Refusing Your Ex-Husband’s Obsession: A Guide

I couldn’t feel the strange gaze that’s been persistently fixed on me lately. It’s not like I didn’t know who it was coming from, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it.

As I usually did, I went down the stairs with the intention to take a walk, and I found Aiden leaving the mansion alone. His physical appearance resembled Ciel, but the atmosphere in which he carried himself was the opposite.

Perhaps it’s partly because he had red eyes unlike Ciel did, but the tall and slender Aiden looked to be sensitive and jittery.

Oddly looking quite irritated, Aiden stomped out the mansion while covering both ears with his hands. I followed him cautiously.

He seemed to be muttering something, but it wasn’t loud enough for me to hear.

He went deep into the garden, and when he found a corner, he crouched down there. Watching him, I tilted my head to the side, thinking that this was oddly a familiar sight.

It was ironic to see him act like this. After all, he was a young duke who shouldn’t conduct himself like that without dignity, but the sight of him like this still felt familiar.

I was curious, but I didn’t want to get involved with Ciel’s younger brother. I tried to leave quietly, but then…

“Argh!”

Hearing the yelp that was filled with fright, I was forced to turn around again. If something bad were to happen to the young duke while he was staying in my family’s residence, we’re the only ones who’d be troubled.

Aiden jumped up with a start, and as I saw, it seemed like a bug fell from a tree and went into his clothes. As I made eye contact with him, he stood up while still trembling.

“Lady!”

“What’s the matter? Did a bug get inside?”

Seeing his sickly pallor, I felt a bit sorry for him. And as I approached him, I found the caterpillar stuck to his shoulder.

“Ah, no… More than that, Lady Closch, why are you…?”

Ignoring the young duke’s words, I grabbed the caterpillar and set it down on the grass.

As though he just realized that there was a bug on him, he looked up at me in surprise and asked.

“Lady Closch, how can you hold something so disgusting with your own hands?”

“What do you mean, disgusting?”

“Is it not disgusting?”

As the young duke asked back again, his red eyes were wide open in wonder. He was taller than me, but he acted very much like a younger brother. Without realizing it, I laughed.

“There’s nothing more disgusting than a monster. Caterpillars are actually pretty and cute. And they don’t harm people either.”

“That’s true, but… Have you seen a monster in person?”

“Um…”

I saw a lot of them in my past life, but I hadn’t seen any ever since I reincarnated. I didn’t know how to answer.

“My older brother told me about them in great detail, so I know about them roughly.”

“Oh, I see. My brother never told me anything like that…”

Until just now, Aiden’s eyes were sparkling with curiosity, but he quickly fell depressed the moment he mentioned Ciel.

“Why don’t you try asking him first? I bother my older brother a lot. I know he must be very tired every time after he comes home from fighting monsters, but it makes me happy to feel his affection whenever he’d still answer my questions anyhow.”

“Will he tell me if I ask him?”

“Of course. I heard that the reason you came to my family’s estate is for you to broaden your horizons, Young Duke. Didn’t His Grace make that decision because he was thinking of you?”

“I don’t know about that…”

At my question, Aiden smiled awkwardly. He looked at me with sparkling eyes as though he was gazing upon a strange creature.

“But if I may ask, why do you always wear gloves?”

He stared at my hands as he asked this. There was a long scar from my wrist and up my arm due to a fire accident I couldn’t remember. Every time they saw it, my family’s expressions would darken, so at some point, I began to cover it.

Besides that, there were strange marks on the back of my hand, so it’s impossible to reveal this.

“Don’t you feel hot?”

Not pressuring me to answer, he asked another question. I organized my thoughts, however, and answered him slowly.

“I don’t feel hot. As for the reason, there was a time when I got into a fire accident when I was a child. I always wear gloves to cover the burn scar from back then.”

“Ah…”

Aiden was baffled, but I gave him a small smile.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to worry about it. Rather, I love this scar now.”

This thought crossed my mind every so often. If I hadn’t reincarnated into this body, was it possible that the original Irene would have survived?

It’s likely that she wouldn’t have. And unfortunately, I woke up in a coffin, so it was a certain fact.

That’s why, to me, this scar was the last trace of Irene’s original life. As I continue living with these marks, only I can remember her. This scar was precious to me, in many ways.

“…Lady Closch, may I hold your hand?”

Aiden offered his hand. Seeing his fingertips shaking, it seemed like he was very shaken because of the caterpillar. So, I held his hand tightly.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, there’s not much to see in our garden, but if you go up the mountain behind the manor, you’ll be able to get a very good view of the estate. Would you like to see it?”

“Can I?”

At my suggestion, Aiden replied with a bright smile. I led him to the mountain out back. It would have been easier to go up on horseback, but since it was a small mountain that’s more like a hill than a mountain, it was no problem for us.

Our estate didn’t have any high buildings, so just going up a little like this could lead to a view of the open sky and the wide, beautiful territory.

Still holding my hand tightly, Aiden burst into admiration the moment he saw the picturesque scenery below the mountain. Much more than before, he looked to be comfortable now.