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chapter 13
Around that time, a letter of banishment also arrived at the ducal estate.
As you said, I will leave the family. I am no longer a daughter of the Bavelroa family. Please submit this letter of banishment to His Majesty.
It was dirty to be with you,(this sentence was crossed out multiple times.) no, it was enjoyable. Let us never meet again.
– Meldenik
The contents of the request for banishment were very neat.
No, calling it neat was a bit questionable. The letter, with its scratched-out lines still visible, clearly looked hastily written to anyone who saw it.
Meldenik had not even shown the effort to correct her mistakes or rewrite it on new stationery.
The duchess held a fan in her hand, looking as though she were deep in thought.
Each time she gently waved the fan, her ruby-red hair fluttered dazzlingly.
“Why would she so confidently request banishment? Does she have some kind of backing?”
Seeing his wife’s alluring face, the Duke of Bavelroa burst out angrily.
“…She must be wounded in pride! She’s probably planning to humiliate us again. Oh, my head.”
The Duke of Bavelroa acted as though he had no awareness that Meldenik was his own daughter.
He did not reflect at all on the fact that he had been the one who pushed her away first, telling her to leave.
Because he had the habit of quickly forgetting his own faults while magnifying the faults of others.
That was simply how people like them were.
People who excluded anything that did not benefit them.
Even family did not matter.
“Meldenik will likely hesitate and come crawling back. Don’t you think so, my lord?”
Hildegart’s brown eyes gleamed.
“She will surely bow her head, Your Grace.”
She nodded as if agreeing with the Duke’s words. But her instincts told her otherwise—something about Meldenik had changed.
Still, Hildegart smiled faintly and closed her fan downward.
“My informants said it as well. Meldenik is doing nothing.”
The spies she had hired reported that Meldenik was simply rolling around in dust in that ruined house.
They even said she was occasionally seen crying.
Living such a defeated life meant failure was inevitable.
Hildegart had never once lost to Meldenik. And that would not change this time either.
When her lips curled into a twisted smile, the Duke of Bavelroa slammed the table so hard it seemed it might split in two.
The furious duke looked as if high blood pressure might kill him any day now.
“For now, it would be best to accept her request for banishment as she wishes.”
The Duke narrowed his eyes.
“What are you saying, my lady? Even so, banishment is a bit much.”
Was it because she was his biological daughter? Or because he did not want trouble spreading through the family?
Although he always scolded and insulted Meldenik, actually going through with banishment seemed to trouble him.
“No, I don’t mean a real banishment. It’s just to scare her a little.”
“To scare her?”
The Duke’s sharp ears perked up.
“Yes. In any case, banishment requires a four-week reconciliation period. After that, there is also the Emperor’s trial.”
“Hmm… the reconciliation period. Yes, that’s true.”
It was rare for nobles to actually be banished. Most revoked the request within the four-week reconciliation period.
It was almost unheard of for it to proceed all the way to an imperial trial.
“If it goes past the reconciliation period and reaches trial, she will become the first high-ranking noble ever formally banished.”
Hildegart covered her mouth with one hand, as if to hide her laughter.
The current Emperor was little more than a powerless figurehead, but he was still a political rival who restrained the powerful Bavelroa ducal house.
He would not possibly approve the banishment request of Meldenik Bavelroa, the disgrace of the ducal house.
If Meldenik, the Duke’s daughter, were banished, it would damage the family’s reputation as well.
And once she was banished, eliminating her would be effortless.
“So all the effort I put into destroying her business and humiliating her will finally bear fruit.”
Hildegart suppressed her true feelings and twisted her elegant smile.
Soon, everything Meldenik had would belong to her daughter.
“I’ll handle submitting the banishment request.”
“Yes. We must show that wild girl her place.”
Watching the Duke’s agitated expression, Hildegart thought of her own daughter, Sheria.
Her beloved daughter was surely enjoying a peaceful afternoon under warm sunlight right now.
Perhaps she was happily spending time with priests of the Holy Nation in a beautiful resort.
So until Sheria returned to the capital, she needed to lay the groundwork.
A deep smile spread across Hildegart’s lips.
“Yes, she does need to be put in her place.”
Seeing the Duke frown, Hildegart lifted a teacup and brought it to her lips.
Meldenik’s every move was already in her hands.
She lowered her gaze and smiled.
At this rate, Meldenik would be banished before the Duke could even intervene and become a commoner.
In the empire, marriage between nobles and commoners was forbidden. Naturally, the position of Duchess of Hesman would belong to Sheria.
“She hasn’t broken off her engagement with Duke Hesman yet, which is curious.”
Hildegart frowned briefly.
“…Perhaps he is too proud or finds it troublesome.”
Otherwise, why would Lennox Hesman—who had everything—cling to foolish Meldenik Bavelroa?
There was no reason for him to do so.
“Why do you look so uneasy? Weren’t you never close with Meldenik anyway?”
“Still, she keeps failing in business… it’s rather pitiful.”
She bit her lip and looked back at the Duke.
“But thinking of what she’s done makes me furious.”
The Duke’s face turned red with anger.
Hildegart calmly met his gaze and smiled. The Duke had chosen her, not Meldenik’s biological mother. So there was nothing to worry about.
“For now, I will submit Meldenik’s banishment request to His Majesty, Your Grace. Secretly.”
Everything was going smoothly.
She gently brushed the Duke’s jawline and smiled strangely.
Before the banishment, it might be good to cause a small disturbance so Meldenik could never recover.
“To make sure she knows her place, as always.”
“I’ll also send notice to Meldenik that the request has been submitted.”
Dimples formed in Hildegart’s cheeks. Her expression was clearly and cruelly delighted.
That very day, the “banishment request of Meldenik Bavelroa” was secretly delivered to the imperial palace.
Four days later, at dawn.
Meldenik’s stationery shop was in the middle of renovation.
Seeing the postman approaching from afar, Meldenik widened her eyes. At last, the long-awaited message had arrived.
“It’s finally here—the banishment letter!”
The postman delivered the letter stating:
“The banishment request has been received in secret. After a four-week reconciliation period, prepare for the Emperor’s banishment trial.”
It was Hildegart’s handwriting.
After reading it, I spent the entire early morning jumping around in excitement.
“One step closer to banishment! Two steps away from breaking off the engagement!”
I could finally cut ties with the Bavelroa family!
However, unlike me, Dominic still looked worried.
“Why hasn’t Duke Hesman replied to the breakup request? Didn’t you want to end the engagement?”
I replied indifferently.
“Him? Maybe he doesn’t want to break it off. Whatever. I don’t care anymore.”
If he didn’t want to break the engagement, it probably meant Meldenik still had some use to him.
Seeing Lennox not only hesitate, but subtly avoid ending the engagement made it obvious.
But now, I no longer cared about Lennox’s intentions or the Hesman family’s thoughts.
“But now he doesn’t need to agree to the breakup anyway.”
“Why?”
“If I’m banished, I become a commoner. Then the engagement automatically becomes void. In this empire, nobles can’t marry commoners.”
I had insisted on a breakup before in case I failed to be banished from Bavelroa.
But now I didn’t need to pressure Lennox anymore. The engagement would dissolve naturally.
“It feels like a tooth that’s been bothering me has finally come out.”
Lennox and Hildegart were cooperating.
But their interests were different.
The Duke of Hesman, for unknown reasons, wanted to marry me, while Lady Hildegart wanted to break us apart and marry Sheria to him instead.
In other words, I had used their conflicting interests to my advantage without lifting a finger.
“Using enemies against each other… a perfect success, Lady Hildegart. You must be pleased with yourself for dealing me a blow.”
But I was just grateful she moved exactly as I wanted. I almost wanted to kiss her cheeks.
Humming, I wiped the shop window.
Looking at the spotless glass, I felt my future would be just as clean.
