You Promised To Divorce Me - Chapter 17

Even though all kinds of settings were changed, there was something from the original that was unaffected.

‘Olivia’s tragic death.’

The only thing consistent here were my constant encounters with death.

As always, my hunch was never wrong.

I thought I could sense almost everything in my surroundings, maybe even more meticulously than in the original.

I didn’t know my inner self, my purpose, or my future plans, but I wasn’t going to let Carrine win.

Ash.

Yes?

I pushed the door to the study as hard as I could.

Time to work.

*** 

[Olivia, I can’t find anything about it.]

“How can there not be a single book?”

I came to the study, curious to find some information, but there was no book related to the sorcery that I could find.

There was a book with ‘Rutoru forest’ in its title, but it turned out to be a horror novel set in the mentioned forest.

‘This won’t work.’

[Think carefully. Is there any other information you can gather from what the Duke said?]

“There was nothing different. He found that Qualum leaves were used in sorcery from a record of the temple… Hang on, the temple?”

I ran back to the bookshelf as a thought struck my mind.

“I think I’ve seen it around here… temple, temple… there!”

History of the Barcan Empire: Its Foundations and the Temple

The book was so enormously thick that I felt exhausted just by looking at it.

As I put it on the desk with a grin, Ash flew in and settled at the end of the book.

It felt strange to see a bird reading the letters, but at this point, I had given up judging how things worked in this world by its existing common sense to some extent.

[Does it contain what you’re looking for?]

“I hope so.”

As soon as I opened the cover of the book, there was a breeze inside the closed room that flipped some pages over.

“Huh?”

As I tried to return to the first page without much thought, my eyes landed on something.

[Olivia, look!]

“Yeah, I saw it, too.”

[ The sorcerers who were subjugating horsemen, started a war and brought darkness to sweep over the continent.

It was inevitable for the Barcan army to step on the land of Shahara, which had fallen under the name of God. ]

“Shahara…”

I had never heard of the land before.

[ The great war took many lives of men, broke the reputation of evil techniques, and discarded records. ][ Unfortunately, the spirit of evil remains in this land, and so does the Guardian that protects the world using his boundaries. ]

“Guardian…. is this about Lennox?”

I leaned in towards the book, its scent hit my nose.

A brief map was drawn below.

Ash flapped his wings excitedly.

[It’s the territory of Kravant. It’s large enough to resemble most kingdoms.]

Unlike him, my attention was elsewhere.

The forest of Rutoru was situated in the middle of the vast Kravant territory.

‘This is not just a land, it’s…’

It seemed the land was itself a large boundary and a kind of buffer region.

Kravant was the frontier that prevented the evil existence of the cursed forest from spreading to the empire.

[ The forest is completely polluted and unfit for survival if humans other than the Guardian enter. ]

I frowned at the thought of the story,《 Reversed Lady 》.

‘The more I think about it, the weird it gets. Why was such an important individual only an extra?’

The setting and background were fit enough for Lennox to be the main character.

If not a main character, he was grand enough to be called the evil mastermind.

However, Lennox in the original work was just a passing figure for worldbuilding.

‘What the hell?’

Considering the writer’s profound mental state, at the point where they created an insane work of art in which its protagonist was swapped at the last minute, it could be a possibility.

‘It’s nothing but giving an exaggerated setting to an extra who doesn’t even appear properly, which is just….’

Whether he was a sweet potato* villain or a sweet potato terrorist.

{*TL/N: So frustrating that it leaves a bitter aftertaste.}

I felt like swearing as I recalled the pseudonym of the unusual author.

[That’s why you feel sorry for him.]

“Huh?”

As I turned my head to him murmuring, Ash pointed towards the book.

[The Guardian. He’s protecting the forest alone in a deserted land.]

[ For safety purposes, only elite personnel with armed forces live in the Duke’s Fortress, and citizens are allowed in the designated regions in the northern part of the Duke’s Decree. Migration is known to be very difficult. ]

Only then did I spot the Castle slightly closer to the forest of Rutoru.

While the residential areas adjacent to each other were situated far away.

“You’re right. He’s all alone…”

Lennox always guarded his boundaries.

At that moment, I felt something indescribable.

[Living as a Guardian can feel like a prison sometimes.]

I couldn’t figure that out.

I couldn’t even imagine it.

People were so distant to me that at some point, I might have thought I was too different to blend in with ordinary people.

Who took my sacrifices for granted.

Suddenly, Lennox’s voice rang in my head.

Kravant’s duty is neither honorable nor sublime.

Now I kind of knew why he said that.

*** 

It was dusk when I left the study and went back to my bedroom.

Ash whispered quietly as I walked down the hallway.

[Olivia, isn’t that the same room?]

“You’re right.”

It was the room where the employees were moving the luggage. Carrine’s bedroom.

[The door is open.]

I glanced at the slightly opened door as he informed me.

“Indeed…”

I scanned my surroundings, not a soul to be seen anywhere in the hallway or under the stairs.

Ash was shocked as I moved my feet.

Olivia?! You’re not sneaking in, are you?

Carrine hasn’t returned to the mansion yet.

If Carrine was really sick as they said, she would have mostly stayed in her bedroom.

If we’re lucky, we might find a clue to her plans.

There could be a trap. It’s too dangerous.

I was conflicted for a while.

Like he said, the situation was too risky.

Also, that room is always kept closed meticulously, even a single window.

This was the room that Ask couldn’t look inside from the window.

It was suspicious how such a room was left open.

Still…

There was no other option.

I wrapped the bracelet around my wrist.

It was my only protection from Lennox at the moment.

It’s risky, but it’s worth trying. You don’t know when you’ll get another chance.

It didn’t take long to make up my mind.

I looked back at Ash.

Please keep watch for me.

In order to catch a tiger, you have to set foot into its cave.

*** 

I was determined when I walked in, but soon after, my resolution felt useless.

“There’s nothing here.”

It was just an ordinary room.

I looked through all the places Carrine could hide something, such as drawers and cabinets, but I saw nothing suspicious or any tools that looked dangerous.

If there was even a locked space, I would’ve tried to pry it open, but there was no such thing.

‘There’s nothing that stands out.’

It was no different than the ordinary bedroom of a lady.

If there was something unique about it, I would say that there was a fishbowl by the window.

“I shouldn’t have wasted my energy.”

I laughed in vain.

‘I’d rather ask Ash to follow the carriage.’

It was when I was about to turn around to leave the room, reflecting on my wrong judgment earlier, that I noticed the fishbowl.

‘There’s water inside, but no fish.’

I was intrigued by the sight of it.

The round fishbowl was half-filled with clear water, white stones laid on the bottom of it.

‘Who fills a fishbowl with water when there’s no fish?’

That was the only unusual thing I found in the ordinary room.

I reached into the bowl.

The water was rather cold.

I swept my hand to form ripples around my fingertips.

A stone caught my eye.

It was unusually white and shiny.

It was very smooth when I held it in my hand.

Olivia! Someone is coming!

Ash’s urgent call resonated in my head.

I pushed the stone into my waist pocket without wiping my hands off as I hurried towards the exit.

This way, hurry!

Following his guidance, I rushed down the hallway in a straight line without stopping to gather myself.

Those few seconds felt an eternity long.

It was not until I safely arrived at the central staircase that I nervously collected my breath.

“I was so nervous, I thought I was going to die.”

But I received no reply from the creature.

Instead, a shadow appeared over my head.

“Lady Olivia.”

Instead of Ash’s familiar chirping, the moment I heard a heavy low voice, my heart sank.

I slowly raised my head to find a man standing over me. He had silver hair and blue-gray eyes that looked lifeless for a moment.

Perhaps because of his wide shoulders and robust physique, he was far away from being a normal employee.

“You were here.”