on impulse.

After his brief encounter with Lady Closch, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

Strangely enough, as the days went by, he kept remembering that young lady’s face instead of Seohyun’s appearance from the previous life. So, for this reason, it felt like he was slowly losing his mind.

It’s as if he was forgetting his wife’s face. This made him feel such disgust with himself, more than he could ever expect.

Before he could come close to forgetting her, he just kept thinking about finding a faster way to go back to Korea. However, he only managed to do it last time because the saintess herself had tricked him.

In the end, it became necessary for him to observe Lady Closch and see if there’s anything suspicious about her. At least, that’s how he rationalized it to himself.

Throughout the carriage ride, Ciel focused on pressing down on the urge to vomit blood due to his internal bleeding. He didn’t want to arbitrarily show any blood while he was in front of Aiden.

Ciel wasn’t even using his abilities anymore, but slowly but surely, his body yearned more and more for a Guide.

Even though it wasn’t true, it felt like his body had been receiving proper guiding thus far, but it all had been cut short, leaving him with crippling withdrawal symptoms.

Still, although his addicted body longing for a Guide, he didn’t feel the slightest inclination to receive any guiding from the saintess.

He would rather die as he was now—as long as he’d be able to see his wife again.

“Brother, we’re going to the Closch Barony’s fief, right?”

“Right.”

“And you mentioned that we shouldn’t reveal our identities?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll try.”

It was nice to hear a more cheerful voice from him compared to the usual. Ciel thought, why did he not think to take care of his younger brother in the past?

But alas, he knew that he had let himself be too distracted.

Back then, when he had his first ever guiding session in his life, it’s as if he had tasted ecstasy in its purest form. This led him to such tunnel vision that he didn’t doubt the saintess at all.

He had also come to despise the crown prince in the past because the saintess had chosen him. His envy had been nothing but futile.

In any case, they were still riding the passenger carriage that they had hailed, all for the sake of hiding their identities. It didn’t provide a very comfortable riding experience, but its recurrent rattling was perfect to pull him back from his reverie.

Arriving at the Closch fief, the two brothers settled in a luxurious inn in the city. Aiden himself had been chatting away the entire carriage ride, however as soon as he saw a bed, he plopped down on it and fell asleep right away.

There was still some time before dinnertime, so Ciel decided to go on a quick reconnaissance at the Closch Barony’s residence. Of course, he made sure to use his stealth abilities so that no one would notice his presence.

Slipping to the back of the residence, Ciel climbed up a tall tree and looked around.

Although the mansion itself was old and small, it boasted of its historical magnificence—perhaps because it looked to be maintained well.

Then, he found some black marks on the mansion’s roof. He immediately realized that it must be the vestiges of that fire from years back. Although it seemed to have subsided, not all traces had been erased.

Ciel had the ability to set fire to anything at will, so he couldn’t help but know.

As he recalled Lady Closch’s past according to the reports, he slowly observed the mansion again.

It was evident enough that the property had been built a long time ago, but it was a baron’s mansion. For some reason, rather than slabs, it was made almost entirely of wood.

The basic foundation might have been solid stone, but what kept the walls and the roof up were numerous wooden columns here and there.

It was the kind of building that would so easily catch fire.

“Are their finances that tight…?”

He read those documents detailing their situation, so he knew that they were struggling quite a bit. Be that as it may, the reports also stated what kind of character Baron Closch had, and he wasn’t the type of man who would neglect his territory’s people despite all the difficulties.

Nobles would normally prioritize their own families first, but the baron wasn’t like that. Whenever there was any budget for it, he would prepare safety devices for the residents, and he invested a good amount of money in the garrison.

It was only after this that he’d spend the rest of the money on the mansion.

Ciel also heard that the barony’s merchant guild was having some troubles recently…

There might be something he could do to help, so Ciel thought.

Aside from the fact that he found Lady Closch to be suspicious, as a fellow knight, Ciel was deeply impressed by the fact that the baron had been displaying such honorable valor in protecting the people of this fief, and essentially, the rest of the empire.

Ciel’s mind kept wandering, and it was because his condition was terrible at this moment. Despite trespassing into another family’s residence just to spy on them, he was being awfully absent-minded.

However, the quiet space suddenly bustled with noise and activity.

Ciel came back to his senses. As he was standing on a branch of this tall tree, he had a clear view of the Closch family, who had just come out of the drill hall.

There she was, Lady Closch, the woman that Ciel had been so curious about these past few days. Seeing her in equestrian clothes this time, unlike the dress that she had been wearing before, Ciel’s eyes grew wide.

On top of that, he could not help but shudder as he saw that bow in her hand.

Compared to when he saw her in a dress, to him now, her restrained gait was even more pronounced.

As she slung that bow on her shoulder, and as she walked with such a straight posture, Ciel let out a faint groan.

She resembled his wife. Perfectly.

The only difference was her outward appearance.

“How is that even possible?”