TCMGF 58

Chapter 58

Just by looking at it, I could imagine the person who had cut the apple.

With trembling hands, they must have first picked up the unfamiliar fruit and pressed a paring knife into it. They would have peeled off the skin thickly and cut it into big, uneven chunks.

Focusing so they wouldn’t cut their hand, they would have clumsily dropped the roughly cut apple pieces into the bowl.

And yet, despite all that, they still tried to make it look nice—cutting the slices into rabbit-ear shapes.

The rabbits that appear near Betra aren’t even cute, so why imitate those of all things?

For a moment, I wondered if it had been the new maid, Matilda, clumsily cutting the fruit herself. But she had left it on my bed with such a confident smile that I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

“Still, it tastes good.”

Because of the effort put into it, I finished the whole thing. Since it was just for breakfast, I thought I wouldn’t have to see such apples again.

“Madam, are you not going to eat lunch either?”

“Mm.”

Since there wasn’t much to do that day, I decided to rest in my room, writing in my neglected diary and reading a book.

From the open window, the hot summer air mixed with a refreshing breeze and drifted in.

This wasn’t the room I usually used—it was a spare room next door. Since yesterday, my original room had been under renovation, so I had been moved here.

That was the greatest convenience of the Betra estate: even if one room was being renovated, there were always other spaces to use.

“Madam, I thought you should at least have something simple!”

Even though I’d already said I would skip lunch, Matilda showed up right on time carrying something.

I wanted to refuse, since I had no appetite, but when I saw the worry in her eyes, I couldn’t.

At the same time, I noticed what she was holding—and froze.

“Please have some apples!”

Another plate full of twisted apple slices sat neatly arranged before me.

Her skill had improved a little compared to the morning, but I still thought I could do better myself.

No—without a doubt, I could do better. After all, I had actually cut apples before.

“Well… thank you. I’ll eat them.”

They still tasted good. They must have been the highest-grade apples. Considering the effort, I diligently ate every piece. Surely, this time it would end here.

…Or so I thought.

“Before dinner… please eat this.”

More apples?

True, the rabbit-ear cuts were prettier than before, but now it was starting to feel strange.

“Matilda. What is this?”

“Apples.”

“Did you cut them?”

The youngest maid shook her head.

“…Actually, it was His Grace. The Duke cuts them every time, struggling for thirty minutes, and asks me to serve them to you at mealtimes.”

“So all this time, Ezekiel was the one preparing the fruit?”

“This time, His Grace told me to also pass along this note.”

As if he had read my thoughts, my husband had written a few lines on a small slip of paper.

The strokes were sharp and forceful, the kind I had often seen in his reports.

[I apologize to you.]

A pun. A play on words between apology and apple.

A laugh slipped out—but not because it was funny.

“Where is Ezekiel right now?”

“In his office, Madam.”

I immediately set out to find him.

“If your plan was to make me come find you, then you succeeded.”

I brought the plate of apples with me. Ezekiel looked up at me without expression as I entered, then glanced at the fruit he had cut.

Outwardly, his face was blank, but I could tell he was watching closely to see if I still looked sad. The fact that I could read that from him now—I suppose that was something.

“Apples should be prepared with sincerity, don’t you think?”

“Ezekiel Betra. Do you think childish tricks like this will work on me?”

“Childish or not, if it made you come here, then it worked.”

“Well… you’re not wrong.”

A day had passed, and the turmoil inside me had calmed. I finally had the mental space to talk to him properly.

“No other man would apologize with apples. Only you.”

Ezekiel shamelessly replied,

“Other noblemen have only ever held swords at the hunt. They’ve never picked up a knife to cut fruit—idiots, the lot of them.”

“And you’re different?”

“As of today, yes.”

“You really… sap people’s strength.”

At some point, his sly manner had become natural. Resting his chin on his hand, he lowered his gaze—a man who instinctively knew what pose made him look his best.

“Will you accept my apology?”

“To be honest, you’re not the only one who needs to apologize. I lashed out without thinking too.”

“…Thank you.”

As I recalled that moment, tears threatened again. Seeing this, Ezekiel awkwardly handed me his handkerchief. His discomfort was written plainly across his face.

I dabbed my eyes.

“Strictly speaking, you’re not a bad person. It just took us some time to adjust our clashing views.”

“In that case, let me ask something else.”

What started lightly suddenly turned heavy.

“Do you really have to remarry?”

The quiet atmosphere of the office seemed to grow heavier still.

At the same time, I felt instinctively that his question would change everything between us.

I had thought our relationship would begin with a contract and end with one.

“…What did you say?”

“Viola. Don’t remarry.”

I thought I misheard. His face flushed as he said it, which shocked me even more. He looked like he might die of embarrassment, yet still, he firmly pointed at himself.

“The perfect, devoted husband you could want… is right here.”

It felt like being struck in the head.

“If you’d like, I can cut apples for you every day.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Forget the apple part. Do the rest sound like a joke to you?”

He answered my question with another, his expression turning serious.

“Tell me that it’s better for me to stay by your side than for you to remarry some fool who can’t even handle a knife.”

And then, quietly, he added:

“…As long as you’re okay with it.”

My stunned mind barely worked to process his words.

What he meant was—he wanted to live with me. For life.

“…Why?”

“If you must know why…”

My emotional balance broke first. I felt like I had lost.

“When you got angry at me, my heart sank for the first time. I thought, what if we part ways like this? We had just begun to patch things up—it terrified me. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head.”

The words seemed unreal as they entered my ears.

So, just like me, he too had feared our bond would break. I wasn’t the only one hurting alone.

I tilted my head back, holding back tears.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why else?”

“You don’t have that kind of feeling for me! That’s why I agreed to separate cleanly…!”

I poured out the resentment I’d been holding, then faltered—unable to continue. The longer my silence stretched, the redder his ears grew.

“Not true. I do have those feelings for you. Maybe… more than just that.”

It was the biggest confession since that explosive comment he’d made the day we visited the museum.

Both of us—speaker and listener—were left speechless.

There was no undoing this.

“Th-there’s, um…”

The plate of apples was already empty. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my spinning thoughts.

All this time, I had believed he liked someone else. That everything he did for me was meaningless, just playful nonsense.

But—

What if he never had feelings for the saint, the original heroine, in the first place?

What if all his actions and words toward me had actually been confessions, disguised as jokes?

I tried to piece together a theory, but my mind was in chaos. Two short sentences had left my heart blasted white, like it had been bombed.

“If you don’t have an answer right away because it’s sudden, then think about it. Tell me tomorrow.”

At least, he seemed to understand my state of shock—he gave me time.

I couldn’t even remember how I left his office. For a long while after, I couldn’t get my bearings.

The newly renovated duchess’s chambers pleased me every time I stepped inside.

A room touched everywhere by my own hands.

I had chosen wallpaper in colors different from the usual, put it up, and filled the room with furniture I had personally selected. It had taken only a day and a half, yet the room was completely transformed.

Standing in the middle of that changed space, I felt this place was wholly my own.

A satisfied smile tugged at my lips—until suddenly, an image surfaced in my mind and froze me in place.

The servants of Betra, the noble ladies and acquaintances, the ducal mansion itself—one by one, they had all begun to blend into my life.

But there had always been one thing I thought did not belong to me.

Ezekiel Betra, the man who was supposed to be just my contract husband.

But after yesterday… even that was no longer certain.