How To End This Marriage-Chapter 42: Echoes of Confusion and Conflict

"Duchess!" a voice called from the room. Was it Vix?

"Yes? What brings you here?" I asked.

"Duchess, I’d like to talk to you about something," she requested in a hushed tone.

"You may enter," I replied, turning away from her. She stepped inside, and I heard the door close. A familiar feeling of unease crept over me, the sensation that had persistently whispered that I had no place in his heart.

"Duchess!" She called to me.

"Speak, what do you wish to say?" I responded without facing her.

"Duchess, you know why I’m here. I understand that you might be deeply hurt, but this isn’t what you think it is. I don’t know what the Duke may have told you, but-"

I interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "What my husband has told me is none of your concern. Please, tell me the purpose of your visit."

"Yes, Duchess. Actually, you have it all wrong. There is no romantic involvement between me and the Duke. You shouldn’t let such thoughts cloud your judgment," she said timidly. Yet, her words felt like mockery, as if someone was explaining to me my own relationship with my husband, something I should know better than anyone else. Why did it feel like my worth was being determined by others?

"Is this what you desired, Bernice?" the god’s whisper echoed in my ear, a reminder that I might have made a grave mistake.

"You may leave," I told her.

"But, Duchess-"

"I heard what you had to say. Isn’t that why I allowed you into my room? Your explanation is complete, so you may go now," I stated, not giving her another opportunity to speak. She left, and my heart felt as if it were being squeezed, with a sense of dread gnawing at me. What if my suspicions were correct? What if he had truly plotted to end my life? What if he had sent assassins to eliminate me so that there would be no barrier between him and her?

The mere thought of his smile at the sight of my demise sent shivers down my spine. Imagining him holding her in his arms, feeling his lips on hers - it all pained me more than the physical agony of death.

"Madam! Have you done something?" Alex entered the room without preamble.

"What do you mean, ’have I done something’?" I asked, my brows furrowing.

"I just saw Vix leaving your room in tears," he mentioned.

"I can’t believe you’ve come to ask me this. Or should I say, I must truly have the worst luck to hear such words from you, Duke," I replied with a bitter smile.

The tension in the room grew palpable, like a storm ready to unleash its fury.

"What are you trying to say?" Alex retorted.

"What am I trying to say? Don’t you already know? How long do you plan to maintain this façade with me? Just act the way you did when I first arrived at the mansion, slicing a worker’s throat because they didn’t meet your expectations. Or should I say because they became an obstacle in your path?" I said bitterly.

"Madam!!! It’s all in your imagination," he attempted to deny.

"No, it’s not. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here to ask me why she left crying. As if her tears are my fault. As if everything that happens in this mansion is my fault. If someone dies tomorrow, are you going to blame me for not managing the household properly and say they died because of me? Or will you place your sword at my throat and slit it, ending my life with your own hands?" I rambled, losing control of my words.

Tension hung heavy in the room, the air thick with unspoken accusations.

"Madam!!! Snap out of it!!! Break free from this delusion you’re in!!! Nothing like that will happen! I could never blame you, even if you did something wrong. This is your home. This state is yours. The workers are yours. You can do as you please!!! No one will stop you. So, stop making baseless assumptions," he urged, shaking me in an attempt to bring me back to reality.

I could feel his frustration and anger, his grip on my arm becoming firmer.

"What are you doing to my master?" another voice suddenly interjected. It was Erios.

"Let her go!!!" Erios’s voice boomed, the blue flames surrounding him reflecting his anger toward Alex.

"Who gave you permission to enter this room? Do you think that just because you’re a holy sword, you can come and go as you please? Haven’t you been taught etiquette?" Alex responded angrily.

"Yeah, I don’t need to hear that from you, especially when you left my master in this mansion to die. Or are you responsible for the deaths of the previous Duke and Duchess, just like the incident yesterday?" Erios’s voice grew colder as he broached this topic.

"You’re pushing your limits!!!" Alex said, his grip on my arm tightening and causing me pain.

"Both of you, shut up!!!" I shouted, pushing them away from me.

"What do you think you’re doing? Having fun? Or is this some kind of battle? If it’s a battle, then take it to the battlefield and leave me alone. I already have enough on my plate. I can’t handle any more of this," I screamed, my voice echoing with frustration.

"Madam!"

"Master!"

Their voices blended together, creating a dissonant symphony of chaos. My heart raced, and I could feel the room closing in on me, the walls bearing witness to my anguish.

"Why are you both circling around me like this? I never accepted either of you. I don’t consider you my husband, and I refuse to be Erios’s master. So, leave me alone! I want to live in peace. I don’t want to die!!!" I shouted again, my voice trembling with a mix of anger, fear, and confusion.

My chest heaved with each breath, and the room seemed to swirl around me, a whirlwind of emotions and accusations that threatened to consume me whole.