* * *
To cut to the chase, I wasn’t kicked out. And after Duke Kalinos returned from his state affairs meeting, we held an emergency meeting…
“Wasting time on something this pointless and exhausting. Grandfather is really vigorous.”
“Yeah, he’s going to live forever at this rate. He was full of energy.”
“He’s always been stubborn. Once he makes up his mind, he never backs down.”
In other words, he’s my natural enemy.
Just then, Duke Kalinos looked at me with his usual stoic expression, studying my face as he spoke. “Are you alright?”
Seeing the concern in his eyes, I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”
“Did you get hurt?”
“Huh? Me? Hurt?”
“…It seems you weren’t hurt at all.”
I nodded decisively. Rather than being hurt… “I’ve prepared a briefing on how to deal with the pink-haired woman who showed up this time.”
“Ah.”
Seeing the refreshing smile on his lips, I spoke seriously. “If you marry Hwairi, that would be a breach of contract, you know!”
“…Ah. Right, a breach of contract. Let’s hear how you plan to handle it.”
“I’ll give her a hard time. I’ll stir up trouble and get her kicked out, and I’ll also make sure public opinion turns against me.”
“…Why would you want public opinion to turn against you?” Only then did he seem to realize something.
I smiled and nodded leisurely. “It’s all part of the build-up for our divorce! Honestly, this is perfect. I’ll pull her hair a little, act out a lot, and well, there is someone out there with the odd taste of enjoying my tantrums, unfortunately… I’ll also act weak when it suits me. I’ll adjust my approach, making bold moves when necessary.”
“Divorce…”
The original contract was to become disliked and then get divorced, so this was a natural progression. But then, I heard the sound of teeth grinding.
“Divorce…” Duke Kalinos made it clear. “For now, let’s leave that for the distant future. A very distant future.”
I tilted my head. “…How distant, exactly?”
“We still have a year left on the contract. And we could always extend it.”
Internally, I shook my head. I must have made a good impression if he thinks I’d want to extend the contract just to stir things up. It’s not something I could say out loud, but… Honestly, I’ve grown a bit attached to this place, so even though I shouldn’t, the idea of extending the contract makes me a little happy.
Married life, to be honest, turned out to be much better than I expected. And everyone here was surprisingly kind. But I still had unfinished business. Namely, regretful male lead #2, Duke Reshaniel, that infuriating obstacle.
Most of the forced plot from the original story has disappeared, but I haven’t even met regretful male lead #2. Who knows when I’ll get stabbed in the back again? I couldn’t afford to get comfortable and let my guard down here. If I let myself depend on the Kalinos family or the duke and got betrayed, I’d be in real trouble.
Clenching my fist, I pretended not to know a thing. “Don’t worry! I’ll use this as an opportunity to make myself even more unlikable. So much so that there won’t be any need to extend the contract.”
He lowered his gaze, then whispered in a low voice. “I… have absolutely no intention of divorcing you and marrying that woman.”
“Yes. I understand you don’t want to marry her. I’ll make sure you won’t need to extend the contract to get rid of me!”
Strangely, hearing him say he didn’t want to marry that woman gave me an odd sense of encouragement. But I shook my head inwardly, refusing to dwell on it, and lay down beside him.
Normally, I’d fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but tonight, for some reason, sleep wouldn’t come. And judging by how the man next to me kept tossing and turning, he seemed to be having trouble sleeping too.
* * *
After a sleepless night, morning came. I looked at the empty spot beside me on the bed and pulled the blanket up over my eyes again. Ugh, what a weird dream.
It was a dream where, after Duke Kalinos completed his mission, I tried to leave after our divorce, but he stopped me.
“I have no intention of divorcing you.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
“Giselle, I mean I don’t want to divorce you.”
I kicked my legs wildly under the covers. All Duke Kalinos said yesterday was that he didn’t want to marry Hwairi, but my brain twisted it into that and made it show up in my dream!
In the dream, Duke Kalinos kept insisting over and over that he wouldn’t divorce me… Surely this isn’t all just a reflection of my subconscious, right?
Shivering, I quickly threw off the blanket and sat up when a report on the nightstand caught my eye.
[Marquis Berto Disposition Report 1]
Marquis Berto, ruined by gambling, headaches, and a destroyed reputation, will never be able to make a comeback. Duke Kalinos stoked his urge to gamble again, dealt with him appropriately, and then bought up what little remained of his businesses and lands for a pittance.
So Duke Kalinos took care of Marquis Berto perfectly, all behind the scenes. I murmured quietly to myself as I read the report. “Still, I’m someone who’ll be leaving soon, and yet he’s done all this for me.”
Just then, Coocoo, who had been invisible under the nightstand, quietly slipped out and materialized, muttering in an eerie tone. “Coocoo. (Why are you grinning so slyly? Don’t tell me you actually like Duke Kalinos or something?)”
It had been invisible for a while, but lately, maybe out of boredom, it kept hanging around in front of me.
I raised my potato-shaped fist and threatened Coocoo. “Hey, Coocoo. Get lost. When you materialize, you drain a ton of my mana, you know.”
“Coo. (But I just can’t resist watching the oblivious, heart-thumping rom-com between you two.)”
I clamped my hand over Coocoo’s mouth and shouted. “You little brat, this isn’t some rom-com, okay? Go invisible again! It takes so much mana to keep you materialized!”
“Coocoo. (That pink-haired one is weird. I only dropped my invisibility to warn you about her!)”
“Yeah, that pink-haired girl is strange. She’s like a walking flower garden.”
“Coo. (No, I mean she’s just odd. Her aura is off. There’s something… suspicious about her.)”
I only tilted my head for a moment at the mention of a strange aura.
The distant sound of commotion started to break my concentration. That noise is coming from the garden near my bedroom. I walked over to the window facing the garden. Before my eyes, the garden was transforming into something truly bizarre. At the center of it all stood Hwairi, wearing a straw hat and holding a shovel.
Wow, she really comes up with all sorts of things.
As I watched from the window, Yuliana appeared in the garden. It looked like things were about to get interesting, so I perked up my ears to catch what was going on.
* * *
“You, what do you think you’re doing? Ruining the garden like this.” Yuliana’s voice was sharper than ever as she snapped.
Hwairi placed a white hydrangea among the branches and smiled brightly. She didn’t look the least bit aware that she’d done anything wrong. “I just wanted to make the garden even more beautiful!”
“Dead hydrangeas on the trees…”
“It just looked so empty and lonely around these trees. I thought I’d decorate them with flowers that look like me! Isn’t it pretty?”
Yuliana, breathing hard with anger, finally spoke. “Do you even know what these trees mean?”
“Huh? What?”
“This is a place that holds the spirit of our family! Each of those trees was planted to honor a soldier who died in the monster war!”
“W-Well, still, the flowers are pretty.”
“The meaning of white hydrangeas is fickleness, change of heart. Are you insulting them by implying they would change their minds?”
“H-Hwairi didn’t mean it like that…”
“Just because you didn’t mean it doesn’t mean you’re not at fault. Not only did you ruin the owner’s garden like some uninvited, ill-mannered guest, but now you’re even admitting with your own mouth that you lack even the most basic civility.”
“Mother!”
Yuliana spoke without mercy. “What an ugly thing to say. Our empire doesn’t have a concubinage system. So why should I be your mother?”
“I-I Just wanted to get closer to you, Madam Yuliana…” A flustered look crossed Hwairi’s face. She clearly hadn’t expected to be treated so coldly.
As tears welled up in Hwairi’s eyes, a look of contempt flickered across Yuliana’s icy face. “How pathetic. Remember, you may have saved Lord Garno, but you’re not my benefactor. Don’t let me see you again. Understood?” She gazed at the trees in the garden and spoke coolly. “Break off every branch that those hydrangeas touched. And replant everything, clean and proper.”
“Mo-Mother!”
“You, get out. Don’t you dare set foot in this garden again.”
Tears fell from Hwairi’s eyes, dropping to the ground. Her sorrowful tears were enough to make even the other members of the Kalinos family, who had been watching from the sidelines, become flustered. But if anyone’s heart could be moved by someone crying, it certainly wasn’t Yuliana’s.
“I can’t stand crying.” After simply kicking Hwairi out, Yuliana sat down and sipped her tea with elegance, watching Hwairi’s retreating figure.
A maid asked cautiously, “Um, are you alright, Madam?”
“Yes. She’s just an amateur. In other words, something like fake madness.”
“Pardon? Then are you saying there’s such a thing as real madness?”
Yuliana just snorted.
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