If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 195

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

“What?”

“Please don’t be angry. I asked her in a way that she couldn’t refuse…”

It seemed like he was worried that Charlotte might face her displeasure for not being able to refuse Cain’s request. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“What brings you here? This is my bedroom, and as an outsider, you have no right to enter.”

At the word ‘outsider,’ Cain’s brow twitched briefly before smoothing out again. Agatha thought that since the moment she signed the divorce papers, they were no longer bound together, but Cain seemed to still believe they were one.

She was about to remind him once again of the end of their relationship, but Agatha quieted herself, choosing not to speak.

“My apologies, Wife.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

She had walked around too much today and didn’t have the energy to argue with him. Agatha watched Cain with a cold gaze as he entered the room, knowing she had no way of stopping him.

Cain pulled a chair over to where she sat on the bed and gently placed the bowl he had been holding on the floor. Curious, Agatha waited to see what he would do next.

He carefully moved the bowl to the footrest and placed the towel that was hanging on his arm into it. It seemed that he intended to do what Charlotte did every evening and care for her.

“No, wait, just a moment.”

Her guess was right. Cain’s hands, though careful, didn’t hesitate as they touched her feet. Agatha tried to pull away, but before she could, his large hand had already gripped her ankle.

“What are you doing?”

“You must be tired from walking so much. Please stay still, Wife. Let me help you with your muscles.”

His tone was commanding, as usual, but his voice was as soft as ever. Agatha wasn’t planning to let him touch her, but when her shoulder instinctively grasped his arm to push him away, she found herself withdrawing her hand, unsure.

It had been months since they had been this close, and his touch felt so foreign. She had convinced herself that everything was over between them and that he meant nothing to her anymore, but the warmth from his hand, the brief contact, felt both unfamiliar and strangely comforting.

She was caught off guard.

It must be the lingering memories of the past, not her heart, that were confusing her. Agatha bit her lip.

Wasn’t it said that, over time, sad memories fade and only the good ones remain? Even though she had decided to leave him, the painful moments that once caused her so much anguish seemed to lose their power over her.

Each time Cain dipped his hand into the water and pulled it out, she could hear the splash. When the warm water hit her delicate ankles, Agatha couldn’t help but make a soft sound of relief.

“Charlotte said…”

“…What?”

The sensation of his hands moving up her calves was incredibly soothing, and despite herself, Agatha felt her eyes begin to droop. But at the sound of Cain’s voice, she opened them again.

“It seems like her joints are hurting in different places, perhaps because of her age.”

“……”

“Even if she doesn’t say anything, it’s probably a little hard for her to massage your feet every day. I have more strength and bigger hands than she does, so I can probably relieve your muscles more effectively.”

Cain kept babbling, not wanting to miss any opportunity to touch Agatha properly. It was so unlike him, this behavior. But then again, even being here was something Cain wouldn’t usually do.

Agatha quietly looked down at Cain’s hands as he massaged her legs. Her legs, held by his hands, appeared fragile compared to his thick, muscular arms. Perhaps it was simply that his massive forearms, full of tendons, made them appear even more delicate.

“I’m used to working with my body, so I know well how to handle the movement of muscles and the shapes they take.”

“…I never asked.”

“I just wanted to say it. Come to think of it, I’ve hardly ever told you anything about myself.”

“Even if I don’t care.”

“Yes, I know. You can think of it as some noise to fill the awkward silence.”

As Agatha remained silent, Cain’s stubborn expression softened, and he looked more at ease than he had in days. He seemed more comfortable than Agatha had seen him recently.

“You met Esther.”

Since he had told her to just dismiss him, Agatha didn’t expect him to answer. She blinked quietly in response.

“Now that you’ve met her, you know. She’s the little sister I found after so many years.”

“…”

“She’s a poor child who lost her family at a young age and became a wanderer. It pains me that at her age, she’s never worn a proper dress, so I bought a few outfits for her.”

“…”

“I found it both funny and heartbreaking when she didn’t know how to wear them, how to put them on in the right order. I thought about how I’d never really been a proper older brother, so I helped her adjust her dress and even fixed a hairpin for her.”

Why was he telling her this? In the silence, Agatha waited for his next words.

“…Previously, you said I’d taken off and put on a lot of women’s dresses…”

Ah, so that’s why.

Agatha realized the meaning behind Cain’s disjointed words.

On the day of her birthday when he suddenly appeared and adjusted her dress. He was trying to explain and justify his past wrongdoings toward her.