I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - Chapter 46

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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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Brooks, the Prince. No, the castaway of the Imperial household, not even called a prince.
In the novel he’s only mentioned in passing, and even that mention never came with anything good attached.
He’s just as much a bloodstained figure as Kiers, but while Kiers fought his battles on the border, Brooks picked on those weaker than himself. Plunder, all manner of abuse, and above all, he couldn’t keep his hands off women, if I remember right.
I’d heard about Brooks’ infamy from people in Hessen, long before I ever read about it in the novel. He was so notorious that even my ears, which hardly caught any society gossip, had picked it up. I could well imagine how much worse his real-life villainy must have been.
And a man like that had become a duke. Rea’s description of him as the emperor’s dog fit him so perfectly that no further explanation was needed.
“Until I left Hessen, all anyone said about the youngest prince was that he was beyond hope. Every lady in high society had been pestered by him, apparently.”
“Well, a woman has to be careful just to keep her noble name intact around him. His mother was a commoner, or rather, a slave dancer.”
“…So how much of a dog did he have to be to earn that title?”
“Don’t even get me started. Every filthy job the Emperor couldn’t do himself, he did, you could say. Quite a few nobles have fled the capital and come here because of that man.”
Rea ground her teeth with a grinding sound, her voice prim.
Well, well, a loyal family after all. I felt quietly pleased, as an elder, to see that the sisters seemed to have a clear sense of right and wrong.
“So how did a man like that manage to get married?”
“Don’t get me started. That woman, the Duchess, ugh.”
Ugh, I’m so angry!
Renie’s snorting breaths were beyond anything I’d seen so far. I had wondered whether her fury was a bit much for a mere concern about state affairs, but the burning rage in her was impossible to contain.
“Milady! The daughter of the Strada Ducal House!”
“Milady? The Strada Ducal House?”
The names sounded faintly familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them. Probably just the right kind of villainess for a man like Brooks, I figured.
“The fox among foxes! She acts like she’s some queen, sorting people into ranks and shutting them out at will. Because of her, more ladies than I can count have locked themselves away at home, crying, unable to show their faces in high society! My friend, Lady Seira, the Baron’s daughter, she was banished to the countryside entirely!”
“She used to look down on Prince Brooks, but the moment rumors spread that he’d become a duke, she jumped at the chance to marry him. After all, she’d be the wife of one of only two dukes in the Empire!”
“I see.”
What a remarkable record she has, I propped my chin on my hand, as if listening to someone else’s story. Villains were a dime a dozen, whether in novels or in real life, so the sisters, flushed with indignation, were far more interesting at the moment.
“Pretending to be so noble, and all the while she’s up to such tricks behind everyone’s back. She’s the one who reported us, I’m sure of it! We all saw it together, and she slipped away alone! And because of her, we rotted in the monastery for two whole years!”
“…Reported? For what?”
“…….”
The sisters, who had been about to erupt like volcanoes, fell abruptly silent. Ah, I see. No wonder they’d been so furious on someone else’s behalf. It seems this was their own matter after all.
“She’s the one who reported you two?”
“…That’s not really important, Your Highness.”
“…….”
“We just don’t want to see a person like that strutting around like the head of the nobility. For the sake of the Empire, of course.”
“Mm…….”
Yes, yes, I’ll pretend to believe that.
I flicked my fingers and rose from my seat. It was about time I went to check whether Rose was up.
“You’re leaving?”
“Why not?”
“…We’ve been talking all this time. Duke Verna and his wife are arriving soon, you know.”
“So what?”
I looked back and forth between Lena and Renie, who were each hanging from one of my arms. What on earth were they doing? Even when I tried to shake them off, the sisters’ clinginess proved stubborn.
“With her temperament, she’ll show up dripping in every kind of luxury. She’s been grinding her teeth, determined to bring your Highness down a peg or two.”
“As Grand Duchess Consort, you must uphold your dignity. You have to show her that things won’t go her way here, at least in the North.”
“…Why exactly should I do that?”
It’s not even my territory, and I’m leaving anyway.
Besides, it’s wiser not to meddle with villains that obvious unless you’re the protagonist. Usually, people like me who step up with righteous intentions don’t defeat the villains at all. We just end up becoming Death Flags, serving only to stoke the protagonist’s sense of justice.
Even if I got a line, it’d be something like, sobbing in the hero’s arms, ‘Please, please… build a better future for this nation in my stead… ugh.’ Kkeok-kkodak.
“…….”
Why would I do something like that? I can barely raise our Rose, and I have no idea where my life is headed.
Just this morning, Kiers caught me and lectured me until my ears rang about how to raise a child properly.
I shook my head firmly, trying to cut off the sisters’ lingering hopes.
“Think about it. Surely nobody has ever tried to teach that woman a lesson? If she’s still living like this, then she’s always been that kind of person. Why would you expect me to do what her own mother and father couldn’t?”
“Ah…….”
First, I pried Renie off my right arm.
“And even if they’re thoughtless and reckless, surely they aren’t so stupid as to not recognize the Grand Duke? People like that tend to tuck their tails in front of the strong. Who knows, they might just slink off quietly and go home?”
“Aah…….”
I shook Rea loose from my left arm too, nice and hard. While I rubbed my numb arm, the sisters pouted with teary faces. The sight shook me for a moment, but I still couldn’t abandon my dream of living a quiet, simple life, just for myself.
I turned sharply at the doorway, as if to reaffirm my resolve, and gave them a firm look.
“I won’t. I won’t do it. Dogs are meant to be dealt with by dogs, not by people.”
“Yo-your Highness.”
“Just you wait. Instead of a dog, I’ll become an elegant Grand Duchess.”
And, as novels always do, a condition or a lingering remark like that always means something is hiding behind it. I came to realize that before long.
But at the moment I said it, I didn’t know.

◇ ◆ ◇

A guest who reeks of villainy. That’s bound to be a nuisance.
“Ugh.”
I flopped onto the bed and stretched out. I hadn’t done a thing, yet time was slipping by quietly. Just keeping track of that man was exhausting, and now a guest on top of it? I couldn’t help worrying how much busier things would get.
It’s all because of Father.
When you think about it, my wariness toward guests all started at the Mayfield Viscount House. The head of the household was forever causing one disaster after another, so the only visitors we ever got were debt collectors.

“Father, there’s someone outside…”
“No, kids! Lock the door and pretend nobody’s home! Hurry!”

Whenever we heard footsteps in the distance, Father’s hushed roars would follow, and before I knew it, guests had become beings to be avoided in my mind. After we ran away in the dead of night, things eased up a little in that department, but now the situation had changed.
I’m barely starting to get used to the Grand Duke’s Castle, and now I have to receive guests? Can I really pull this off?

6. The Finest Lady, Rose

Brooks, the Empire’s unwanted stepchild, sneered openly at Kiers the moment he appeared. All he could think about was catching the Emperor’s eye, so he lashed out at Kiers in front of everyone, as if he’d been waiting for the chance.
“That beast is my brother? Who could ever accept such a thing! Get out of my sight!”

“…Honestly. What an insolent little brat with no sense of rank or decency.”
I forced myself to recall the handful of lines the novel spent describing him, and before I knew it, I was grinding out a curse. How dare he be so ill-mannered toward his own brother! After living his whole life as a wild good-for-nothing, doesn’t he have any shame? I ground my teeth quietly and rubbed my forehead hard.
Thank goodness I don’t have a brother like that. Since ancient times, a younger sibling has been legally defined as someone adorable and soft, haven’t they?
“Big sis!”
Just like our Rose!
“Come here!”
“Hehe, that tickles.”
I tickled Rose’s waist as she drew beside me, and she tumbled over, giggling. That we could spend such a peaceful time together on this soft bed, with our Rose, was something I couldn’t have imagined just a few weeks ago.
Except that this bed belongs to someone else.
“…Rose, what were you doing? Were you drawing?”
“Mm. Grandpa Count gave Rose colored pencils and paper, all of them.”
“Did he now?”
“Hehe.”
She had never once received a gift before, so even one colored pencil made her cheeks flush pink. She whispered proudly to me, but she didn’t dare grip the pencils tightly for fear they’d snap.
“…Let’s see, our Rose.”
Is this how Kiers looked at me?
As I watched her hug her colored pencils so tenderly, Rose belatedly pressed a few of them into my hands. She must have misread the look in my eyes.
“Sis, Rose’s favorite color is pink, but you can have it.”
“No, they’re yours, Rose. You use them.”
“But…”
“You don’t have to share these, Rose.”
Just as whenever I found something good, I thought of Rose first, Rose had always been the same. This is what sisterly affection looks like. Half-siblings or not, that good-for-nothing who snaps at his own brother is on an entirely different level.
Right. I have Rose, so what’s the big deal about receiving a guest!

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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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