You Promised To Divorce Me - Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The mood in the room suddenly grew thick with tension. Under the covered table, I gripped my skirt tightly with my hand on my thigh.

I was pretty sure that Lennox would ask me why I hadn’t spoken of the sorcerer’s identity until now. He was a tenacious man, so I knew he wouldn’t let this slide again.

But what I heard him muttering to himself was not what I was expecting.

“So it wasn’t that the viscount picked up an illegitimate child, but that he was manipulated by his adoptee. I’m going to tear that woman apart, even if it kills her.”

An illegitimate child? What?

Lennox excused himself, saying that he would look into it.

“I can’t believe Carinne is an adopted child.”

It was only a year ago when she came into the Brienne family, the year when she reached the age of majority. That was something that hadn’t appeared in the original setting.

[Did you really not know that Carinne was adopted?]

“Really. As I’ve told you, only certain parts of the former Olivia’s memory were transmitted.”

[Isn’t this something too important to be forgotten?]

“That’s what I want to say. Transmigration… This whole thing should have been done right. Why is it that I can’t even remember important things like this?”

[…Sorry. Did I miss something while bringing you here?] Ash immediately apologized.

“It’s funny that I never considered it. We have no similarities in our appearance.”

Although our hair colors were different, the viscount and I had the same green eyes. But Carinne, who had red hair and purple eyes, didn’t look like anyone in the Brienne family.

“So she left the mansion without anyone knowing. She knows I’ve caught her, so she’s decided that it’s too dangerous to stay…”

[What if she just doesn’t need to stay anymore?]

“Maybe…”

The restrictions that were on me were lifted, and Carinne had disappeared at the same time. Was it a coincidence? I remembered the conversation with Lennox from a while ago.

”Olivia, I want you to answer my questions honestly from now on.”

“I’ll try.”

“What do you want me to do with Carinne Brienne?”

“What do you mean?”

He stared at me. “If you don’t want to reveal information about your so-called family, you can be punished. It could get difficult.”

“Sorcery is a crime on the level of treason. Is it even an option to stay quiet?”

“There’s nothing you can’t do. But you can’t do anything as long as the investigation is ongoing.”

The meaning of Lennox’s words, which had sounded like he was reading words monotonously off a menu, was obvious. Whatever I chose to do, Carinne was to face a world of punishment.

“What is she thinking?”

I was now convinced that her goal was not to marry the Crown Prince, so there must be something else. The problem was that I didn’t know what it was.

“Ash. There really aren’t any traces of magic left on my body, right?”

I had also told Lennox why I couldn’t say Carinne’s name at first, and asked him to double-check if there were remnants of a spell on me. Unlike the last time he did it, it took quite a long time to confirm that there was no magic left on my body.

But I couldn’t shake my anxiety.

[Maybe it’s not Carinne’s magic.]

“No, there’s no evidence, but I feel like it was Carinne’s back then.” That unpleasant sensation had never been wrong. “She’s also the only person who would do such a thing.”

Whether it was magic or otherwise…

“Though I’m not sure what exactly happened to Olivia because of my imperfect memories.”

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Under constant surveillance, I had been given tea mixed with Qualum leaves. In the original story, I had drunk it every day.

[Don’t worry too much. Carinne won’t be able to move for a while.] And then Ash said something most unexpected, [She must have used up a lot of her life force.]

“What… do you mean, ‘life force’?”

Ash blinked quickly and stared at me in wonder.

“You’ve never said anything like that before.”

[Oh… it’s just written in the book I read in the library… Life force is used in exchange for dark magic.]

Was there a story like that?

[Haven’t you read it yet?]

“Haven’t I?”

Of course, I could have missed it…

[Oh my!]

I opened my eyes wide when I held him firmly with both hands to prevent him from running away. “Do you think I’m a fool? That I’m going to fall for it once again?” There was no way I would have missed something so important. “I know there’s so much you didn’t tell me.”

[Oh, Olivia…]

Did he think I would have mercy if he pretended to be a pitiful creature? He scolded himself for making so many mistakes and a lack of foresight.

“If you wanted to keep something a secret, you should have hid it perfectly. If you’re careless, I’ll drag it out of your beak.” I flicked my finger lightly against Ash’s forehead and glared at him.

He laughed. I relaxed my grip and he cuddled into my hand naturally, expressing affection by rubbing his head against my skin.

“I don’t think you have any bad intentions, but do you have a reason why you can’t tell me about it? Let me ask you one thing, at least.”

Ash contemplated his options for a bit and then nodded. [If I can answer.]

“Do you know my future?”

[No…] He shook his head. [Not even God knows the future. The only thing we can do is reflect on the past and predict what might happen based on the data. The future is not set in stone.]

“Are you sure? We really don’t have an inevitable fate?”

The bird nodded violently. [Of course. That would shake the basic order of the world. If there’s a world like that, it must be a terrible one.]

His firm answer relieved me. “Alright, that’s enough.”

It was enough to know that Olivia’s ending could be changed. The knowledge was comforting.

I frowned. Actually, why did she agree to switch bodies with me in the first place? She’d been born into an aristocratic family, so she lived without any scarcity. My life before I transmigrated had been the epitome of unlucky and miserable.

Was Carinne really the reason? It made some sense. By the time Carinne was adopted, Viscount Brienne would already have been under her spell. Olivia would have noticed that she couldn’t trust her father, her maids, or anyone else in the Brienne household.

The situation might have been irreversible at that point.

Ash and Lennox were there for me this time, but there was no one for the original Olivia. I couldn’t even imagine how terrible it must have been to despair in loneliness and helplessness.

I shook my head and my thoughts away. “Alright, so what exactly do you mean about life force being exchanged for black magic.”

[Using black magic shortens one’s lifespan. Depending on the technique, it’s only a few hours, or at most, a few days or years.]

“Then, the more you use magic…”

[Not only does your lifespan get shorter, but your health also deteriorates. In a way, it’s like your body breaks down.]

Listening to Ash’s explanation made me feel uneasy.

What was Carinne’s goal? Why was she so determined to reach it at the expense of her own life?

In the same way that I was struggling to survive, it seemed that she also had things she desperately wanted to fight for.

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