Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 222
āWhen choosing someone to remarry, itās best to be careful. And try not to listen to the advice of those around you. It seems no one has good judgment.ā
āThereās no remarriage in my future.ā
While the pope had to remain celibate, the same didnāt necessarily apply to a saintess. There had already been plenty of exceptions, so it wasnāt entirely impossible. Lloyd tilted his head in curiosity.
But Genevieve replied coldly,
āOnce was enough.ā
Once was more than enoughā¦
The saintessās wedding had been like a national promotional campaign, an event that spanned several days. She couldnāt even imagine going through something like that again. The wedding had been more exhausting than the papal inauguration.
āLove, romanceāsuch foolish nonsense. Who has time for that?ā
She was far too busy to even consider remarriage.
As pope, Genevieve was still nothing more than a figurehead. Her support base was weak and relied heavily on the power of the imperial family and the Blanchard ducal house.
She couldnāt neglect her duties as a saintess either, which meant spending more than half the year abroad. Her daily life was overwhelmingly busy, and even the small amount of leisure time she spent at the garden gatherings was difficult to carve out. Romance was simply out of the question.
Lloyd remarked,
āIt is foolish nonsense.ā
āAnd itās not exactly good for your health, either.ā
Oh, it really wasnātā¦
It was badā¦
It was clear that both Genevieve and Lloyd were thinking of the same person at that moment.
Shaking her head, Genevieve said,
āIf thatās what love is, then I donāt want any part of it. I canāt handle it.ā
āIt was yours to begin with, though.ā
āShut up, please.ā
Her tightly clenched fist seemed to say, One more word, and Iāll break your jaw. Lloyd wisely stayed quiet and left the room.
Genevieve scoffed and stared after the boyās retreating figure for a long time.
She knew it was childish, but she couldnāt help herself. That smug, irritating face always got under her skin.
āIām not really upset.ā
Genevieve understood, logically, that Adeline didnāt leave her out of hatred.
But when she thought about the time she spent agonizing over her guilt, believing Adeline was dead, she couldnāt help but feel jealous of Lloyd, who had been chosen, unlike her.
Adeline would likely say, I didnāt abandon you.
Genevieve had come to terms with the fact that Adeline had sacrificed herself for them.
After all, it was a fate someone had already written for her.
āThe protagonist.ā
Me?
Who would ever want to look into her life and call it a story worth being the protagonist of? Whoever it was, they must have had a peculiar taste. Even when she reflected on her own life, it brought her nothing but revulsion, not entertainment.
Adeline had said, āYou are the protagonist of this world, so you must find happiness.ā
Those words had saved Genevieve countless times.
Even if Adeline had only meant it in the sense of a novelās protagonist, its meaning never diminished for Genevieve. Adeline had given her more than just words. Those words remained one of Genevieveās greatest treasures.
If she had to live according to a fate predetermined by someone, she wanted to make herself useful to Adeline.
She didnāt believe in the destinies supposedly written by some unknown person who neither knew her name nor her face.
But she believed in the goodwill that had led Adeline to say, āIf everything unfolds as it was written, you will find happiness.ā She didnāt doubt the sincerity of Adelineās wish for their happiness, a wish stronger than anyone elseās.
Still, if happiness without Adeline was the only option, Genevieve would rather be unhappy with her.
At the very least, Genevieve never wanted to return to the days without Adeline.
The dark, damp days.
*
On the day of Adelineās funeralā
The sky was unbearably clear.
