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Chapter 6
Instead of the response she expected, something completely different reached Abelin’s ears.
“Apparently, his own conscience—so old, filthy, disgusting, ugly, and pathetic—started screaming at him, so he wants to pretend this engagement never happened. The phrase ‘old, filthy, disgusting, ugly’ appears five separate times in this short letter. Every single sentence starts with it. He’s more objective than I’d heard.”
“Baron Berta really wrote that?”
Unable to believe it, Abelin asked. Count Herols nodded and even held out the letter so she could see the words herself.
“He did. Look, it says right here: ‘This old, filthy, disgusting, ugly man will now retreat to a countryside monastery to pursue inner beauty.'”
“…A monastery?”
All of a sudden?
A man who loved alcohol that much was going to a monastery, where abstinence was the rule?
Could it be… was this Duke Ribes’s doing?
There was no way Baron Berta would crawl into a monastery of his own accord.
Glancing beside her, she noticed Ares wearing the same strange expression, as though he had reached the exact same conclusion.
“Anyway, after hearing his own son say all this, it seems Marquis Nor had nothing more to argue about. The engagement has officially been called off.”
At Count Herols’s words, Abelin felt as though her legs were about to give out—even though she was already sitting down.
She celebrated quietly, unable to shout aloud.
Then, from beside her, a hand slowly stretched toward her.
It was Ares.
Understanding immediately, Abelin slapped her palm against his in a high-five.
Although the matter had been resolved in an unexpected way, it felt like the first time she and her younger brother had truly worked together as a team and accomplished something.
Returning to her room in high spirits, Abelin washed up and immediately flopped onto her bed to continue reading the novel she’d been obsessing over.
“Today’s been stressful, so I’m rereading the part where the ex-husband regrets everything and desperately begs my favorite heroine to come back.”
It was her favorite scene in the regret romance she’d recently become addicted to.
After treating the heroine coldly throughout their arranged marriage and demanding a divorce, the ex-husband only realized what he’d lost afterward and desperately clung to her.
It was the ultimate cathartic moment for readers.
His pleading was so heartfelt that many readers actually wanted the heroine to forgive him.
But because of all the unforgivable things he’d done, Abelin couldn’t feel even the slightest sympathy for him.
“Serves you right. You should’ve appreciated our girl while you had her. Go suffer as much as your karma deserves. Our heroine’s off to find herself a brand-new male lead.”
Fortunately, in the novel, the heroine was rewarded for all her suffering.
She met a new male lead who was younger, kinder, and far more handsome than her ex-husband, beginning a brand-new life.
“Yaaawn… I hope you walk nothing but flower-filled roads…”
Determined to finish rereading her favorite scenes, Abelin fought against her heavy eyelids.
But eventually, sleep overcame her.
“My lady… please. I beg you to reconsider.”
What’s that voice?
Startled by the unfamiliar sound, Abelin hurriedly looked around.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in her own bedroom.
Instead, she found herself in an unfamiliar room.
Even stranger, an incredibly handsome man was kneeling at her feet.
What… what’s going on? I was just in my room. Where am I? And who is this?
No matter how many times she looked around, this definitely wasn’t her room.
Unlike her simply furnished bedroom, this one was filled with luxurious furniture everywhere.
“My lady… please…”
But the strangest thing of all was the handsome man kneeling before her.
“Excuse me… who are you?”
It was an entirely sincere question.
The man’s golden eyes trembled violently with shock.
Wait… why does my voice sound like this?
It wasn’t just his eyes trembling.
Abelin herself was equally shaken.
That wasn’t her voice.
It sounded much more mature and composed than usual.
More like the voice of an older woman.
Combined with being in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar man kneeling before her, she couldn’t make sense of the situation at all.
“So… you hate me so much that you’re pretending not to know me.”
The handsome man with ash-gray hair and brilliant golden eyes spoke in a low voice.
“Eve. No matter what you do, I have no intention of divorcing you.”
There was something unsettling in his voice.
For just a moment, his golden eyes flashed dangerously.
Wait… divorce? Eve?
The familiar name stirred something in Abelin’s memory.
Almost instinctively, she called out another name.
“…Sisyph?”
“Yes, my lady.”
The man answered immediately.
The instant she confirmed his identity, all the blood drained from her face.
No way… I’m inside the novel I was just reading!
Her head spun violently.
Actually, the whole room seemed to be spinning.
Is this a dream?
Just to be sure, she pinched the back of her hand as hard as she could.
“Hmm?”
No matter how hard she pinched herself, she felt absolutely no pain.
She pinched both hands repeatedly and even smacked them.
The result was exactly the same.
Watching her repeatedly slap and pinch herself, the handsome man’s eyes wavered slightly.
Embarrassed, she slowly stopped.
It really is a dream.
Her hands had turned red, yet she couldn’t feel any pain whatsoever.
It had to be a dream.
This is amazing.
She had dreamed about her favorite novel.
And it felt unbelievably real.
Finally calming down, Abelin took a proper look at the man before her.
Earlier she’d only thought he was handsome, but now that she examined him carefully…
He looked exactly as he had been described in the novel.
How did I not recognize him?
His hair color.
His eye color.
Even the beauty mark beneath his right eye.
Everything matched perfectly.
Then… am I Eve right now?
Eve was the novel’s heroine.
She possessed raven-black hair, crimson eyes as mysterious as the night sky, and was described as the greatest beauty in the Empire.
I have to see this face for myself.
The thought of finally seeing the face she’d only ever imagined filled her with excitement.
“My lady?”
When Abelin suddenly leaped to her feet, the handsome man looked startled.
But there was something far more important than him right now.
Spotting a large mirror hanging on the wall, she hurried toward it.
“Oh my God…”
The woman reflected in the mirror was beyond simply beautiful.
Her flawless white skin looked as though it had never known even the smallest blemish.
Her jet-black hair contrasted perfectly against it.
And her mysterious crimson eyes gave her the appearance of a rose blooming beneath the night sky.
As expected of the Empire’s greatest beauty, every feature of her face was exquisitely arranged, as though someone had gathered every beautiful trait in existence and sculpted her with painstaking care.
“She’s so beautiful…”
Completely captivated by the elegant, enchanting beauty she’d never possessed herself, Abelin gently touched her face with both hands, unable to look away from the mirror.
“…What exactly are you doing?”
The handsome man’s bewildered voice came from behind her.
Actually, it sounded less bewildered and more utterly dumbfounded.
Well… if your wife suddenly stood in front of a mirror complimenting her own beauty, anyone would think she’d lost her mind.
Realizing how strange she must look, Abelin reluctantly tore her eyes away from the mirror and returned to her seat.
“Ahem… it’s nothing.”
The handsome man remained kneeling exactly where he had been, silently watching her the entire time.
Once she sat back down, Abelin gestured with her eyes for him to continue.
Understanding the signal, he frowned and resumed speaking.
“So, as I was saying… I absolutely cannot divorce you. I’ve already ended things with Selena, so you should forgive me and—”
The moment those words left his mouth, Abelin snapped back to reality.
Selena.
That was the name of the mistress.
He was begging his wife for forgiveness while casually mentioning his mistress’s name.
This is that scene… the one before he completely comes to his senses.
As Abelin remembered, this was the point in the story where the husband had discovered that Eve would inherit a valuable mine.
He was only pretending to seek forgiveness because of her inheritance.
He lied that he’d broken things off with Selena while secretly meeting her at a hidden love nest.
About ten pages later, the heroine would discover the truth.
Abelin remembered exactly how shamelessly he had acted then.
She also remembered how deeply Eve had suffered.
She knew exactly what she had to do now.
The words the kind-hearted heroine had never been able to say.
“No.”
The man’s face slowly twisted, as though he had never expected such an answer.
“…What did you just say?”
He asked again, convinced he must have misheard.
“I said no. I’m not forgiving you.”
Abelin looked him straight in the eye and repeated herself.
“Does it make any sense to beg your wife for forgiveness while bringing up your mistress’s name? And do you really think kneeling once and saying you’re sorry is enough? What, are your knees made of gold?”
“W-What are you…”
“No, wait. Considering how casually you’ve thrown yourself around ever since we got married, I guess your body’s not worth that much either. Honestly, you’re so worn out you’re practically shedding dust.”
As she finished speaking, Abelin even waved her hand through the air in front of him as if brushing away the imaginary dust floating off him.
The man froze completely, looking as though he’d just suffered the greatest shock of his life.
