TLDWAE 53

Chapter 53

“Even if the Duchess said she was ill somewhere, what does that have to do with divorce? Obviously, it was the Dowager Duchess who pushed for it.”

Hesis poured cold water on Jureen’s doubts. In truth, the reason why the Duchess went so far as to seek divorce wasn’t the most important matter right now.

Because Karia had publicly exposed the Dowager Duchess’s embezzlement in the Great Hall, Pandeon was now obliged to investigate the accomplices and the exact sums involved, and then report to the Imperial Family. And this at a time when winter was just around the corner, when they were already swamped with work!

On top of that, now that the divorce was official, support from either the Grand Ducal household or the Imperial family could dwindle—or in the worst case, disappear altogether. Even if the embezzled funds were reclaimed from the Dowager Duchess, how would they calm the furious vassals, and how would they punish the Duke’s mother? That was anyone’s guess.

“Anyway, we can’t keep wasting time on this. Rubyduff, it’s not like you were in love with her. I’ll handle the negotiations for the divorce settlement—what to do about alimony, her remaining belongings, the jewels. Since the Duchess is also at fault, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“—Is this really the end?”

When Hesis announced that he would immediately begin negotiating the divorce terms, Rubyduff felt as though a hole had been torn in his heart. Was this truly the end? Would he never again see his wife smiling to greet him when he came home?

Six years might sound long, but in truth, the days he had actually lived a proper married life didn’t even add up to half a year. Just a few shared meals, a few conversations, a few greetings. And now, for it all to end so emptily—it felt unreal.

Before the imperial decree arrived, he had been pondering how to accept Karia’s illegitimate child. Should he persuade the vassals and become the boy’s stepfather? Or should he send him away for adoption? He was still deliberating.

‘Just like when I married, why is it that in this divorce, no one cares about my wishes either?’

As he sat with his face buried in his hands, groaning in anguish, a knock sounded at the door.

Ansen Miller, who had come to deliver his report, peeked inside, caught a glimpse of the atmosphere, and hesitated.

“Ah, excuse me. Should I come back later?”

“No, report now. You went to the Duchess’s townhouse, didn’t you? Are visitors still being refused?”

“Not everyone. She received Count Lowell and the Captain of the Imperial Knights. After Sir Alcard went in, I heard a roar of cheers loud enough to shake the house. Perhaps…”

“So, she must have received the decree of divorce as well, hm?”

A cheer. Rubyduff let out a hollow laugh.

Was she truly that happy to part from him? So happy that she lost all decorum and shouted like it was a festival day?

A surge of indignation swelled in his chest, and he clenched his fists tight. Yes, he felt wronged.

If you looked at the whole picture, hadn’t his mistakes only been a small part? Why then was the Duchess, who had broken their sacred marriage vows and borne an illegitimate child, allowed happiness—while he was trapped in misery? He could not comprehend it.

But his selfish sense of injustice didn’t last long, because Ansen suddenly added something absurd.

“Oh, and the Duchess received a title at the same time as the divorce. What was it called again? Ah yes—Valta. The Marquessate of Valta.”

“Valta? Did you just say Marquess of Valta?”

Hesis, who oversaw the ducal finances, leapt at the words. As an accountant to the bone, he knew well how precious the lands of Valta were.

That fertile land lay in the southern hemisphere, warm even in winter, famous as a resort area. Unlike the barren soil of Pandeon, there, crops would sprout in abundance just by scattering seeds in the fields.

The Emperor had once granted it to his beloved daughter. And now, suddenly, Karia had become Marquess of Valta? Did that mean Princess Celibis had handed over such a key territory to her rival the moment she divorced?

“The Marquessate of Valta—that’s the highest title the Princess holds. Why would the Duchess…? Weren’t the two of them known enemies? And besides, the Princess had always—”

As Hesis muttered in confusion, Rubyduff’s face turned white. At last, he grasped the true reason behind the divorce.

“Damn it… so it’s been exposed!”

Exposed? Exposed what? Hesis’s mind raced as he watched Rubyduff claw at his disheveled hair.

Princess Celibis had long harbored feelings for Rubyduff. The Emperor had dismissed it as baseless gossip, but was the Princess ever someone who hid her heart? Everyone could see where her gaze lay.

And recently, an unpleasant rumor about Rubyduff had begun to circulate. That not only the Duchess, but the Duke himself had been unfaithful.

The tale had twisted further, to suggest the Duchess had merely retaliated with her own affair.

Hesis hadn’t believed it—but if, just if, there was truth in it, then who could the partner possibly be…?

“Did you ever have an improper relationship with the Princess?”

“Jureen, what are you—!”

“Answer me, Rubyduff. Did you ever have an improper relationship with the Princess?”

Jureen’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he pressed the question. Hesis tried to calm him, insisting it couldn’t be true, but the attempt was futile.

Rubyduff bowed his head in silence. Jureen Baltos took that silence as an answer and stormed out of the room.

He heard Hesis call his name behind him, but he didn’t stop. If he did, he would have struck his oldest friend and liege with his fist.

‘Jureen? Sounds like a girl’s name. Doesn’t suit you at all.’

Rubyduff’s first wife, Lamia, had been a distant relative of Jureen’s. They first met when they were about seven years old—the same time Rubyduff had come to know Hesis. Lamia was as lively as she was impudent.

Jureen hadn’t liked the brown-haired girl who teased him about his “girlish” name from the very first meeting.

‘It is a woman’s name. My mother died giving birth to me, so my aunt gave me her name.’

His mother had suffered a difficult labor and passed away. His father, meanwhile, had been entertaining a mistress elsewhere.

When his aunt heard the news, she grieved deeply. But his father rejoiced at the birth of a male heir.

Furious, his aunt forced the name of his dead mother onto the newborn child—so that his father would live with guilt forever.

‘Your aunt did that?’

‘Yes. I was mostly raised by her.’

From her, he had always heard that adultery was the lowest act of beasts, and that a man must cherish his wife as his own life. Never, ever become like your father.

Though she was hysterical at times and would punish him unfairly whenever she saw his father’s features in him, she mostly treated him kindly.

When he told this story, most people would respond with pity—for him, for his late mother.

He had shared it with Lamia, hoping the noisy girl would stop mocking his name. But instead of clucking her tongue, she grew indignant.

‘That’s terrible! With all respect to your late mother, she’s her own person, and you’re you. You’re not a substitute for her! You deserve your own blessed name. Just wait—I’ll think of one for you!’

Her words had left Jureen dazed for a long time.

Living with a woman’s name had been inconvenient, but he had believed it was his duty, a tribute to the mother who died bringing him into the world.

But to hear Lamia say it was wrong? That left him dizzy… and oddly happy. From then on, he grew fond of her.

In time, Lamia became Duchess of Pandeon, and Jureen Baltos became her knight, guarding her safety. But tragically, she left this world in a way he could not prevent—complications in childbirth.

‘This child shall be named after her—Lamia.’

As the Duke’s vassal, Jureen had no right to interfere. He could not stop the baby being named “Lamia.” Nor could he stop a new Duchess from entering the household barely five months later.

But as Lamia’s friend, he could not stand idly by while a stranger took her place.

“Sir Baltos, the girl Lamia was named after the late Duchess, wasn’t she?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

Jureen had never abandoned his duty as Knight-Captain. He fulfilled his role, but kept his distance. He knew the Duchess was tormented by the Dowager, but he never intervened.

“It might be presumptuous, but don’t you think it could be a burden for the child to inherit the name of her deceased mother? Of course it’s good to honor the dead, but… there must be other ways than giving such a weight to a baby.”

Jureen had long known Karia was not a bad person. She was timid, fragile, as brittle as glass—but at heart, very kind.

But the years in the ducal household had changed her into someone else entirely.

And whether much or little, part of that was his fault. Jureen Baltos felt guilty toward her.

Leaving aside issues of illegitimate children or infidelity, as a fellow human being he owed her an apology.

And now, faced with the shameful figure of the man he once revered as his lord and friend, his eyes had finally been opened.

Though she was no longer Duchess of Pandeon, he sincerely prayed that she, who had once been mistress of the household, would now at last find peace.