An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#15

Soon, hearing the sound of the carriage, the gatekeeper opened the door.

“Have you arrived?”

“This is Lady Orphea, who will be the future owner of this manor. Please take good care of her.”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

The gatekeeper smiled trustingly, but with his slender build, he didn’t look particularly dependable.

After confirming that I had been safely handed over to the new manor’s caretaker, Hilias climbed back onto the driver’s seat of the carriage and said.

“Then I’ll be heading back.”

“What? It’s late, just stay here for the night!”

If he returned to Lübenhartz now, it would be just before dawn. And if he tried to find lodging in the Capital City, most inns would be closing their doors by now.

But Hilias shook his head.

“No. I have somewhere else to stay.”

“Where?”

“…Anyway, I have a place.”

Hilias deflected the question. Not only that, but he hurriedly whipped the horses.

Neigh!

“Wait, Hilias!”

I called out to Hilias belatedly, but the carriage had already disappeared into the distance. He was fleeing so urgently that anyone watching would think something terrible would happen if he stayed at the manor overnight.

‘Something’s strange. Is there some problem with the manor that I don’t know about?’

Even if that were true, would I really get angry at Hilias for choosing such a house for me?

‘Anyway, he’s been an expert at running away since the expedition days.’

Hilias was Gert’s sharpest blade, but that didn’t mean he was strong in combat.

The reason Gert kept Hilias by his side wasn’t because he needed someone strong, but because Hilias was meticulous enough to handle tasks to the perfectionist Gert’s satisfaction.

As a result, Hilias’s combat ability within the expedition competed for last place with me, the bard, and when all the expedition members were advancing forward, he would often run backward alongside me.

Remembering the expedition days brought an unconscious smile to my face. Shaking my head as if I couldn’t help it, I entered the manor with the gatekeeper’s careful guidance.

***

“…”

“Welcome, my lady.”

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was seeing things wrong.

Hair perfectly pinned up without a strand out of place. Round glasses frames.

Someone who looked unmistakably like Berta was greeting me with the gatekeeper, cook, maid, and gardener behind her.

Why was Berta, who had gone out on business today and couldn’t say goodbye, here at this manor welcoming me?

‘That bastard Hilias knew all along!’

I finally understood why Hilias had fled. He must have hurried away before I could catch him, knowing it would be troublesome if I questioned why he hadn’t told me about Berta.

But the carriage had already departed.

I pressed my throbbing temples and sighed. Berta, the cause of my suffering, approached nonchalantly as if she knew nothing and asked.

“Do you have a headache? Shall I give you a massage?”

“…Never mind the massage, why are you here?”

“Naturally, I should be wherever my lady is.”

Berta lifted her chin and declared confidently. Berta’s matter-of-fact attitude was absurd.

“What do you mean ‘my lady’? I divorced Gert!”

“But the fact that you’re someone I must serve remains unchanged.”

“I won’t even be able to pay you properly!”

Berta was a first-class lady’s maid. Even if I emptied all my emergency funds, I could only afford to employ her for about a month.

But Berta shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

“Don’t worry. His Highness will continue to pay my salary.”

“Gert will?”

“Not just my salary, but living expenses too. His Highness wouldn’t just give you a manor and leave it at that.”

I thought just giving me the manor was more than enough, but Berta didn’t seem to think so. Berta continued as if all this was natural.

“Anyway, this is a message from His Highness the Grand Duke. ‘Focus only on writing your work until the examination day.'”

‘I suppose sending Berta is also a form of patronage.’

As Berta said, since he had already given me a manor in the Capital City, providing one person wasn’t strange either.

It seemed Gert intended to maintain my lifestyle as before the divorce until the examination day.

‘How inflexibly principled of him.’

I sighed. Reading my tired expression, Berta guided me to the drawing room.

While Berta and I bickered, the other servants who had been keeping a low profile and rolling their eyes looked relieved as if they could finally breathe.

I sat leaning against the sofa, mulling over Gert’s decision. Honestly, since I wasn’t particularly good at managing daily life, having someone to help me would be nice.

If the person Gert had sent was anyone other than Berta, I would have accepted without much thought.

I sighed and shook my head.

“Still, it didn’t have to be you specifically. He could just hire someone else suitable. If you’re worried about Gert’s reaction, I can talk to him for you.”

“Do you dislike me, my lady?”

“Of course not!”

I shook my head in shock.

How could I possibly dislike Berta? After deciding to divorce Gert, parting with Berta was what I regretted most.

“It’s not that, I just thought you could have served the next Grand Duchess if you had stayed at the manor.”

Since I had left, if Gert found a new woman, he might marry earlier than before.

Since noble ladies usually don’t change their personal maids once they choose them, if Berta spent a year by my side, she would essentially be deprived of that opportunity.

“The next Grand Duchess? There’s no way that would happen.”

“Who knows? Gert might have a fateful encounter within a year.”

“I doubt it. Even if a new lady appears, I’d rather stay with my current lady.”

Berta seemed not to believe much in the idea of Gert falling in love.

It seemed pointless to persuade Berta right now. I thought I’d try talking to her again later when news of Gert’s remarriage came.

“Fine, but if you’re going to stay with me, stop calling me ‘my lady.’ Just call me Orphea.”

“Yes, Lady Orphea.”

Berta nodded obediently and corrected her form of address. I felt somewhat deflated, but I was also secretly happy to spend a little more time with Berta.

***

I quickly adapted to my new home.

I had successfully divorced, and I didn’t need to worry about living expenses.

Since Berta handled all the troublesome matters, there was nothing to worry about regarding the change of residence.

Initially, I had planned to enter high society to gather information about Gert and earn money to settle in the Capital City…

Somehow, everything had been resolved.

As a result, my enthusiasm for urgently establishing myself in high society had withered away.

‘…I might as well use that time to finish writing my work.’

Since things had been chaotic for a while, I hadn’t opened my sheet music even once since my regression.

Even before my regression, I had barely been able to work on my compositions since hearing news of Gert’s death.

I could barely remember how far I had written the heroic poem by this time.

‘I need to reorganize the existing content before Gert brings me new heroic tales.’

Of course, I called it reorganizing, but I didn’t think there would be much to revise.

It wasn’t because I was arrogant.

It was because I had worked so hard on it.

I had revised and re-revised the early parts with blood and tears for three years.

Having done that much, I was confident there was nothing to add or remove.

Honestly, I suspected that the god Mnemiir had given me this opportunity because the early parts of my heroic poem had captured the god’s heart.

In other words, for me, the front part was practically equivalent to having already passed the review!

It was just that the latter part was incomplete…!

‘Now that I’ve recovered from the shock, I should be able to proceed smoothly as if I had wings on my feet. While I’m reorganizing the work, I should also check the direction and flow of the piece.’

I checked my work with such a light heart.

But then…

“Huh?”

Why… do I find everything I wrote before, from one to ten, completely unsatisfactory?

Including the front part that I believed without a doubt had been approved by the deity Mnemiir…

Everything I had written over three years!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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