Home/I Am Trying to End This Wrong Marriage/ch 5

Episode 5

At the same time, Angela was startled by the voice that had come out of her mouth.

This was not her own voice.

"Is she still disoriented?"

Dylan, frowning, muttered and then rose from his seat. As if he had lost all interest in Angela, he turned his gaze elsewhere.

What on earth was going on?

Angela, bewildered, raised her upper body with the help of the knights' support.

'I was definitely outside the capital with him...'

The scenery around her was familiar. It was clearly the capital.

Had she drifted all the way from the outskirts where the villa was located to the capital?

'Why does Dylan call me 'my lady'?'

Moreover, Angela was wearing a dress that was not her own.

Her entire body was soaked, confirming she had been pulled from the water—but this was not the chemise she had been wearing when she escaped.

'A dress like this on me...'

Every single garment she wore reflected Edward's demands. She had never received such a dress from him as a gift—so why was she wearing it?

Though the weather wasn't cold, her drenched dress was clammy and gave her chills. Angela clasped her hands together and flinched at the ice-cold sensation.

"You must be cold."

Dylan happened to notice and said flatly. Angela felt his attitude was excessively indifferent.

He hadn't been like this at their last meeting—had something happened in the meantime?

While Angela was thinking, Dylan removed his jacket. Unexpectedly, he draped it over her back.

"I've called for a physician. He should arrive shortly."

His tone was still stiff, but that alone was enough for Angela.

"Thank you... Duke Alester."

"Not at all."

'If I ask Dylan what happened, would I get an answer?'

As Angela looked at Dylan, considering this, Kevin made a suggestion.

"My lord, shall we take her straight to the mansion?"

Mansion?

The moment Angela heard Kevin's words, Edward came to mind.

'No...'

The very thought of meeting him again made her skin crawl. She couldn't go back there.

"W-wait—"

"They're finally coming to retrieve her."

Just as Angela opened her mouth with that unfamiliar voice, her words overlapped with Dylan's.

Whether he hadn't heard her or not, Dylan fixed his gaze somewhere and instructed his knights.

"Help the lady up."

Angela followed Dylan's line of sight and saw knights on horseback approaching. Along with them, a carriage stopped in front, and a plainly dressed woman stepped out.

"Miss!"

The unfamiliar woman clasped Angela's cold hands with teary eyes.

"You were nowhere to be found, no matter how we searched—and to end up here... Goodness, how frightened you must have been."

"You are..."

Angela was about to ask who she was and why she was calling her "miss." But then she realized.

The woman before her was Greta—the personal maid who served Penelope.

'How do I know the name of Lady Kruger's maid?'

Just as Angela felt the strangeness again, Dylan spoke to Greta.

"If you were looking for her, then I needn't explain the situation."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Greta added that the lady's party had remained upstream, anxiously awaiting news.

Dylan nodded in understanding and gave instructions.

"It seems the lady's body temperature has dropped significantly. Upon arrival, have the attending physician examine her thoroughly."

"Yes. I will inform the mistress of this matter. Thank you so much, Your Grace."

Greta answered respectfully and helped Angela up. In an instant, Angela was surrounded by the Marquess household's knights escorting her to the carriage.

"Wait. I—"

Still unable to comprehend why she was being treated like the marquess's daughter, Angela looked back at Dylan in confusion.

Meeting her gaze, Dylan gave a brief nod.

"Then rest well. Lady Penelope Kruger."

'What?'

Angela's eyes flew wide open in shock.

Kruger?

It felt as if everyone from Dylan to the others was lying.

Unable to believe it, as soon as she boarded the carriage, she checked her reflection in a mirror through Greta's help.

Amazingly, the person in the mirror was indeed Penelope. Though her anxious eyes and pale face differed from the Penelope Angela knew, it was unmistakably her.

"How... How can this be."

Only then did she understand Dylan's oddly distant attitude.

Whether from the shock of this dreamlike occurrence, a headache began to surge.

"Ugh."

"Miss, are you all right?"

The moment Angela winced, a memory surfaced in her mind.

It was an image of Lady Kruger, dressed up for an outing, looking into a mirror.

The dress she wore was the same one Angela now had on.

'This morning's events.'

Incredibly, Angela knew about that unfamiliar situation.

Everything unfolded in her mind—Penelope had gone to a gathering, gone boating with other ladies, and met with an accident.

Penelope's memories cut off after she fell into the water.

'The boat struck a rock, and Lady Kruger fell in.'

But how on earth had she ended up inside Penelope's body?

In this absurd situation, Angela remained dazed all the way to the marquess's residence.

She was examined, but there was nothing seriously wrong with her health.

After the physician left, Angela faced Marquess Kruger, who had already heard the news, and Penelope's older brother, Ralph.

"Penelope. Do you know how worried I was when I heard you fell into the river?"

"Even if you had an appointment, going boating on a day like this? For all your talk of being clever, honestly."

At a loss for how to face Penelope's family, Angela apologized.

"I'm sorry..."

Her brother was clearly here to tease her—something the real Penelope would have expressed her displeasure about.

Her uncharacteristic response made the Marquess and Ralph look at each other in surprise.

"She must not be feeling well, Mother."

"You need some rest."

Fortunately, Angela's answer earned her the chance to rest alone.

Watching them rise from their seats, Angela checked the wall clock—it was approaching four in the afternoon.

The accident at the villa had happened early this morning.

Angela had fallen into the sea, and only long afterward had she entered Penelope's body.

At the time Angela had fallen into the sea, Penelope had been perfectly fine and moving about, so it didn't occur to her that Penelope's soul might have entered her body.

'Then... did Lady Kruger lose her life in the accident earlier...?'

As Angela was deep in thought—

"Ah, Penelope."

The Marquess, who had been about to leave the room following Ralph, turned back to her.

"I heard the Duchess of Devonshire has died."

At those words, Angela's heart sank.

"A fall, they say? Still so young, to meet such a fate..."

The Marquess added that the funeral would be in three days, then left the room.

"I'm dead...?"

Alone in the room, Angela murmured softly.

She had jumped with the resolve to die, so it shouldn't have been surprising—yet hearing the news of her own death felt strange.

At the same time, she recalled Edward looking at the divorce papers she had so painfully presented.

"Why can't you understand? I have no intention of letting you go."

That day, Edward had torn the papers apart without hiding his displeasure.

"As long as I'm alive, the only person you can be with is me. Wear the dresses I give you, put on the jewels, and stay beautifully by my side—always. That's your duty."

And he had locked her in her room for a full month.

It wasn't enough that she couldn't leave the estate without Edward—being confined to her bedroom was driving her mad.

"I want to go out, Edward."

In the end, Angela pretended to give up on the idea of divorce and threw herself into his arms.

"Why? Did you find somewhere you want to go?"

"No. Anywhere is fine. As long as I'm with you."

Her marriage to Edward was a trap. A trap that tightened around her so she could never escape.

By the time she tried to get out, it was already too late...

"How about that villa you mentioned before?"

Now, Angela Devonshire no longer existed.

Who would imagine that while her body had died, her soul was alive inside another body?

'I am free now.'

At that thought, her heart pounded with excitement.

She had never imagined she would become Penelope, but it was certain that she had obtained the freedom she had so desperately wanted.

At last, it was goodbye to her husband.

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