The End of a Fake Marriage

“Is that so? Until last year, you seemed fine, so I had no idea such a thing existed.” However, Mrs. Andrea skillfully concealed his expression, indirectly suggesting that it was odd for Nina to suddenly develop a cat allergy when she had been perfectly fine until last year.

Nina furiously crumpled her face.

“If it happens, you know it exists, so why are you picking on it so much? Even if you’re the  mansion manager, how dare you be so insolent to the owner’s sibling?”

“No, miss, that’s not what I meant…”

“Forget it, put those things away. I don’t want them in my sight again. Get rid of them, or if that’s not possible, chase them out of my sight. I don’t want to see them in this mansion again.”

“Exactly! I’m afraid of allergies… “What are we going to do if our young lady, who already has weak bronchial tubes, collapses?”

“What do you mean by “handling” a cat raised by the hostess right now?”

“How much do you think you’re being ridiculous?”…

Meow—

When Mrs. Andrea heard the cries of cats hiding somewhere, she felt a surge of anger. Mrs. Andrea controlled her temper and clenched her fists as hard as she could.

“……I’m sorry, but that’s not my place, young lady. The cats belong to their owner, the lady of the manor.”

“The owner of the mansion.”

That single phrase made Nina’s eyes flash with rage. “How dare Renee Hazlin be called the owner of this estate?!”

Nina wanted to get rid of those damn cats even more. It was clear that if those things were removed, the woman’s face would become quite distorted.

“Aren’t you the mansion’s manager? Then you should manage the mansion. How do you plan to take responsibility if the owner’s sister dies due to your negligence?”

“I will discuss the allergy issue with the mistress and the master. Until then, I’ll do my best to ensure the cats do not interfere with your movements, Miss.”

“It can’t be helped if you consider me incompetent, but overstepping my boundaries is something I cannot do.”

Emphasizing her final words, Andrea looked at Melinda. And finally, she glanced at Nina as well.

There was a brief standoff. However, it didn’t last long, as the sound of the car Nina had called for arriving outside the lobby broke the silence.

Nina bit her lip and glanced down the stairs.

“…Fine, whatever. Then I’ll handle it myself since the incompetent mansion manager claims it’s beyond her abilities.”

“Gasp! Miss, come to think of it, we don’t have time for this. We should leave now, shouldn’t we?”

“You’re right, Melinda. We don’t have time. Let’s go. Alexander must be waiting!”

Nina, who was wearing an ill-fitting, highly uncomfortable dress, stubbornly made her way down the stairs.

‘For a woman who says she can’t breathe due to severe allergies, she’s a pretty good runner.’

Andrea let out a small sigh and slowly walked down the stairs and went out to the lobby.

A bright red car carrying Nina and Melinda was seen leaving the mansion’s yellow road, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Maybe it’s time for me to leave this place too.”

Tiredness crept up on the face of the gracefully aged middle-aged woman. She rubbed her forehead with a dry hand as she turned to go back into the mansion.

The sound of cars came back in the distance.

Andrea, looking back in surprise as she wondered if Nina had returned again, opened her eyes thinly and looked at the vehicle getting closer.

Andrea’s gray eyes, still looking at the vehicle, began to shake in surprise.

***

“Knock, knock. May I come in?”

The lively voice awakened the elderly woman who had been dozing in her rocking chair. She slowly opened her eyes. A smile spread across her wrinkled face at the sight of her pretty granddaughter-in-law, her blonde hair tied up high.

“Rene, come in.”

“Uh, don’t get up. Grandma. How’s your leg?”

“Oh, it’s just a little sore, but a compress and a few days of rest should make it better.”

Alexander’s grandmother, Josie Chambler, gently grabbed Renee’s hand as she approached and sat her down beside her.

“Oh dear, look at you. You’re all sweaty and covered in dust. Did you roll around somewhere dusty?”

Josie pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Renee’s forehead. The old woman’s pale blue eyes, framed by wrinkled eyelids, shone with affection.

Renee, biting her lip to hold back a smile, she took out the object behind her back and made a ta-da sound like a child.

“Ta-da! This is what you were looking for yesterday, right? You fell while looking for this.”

Josie stared at the object in Renee’s hand, her eyes wide in surprise.   With her trembling hands, she took it.

It was a very, very old photograph.

A family photo of Josie, her husband Gunther, and their two children, all together.

A precious family photo that had been tossed away somewhere and completely forgotten when she was the only one left alive.

Until yesterday, when she suddenly realized she wanted to look at it so badly, she looked through her study and tripped and sprained her wrist.

She was lying in bed, feeling resentful, unable to find the photo she was looking for, when Rene, who understood her feelings with a few words, came looking for this in the morning.

“You got all covered in dust looking for this, didn’t you?”

“I’m fine. I’m strong! Look, I’ve got pretty solid arms, too,” Renee said, playfully flexing her arm.

“Oh, you silly thing. Boasting about an arm that looks like it couldn’t even give your husband a good smack on the back.”

“What? Alexander’s back? If I hit him on the back, I’d lose my wrist.”

Rene shook his head in disgust, thinking of that back that was so firm and wide that it almost seemed excessive.

“He doesn’t even seem to work out that much, but I don’t know how his body is so solid. He’s this tall, and so ridiculously strong… Is he secretly eating something special all by himself?”

“That’s because he looks just like his grandfather. Gunther was just like that. I’ve never seen him work out, but when he did box, he always won the championship belt. He would knock out his challengers with just one punch.”

Renee’s eyes widened in surprise at Josie’s words.
“Really? With just one punch?”

“Absolutely. Gunther’s nickname wasn’t ‘One Punch Gunther’ for nothing.”

In the old woman’s clouded eyes, a longing for her husband, who had left her years ago, flickered to life.

Günther Chambler. A man who made a name for himself as a naval admiral for over twenty years. He had commanded over a hundred ships and had defeated enough pirate ships to circle the river Sanders, the lifeblood of Levered, twice over.

Truly an impressive naval officer, the shield of Levered, and a man celebrated as a great hero of his time.

No one expected such a strong man to pass away so suddenly. Not even his wife, Josie.

Looking back now, she realized that death is not inherently kind; it had left her shattered by an unexpected loss.

‘What mattered more than the dead were those who are still alive…’

Now, she could only reflect on her late regrets, knowing she could not turn back the

clock.

A bitter sense of guilt lingered in the old woman’s mouth, like a piece of candy that had lost its sweetness.

Josie, who tried hard to swallow his rough emotions, stared at Renee, who looked at her with bright, curious eyes like a squirrel in the forest.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Renee, who smiled brightly and curled the corners of her eyes, looked kind and innocent.

She was a girl who made Josie feel both endlessly grateful and sorry. Grateful for staying by her broken grandson’s side, and yet sorry for the burden that had placed on her.

So, when Renee casually mentioned last night that she might “divorce” Alexander, Josie didn’t hold her back. It was only right to respect Renee’s choice, whatever it was.

The older woman stroked her bright golden hair affectionately, saying.

“Just… you’re so beautiful. Looking at you makes me wonder if I was this pretty when I was young. Be sure to take plenty of pictures, Renee. So that someday, when memories fade and the past becomes hard to recall, it doesn’t become a source of sorrow.”

“Yes, I will,” Renee replied softly.

A soft ball of fur came between Renee and the old lady, who were responding meekly. It was Renee’s cat, Rain.

“Oh, Rain! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Why haven’t you been around the guest house lately?”

“Meow—”

The calico cat let out a small, apologetic meow and leaned its head against Josie’s petting hand.

Then came two kittens running across the corridor, who looked like small prints of Rain,

“Meow! Meow!”

Behind the two mischievous calico cats that had appeared noisily, a gray kitten walked gently and politely.

“Meow—”

The small gray cat, Lucky, curled its long tail around Renee’s ankle and looked up at her.

“Lucky, you’re the only male among them, and you’re the most dignified, aren’t you? I can already see the makings of a gentleman in you!”

As he stroked Lucky’s head as if he was proud, the little cat proudly straightened its back and looked at Renee.

Smiling at her imposing appearance, she recalled a person with eyes similar to the blue eyes of a cat.

‘…He should be arriving by now and heading to the office, right?’

She tried to suppress her pounding heart. There was no need to be nervous.
After all, it would be just like any other day.