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Chapter 03
I’m a villainess, yet I have to worry about surviving. But I can’t die either.
Right after realizing she had transmigrated, Lucienne first tried to figure out her surroundings.
Outside the bedroom window that day, everything was lush and green, giving off the feeling of early spring, when the weather was just beginning to warm up.
When a maid came in and attended to her, Lucienne asked a few roundabout questions, and thanks to that, she learned several things.
This was the Grand Duke Ronater’s castle, and it was currently summer. Since it was located on the northern border, half the year was winter, and when it got cold, it became extremely cold.
And her name was Lucienne Ronater.
Thanks to her name, she also realized which original novel this was.
Afterward, Lucienne wandered around the Grand Duke’s castle by herself to figure out its layout. No matter how she thought about it, asking the servants directly would have seemed unnatural.
The Grand Duke’s castle was surrounded by a moat and had the characteristics of a fortress, so the paths inside were complicated and winding. But figuring out the layout was easier than expected.
Perhaps because her body had already adapted despite having a different soul, if she simply followed her instincts, she would somehow arrive exactly where she wanted to go.
Her hearing was also on an entirely different level from that of humans, making it easy to eavesdrop.
Encouraged by this, Lucienne decided to start gathering information at random.
Unfortunately, whenever the servants even caught a glimpse of Lucienne’s shadow, they all fled, so things didn’t go according to plan.
Most of them already feared her because of all the terrible things she had done.
As a result, she only managed to learn two major pieces of information.
Her seventh wedding anniversary was coming up soon, and the examination for an administrative secretary would be held in about half a year.
That meant the administrative secretary, Hanana, had not yet come to the Grand Duke’s castle.
Lucienne breathed a sigh of relief, immensely grateful that it wasn’t too late.
At this point, reaching a conclusion wasn’t difficult.
She was destined to have her husband stolen by the heroine and then be executed anyway.
I’m going to lose him eventually, so I might as well dump him first. I need to completely cut ties with all the characters. Why not quit being the villainess from the original story and start a new life?
The way to leave the novel was extremely simple.
Get divorced and leave.
Maintaining the original plot? I tried worrying about that, and it only ended up getting me tangled up with the original characters.
Since she was the villainess and her death was already predetermined, Lucienne didn’t care.
I need to run without looking back. I’ll tell him quickly and leave.
Lucienne headed toward Paelo’s office.
“Her Grace, the Grand Duchess, is entering.”
At Chamberlain Igor’s announcement, Lucienne entered the office.
Paelo, who had been looking over some documents, looked at her.
At the same time, Lucienne felt as though her heart had stopped.
Wow. Is this face for real?
Black hair, dark red eyes, and a perfectly proportioned face.
Even with his handsome features and expressionless face, Paelo was incredibly attractive.
Paelo’s smooth lips slowly parted.
“What brings you here?”
His voice was equally emotionless, yet it sounded incredibly sexy to her.
Perhaps because he was sitting with the enormous windows behind him, the summer sunlight pouring through them made him look even more dazzling.
Please divorce me.
She needed to say it firmly.
But looking at that beautiful face made her feel so good that all she could do was smile, and the words she had come to say simply wouldn’t come out.
How could she suddenly ask such a handsome man for a divorce?
Especially when this was their first meeting.
Right. The Grand Duke knows me, but this is my first time meeting him. For now, it would be better to make a plan for how I’ll live after the divorce.
She needed to prepare herself mentally first.
After that, Lucienne conducted her own investigation with great enthusiasm, and she was unexpectedly relieved that she hadn’t been the first to bring up divorce after learning about imperial law.
Chapter 5, Article 35 of the Wibroton Holy Empire Family Law: Confirmation of Mutual Consent to Divorce
Regardless of who was at fault, either spouse could request a divorce.
However, whoever requested the divorce first had to pay the other spouse alimony amounting to at least 10% of their own assets.
Lucienne immediately checked how much property was registered in her name.
She was supposedly the adopted daughter of a Demon Grand Duke, so she surely must have brought some property with her when she married.
Gasp! Oh my goodness!
Surprisingly, Lucienne had absolutely no assets registered under her name.
According to the records, since the political marriage had been arranged by the former Emperor and Demon King Goth, the funds associated with the marriage had simply been given to the two families. None of it belonged to Lucienne.
All Lucienne had were dresses, jewelry, and the monthly allowance she received for maintaining her status.
The allowance Paelo gave Lucienne was quite generous.
But it would stop after the divorce.
Not a single bit of the money she had received so far had been saved.
That was because Lucienne had blown it all on gambling and expensive alcohol. She had even sold her dresses and jewelry to fund her spending.
For a moment, she considered returning to her maternal family in the Demon Kingdom, but it didn’t seem like a good option.
The political marriage would be broken, and she had no idea how the Demon King would respond.
She also didn’t know what kind of relationship Lucienne had with the Demon Grand Duke who had adopted and raised her.
At this point, Lucienne’s determination to divorce began to waver.
Should I just hold out until Verdi arrives?
If she diligently saved all her allowance from now on and kept whatever jewelry remained, she could buy a small house and a shop in the capital and live a decent life.
The capital is supposed to be warm all year round, so it should be a nice place to live. And if I open a shop, I’ll run a small fried chicken restaurant.
Wasn’t the ultimate destination for every career becoming the owner of a chicken restaurant?
It would mean opening in the afternoon and closing at dawn, but when she thought about it again, it was actually a fantastic business idea.
There were taverns in this romance-fantasy world, but there were no fried chicken restaurants.
And before transmigrating, Lucienne had worked part-time at a chicken restaurant for quite a long time, so she was confident she could fry chicken well.
Okay. Then I’ll save up enough money, get divorced, and move to the capital.
It was a brilliant plan.
At least, it was until three days later, when she learned the scale of Paelo’s wealth through the financial management office’s records.
She had vaguely known that Paelo would have a lot of money because he was the Grand Duke.
But actually seeing the figures for herself was an entirely different experience.
If I get divorced and receive 10% of this… how much would that be?
The small house and modest chicken shop in Lucienne’s mind vanished in an instant.
In their place stood a magnificent mansion on prime real estate in the capital.
And instead of a little neighborhood chicken shop, she imagined a franchise corporation like Ppoppo-Q or Fried Chicken Fried.
Employees would handle all the difficult work, while she would elegantly sit in her office, stamping approval on things and enjoying a comfortable, luxurious life.
A phrase that had once been popular in the world before her transmigration also came to mind.
I wish nobody knew me and I had lots of money.
Even 10% would be enough money to allow three generations of her family to live without working and spend lavishly.
It was even enough wealth for money to make more money!
“Wooooow.”
It felt like she had been struck by a rainstorm of money.
Lucienne’s blueprint for her life completely changed.
She would gaze at the night view alone from her magnificent mansion while sipping incredibly expensive alcohol.
She might soak in a bathtub studded with diamonds, cry about how everyone hated demon-human hybrids, and eventually change her appearance and completely erase her old identity.
She would have an extravagant feast prepared, take one bite, then say she had no appetite and tell them to clear everything away.
And whenever she got bored, she would simply leave on a trip around the world.
Maybe I’ll meet an incredibly handsome man at some exotic destination and begin a fateful, romantic love story.
While grinning foolishly and imagining a future overflowing with so much money that it would practically rot away, Lucienne made her decision.
Fine! What’s the big deal? I’ll just get divorced!
For the next three months, she tried all kinds of bad deeds to create an excuse for Paelo to divorce her.
At first, she deliberately threw trash onto a clean street.
It went against everything a civilized citizen should do, and her conscience pricked at her, but she endured it.
Yet no one blamed Lucienne.
No, amazingly, no one even paid any attention to her.
The street didn’t even become dirty.
The maid who followed her around picked up every piece of trash immediately.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of confusion on the maid’s face about why Lucienne was throwing trash onto the street.
When Lucienne, who had grown tired first, finally picked up the trash she had accumulated instead of throwing it away and tidied everything up, the maid was actually startled.
She said that sort of thing was her job.
Apparently, that was how things normally worked.
Lucienne even considered deliberately spitting on the street.
But she simply couldn’t bring herself to do something that disgusting.
Come to think of it, littering and spitting were immoral and undignified, but they weren’t enough to become decisive grounds for divorce.
Realizing that, she had started committing actions that were unmistakably criminal…
Lucienne recalled everything that had happened since her transmigration and complained inwardly.
Why does everything keep turning out like this?
Just then, Hanna entered the reception room.
She was a middle-aged maid who had recently been assigned to take care of Lucienne.
Hanna’s eyes widened when she saw Lucienne sprawled across the sofa as though she were lying down, but she pretended not to notice, politely greeted her, and placed the newly delivered newspaper on the table.
—The Grand Duchess returns a lost child to her family and punishes a domestic abuser. Can the unbelievable stream of praise truly be genuine?
What? That’s in the newspaper too now?
Lucienne’s brow furrowed slightly.
Hanna’s cheeks turned faintly red.
“Your Grace, a reporter has visited and requested an interview, saying that they would like to report in greater detail about your good deeds. I’ve shown them to the waiting room for visitors for now. What shall I do?”
