An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 25

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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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#25

Being childish, growing older and learning one’s place. These weren’t words I should have to hear from Lairinne, who was six years younger than me. How much did she look down on me?

…I take back what I said about having no reason to dislike her.

There was a clear reason why the princess would dislike me.

‘It’s because of Gert after all.’

Just hearing the rumors going around outside would make it seem like I had betrayed Gert, so it was natural for the princess, who regarded Gert like a real older brother, to be angry with me.

‘But it doesn’t seem like simple resentment… Something more fundamental, as if I had stolen something that belonged to her…’

At that moment, a certain possibility suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘Could it be that she… likes Gert?’

Thinking about it that way, everything fit together perfectly.

‘Right, I thought so. If she really thought of him as a brother, she wouldn’t cling to him like that.’

I sighed quietly. How did such a pretty princess end up having a one-sided crush on Gert? There must be plenty of decent guys her own age.

‘Well, at a young age, adults do tend to look cool… And there’s no one else like Gert as a hero, so he’d be an object of admiration.’

While I was looking at her with such pitying eyes, the princess, oblivious to my gaze, boldly pointed at the lyre I was holding and commanded.

“Come to think of it, you’re a minstrel? Seeing that you brought a lyre, you must have been planning to add to the banquet’s entertainment. Go and play a song.”

“…”

I had brought the lyre not to perform at the banquet, but because I didn’t have the option of leaving it behind.

Does anyone go around leaving their heart behind?

‘Of course, it’s not that I can’t play.’

If the host of the banquet had requested it, or if the princess really wanted to hear my performance, I would have been ready to play for her.

But I had no intention of going along with a child’s whims driven by her emotions. Especially if the reason for requesting a performance was out of hostility toward me.

The problem was that her status was quite high to simply refuse…

How should I refuse to be considered well done?

Just as I was pondering for a moment, a shadow fell in front of me. It was Gert.

Gert hid me behind his back and spoke calmly to the princess.

“Your Highness. Must I tell you once more not to act like a child?”

Gert’s tone was no different from before. It was an attitude as if scolding a child.

But why was it? Gert seemed extremely displeased.

The princess facing Gert also visibly flinched and watched Gert’s expression.

“Gert, I…”

Gert didn’t listen to the princess’s words and coldly turned around, then suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

Only then could I observe Gert’s complexion.

Gert’s expression was calm. It seemed my thought that he was displeased had been a mistake.

Then, I noticed the prominent muscle in Gert’s jaw.

‘…He was displeased after all!’

No matter that we were divorced and that Gert was fond of the princess, it couldn’t feel good to have his ex-wife ordered around in front of him.

‘Wait, isn’t an arrow going to fly my way too?’

Why was I attending the banquet and listening to such things, or maybe it would be better to go home for today.

Of course, Gert wasn’t the type to interfere with and control my every action, but that didn’t mean I could completely let my guard down either.

While I was watching Gert’s mood, Gert looked down at the twins authoritatively and announced.

“Unfortunately, it seems you won’t have the opportunity to escort Orphea. Orphea will be leaving with me now.”

“…Huh?”

Before I could even process Gert’s words, a firm grip seized my left shoulder. Gert grabbed my right hand that wasn’t holding the lyre with his other hand and dragged me out!

“Gert! You, that’s cheating!”

One of the twins who came to his senses a beat late shouted angrily, but Gert didn’t even pretend to listen.

I was still dumbfounded by the suddenly changing situation.

Leaving like this? The banquet didn’t even seem to have started yet? Is this okay?

“Wait, Gert?”

“If you have something to say, do it later.”

Gert, who dismissed my words like that, left the banquet hall without hesitation. So I, who was half-embraced in his arms, had no choice but to leave the banquet hall as well.

The most I could move of my own will was about my neck. I looked back at the receding banquet hall in bewilderment.

“Damn it! Leave Orphea behind!”

“You think we can’t follow…”

“It’s your brother’s coming-of-age ceremony, where are you going, you fools! Are you in your right minds?”

“Ah! Father!”

“You lost your title to your brother because you were bewitched by a woman, eh? At least don’t bring shame to your brother’s face! What will people say about your brother if you act like this!”

“We didn’t lose it, we just transferred it…!”

“These boys, even in this situation!”

Having been caught trying to rush out of the banquet hall, the twins were being beaten with a cane by Count Tindal, who appeared to be their father.

And the princess…

‘…Scary.’

The princess was glaring at me terrifyingly. It was so murderous that killing intent was flowing from her eyes.

I swallowed hard.

I didn’t have the ability to read people’s minds, but I could read what the princess thought of me as clearly as looking at my palm.

‘A shameless woman who manipulates Gert even though they’re divorced!’

She was definitely thinking that…

‘It’s a misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding!’

But even if I claimed I had no lingering feelings for Gert, would the princess really believe me?

No matter what excuse I made, it wouldn’t reach the ears of an eighteen-year-old girl in the midst of unrequited love.

I remembered what Linos had earnestly requested just before the banquet.

“Be careful because if you fall out of favor with the princess, your social circle is over. The princess has quite a few followers.”

I had to keep following Gert around, but things were getting tangled from the first day.

At this rate, would I really be able to safely interfere with Gert meeting ‘that woman’?

My future looked bleak.

***

Clatter, clatter.

Gert’s carriage rolled along in silence.

Gert’s carriage was incomparably larger than Linos’s carriage. But perhaps because the person riding with me was different? Riding with Gert made the spacious area feel cramped despite its size.

But I didn’t have the luxury to worry about that. The hostility the princess had shown at the banquet hall kept bothering me.

‘Seeing the princess’s obsession with Gert, it seems like even if I didn’t interfere, the princess would have blocked any woman approaching Gert on her own…’

I wondered how Gert had managed to avoid the princess and meet that woman before my regression. No matter how I looked at it, the princess wouldn’t have left it alone.

‘Then it’s more likely someone he already knew rather than someone new? If it was someone he already knew, the princess would have had limits to how much she could interfere.’

Just as I was mulling over Gert’s woman and Princess Lairinne.

Thud.

“Ah!”

The carriage jolted and, no exaggeration, my bottom lifted about a palm’s width from the seat. Just as I was about to tumble forward.

A firm, large grip hurriedly caught my body.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. That startled me.”

Thanks to Gert catching me, otherwise I might have fallen face-first.

As soon as Gert confirmed I was okay, he shouted irritably outside the carriage.

“Hilias!”

“I’m sorry. We hit a rock.”

“That can happen. It’s okay, don’t scold Hilias too much.”

I stopped Gert. What could be done about the road not being smooth?

What’s more, Hilias was just sitting next to the driver’s seat—he wasn’t even the coachman!

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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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