“From now on, it’s war between the Rechels and the Ditrian families.”
A fiery glint shone in Marcel and Carion’s eyes. However, Carion’s pupils clearly showed his bewilderment.
Marcel observed Carion and thought,
‘Let’s make the Ditrian family suggest ending this with a divorce.’
Marcel was uneasy.
To get Iana, who possessed strong magical powers, locked away in Ervin as soon as possible, he had to hurry her divorce.
But divorce was unacceptable in the Ditrian family. To get them to accept the divorce in such a family, the only way was to escalate the situation.
Carion growled and shouted,
“My Lord Marquis, what insolence! Iana is the one who caused all these problems!”
……
Marcel listened silently.
“Not only did she damage precious heirlooms out of jealousy towards her lover, but she also refused her duty as a wife to the heir and left home.”
Marcel recalled the conversation he had with Iana in Ervin.
“Don’t mention the statue until we have conclusive evidence. Riel, who’s sharp, might notice and act.”
After a moment’s thought, Marcel casually said,
“That timid and sickly girl damaged the heirloom? I don’t believe it, but even if she did, so what?”
“My Lord Marquis!”
“How heartbroken must that poor girl have been to act like that?”
Tears welled up in Marcel’s eyes, as if he were a brother deeply loving his sister.
It was, of course, a tactic. He needed to appear as a good brother to gain the moral high ground.
“With you protecting her like this, isn’t Iana becoming unreasonable?”
When Carion sneered, Marcel shouted fiercely,
“The unreasonable one is you, Carion!”
Marcel pointed to Riel and continued,
“She grew up like a sister to Iana thanks to my late father’s kindness. Knowing all that, you took Riel as your lover, which is a clear violation of the sacred duty between families.”
Even if Riel damaged the heirloom and blamed it on Iana, it wouldn’t be sufficient grounds for divorce.
That’s because it could be pinned solely on Riel.
So Marcel sought grounds for divorce in the ‘Marriage Alliance Document.’
The Marriage Alliance Document was a contract used between noble families when forming military alliances through marriage.
A violation of the sacred duty between families.
He chose the most abstract clause among the conditions for the dissolution of the marriage alliance. Abstract things were always open to interpretation.
“Taking Riel as your lover is all because of Iana. If Iana hadn’t left home, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Even if Iana were dead, you shouldn’t have taken her, who grew up like a sister! Understand?”
Carion forcefully shook off Marcel’s hand that was gripping his collar.
“If you cherish your sister so much, why don’t you keep her by your side forever?”
“Then, let’s proceed with the divorce.”
Marcel gestured to his knights, who tried to drag Riel out.
Then Carion coldly said,
“But Riel is a different matter. After all, she’s someone my family sent from the Rechels family to my house.”
The moment Carion approached and grabbed Riel’s wrist, Marcel signaled to his knights.
Clang-
One knight pointed his sword at Carion’s neck.
“Carion, don’t think I’m just bluffing.”
……!
Carion looked at Riel with tense eyes.
Riel looked at him with desperate eyes, begging him not to let go. But Carion soon released Riel’s hand.
As soon as Carion let go of Riel’s hand, Marcel ordered,
“Take her away immediately!”
“My Lord Count!”
Riel was dragged out by the knights, bound by ropes.
Marcel went out of the reception room and coldly said,
“I’ll send the divorce papers by messenger.”
“Madam, wake up.”
Vera’s voice woke Iana.
Iana, who had been leaning against the carriage seat with her cloak hood pulled low, slowly opened her eyes.
“Where are we?”
Vera lifted Iana’s cloak hood and said,
“We’ll arrive at the capital’s outer wall soon. We’ll have lunch here and then go. Why are you sleeping so soundly?”
“I don’t know. Now, I fall asleep just by resting my head anywhere.”
Iana stretched widely. Then, holding Roo who was asleep in her arms, she went out of the carriage.
The procession settled near a large lake.
The horses grazed, and the knights and coachmen ate on the grassy area near the lake.
“Madam, I’ll go get lunch.”
Vera ran towards the group of knights distributing food.
Then, Iana saw Charles’s back as he stood alone by the lake.
His back was poignant.
He had a large build and broad shoulders, but somehow, it seemed like he was carrying a lot on those shoulders, making her feel sorry for him.
Even the glimpse of his face was dark.
‘Is he burdened by meeting His Imperial Majesty?’
Iana looked at him with a worried expression for a moment, then put Roo, who had woken up, on the ground.
Whoosh-
As soon as Roo was put down, he ran towards the lake, his drooping ears fluttering.
“Roo, the lake is dangerous!”
When Iana chased after him, thinking it was a game of tag, Roo would run further when she chased him, and stop as if to say, ‘Chase me if you can.’
They played tag for a while.
“Go on your own.”
Iana, annoyed, turned around and walked back the way she came. Then Roo urgently chased after her.
Then, laughter came from the lake.
Looking back, Charles and his escort knights were standing side by side, watching them with amusement.
“Roo lost this time.”
Charles walked towards her and said. A smile spread across his previously dark face.
A moment later, Iana and Charles sat side by side by the lake.
Hop, hop.
Roo ran around them.
Charles spoke with a troubled expression.
“No matter how I think about it, it’s better for you to go to the Marquis’s mansion. You never know what the angry Count Ditrian might do to you.”
Iana said calmly,
“I’ve been sick since I was young, so I don’t know much about the world. But I know this one thing for sure.”
……?
Charles stared at Iana.
“I have to solve my problems myself. Especially now, when I can’t fully trust my brother.”
……
“And if I stay at the Count’s mansion, I can prevent my brother and my husband from conspiring together.”
Charles looked at her with a smile and asked,
“Do you know?”
……
“Sometimes you’re like an innocent child, and sometimes you seem like someone who’s seen a lot of the world.”
Her words made Iana think again.
“I want to live by learning what I need to know and letting go of what I don’t need to know. When I return to Ervin.”
The two of them looked at the lake again.
The lake water, bathed in sunlight, sparkled like jewels.
Three days had passed since Carion returned alone from the capital.
With the imperial audience indefinitely postponed, Carion immediately returned to the Count’s mansion.
Meanwhile, rumors spread like wildfire that Count Ditrian had been attacked by Marquis Rechels over the lover issue, and angry members of the Ditrian family came to see him.
Thud-
His uncle, Baron Roberto, slammed the table and said,
“How dare she damage the heirlooms out of jealousy towards her lover?”
Angry relatives chimed in.
“It’s an unbelievably uncouth family. Didn’t a knight from Marquis Rechels’s family even point a sword at Carion’s neck?”
“We must drive Iana Rechels out of our family and teach her a lesson!”
Then Carion said forcefully,
“I will divorce her. But not easily.”
“How?”
His uncle asked.
“If they used brute force and threatened us with swords, we should solve this through law and order.”
That’s when it happened.
Knock, knock.
The butler urgently knocked on the door and entered.
“Master, Madam has returned.”
……!
Everyone was surprised by Iana’s unexpected appearance.
His uncle nervously asked,
“Did Marquis Rechels come with her?”
“No. She came alone with her maid, just like when she left.”
“Without a single knight?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As soon as the butler finished answering, Carion, furious, stood up and opened the reception room door as if to break it, and went outside.
Darkness enveloped the entrance to the inner city.
A carriage was parked in front.
When Carion reached the carriage door, he heard Vera’s voice waking Iana.
“Madam, we’re here. Wake up!”
Iana, with her cloak hood pulled low, remained motionless, asleep.
‘She’s sleeping in this situation? What a hopeless woman.’
Carion couldn’t help but chuckle.
Bang-
Carion roughly opened the carriage door.
“Master!”
Vera looked at Carion with a frightened face.
“Iana, wake up!”
Carion roughly pulled off the cloak hood Iana was wearing.
That was the moment.
……!
Carion’s eyes widened.
“Where are we?”
Iana, waking up groggily, asked in a sleepy voice. But Iana, just waking up, was completely different from what Carion remembered.
Her white, round face was like a doll’s, and her plump cheeks glowed brightly.
She even exuded the unique allure of a healthy woman.
Carion stared blankly at Iana’s changed appearance.
Then, Iana, moving her pretty lips that made him want to kiss them, said,
“Carion, I’m here for a divorce.”