The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 70

Clara smiled weakly.

 

“It’s greedy to want to be loved. I just have to stop worrying about my husband’s problems with women.”

 

If she did that, she could live the rest of her life in comfort. Like any other noblewoman.

 

Artia gave Clara a pitiful look.

 

“A man who cheats on his wife can never be considered a decent husband, no matter how good the circumstances.”

 

But in aristocratic society, it was a blemish that could be overlooked.

 

Many didn’t even consider it a flaw.

 

Besides, even though Artia had broken the barrier, it was still impossible to get a divorce.

 

She had no intention of forcing such a thing on Clara, a simple noblewoman. But…

 

‘I don’t want to end up just listening to her, I want to help her.’

 

Artia said carefully.

 

“Maybe not a divorce, but a little beating? It’s despicable that he laughs all the way to the bank while he breaks his wife’s heart.”

 

Clara, who looked so good she couldn’t kill an ant, covered her mouth in surprise and screamed.

 

“What can I do?!”

 

Her tiny, pea-sized eyes blazed, ready to do something terrible.

 

“It’s…”

 

Artia whispered in Clara’s ear, her eyes as fierce as ever.

 

“You’re playing right into his hands.”

 

Clara jumped in her seat.

 

“What? A cross wind?!”

 

“That’s what your husband said, find another man.”

 

“Ha, but I don’t want to do that.”

 

Even though her husband was a rare flirt, she wanted to honor her marital obligations.

 

Artia raised her eyebrows.

 

“You don’t have to meet another man; you just have to make him think you’re cheating on him.”

 

“So you’re telling me to pretend to cheat on him?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Clara’s eyes widened for a moment, but then she looked uncertain.

 

“Do you think my husband would mind if I cheated on him?”

 

Baron Schreck had little sense of propriety. As long as Clara wasn’t carrying another man’s child, he didn’t seem to care.

 

But Artia disagreed.

 

“I think there’s a good chance you’ll be able to give him a run for his money,” she said, “because men of his kind are always jealous, even when they pretend not to be.”

 

Clara looked at Artia, fascinated, while she smiled smugly.

 

 

* * *

 

 

A dark night.

 

Baron Schreck arrived at the manor, his face red with drunkenness. The collar of his shirt was still stained with the red marks of a woman’s lips.

 

“Ahhh, it was fun again.”

 

‘Everything else in the world got old after a while, but why couldn’t he get tired of a woman’s soft flesh?’

 

“I like women. Women are the best.”

 

Baron Schreck entered the house, singing a bad song. But his wife, who always greeted him no matter how late he was, was nowhere to be seen.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

‘It’s a shame she can’t see me, because she’s so sweet, looking at me with tears in her little round eyes.’ He thought.

 

Baron Schreck went to his room and stretched out.

 

But when this went on for two days, three days, a week, and more, he began to worry about his invisible wife.

 

Finally, Baron Schreck asked his butler.

 

“Is Clara ill, sir?”

 

“No, my lady is perfectly well.”

 

“Then why hasn’t she come to see me?”

 

The butler’s answer was strange.

 

He looked as if he had seen it coming.

 

“My lord, the truth is that she’s been going out every day. She’s dressed much more colorful than usual. She stays out all day, and when she returns in the evening, she’s so tired that she goes straight to her room and falls asleep.”

 

“……!”

 

Baron Schreck’s one perfectly manicured eyebrow rose for a moment, but then he grinned.

 

“Much better than waiting for her husband all day with a sullen face. I want my wife to look pretty, go out and play, and be happy.”

 

The butler’s face twisted at the words of his nonchalant master.

 

“If it were only that, I wouldn’t worry, but…”

 

“But what. What if Clara meets a man?”

 

He had once asked Clara to meet a man, but in his heart he knew she would never do it.

 

‘How could an innocent girl who looked like a teddy bear meet a man?’

 

But the butler spoke earnestly, as if confiding a secret that must never be revealed.

 

“The truth is, the lady not only goes out, she exchanges letters with someone every day.”

 

“It must be a friend somewhere far away; she always has many friends.”

 

“I had hoped so, but…”

 

The butler pulled an envelope from his chest and held it out.

 

“This is a letter that arrived for your lady today. I smuggled it out before I could take it to her.”

 

“Who would do such a devious thing? Take the letter to Clara at once…”

 

Baron Schreck’s angry words stopped.

 

On the luxurious envelope, in manly handwriting, was the name Edward.

 

Edward.

 

A longtime favorite of Imperial royalty and nobility, many men named Edward were strangely handsome.

 

So the formula “Edward = handsome man” was born, and it became the name that most thrilled women and annoyed men.

 

“Why is that a bad name?”

 

Baron Schreck may have had bad taste, but he wasn’t so careless as to read a letter for his wife.

 

Nevertheless, at that moment he had no choice but to open the envelope.

 

On the slightly minty stationery was a long letter written in the manly handwriting of the envelope.

 

 

“If a cake could be born as a person, it would be you, because you are always sweet and tender and always make me feel excited.”

“When I think of you, I can smell you burning, the smell of my heart on fire.”

“Do you know what’s in my chest? My heart? No? It contains only you.”

 

 

‘What is this?’

 

Baron Schreck almost tore the letter open.

 

Just a few lines of text had stirred enough anger in him to make him want to kill this faceless man.

 

The butler, seeing his master’s grave expression, cried out.

 

“The maid said that when the lady read the letter, her cheeks blushed like roses, and she smiled brightly. This is not a letter of courtesy, is it?”

 

He couldn’t say no.

 

Baron Schreck’s face, always so easy and smiling, turned red.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Clara’s eyes widened as she came home from a night out.

 

Baron Schreck stood in the foyer with his arms crossed.

 

“What a surprise. You didn’t go out?”

 

“No, I didn’t go out.”

 

“You go out every day, like a dog that gets in trouble if it doesn’t go for a walk.”

 

Clara replied with a scowl and walked past her husband. Baron Schreck caught her with a frown.

 

“You are the problem.”

 

Baron Schreck looked at Clara from head to toe.

 

His beautifully decorated wife was a far cry from her usual innocent teddy bear appearance. 

 

It was mesmerizing.

 

She’s always had a pretty face, she just doesn’t make it up.

 

Clara had a mild face that said, “I’m a good girl,” but she was by no means a beauty, and yet, in Baron Schreck’s eyes, she was quite attractive. Baron Schreck, who hadn’t noticed that he was the only one, went on.

 

“Where have you been all this time, looking like that?”

 

“I was visiting some friends.”

 

“Friends who?”

 

“I have a friend.”

 

“I mean, who is this friend?”

 

“I mean, I have such a friend.”

 

Baron Schreck, irritated by his wife’s uncharacteristic lack of answers, pulled a letter envelope from his chest.

 

“Who is Edward?”

 

Clara’s eyes widened, then her brow furrowed.

 

“Have you seen the letter addressed to me?”

 

“That’s not important now, answer me first: Have you seen Edward?”

 

“And what would you do if I had?”

 

At the pointed answer, Baron Schreck slapped his wife.

 

Clara said incredulously.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? You told me to find another man if I was bored.”