An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 17

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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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#17

Hadn’t I experienced firsthand how quickly the people of Lübenhartz turned their backs after Gert’s death? So it was only natural for me to anticipate their reactions.

Unaware of my circumstances, Tamar picked up one of my sheet music scattered around the drawing room, turning it this way and that while grumbling.

“Anyway, outside everyone’s making a fuss about how you were abandoned by Gert, but here you are in the midst of all this, writing a work praising Gert’s great deeds… It’s really ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous about it? In the end, I married him to write his heroic epic anyway. I need to write what I need to write.”

You succeed by knowing clearly what’s important to you. In that sense, since I didn’t care about others’ opinions or public reputation for the sake of my purpose, I was sure to succeed.

While I was patting myself on the back inwardly, Tamar furrowed her brow and snapped at me.

“Stop beating around the bush. From what you’re saying, it doesn’t seem like Gert brought up divorce first. You suggested it? Why on earth?”

Tamar’s eyes were sharp. It seemed she wouldn’t be easily fooled by vague excuses.

At first, I thought about making the same excuse I had given Gert.

But I immediately changed my mind.

If Tamar, who received Hecate’s love, would know many things including Gert’s curse, it would be better to reveal the truth and get her help.

‘There are limits to the information I can gather.’

After all, it was Tamar who had made the prophecy about Gert in the first place.

“Well, you see…”

I confessed everything about my situation, including how I had regressed and how I had driven out Eurich.

It might sound absurd, but I believed Tamar would trust my words.

Sure enough, when I finished my story, Tamar wore a serious expression, not seeming to doubt my words in the slightest.

“That bastard Eurich did that?”

Unable to contain herself upon hearing that Eurich had not only propositioned me to be his mistress but had also pushed me from the Tower, Tamar let loose a string of curses.

“You just let that bastard live and sent him away?”

Tamar raged without hiding her contempt.

Of course, I thought Eurich might have been dealt with by Gert, but since I wasn’t certain, I didn’t mention that to Tamar.

“I couldn’t just kill him outright. But thanks to the drug you gave me, I was able to expose that bastard’s true nature. Thank you, Tamar.”

The truth potion I had used was exactly what Tamar had prepared for me.

She had said that nobles were ingrained with the habit of saying things they didn’t mean in front of others, confusing people, and that there might come a moment when such a drug would be needed.

If I had seriously gotten involved in household affairs, it certainly would have been very useful.

But I had spent my time holed up in my room writing heroic poetry, so the truth potion had been sleeping in my bedroom nightstand.

Since I ended up using it to expose Eurich’s hypocrisy, you could say Tamar had foresight.

“So from now on, when I give you something, take it right away.”

“Alright, alright.”

Tamar shrugged her shoulders, seemingly proud that she had been helpful. Being a beauty, even her smug expression was quite charming.

“Anyway, since Eurich has already been dealt with, let’s move on. The problem is Gert.”

“Right.”

I sighed. Tamar seemed lost in thought, frowning and pondering in silence for a while.

How long had there been silence between us? Suddenly Tamar spoke.

“How about trying to keep Gert alive as much as possible? Then you wouldn’t have to change the direction of your heroic epic.”

“I know that would be good too. But when I don’t even know how Gert died, how can I save him?”

I had hoped for some good method when she spoke so seriously… I let my shoulders droop, not hiding my disappointment.

But Tamar still wore a triumphant smile as she made a meaningful statement.

“What if you knew how Gert died?”

“Really?”

I jumped up with wide eyes. Tamar began pointing out the strange aspects of Gert’s death one by one.

“Someone like Gert wouldn’t die from hunting or assassination. He’s practically a demigod. Probably even suicide would be impossible for him.”

“But he did die.”

“Right. But there was no body. They said only an obituary came from the Temple of Hecate.”

“…Are you saying Gert didn’t die?”

“No, an obituary sent in the name of a god couldn’t be a lie. What I’m saying is that the cause of Gert’s death is greatly narrowed down. Anyway, the fact that the obituary came from the Temple of Hecate means Gert’s death must be related to the goddess Hecate.”

“To Hecate?”

Hecate is the goddess who governs boundaries. I couldn’t fathom what connection there could be between such a goddess and Gert.

Tamar paused there and hesitated for a moment, her lips moving as if deciding whether to speak or not. But soon her green eyes sparkled with determination.

“This is something only high-ranking followers among Hecate’s devotees know, so you must keep it secret. Understood?”

“Understood.”

I nodded carefully at Tamar’s stern warning. Tamar moistened her throat with alcohol and spoke again in a much lowered voice.

“Once every 12 years, a path between this world and the Underworld opens. To know that path, you must receive an oracle from Hecate. As far as I know, the gates of the Underworld will open this year.”

Ascension and life and death, heaven and this world and the Underworld.

There are bound to be boundaries in all of these.

It wouldn’t be strange for Hecate, who governs all boundaries in the world, to know the path to the Underworld.

“But even if you learn the path and head to the Underworld, you can’t return. To come back from the Underworld to this world, you need permission from the god of the Underworld. Even the great Gert can’t return without the Underworld god’s permission.”

“So you’re saying Gert walked into the Underworld with his own feet?”

“Probably.”

Tamar nodded heavily.

I stared at Tamar blankly with my mouth open. I couldn’t understand it at all.

“Why on earth?”

“When you go to the Underworld, you escape from the sight of the gods in heaven. Then the divine curse that bound your body also disappears. Gert probably went down to the Underworld to break his curse.”

Tamar’s speculation was flawless. I also thought Tamar’s guess was almost accurate.

If Tamar was right, it explained things I had initially overlooked but later found strange.

For example, the delivery date of the engagement ring Gert had ordered.

The engagement ring’s delivery date was set for before Gert’s obituary even arrived.

If he had returned safely, it would have been just the right time to receive it, a few months before my 25th birthday.

Considering that engagement rings are usually prepared around the time of proposal, I had thought at the time that Gert had prepared the engagement ring too early.

After all, for Gert to propose to that woman, divorcing me had to come first, and in principle, he had to wait until my 25th birthday according to our second marriage contract conditions.

But if Gert had been considering the first condition of the marriage contract that he would divorce immediately once the curse was broken, it made sense why he had prepared the ring so early.

If he had returned safely from the Underworld, the curse would have been broken months before my birthday, and he could have divorced me and immediately proposed to that woman.

‘Yes, I understand everything now. But if you die, it’s all meaningless, isn’t it? Is it worth risking death for?’

Even though the questions were being answered one by one, I still couldn’t understand what motivated Gert to go to such lengths to break his curse.

That’s because going down to the Underworld was such a high-risk endeavor. He actually died, after all.

‘Because he wanted to divorce me quickly… that can’t be it.’

No matter what, he wouldn’t have sought mortal danger just because he couldn’t wait a few months and wanted to divorce quickly.

Moreover, this wasn’t the first and last time the gates of the Underworld would open—they would open again in 12 years.

Gert had been living well without breaking his curse until now, so what reason could there be for him to urgently go to the Underworld when he had a woman he loved…

Then, a possibility suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘Maybe he didn’t want to marry that woman while still cursed.’

With that thought, I felt like a stone had dropped with a thud in a corner of my heart.

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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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