Refusing Your Ex-Husband’s Obsession: A Guide - Chapter 187

Chapter 187

Translator: Yonnee

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“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

I bowed and left the office. Although I had come to the capital without a plan, I felt relieved now that some issues were resolved. I had felt an urgent need to act after seeing Luke.

“I wonder if Luke is training hard.”

Before coming here, I had instructed my father to ensure Luke practiced the method I had told Morgan about. Fortunately, Morgan had also visited our house, which was timely.

A physical Esper personally teaching another would surely make controlling abilities easier.

As I walked down the corridor lost in thought, Ciel suddenly appeared.

“Irene.”

He always had a knack for appearing out of thin air.

“It’s been a while.”

“…Yes.”

He fidgeted around me, unable to stay still.

“Do you have something to say?”

Ciel looked the same as always, yet there was a certain gauntness about him. Come to think of it, when was the last time Ciel had a guiding session?

“Are you okay?”

Before I could respond to Ciel’s question, he continued hastily.

“Revealing yourself as a Guide might bring restrictions to your actions. Are you okay with that?”

“…I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“You didn’t want to reveal yourself before. But now, why did you come to the palace and confess everything?”

His voice raised slightly. It was understandable—he had kept my secret until now.

“I’m sorry for not consulting you first.”

“…I didn’t say that to get an apology.”

“Right.”

His voice softened as I looked up at him, and I added,

“Espers suffer, right? Even now, there might be those hiding, considering their abilities a curse.”

He stood motionless, listening to me as if he was holding his breath.

“I’m not an Esper, so I don’t know exactly what that pain feels like. But I’ve seen you struggle with the pain up close. Shouldn’t we help such Espers and even Guides who live unaware of their potential? Perhaps that’s why the Goddess brought the two of us here.”

* * *

Ciel was shocked by Irene’s words. It felt as if lightning had struck him, coursing from his head through his entire body. As Irene moved on, he quickly offered his arm to escort her.

But then, his vision went dark all of a sudden, and he staggered. Irene cried out in alarm,

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, I’m fine. Just saw something wrong.”

He lied, not wanting her to worry. He had recently experienced episodes of losing his vision. He knew this was due to a lack of guiding.

Yet, he didn’t want to receive forced guiding if she was unwilling. He wanted to wait for her.

“So, you think the Goddess brought us here?”

Ciel asked, forcing a smile. Irene watched him as if studying him, then nodded and continued,

“Weren’t you curious? About why we were sent back in time. I always wondered. Why didn’t the Goddess send me to oblivion after death?”

As Irene was about to answer, Ciel perked up his ears, not wanting to miss a word of hers.

“I’ve been having this thought, Ciel. Maybe you and I…”

Her voice, calling his name, sounded so sweet that it almost made him feel dizzy.

“That is, given that we know many things about Espers and Guides, perhaps we’re needed here in the Stern Empire.”

“…So that’s why you proposed forming the unions, like in Korea?”

“Right. The Empire is still largely uninformed about Espers and Guides, and it’s not just the common folk but also the nobles. They don’t understand and think of it as a curse.”

Ciel dredged up the almost faded fragments of his memory.

Before his regression, before he met the saintess, he remembered himself.

Yes. Back then, this ability felt like a curse.

Without a Guide, he was in a constant state of guiding deficiency, and alleviating the symptoms with holy water alone had its limits. When he couldn’t control his anger, burning objects or even harming people was a common occurrence.

“Do you remember the lady we saw earlier?”

Ciel, lost in thought, answered Irene’s question a bit late. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason for his delay.

“…No.”

The mere thought of an Esper he didn’t know receiving Irene’s guiding made his insides boil. Lacking guiding himself, he was easily swayed by brief moments of anger.

But as Ciel was hiding his current state, Irene remained unaware of his condition.