KMKS 39

chapter 39

“I found out that Ken had stayed at the Talua Orphanage.”

Aiden stroked his chin.

So it was true—the children had run away from the orphanage. He hadn’t expected it to be Talua, of all places.

Sarah swallowed hard.

“…Coincidentally, that’s the place where I stayed.”

“You lived there, madam?”

Sarah gave a small nod. Aiden’s blue eyes wavered.

If he had simply lost his memory, Sarah would have kept her mouth shut.

But the Aiden in front of her was no longer her husband—it was someone else.

Talking about the orphanage wasn’t going to trigger any lost memory for him.

Maybe it’s all right to say a little.

It was because the warmth she had once seen in a young boy’s eyes felt so much like his that her heart opened.

“My parents died, and with no relatives to take me in, I was left there.”

“…”

“I was eventually adopted by the Dorsen Count couple, distant relatives of mine. But shortly after I became an adult, they demanded I marry. That’s how I was sold here.”

“Wait, sold?”

Aiden frowned in puzzlement.

“Yes. My husband spent a fortune to buy me. It’s not quite the same as a political marriage, but it was just as loveless.”

Perhaps because it exposed her husband’s disgrace, Aiden set his teacup down with a sharp clink. He stared at her for a moment, then rubbed his face with both hands as if he couldn’t bear to look at her.

The air between them sank heavily.

But you’re not him.

Since she knew he was someone else, Sarah had no qualms saying it aloud, but for Aiden, it might have been unbearable to hear. He still believed he was Aiden Spencer, after all—it had to be confusing.

It was Aiden who broke the silence first.

“Could you spare a little time? I’d like to speak with you in private, in my room.”

Clearly, this wasn’t the place to continue. Servants were already passing in and out of the hall.

“All right.”

Aiden took Sarah’s hand and led her away. His grip was hot, almost burning.

Once inside his room, he asked in a low voice:

“…Are you truly all right, madam?”

But his tone was tightly restrained, as if pressing down something heavy inside.

“…For now, yes.”

Because you’re not him, I’m all right.

Her words, meant to comfort him, seemed instead to pull a trigger.

“What do you mean, ‘all right’?”

He raked his hair back roughly, his voice cold—colder than she had ever heard.

“Hah… madam, just what are you…?”

“I—I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t even her husband, yet he was furious at her.

Sarah knew her careless words had provoked him somehow, but she didn’t understand exactly what part had struck the nerve.

Aiden’s face hardened. He opened a drawer, pulled something out, and thrust it toward her.

“This is why I dismissed the maid.”

Sarah’s hands trembled as she took it. It was a set of divorce papers—the very papers she had written and signed herself.

So that’s what he meant by overstepping…!

She remembered Leah sneaking out of her room, her belly oddly bulging. Sarah had assumed she had been hiding stolen trinkets, never imagining it was this.

She had hidden the papers deep in the drawer, never once touching them again after Aiden’s accident. How had he found them?

“You wanted a divorce, didn’t you?”

Sarah quickly searched his face.

Because he had shown her nothing but kindness—simply because she was his wife—she could imagine how betrayed he must have felt.

If Leah had been fired long ago, then these papers had been in his hands for quite some time. And still, knowing Sarah once longed to leave him, Aiden had never shown a sign.

If he brought it up now, there must have been a change in his heart.

Was it because of what I said?

Maybe he’d been upset from the moment she admitted she’d been “sold” into marriage.

“Madam. No—Sarah.”

He corrected himself, his voice subdued.

Sarah instinctively raised her fingers to her lips. A terrible foreboding filled her chest.

“It’s nothing. Really, it’s nothing…”

Before he could say another word, Sarah snatched the papers back and clutched them to her chest. Her body trembled violently.

She wanted to beg him—not to say the word “divorce.” But the plea stuck in her throat.

Her mind raced through their recent days together.

Eating simple meals out on the street with no occasion. Sitting by him with a book while he worked late. Betting playfully on the weather. Talking softly while admiring flowers they had planted together.

I’m not even his real wife. What right do I have?

Could she truly ask him not to divorce her?

Perhaps they were nothing but strangers tied together by circumstance.

How could she tell him she didn’t want to part?

And she couldn’t risk confessing the truth—that he wasn’t really Aiden Spencer. If he knew, he’d only insist on divorce all the more.

“…I’ll sign it.”

“…!”

“For your sake. You should be happy.”

Sarah shook her head frantically, but his voice was firm.

She had been happier recently than ever before. Knowing she had ruined that happiness with her own hands tore her apart.

“N-no… please, don’t…!”

Her choked voice echoed in the room. Her vision blurred as tears welled up, spilling before she realized.

Aiden’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily.

“In this body, I can’t make you happy.”

“I—I was wrong! H-how do I fix this… I must have been half-asleep, not in my right mind—yes, that’s it. A mistake, just nonsense—”

Her lips trembled, her hands weakening as they clung to him. Even to her, the excuse sounded absurd.

But every time she grasped at some desperate reason to stop him, she realized anew how precious their everyday moments had been.

“Please… don’t say that…”

She bit her lip, shaking her head—then froze.

In this body, I can’t make you happy.

She stared at him through tears.

“In this… body? What did you just say?”

“…”

“You—you knew?!”

Sarah stumbled back. Aiden, too, faltered at her question.

When had she figured it out?

Their eyes met in the air, and Sarah’s suspicion solidified into certainty.

“Yes.”

Impossible…!

More than the revelation that two men had swapped bodies, Sarah couldn’t bear the truth staring her in the face—her husband’s memory had returned.

She had comforted herself, telling herself the man beside her could be happy as long as he was here. But if his memory had truly returned, staying here as her husband would be nothing but torment.

Hadn’t she herself known what it was like to live without love?

“I’m not your husband.”

And most of all—

“…You’re Leo Winston.”

Because Leo Winston had a life Sarah knew nothing about.

Closing her eyes in despair, she felt fresh tears stream down her cheeks.

Somehow, she found herself standing in the corridor outside his room, though she didn’t know how her legs had carried her there.

Clutched to her chest were the divorce papers he had given her.

She told herself it had all been a sweet dream, and now the nightmare was resuming.

Yet Aiden’s words rang in her ears:

To be honest, I don’t want to divorce you.

The echo of his voice refused to leave her.

What could he have meant?

By all rights, if his body was elsewhere, the natural course was to return to it.

Leo Winston or Aiden Spencer—if one had to choose which body to live in forever, anyone would choose Leo’s without hesitation.

Sarah shook her head.

I mustn’t cling to foolish hope.

She wanted to crush it with her own will.

But against her wishes, she found herself rejoicing in those words—not that he wouldn’t divorce, but that he didn’t want to.

Meanwhile, life in the Winston ducal estate seemed to flow smoothly—at least on the surface.

If not for Leo’s sharp, watchful eyes on Jace.

“…Do you have some task for me, sir?”

At last, Jace snapped at him, unable to bear the scrutiny. But Leo merely waved him away with an irritated flick.

“How many times has it been now? If you try to deny it again later, I won’t let it slide. Got it?”

Bang—!

That bastard…

Rage boiled up in Leo’s gut, but he didn’t call Jace back.

He understood why the man stormed out and slammed the door. After all, it was the twelfth time Leo had summoned him and dismissed him.

Leo was still weighing whether Jace was trustworthy—and how best to use him.

Keep your hands off my wife.

Even now, Aiden’s taunting words replayed in his mind, making his brow crease.

Hearing such a thing from someone wearing his own face—it was unbearable.

And yet… he couldn’t dismiss it as mere provocation. Aiden truly seemed not to remember.

If his memory had returned, he would have abandoned Aiden’s body long ago and sought out Leo’s instead.

The fact that he hadn’t… confirmed Leo’s suspicion.

As for Jace, his behavior hadn’t changed. Not that he had ever acted in ways Leo found agreeable to begin with.

And whenever Leo was about to forget, Jace kept reminding him of their so-called “friendship,” making it harder to lash out as before.

The displays of brotherly camaraderie weren’t entirely unpleasant, though.

“…Hey, Jace.”