An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 48

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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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#48

“Wait, Orphea.”

But apparently my finger strength wasn’t enough, as Gert twisted his body this way and that. I was doing my best, but it seemed like it was just tickling him.

At this rate, forget venting my frustration—I’d fail at my original purpose too. Thinking this wouldn’t work, I used my palms to work out the knots in his shoulders.

“Then can you come to our house for a while before you go hunting? If you’re busy, I can come to your manor.”

Of course, the palm massage didn’t seem very effective either.

‘But with things like this, it’s not about whether it’s a real massage—it’s about showing sincerity.’

Wanting to get a definite answer from Gert somehow, I kneaded his shoulders with all my heart while coaxing him.

“Ah, but if I keep going in and out of your house too much, the House of Lübenhartz won’t like it very much, eek!”

Before I could even finish speaking, Gert suddenly shot up from his seat. Because of that, I, who had been half-leaning against him, nearly toppled over.

‘If it was that ticklish, you should have said something!’

Fortunately, Gert’s hands caught my body before I fell. Gert also seemed flustered that I nearly fell because of him, as I caught a glimpse of clear embarrassment on his face.

Only after seeing me regain my balance did Gert release his hands from my shoulders. Gert spoke in a muffled, choked voice.

“…Whatever the branch family thinks doesn’t really matter. But rather than you coming all the way over, it would be better for me to visit you. If you let me know when it’s convenient for you, I’ll visit at that time.”

“Great! How about three days from now? If you ever think of a song you’d like to hear, requests are always welcome!”

Gert’s attitude at the end was a bit unsatisfactory, but anyway, since Gert had agreed, my goal was achieved.

‘I’m gaining a lot today in many ways.’

I cleared up the long-standing misunderstanding with Gert, and found a solution to break through the blocked heroic poetry…

‘At this rate, I’ll be able to safely face the examination day!’

Feeling proud, I grinned broadly.

At that moment, Gert let out a deep sigh, but I pretended not to hear it.

I had given Gert plenty of opportunities to refuse up until now, and we’d already made plans. So even if Gert regretted it a little, that was Gert’s problem!

***

Chapter 04. A Spell for Courage

Two days after the princess’s charity auction, a dress gift arrived from Helena.

I was the one who should have been returning the dress. Instead, I was receiving a gift, which left me feeling bewildered beyond confusion—even troubled.

‘…Just how much did Gert hint at her that day?’

It must have been quite something for her to not only leave early but also send such an unexpected gift.

“Let me see what the note says.”

I checked the note that came with the dress.

-I am truly ashamed that I had to leave without offering a proper apology that day.

Please do keep the dress I lent you. However, I was concerned that my modest garment might not befit Lady Orphea’s dignity, so I have prepared and sent a new dress similar to the one you wore that day.

“Even so, this is too much. It looks like it costs about three times what my original dress was worth. It feels awkward to just accept this… Shouldn’t I send some kind of return gift?”

I clicked my tongue. Seeing all the pearls dangling from it, three times seemed like a conservative estimate.

“Not really?”

Berta, who was organizing the dress beside me, said bluntly.

“The dress you wore that day was made of sea silk, wasn’t it? In terms of value alone, Lady Orphea’s dress was much more precious. It seems the Tindal Count’s family tried to match it with jewels at least. The pearls are certainly of good quality… Well, this isn’t bad.”

“…Sea silk?”

At these words I’d never heard before, I asked back sourly.

“Yes. It’s fabric made from thread extracted from shells. It’s also called silk woven by mermaids.”

Just hearing about it sounded expensive. I asked hesitantly.

“So how much is it?”

“About 2,000 gold, I’d say?”

“…”

I barely managed to steady my swaying body and pressed my forehead. Ignorance is bliss, they say—if I had known the value of that dress, I wouldn’t have been so calm when the wine spilled.

‘Gert’s lion hide sold for 5,000 gold, and that modest dress was 2,000 gold? I really don’t understand noble tastes…’

I had just picked the most ordinary-looking dress hanging in my wardrobe.

“Wh-why was something like that in my wardrobe? I really didn’t know it was that expensive! If I had known, I would have been more careful with it!”

“Huh? But Lady Orphea, you always enjoyed wearing sea silk clothes. So I thought you liked them.”

Berta’s words were ominous. I looked at Berta with trembling eyes and asked.

“D-don’t tell me all the things I wore when I was at Lübenhartz were like that too?”

“What do you mean? The sea silk? Of course they’re luxury items, but they’re just befitting Lady Orphea’s position.”

“They were all expensive…!”

I clutched my head.

Of course, it wasn’t like I’d never worn expensive clothes while living as a duchess. But those clothes obviously looked expensive, so I could mentally prepare myself.

But this sea silk thing was so deceptive that I thought it was just ordinary linen shirts or dresses and wore them carelessly. I wore them and rolled around on grass, climbed trees…

Recalling my past actions made my hands tremble. But no matter how much I regretted it, the shirts I had already torn couldn’t come back.

I quietly put the dress Helena sent me into my wardrobe.

Anyway, I hadn’t really lost anything. But perhaps because of the shock, my heart felt strangely empty. I just kept fingering the hem of another innocent sea silk shirt. It felt like I had opened Pandora’s box when I shouldn’t have…

***

“Fine, let’s say you asked me to investigate Gert’s background. But you should know that by helping you this time, I’ve gotten into real trouble, Lairinne.”

Helena sighed and leaned back against her chair. Her thick bangs that had covered half her face scattered, revealing her gorgeous features.

Her beauty was no less stunning than Princess Lairinne, who was called the incarnation of beauty and the lily of Petalien.

Helena stared at the delicate facial lines of Lairinne, whose face was coldly hardened.

Born as a beloved princess and being so pretty, she could probably have her pick of any man, but the person Lairinne was obsessed with was Gerhardt, who made all of Lairinne’s advantages meaningless.

She had asked to call out Orphea, then shut herself up in the palace without any contact since. For Helena, who had been threatened by Gert at the time, it was natural to worry about Lairinne.

Helena clicked her tongue softly and continued.

“Even just the dress. Who would have known that the clothes that woman was wearing were made of sea silk? When I said I had to compensate for ruining it, my brothers and father jumped out of their skin.”

The sea silk dress was something that not only Helena, the heir to the Tindal Count’s family, but even Lairinne, who was loved by His Majesty, couldn’t easily obtain.

It was more about rarity than price. So they couldn’t immediately get her the same thing.

Lairinne still replied sulkily with a displeased expression.

“That’s why I gave you the pearl necklace. Those pearls were quite valuable too, so it’s enough. It’s not like Orphea bought that dress with her own money anyway.”

“That’s exactly why it’s more of a problem.”

Helena swallowed a few grapes and sat up diagonally.

Orphea was formerly the Duchess of Lübenhartz. Since Gert wasn’t a petty man, it wasn’t strange that she had taken all the dresses she wore as duchess when she divorced.

“Do you know what that woman’s reaction was when I spilled wine? She didn’t even care!”

That dry attitude as if it was nothing to her. That sight was enough to arouse jealousy in Helena, who had never lacked anything as the heir to the Tindal Count’s family.

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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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