I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - Chapter 5

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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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Looking Eliya over, my eldest sister turned her body as far away as she could and pretended not to notice. She was relieved she wouldn’t have to go, yet apparently she still had enough of a conscience to feel some shame.
Both of my older sisters couldn’t hold their heads up properly no matter what I said now.
“…Then I’ll take it that we’re done here.”
With a sigh, I settled the matter and rose from my seat. If I stayed any longer, I might end up regretting my decision.
Behind my back, Rose burst into bitter sobs, but no one thought to comfort her.
Not even me.

◇ ◆ ◇

Just because it was deep into the night didn’t mean sleep would come. After sitting dazed in the living room for hours, I forced myself to my feet.
‘Am I really doing the right thing?’
Even after talking so big, I kept wishing I could turn back time.
Why on earth should I sacrifice myself for a family like that!
And it’s not like the original me was some saint to begin with!
In truth, back in Korea I had been an intensely calculating person. Born into a family with nothing, I had no choice but to become that way, yet I never settled for less or gave up.
Restaurants, construction sites, landscaping companies, building firms.
There wasn’t a part-time job I hadn’t tried just to scrape by, and through sheer grit I’d finally landed a spot at a real estate development company known throughout the industry, where I became a promising talent.
Yet I had never spent a single won on myself, pouring everything into my family, and the first gift I ever gave myself was…
“…Think I’ll break them.”
I glared at the finger that had clicked “purchase” on ‘Beauty and the Night Beast’ as if I meant to snap it in two. I’d agonized over it more than a hundred times, but that day, some kind of spell must have taken hold, and I shut my eyes and clicked the payment window. That was how I fell headlong into a novel I’d paid for for the first time in my life, which was no different from digging my own grave.
Most likely, every won I had scraped together so stubbornly was left behind for my younger siblings. But the fact that I don’t grudge it so much makes me think I’m only now realizing where my greatest sense of fulfillment truly lay.
“….”
As if drawn by something, I slowly approached the room. When I carefully opened the creaking door, a small figure came into view on the bed. The child who, every night, would only fall asleep after hearing a fairy tale from me was strangely motionless.
“Rose,” I called out to my youngest sister, and only when I drew close did her shoulders twitch.
“…Hic.”
Even so, Rose never opened her eyes. Though her eyes were swollen and tears kept spilling down, she neither sobbed nor reached out to hold on to me.
Ugh, this little one with her deep heart.
When I stroked her hair, the silky strands tangled around my fingers. She was probably doing this on purpose, trying to ease the heart of someone who had to leave.
Whatever the law of conservation of mass is called, it seems all the sense this family was supposed to have went straight to our Rose.
And it wasn’t only her kindness. It wasn’t just because she was my sister either. Rose was smart and quick-witted. Had she received a proper education in the capital, she might have become a talent who could outshine Melanie.
But here, she was nothing more than a burden who wouldn’t be missed whether she was around or not.
“…Rose, are you really asleep?”
“Mm.”
At my whisper, the youngest’s eyelids fluttered. She seemed determined to keep pretending she was asleep, but she couldn’t fool me.
“Rose, my story is just beginning. Are you going to sleep without listening?”
“…Huh? But you’re leaving… *sniff*.”
“Someone has to become the bride, after all.”
I stroked Rose’s hair as she finally burst into tears. Even as I soothed her gently, her grief and worry only grew.
“B-but… You two said it yourselves. The Grand Duke is a devil and a terrifying beast. *sniff*.”
“Oh, come on, there’s more to the story than that. Don’t you remember?”
“Hm?”
Her childlike curiosity finally responded. Whip, I glanced around, then lowered my voice even further and leaned my head close to Rose’s ear.
“…The whole North belongs to that man, you know.”

◇ ◆ ◇

Whether he was a beast or a male lead, I learned just how impatient the Duke was in less than two days.
I woke up as usual to prepare breakfast, only to find the area around the cottage in an uproar. The procession of enormous warhorses was far too grand to belong to creditors chasing my father.
“G-good heavens. What on earth is all this…”
Anyone looking at this would think we’d committed treason.
I gazed up at the ominously black carriage and shook my head. No matter how generously I tried to see it, it looked far more like a prisoner transport convoy than a bride’s procession. The carriage was draped entirely in black velvet, without even the usual ornament.

The Duke, cursed as he was, despised revealing his presence above all else. Not only his clothing but even his carriage had been stripped of every sign that would reveal his rank.

“….”
Recalling the passage that described him, I swallowed a bitter feeling. If I felt any pity for him, that would be nothing but meddling.
Setting aside that he had to hide away for something that wasn’t even his fault, I honestly couldn’t tell whether it was normal to haul off a bride, something that happens only once in a lifetime, in this manner.
…It’s done. Who am I worrying about right now?
Either way, the male lead is still the male lead. Whatever state he’s in, the Grand Duke is destined to become the famed virility king whose name spreads across the continent. With a beautiful heroine to share his bed until the seams split, he’ll live well enough. It’s not my place to worry about him, not when I’m the one who’s about to get my hide peeled off.
“Viscount Mayfield and your daughter Eliya, you are to submit to the command of His Highness the Grand Duke!”
The Grand Duke’s knight at the front of the group leapt down from his horse and stepped forward with an imposing air. My father, already pale as a sheet, stopped halfway out of the house and turned to look at me.
“Be… no, Eliya.”
“Did you call me?”
Oh, for heaven’s sake!
I shot a sharp, warning nod at my father, who could bungle anything he touched, and then stepped forward to meet the knight first.
I bent my knees in a proper curtsy, the empty title of Grand Duchess or not, and the rattle of armor filled the entire front yard.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jerome of the Starfield Count Family. On behalf of His Highness the Grand Duke, I have come to escort you, my lady.”
“I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“…Yes.”
Jerome bowed his head, clearly puzzled by how composed I was. He’d probably come prepared to drag me away kicking and wailing, and now here I was being perfectly calm. What a shame for him.
I bit the inside of my cheek and sized up his face from the corner of my eye.
Hmm… Jerome, so this is Jerome. Brown hair, blue eyes, the classic handsome man, and seeing him up close made me feel things anew. He doesn’t know who I am, but I know him well. The Count’s eldest son and the Grand Duke’s right-hand man, he carried quite a bit of weight in the novel.
Of course, true to an Adult Novel, the supporting character Jerome also grows more and more… no. Now isn’t the time for that.
“Are you all right? Your face suddenly turned red.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
I fanned my flushed face with my hand and stepped back.
Wait. If this man is this good-looking, just how handsome is the Grand Duke supposed to be?

Jerome, who had been quite the sensation when he stood alone, lost all his shine the instant the Grand Duke appeared.

That was one of the copy-paste lines the novel never tired of repeating.
Though it’s a supporting character’s fate to play second fiddle to the protagonist, Jerome was the kind of man every reader secretly kept a little place for in their heart, the sort of gentleman you’d find at church.
“Father, since we’re already acquainted, I should greet him too…”
“El— no, Bella! Get inside this instant!”
…Why did I let my guard down around that man?
Eliya, who had been hiding behind the door, would never let such a handsome man slip past her. Now that I think about it, the original story said the eldest sister would have an affair with one of the Grand Duke’s knights. Could it have been Sir Jerome all along? Yes, that’s entirely possible.
A jolt of alarm ran through me, and I hurried to get ready. If I dawdled any longer, something disastrous would happen before we even set off.
First, I rapped on the chest beside me to draw Jerome’s gaze away.
“Would you mind loading the luggage for me? Just this is all you need to take.”
“…Excuse me? Is this really everything?”
Jerome furrowed his brows, looking surprised. I was supposed to be a Grand Duchess and a noble daughter, yet there was only one trunk. His reaction was hardly unreasonable.
Just how poor are we?
I answered his stunned look with a wistful smile.
“Um, could you step aside for a moment, please?”
“But we’re short on time…”
“I’d like to say a proper goodbye to my family before I go.”
Jerome had no choice but to give way. Looking at this household, nothing but sisters from every angle, he probably thought a tearful farewell was about to begin. But that’s exactly the kind of fantasy men like to cherish.
“…”
“Bella, are you really going? What is this, honestly. It should have been our eldest sister who went.”
“You’re no different! Melanie!”
“What? You’re the older sister and all you do is cause trouble!”
The moment the men were out of sight, my sisters snarled at each other as if they’d been waiting for the chance. Father, meanwhile, paced around me in a flutter, terrified that the switch of daughters might be discovered.
“Bella, what if His Highness the Grand Duke finds out? What will we do?”
“Don’t worry. The worst that can happen is that I die.”
“…B-Bella.”
At the mention of death, my sisters turned toward me as one. I shook my head calmly at them, as though they were only now facing the truth that we were really parting.

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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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