I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The morning of the wedding was bright and clear. They had kept the ceremony so spare, just the required rites, that no guests had been invited, but this was still the day the only Grand Duke in the Empire was taking a wife.
“Your Highness, the bishop has arrived.”
“Good.”
Beside Kiers, who stood in the study, attendants fussed over his clothing.
It was still black, as always, but since it was a special day, he had dressed in full ceremonial attire. The formal cut, combined with his natural presence, lent him an even more commanding dignity, yet Kiers’ thoughts had been elsewhere since the previous night.
“…He still hasn’t arrived?”
“No, Your Highness. If he set out, he should be here soon enough.”
Count could not hide his impatience and glanced out the window for no particular reason.
Gathering several hundred designers in a single day had been impossible, but buying manpower with money was another matter. The last word had been that they had hunted down Liden’s most renowned designers in a rush and started on the gown before midnight, making do as best they could.
“…And Eliya?”
“She’s already gone in, so I’m told. Likely waiting for Your Highness to come.”
“….”
Kiers’ brow furrowed. The attendants fiddling with his formal wear flinched in advance, but Kiers checked the clock hanging on the study wall.
Count’s mouth had gone dry, and he stole a glance at the epaulette on his lord’s shoulder.
“It seems the fault is mine, truly. Since the lady said she’s fine, I’ll just take her word for it. If the lady of the house were here at a time like this, things would be different.”
“Enough. Now.”
“Ah… yes. Quite so.”
At Kiers’ flat declaration, Count closed his mouth, looking sheepish.
Still, they could not stall forever. They could not leave the bride standing alone at the ceremony hall, so one of two things had to happen: they go out now, or they postpone the wedding.
But judging by a man’s instinct, Count was certain his lord would never allow the latter.
“Your Highness. Please don’t… Ah, there, someone seems to be coming!”
“….”
The sound of hooves had carried all the way into the inner garden, which meant it was urgent business. Thinking it might be the one he’d been waiting for, Kiers narrowed his eyes in relief, but the relief did not last long.
Count, who had stepped toward the window, showed bewilderment as he watched the rider dismount. Kiers remained where he stood and idly smoothed the cuff of his sleeve.
“Your Highness.”
“Hush.”
Apparently recognizing the visitor from the sound of hooves crossing the garden, he did not hurry at all. Only when hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, drew closer, and the door swung open did he lift his sharp gaze.
“…You’ve come.”
“I bow to the master of the North. Sir Heriet, reporting as ordered, has only just arrived.”
Heriet strode in briskly and dropped to one knee the moment he saw Kiers. The purple epaulettes with embroidered edges marked him as a direct member of the Grand Duke’s Inspection Corps.
“I presume you’re not unaware that today is the ceremony.”
“Your Highness.”
“It seems you have a reason to come in such a hurry.”
Kiers, having struck the heart of the matter, raised a hand and dismissed all the attendants. They slipped out silently, like a school of well-trained fish, leaving only Count behind to press Heriet.
“What is it? Do you have other news about Lady Eliya?”
“Ah, well…”
Heriet hesitated, his gaze moving from Count to Kiers. Seeing him bite his lip without speaking, Kiers’ eyes grew sharp.
“I told you to look into her family.”
“Yes, well… It is certain that there are four daughters in total.”
“And?”
This time his voice, not just his eyes, sharpened. At the instinctive reaction, Heriet bowed his head even lower. However piercing Kiers’ eyes might be, Heriet had not forgotten his duty.
“The eldest daughter, Lady Eliya, is the first, and below her are three younger sisters.”
“The youngest must be the one here.”
“Yes. But I will look into it further; since it is a serious matter, I thought you should know before the ceremony.”
“….”
“You ordered that the inquiry be kept as quiet as possible, so I had no choice but to ask around among the locals. The viscount left the house at once, and the two younger sisters, so I’m told, have not stirred from inside.”
At this unexpected news, Kiers’ gaze darkened. Why, in the world… His unspoken question made Heriet lower his head again.
“The second sister, Miss Melanie, apparently never leaves the house and reads nothing but books. The third, Miss Bella, is so gentle and frail-hearted that she fell ill in earnest after her eldest sister left. Apparently she has convulsions whenever a carriage passes by. I kept watch near the house for several days, but she never once showed her face.”
He hesitated for a moment before continuing his report.
“Since it’s such an isolated place, I didn’t even see anyone coming or going from the house.”
“…And?”
It was unexpected news, but hardly the kind to cause much alarm. Above all, if it were merely a tale of sisters that did not concern him in the least, Heriet would never be this flustered.
“So… I asked around the village, and…”
“….”
“I felt I should at least let Your Highness know.”
Huh. Heriet let out a sigh of self-reproach and finally found his voice. Kiers had already gone still, waiting with every movement frozen.
“L-Lady Eliya is simply so beautiful, you see.”
“I know that. Next.”
“…She had a great many men chasing her.”
“Next.”
A killing intent beyond mere force seeped through Kiers’s clenched teeth, and blue veins rose on the back of Heriet’s hand where it rested against the floor.
“Th-that being the case, there are more rumors about her than one can count. Lady Eliya…”
“Briefly.”
“The youngest, Rose… she’s, uh, actually a daughter!”
“….”
Unable to endure his killing intent, Heriet spilled it all out and squeezed his eyes shut. The air around them had grown so dim and sinister that it rippled black.
“…What did you just say?”
“I-it’s only a rumor, really. But people are talking about it everywhere. The age gap is so wide, and the late Viscountess must have covered up her daughter’s faults by…”
“Enough.”
Kiers placed a hand on his mask and turned on his heel without another word. Count, who had been stunned from the very beginning, belatedly hurried after him.
“Your Grace, let me send people to look into this properly again. She is to be the Grand Duchess Consort, after all.”
“….”
“It would be wise to be certain. This time, rather than just observing, I’ll confirm with her family directly. For now, I’ll have the lady brought inside.”
Flustered, Count stepped ahead of Kiers’s stride as though to summon a servant.
He wasn’t openly angry or showing his fury, but Kiers’s reaction was anything but ordinary. Like the calm before a typhoon, or rather, an eerie stillness that was too quiet, it made one’s knees weaken just to look at him.
“…Stop.”
Having called Count back, he raised a hand to his throat. Kiers loosened the collar of the formal coat he had dressed so carefully in and shook his head, as if he found it stifling.

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“Lady Eliya, would you care to sit and wait for a moment?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine.”
The bishop standing at the altar gently offered, but I doubted sitting would ease my mind. Until we’d reached the temple attached to the Grand Duke’s Castle, I’d been busy staring down at my plain clothes, but now my thoughts had taken a different turn.
“It seems His Grace the Grand Duke is running a bit late. We received word that he’d be here shortly.”
“…Yes. He’ll come, I’m sure.”
The bishop’s pitying expression was even more uncomfortable to me. It felt as though he were consoling a bride who had been cast aside. My face must have looked troubled too, because Rose tugged at my skirt and shook it.
“Sis, isn’t Brother-in-law the Grand Duke coming? He’s not coming?”
“…Rose.”
That man might never become your brother-in-law.
The words I’d kept to myself tickled the back of my throat. If Kiers didn’t show up to the ceremony, the marriage wouldn’t happen at all, so he’d never become our Rose’s brother-in-law. Nor would he ever become my husband.
“….”
For some reason, the tip of my nose began to sting. No, I’d been singing about divorce, divorce all this time, so I should be dancing around the bishop’s hands in delight that he didn’t come. I don’t understand why my chest feels so tight. I’d only worried that he might suddenly turn into a beast. Did I really expect him to vanish into thin air instead?!
“…Lady Eliya, perhaps we should go and look into it first. It would be better to postpone the ceremony until tomorrow—”
“By whose authority.”
“Y-Your Grace!”
Before the bishop could even turn around in a panic, I reacted first to that familiar voice. I don’t know why I felt relieved, but for a moment, a lump rose in my throat.
That man, really! Late, and yet how is he so self-assured about it!
I glared at him, full of resentment and without fear, but the moment I faced Kiers, my throat went dry and I swallowed hard.
…Why is he dressed like that?
Since it was a wedding in name only, I’d assumed he would at least come dressed as he usually was, even if not in formal attire. I was miserable at the thought that I’d look shabby beside him, and as a bride in name, how can I possibly put into words how depressed I was about that.
“….”
But Kiers carried himself as though it made no difference to him at all.
His dignified stride was entirely separate from his clothing, so all I could do was watch. With his final step, his gaze pierced straight through me, burning hotter than it ever had before.
“…Y-Your Grace.”
“….”
Leaving me with a gaze that seemed to pierce right through my body, he had already taken his place at my side.

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