Chapter 07

The day before Roselin demanded a divorce.“

Your father will never give up Roembeck. That worries me.”

“Hand over the business rights, Mother.”

If she divorced, Mother would regain the Roembeck family name, and then the business rights that Jonas gained through marriage would revert to her.

‘That must be why he let Mother die.’

When a wife dies, her assets go to her husband. Ludianna bit her lip hard.

Roselin gently caressed Ludianna’s small, soft cheek, her brow furrowing.

Her hands had grown rough from doing housework herself, yet the touch made Ludianna feel so warm that she relaxed and leaned into her mother’s palm.

“But Ludi… if that happens…”

Roselin’s pupils trembled, her long lashes quivering.

‘She must be afraid.’

I know the future, so I know divorce is the only answer.

But for a noblewoman of Kalathos, raised like a flower in her birth family before marrying into her husband’s house… handing over all the business rights and divorcing would feel like being cast out into the streets with nothing.

“No matter what Father—no, Jonas—says, he’ll hand over the Brno Trading Company.”

“Brno…?”

“I know, Mother. I know Brno’s light has already dimmed. But precisely because of that, he’ll give it up.”

Ludianna smiled brightly.

“There’s no property more important than our lives.”

‘Brno may look insignificant now, but soon everything will change.’

Seeing the certainty in her daughter’s eyes, Roselin gathered her resolve.

“Yes, you’re right. Even if we end up farming quietly in the countryside, we’ll be happier than this.”

Roselin smiled at Ludianna as if she had made up her mind.

“Of course.”

‘No, Mother. I have no intention of living quietly.’

Ludianna swallowed the words she couldn’t say aloud.

“Truly, you know nothing of the world!”

Jonas’ curled lip dropped into a scowl, his gaze turning harsher.

“Even if we lived in some remote corner of the countryside, we’d be happier than this. Ludianna and Irene would be as well!”

“Ludianna and Irene are Nurnbern by birth. Why should I give up my daughters too?”

‘Daughters? You’ve never once held them warmly in your arms.’

Roselin’s trembling body turned cold as her deep violet eyes darkened.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jonas.”

Her voice, once wavering, now sank into calm resolve.

“In a few years, when they’re put on the marriage market, they’ll bring profit to Nurnbern. Why should I give up what is rightfully mine?”

“Then there’s no choice but divorce court. You want Roembeck’s, I want Nurnbern’s.”

Their gazes clashed in the air—Jonas’ fierce glare against Roselin’s suddenly composed eyes. Sweat trickled from Rupert’s palms as he stood nearby.

“…I’ll think on it.”

At last, Jonas averted his gaze and stepped back.

“Tell me your answer by today.”

Without a shred of hesitation, Roselin turned on her heel and left the office.

Jonas glanced once at the door she had exited, then lifted his cold teacup to his lips with his usual expressionless face.

“Brno…”

He muttered under his breath.

Nurnbern had devoured Roembeck’s business rights and risen to power. At the heart of it had been Brno Trading.

It had monopolized the trade routes between west and east, its scale enormous. But in recent years, everything had shifted to Nurnbern’s Emden, and Brno had long become an empty shell.

‘And she asks me to hand over that husk.’

“Still, giving up something useless in exchange for three worthless women… quite the profitable deal.”

If Roselin relinquished Roembeck’s business rights, every enterprise Roembeck managed under Nurnbern would be absorbed into Nurnbern itself.

Jonas’ brow furrowed at the cold tea, but his lips curled into a sly grin.

As Roselin stormed out of the office, she found Lea loitering by the window, pretending to look elsewhere.

“You don’t need to feign distraction, Lady Berther.”

Roselin’s voice was calm once again.

“Eh-hem! Hmph, distraction?!”

Startled, Lea didn’t even notice Roselin had just called her by the hated title “Lady Berther.”

“Roselin said she’ll give up her position as Nurnbern’s lawful wife. Go inside and persuade the head of Nurnbern.”

Turning away from Lea as well, Roselin walked with straight posture toward the annex.

As she reached the end of the corridor, she heard the office door open behind her, followed by Lea’s nasal voice.

“Honey, what happened?”

Inside the office, Jonas sat as usual at his desk, working. Yet Lea sensed his mood was unusually good.

“Roselin wants a divorce.”

Jonas spoke with the same indifference as if announcing the weather.

‘She really came to divorce?’

When she had barged from the annex into the main house earlier, Lea thought Roselin would demand her rightful place as legal wife.

Jonas tolerated Lea only because she had borne an heir. If Roselin, noble-born and his true wife, pressed her claim, he would have no choice but to yield.

But now…

“Oh my!”

Lea feigned shock, covering her mouth with a hand as she stepped closer.

“Are you all right?”

She touched his cheek gently.

‘Better this way. If she divorces, it’ll be easier to get rid of her and her daughters together!’

Lea smiled as she imagined Roselin and her daughters, destitute and dying on the streets.

Her gruesome thoughts twisted into a seductive smile on her lips.

“Aren’t you upset?”

Her words belied her glee, but Jonas knew her heart well. Still, he didn’t care—she was like candy in his mouth, sweet but shallow.

“If we don’t divorce by agreement, she said she’ll take it to the noble court.”

Jonas stopped working and looked at her.

“How disgraceful…! But, darling, perhaps that might be the better way after all?”

Lea stroked his cheek softly, signaling Rupert with her eyes. The perceptive butler excused himself immediately.

At last reaching the annex, Roselin’s legs gave way beneath her.

“Mother!”

Ludianna and Irene rushed toward her.

“You waited for me?”

“Are you all right?”

Collapsed on the floor, Roselin embraced Irene, who flung herself into her arms. Ludianna asked anxiously,

“Are you okay, Mother?”

“I’m fine, my dear.”

“Lean on us, Mother.”

Tiny compared even to other girls their age, Ludianna and Irene struggled as they supported her.

Roselin couldn’t help but laugh at their efforts, chuckling softly.

‘Yes, as long as I have these girls, I don’t need to be afraid.’

That late evening, beneath a faint crescent moon shimmering in the night sky, a cautious knock came at Ludianna’s door.

“Yes.”

Not yet in bed, Ludianna answered with a calmness beyond her years.

“My lady.”

It was Rupert, the butler, entering slowly.

“Has an answer come?”

“Yes.”

“Judging by your face, it must be favorable.”

Ludianna’s cheeks flushed with joy.

After Lea’s visit, a few hours later Jonas had summoned Rupert.

“Tell Roselin that at dawn I will send her the divorce agreement.”

“Do you mean… right away, sir?”

“Yes.”

“…Understood.”

Though the moon had already climbed high, Jonas hadn’t cared about the late hour, and Rupert could not refuse.

But instead of going to Roselin, Rupert had sought out Ludianna.

He worried she might already be asleep, but he couldn’t turn away.

“Was this… your aim all along?”

“Who knows.”

Her black hair gleamed in the moonlight as she lifted her shoulders with a shrug.

“Still, the only reason we can leave is thanks to you, Rupert.”

She rose from her chair and bowed deeply in thanks.

“M-my lady! A young mistress mustn’t bow to a servant!”

Startled, Rupert bowed in return.

“You’re not just a butler—you’re our benefactor. I’ll never forget this debt.”

Her face shone with a radiant smile so fitting for her age that Rupert himself couldn’t help but smile.

“A butler’s duty is to strive for his lady’s happiness.”

“Thank you. Now, please, go tell Mother this news.”

“Yes, my lady. May you have a good night.”

To think we can really leave Nurnbern…!

Ludianna remembered losing Roselin and Irene in her past life.

And she recalled the people she had seen at their funeral.

‘This is only the beginning.’