The Full Story of an Incomplete Divorce - Chapter 43

-The weather is clear today. The peonies you like have bloomed in the garden.

-I’m looking at the snowman you made. I wish it wouldn’t melt until spring comes.

– I read the book you said was interesting. I lost track of time the entire day.

-I heard you were unwell. I hope you recover quickly.

The letters, which began with ordinary inquiries about her well-being, contained a diary-like record of the time the two had spent together. Lucius’s sincerity, pressed earnestly into every single character, was palpable through the aged paper.

– I wish I had been the right person for you…

The letters, which increasingly turned into self-reproaching content as they went on, abruptly stopped at a certain point. Checking the date of the last letter, she saw it was the day her marriage to Linert had been finalized. It was also the day Lucius began hiding his true feelings from her and stopped smiling like he used to.

“So foolish……”

To have written enough letters to fill this large box. To have wanted and yearned for her so desperately, yet to have borne it all alone without saying a single word. For years, for a time long enough for dust to gather, he continued alone.

BAM.

Suddenly, the door opened with a rough sound.

“…Lucius.”

Lucius’s breath was ragged and disturbed, as if he had rushed over. His gaze swept over the box and the letters on the floor before settling on Charlotte.

“Why are you here?”

“There was something I wanted to confirm.”

“What?”

Despite his flat tone, he looked as fragile as glass that would shatter at the slightest touch. Instead of answering, Charlotte looked down at the letter in her hand for a moment and changed the subject.

“I found out about the ‘accident’ that day. The fact that it was by your hand, not a servant’s, that Linert died.”

“……”

“You’re not denying it, so it must be true. I was frustrated, never understanding your actions… Was that the reason you kept your distance all this time? Guilt over Linert?”

“Ha…”

Lucius let out a dry, parched breath.

‘Guilt? As if.’

He was someone who hadn’t felt even a shred of guilt in the moment he watched Linert’s breath cease. Reminding himself of his own horror, Lucius smiled bitterly in self-mockery.

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth from the beginning? Even if no one else, you could have at least told me.”

“You ask why?”

Lucius, who had been standing by the door, took a step forward. Beneath his shadowed face, his eyes glistened black like an abyss.

“Because I didn’t want you to find out, even if everyone else knew.”

“……”

“You said you came here to confirm something. So, what is your conclusion? Will you leave my side?”

“That is…”

While she hesitated with her answer, Lucius quickly closed the distance. Charlotte, flustered, faltered and stepped back, but Lucius was faster, wrapping his arm around her waist. In an instant, his lips captured hers, and his tongue forced its way through the narrow gap.

His hot tongue ravaged the tender flesh of her mouth without mercy. Dizzy from the violent kiss that gave her no room to breathe, Charlotte’s foot caught on the box on the floor. By the time she shut her eyes and opened them again, she was tangled up with Lucius, having fallen onto the pile of letters that had spilled out.

“Ngh, Lu-Lucius, wait…”

But Lucius, far from letting her go, only kissed her more fiercely. Her parted jaw ached, and the thick muscle blocking her throat made her dizzy. With a cracking sound, Charlotte barely turned her face away and gulped for air.

“Do you hate me now?”

“Haah, ha. What are you…”

“Even if you do, I cannot let you go. Even if you come to detest me.”

Lucius released his hand from the floor and instead grabbed a full fistful of Charlotte’s hair. If begging and pleading wouldn’t work, he was determined to keep her by force, by any means necessary. Helplessly watching Charlotte leave his side was unbearable; he would rather forcibly keep her here and endure her hatred for a lifetime.