TLDWAE 32

Episode 32

At that time, the Count’s daughter, Ange, exhausted by her husband’s verbal abuse and neglect, had fled to her father, the Count, bringing her daughter with her. If life was truly unbearable, divorce was an option, but that would mean sending her daughter, who carried her husband’s family name, back to him. Unable to bring herself to do that, she chose separation instead.

‘You, if nothing else, don’t threaten to jump or anything like that. Just thinking about that time makes my head spin.’

‘Of course not. What reason would I have to do such a thing when I’m with you, Father? It’s just that…’

In truth, the Count had initially tried to send her back. He argued that no marriage is perfect and tried to persuade her to talk things out with her husband, but Ange was resolute. Defiantly, she climbed onto the railing of the third-floor terrace and declared that if he sent her back, she would kill herself right then and there.

The Count disliked the idea of being pointed at in social circles for having a daughter abandoned by her husband, but he also couldn’t bear to see her get hurt. In the end, he took both of them in. For months, he stayed with her at the townhouse in the capital.

‘Would he feel burdened if I went over to talk to him?’

The Count had offered to introduce her through the Duke if she wished, but Ange hesitated for a long time before finally shaking her head. And so, the woman named Karia faded into a vague impression in Count Lowell’s memory, eventually forgotten.

“What do you mean, the same face? Who could that shrewd face possibly resemble!”

That banquet was the last time he saw his daughter alive. While the Count was briefly away from the house, she died falling from the third-floor terrace while trying to escape from that damned man who was raging about taking his wife back. His granddaughter, trying to protect her mother, had clung to her father’s leg and fell with them.

The townhouse was located in a safety zone guaranteed by the imperial family, so security was good. Consequently, only young maids, servants, and an old butler remained in the house, and they were powerless to subdue a rampaging adult man—a nobleman with the title of Baron, no less.

His daughter and granddaughter died instantly from the fall. The Baron, a man he didn’t even want to call his son-in-law, fell ill and died four days later.

“-I should have killed him with my own hands.”

After the shock, the Count withdrew from public life and secluded himself indoors. The most devastating part was that, because they had never divorced, the bodies of his deceased daughter and granddaughter were buried in the Baron’s family tomb.

He should have arranged for his granddaughter to be adopted by a relative and then finalized the divorce. Or he should have kept knights in the house to prevent that tiger-like bastard from entering. Or he shouldn’t have gone out that day and stayed home instead. Or, or…

Regrets piled up endlessly, but he was a Count. He had numerous dependents under his care for whom he was responsible.

He had to get back on his feet, and to do that, he needed to leave the townhouse where his daughter had died. He had to clear out the rooms his daughter and granddaughter used, forget the rose garden his daughter loved, and stop seeing the stray cat his daughter cared for.

He knew this logically, but his heart wouldn’t comply. So, for three years, Count Lowell hesitated, unable to bring himself to sell the townhouse.

“But what about the Duchess of Pandemon? Do you think she’ll really get a divorce?”

The Count, who had been sitting blankly in the café until his tea went cold, snapped to attention at the familiar name mentioned not far away. He frowned. What, a divorce?

Without drawing attention, he glanced toward the source of the voice. Two men dressed like imperial knights were sitting there, deep in conversation.

“Considering public opinion and the imperial family’s displeasure…”

“What else can she do? You have to live your life. How can anyone endure an indifferent husband and a tormenting mother-in-law? And even if it were her own child, it’s hard enough, but how could she keep tolerating another woman’s ill-behaved children?”

“Indeed. I heard the Dowager Duchess, her mother-in-law, has been embezzling the Duchess’s allowance for maintaining her dignity? It’s not like the Duchess uses that money for luxury; in her spare time, she’s always rolling up her sleeves and caring for children at the orphanage. How could they?”

The Count’s hand, holding the teacup, slipped. What did they say? That woman, who seemed capable of standing up to the Emperor herself, was being tormented?

It was hard to believe. Although he hadn’t known her long, she didn’t seem the type to endure in silence… Was it all just a front?

Now that he thought about it, it was strange. A typical noblewoman would surely have close attendants, but hadn’t she put aside all other appointments to handle the hiring process herself?

‘Who would risk employing a servant whose background they don’t know, unsure what rumors might leak? The only explanation for taking such a risk is that she had no one else to bring.’

Her carriage was lavish, but that was all. For a woman of royal blood and a Duchess, she traveled with a mercenary, not a knight, as her escort—and just one at that.

The fact that she didn’t even have a dedicated maid to follow and attend to her made it clear her situation was far from favorable.

“I heard she’s already left the Duke’s residence and is staying at a hotel now? She really needs to find a place soon. It’s worrisome for a noblewoman to be alone like that.”

“Exactly. I heard she’s looking for a townhouse, but it’s the social season, so there are no properties available. It must be tough. It would be good if she had a home where she could relax and sleep soundly.”

She’d already left the house? Instead of going to her family home, she was staying alone at a hotel! Then again, as an illegitimate child, her relationship with the Grand Duke’s family was reportedly strained. But still, how dangerous!

Count Lowell found himself absorbed in the men’s conversation. However, the men got up and left as soon as they finished their tea. The Count felt an inexplicable sense of regret, though he had already heard everything he needed to.

It was highly unusual for imperial knights, who should have no connection to Karia, to be discussing news not yet spread in social circles, and right where the Count could overhear by chance. But having been withdrawn from noble society for some time and unaware of Karia’s circumstances, the Count felt no sense of incongruity.

“-Was she desperate because she had nowhere to go?”

Given the timing, it was likely there were almost no other properties available. The reason she looked at his mansion, despite having the means to pay a million gold, must have been that she had no other options.

The Count, who had viewed her act of writing a million-gold check without hesitation as arrogant, now felt a pang of guilt deep in his chest.

Lost in thought, he failed to mind the cup in his hand and ended up spilling his tea. The long-cold tea spread instantly, staining the pristine white tablecloth.

“-Perhaps I should hear her story.”

In the Count’s mind, the impression of Karia, who had met his gaze with an unbearably arrogant face, began to blur. He hurriedly apologized to the waiter who came to wipe the table with a rag, left a silver coin, and stood up. He knew which hotels were suitable for wealthy nobles.

If they could both calm down and talk things over calmly, perhaps they could find common ground.

However, Count Lowell could not maintain his composure when he witnessed the scene while pretending to pass by the hotel.

“What on earth is going on?!”

Karia was being dragged away by her wrist by the Duke of Pandemon.

Having spent last night dealing with her despicable husband’s right-hand man and exhausting her energy to even create a golem to act as a coachman, Karia didn’t get out of bed until noon.

She planned to call the hotel attendant to help her change, then go to the largest boutique in the capital to order clothes and chat with the tailor. She intended to spread the news of her separation from the Duke.

In noble society, rumors spread fastest at social gatherings and dress shops. Especially now, during the social season, when nobles from even obscure minor families had flocked to the capital, rumors would undoubtedly spread faster than ever.

‘I need to stay one step ahead before the imperial family intervenes. If only the Grand Duke hadn’t opposed it, I could have handled this quietly and quickly.’

That good-for-nothing. As if I didn’t already have a mountain of things to do, he had to create this nuisance too. Karia cursed the man she no longer even called father in her mind as she reached the hotel lobby.

But then, an all-too-familiar voice stopped her.

“Madam.”

There were as many people in this world called “Madam” as there were married women, but Karia knew instinctively that the voice was directed at her. Because she had been called by that voice hundreds, thousands of times, blissfully happy.

Karia spotted Rubedoff Pandemon standing in the hotel lobby and glanced behind him. An empty teacup and a book lying half-open. It seemed he had been waiting here for her.

‘So what?’

Whether he was or not, Karia walked out of the hotel without even making eye contact with Rubedoff. The time for being moved by the busy Duke wasting his morning waiting for her was long past.

“Madam, please wait a moment!”

A flustered Rubedoff quickly caught up and grabbed her. Apparently, he hadn’t expected her to ignore him.

Only after her wrist was caught did Karia give up on ignoring him and let out a deep sigh, as if telling him to speak.

“What is it? Did you bring the divorce papers?”

“-I came to apologize. I’ve been too indifferent to you all this time.”

Like a scolded child avoiding his parents’ eyes, Rubedoff hung his head low, staring at the ground, unable to meet her gaze for a long while, fidgeting.

In front of others, no matter how they mocked or ridiculed him, he always wore a mask and smiled easily. But for some reason, he couldn’t do that in front of her.

The wife he knew was always the one to initiate conversation. Always the first to smile, the one who listened to him. But the wife he thought would always stand behind him had turned into a stranger overnight. Rubedoff found this situation utterly unfamiliar.