We’re in a Contract Marriage, But I’ve Imprinted - Chapter 140

Drap, drap, drap.

The only sounds were the vigorous galloping of the horses and the wind rushing through the trees.

The carriage had been traveling for hours, leaving the cityscape behind and entering a secluded mountain path.

Unaware of the destination, I could only stare blankly at the changing scenery. The thought of distancing from my alpha clenched my heart painfully, and cold sweat trickled down my skin.

Yet, I pretended to be composed. In truth, I was mentally convincing myself that I was okay.

If I didn’t, I felt like I would tell the coachman to turn the carriage around at any moment. I bit my lips until they nearly bled, focusing only on the view outside.

The lush wooded landscape suddenly shifted to a steep gorge, and the carriage slowed significantly. The coachman seemed aware of the hazardous road, moving at a cautious pace.

Now I got curious. I wondered where the mansion Ian had prepared was located.

“Did he send me to the furthest place?”

Though it was said to be a day’s journey from the Duchy, my knowledge of my own reality made it hard to take such statements at face value. As I gazed aimlessly down into the canyon, the carriage suddenly jolted violently.

“Madam! The wheel is stuck in the mud! Just a moment, please!”

I heard the coachman shouting from outside, soon followed by sounds of him bustling about. I decided to step outside for a breath of air and reached for the door.

Thunk.

No matter how hard I pulled, the carriage door wouldn’t budge. My thoughts, which had been distant since leaving the Duchy, snapped back to reality, and I sensed something was wrong.

Thunk, thunk.

Despite multiple strong tugs, the door remained firmly closed. Just as I was certain something was amiss, a slicing sound cut through the air, and I felt the carriage shake as if something had struck it.

“Hey! Could you open this door, please?”

I banged on the door while shouting, but there was no sign of the coachman who had spoken earlier. A creeping sense of danger began to rise from my feet, and I frantically pounded on the door, yelling.

“Open the door! Open it!”

I grasped the handle and struggled, I suddenly found it hard to breathe. While I gasped for air, I saw the inside of the carriage and noticed something off.

Through the window, thin smoke began to seep in, and there was a subtle warmth. It wasn’t difficult to recognize that what I was feeling was fire.

“Is there no one outside? Hello!”

I pulled frantically at the handle, feeling the heat and letting go instantly. My body trembled uncontrollably as the intense heat surged.

Black smoke began to seep inside, and the ceiling started to collapse.

“Kyaak!”

I pressed against the side of the carriage to avoid falling sparks, but even the slightest movement made the carriage sway. It wasn’t just the ceiling—the wheels too had been burned by fire, and the carriage eventually toppled over to its side.

Trapped inside, I had no choice but to fall clumsily. With a dazed mind, I covered my mouth and looked around, panicking as my dress caught fire.

“Huh.”

Each breath I took was heavy with thick smoke that I choked, but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to escape, but the only exit in the overturned carriage was a door facing upward.

The fiery tongues seemed to flicker teasingly, and black smoke slowly suffocated me.

I didn’t want to die like this. I wanted to see Diers once more, and I had so much to say to Ian.

After keeping silent for what could be considered a short but also long half-year, I wondered why he suddenly cast me out.

Did he really come to hate me, or had he never truly cared for me at all?

The questions I couldn’t ask him in person poured out. I slapped at the flames on my dress, trying to put them out and think of a way to escape, but then I noticed the flames had almost reached me.

Overwhelmed by the imminent danger, I felt all strength leave my body.

“Ha…”

A sound that was half-laugh, half-sob escaped me. With every struggle, it seemed the world urged me to give up, as if it was telling me that no matter how much I thrashed, the world would not change and would just keep moving on.

“Huuh, Dia…”

As I was facing imminent death, I thought of Diers, whom I had left behind. If I had known, I would have held him a little longer… even if Ian had objected, I should have said goodbye.

Regret always arrives too late, just as it did when I lost my mother and when I lost my Nicola.

I, who was always insensitive, only started to truly look at my loved ones after I had lost them. It was already too late.

The fire creeping along the floor suddenly coalesced into a single mass, and with the last of my strength, the carriage rolled over once more.

Drop-

The sound was light, but it was followed by the vertigo-inducing sensation of falling into a deep abyss. I flailed my arms and legs before curling up, hoping the end would be painless as I murmured unwittingly.

“…Ian, save me.”

In that moment of helplessness, I begged for the man who had already abandoned me, I felt unbearable vibrations and waves. While the outside of my body burned with heat, a deep internal cold made my teeth chatter.

The two extreme sensations seemed to clash, and then a powerful force engulfed me.

After that, darkness engulfed my vision, fading to black.

* * *

Monica, who was unable to look away as Melissa departed, first went to the head maid, not Ian.

“Ha, really.”

As soon as she found the head maid, she hugged her tightly.

“You’re my savior, you know that?”

“Why say such a thing? It’s you, Miss Monica, who believed in my innocence.”

“Yes, I know very well.”