If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 75

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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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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 75
I tried to stifle my tears by biting my lips, but it was no use.
“I told you I’ll handle the dowry and everything else afterward. So why won’t you divorce me?”
“…You make it sound so simple.”
Basil’s voice reached me as though from a great distance.
“Do I sound like I’m making it simple?”
At the sound of what seemed like wounded words, Odette let out a hollow laugh.
“Besides, you don’t even like me—you hate this hollow marriage anyway.”
The day a debt collector had interrupted my tea time.
Unable to shake the image of Basil’s retreating figure from my mind, I had spent hours wrestling with my thoughts before visiting his office late that night.
Even if it was a political marriage, we were still husband and wife. I’d thought perhaps we could at least talk openly about what was happening between us.
But the moment I reached his office door, his voice leaked through the gap.
He muttered alone that those days burdened by debt had been better, then added in anguish:
“…I should never have made this marriage.”
I couldn’t bring myself to turn the doorknob.
“Fine, say I’m making it simple.”
My fists trembled as I recalled that night.
“I hate House of Plibie. I hate the crumbling, decaying mansion. I hate the desolate wind that blows from the cemetery every night. With no money, no power, no influence—forced to bow my head to anyone, even someone like me.”
Thud, thud.
My fists, striking Basil’s chest, slowly fell away.
“I hate my husband.”
Finally, my voice broke with tears.
“I can only speak this way.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say that my father seemed like he might kill you.
I had suspicions but no concrete evidence to present—that was my excuse.
Because if I did, Basil, who already regretted this marriage, would surely come to hate me rather than merely dislike me.
That was why.
“I’m Odette Crimson, the uncultured, wretched daughter of the ruthless Kaileb Crimson. Not Odette Plibie, but Odette Crimson—someone who doesn’t belong in the position of countess at all. So let’s divorce. Let’s get divorced, you and I. Yes?”
Basil, who had been silently accepting each blow I dealt, raised his hand.
I flinched instinctively and squeezed my eyes shut.
“My lady.”
But Basil’s hand moved toward my eyes instead.
“You don’t need to tell me so many times that you hate me.”
With a slightly trembling hand, Basil slowly wiped away my tears, speaking softly.
“I know. If it weren’t for me, you’d be living now in a beautiful castle befitting you, with a wonderful husband who could make you smile.”
“….”
“I’m sorry for being such an insufficient man that I make you cry. And I’m even sorrier that I can’t give you a divorce…that part troubles me more.”
Basil gently pressed my tears away with his collar and smiled faintly.
“Because I don’t hate you.”
Odette stared at him blankly.
A lie. He’d clearly said he regretted the marriage. She’d been about to lash out with those words.
But the moment she noticed the redness around Basil’s eyes as he forced a smile, Odette lost her voice.
Basil brushed away the tears from her eyes and whispered.
“I am also… someone who can only say such things, and I am most sorry for that.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Sleep well, madam.”
With those tender words, Basil pressed his lips to my forehead and slowly turned to leave.
It was no illusion—his receding shoulders trembled faintly, as if he were weeping.
Rooted to the spot, I watched his retreating figure until I slowly sank to the floor.
As I numbly turned over Basil’s words—that he did not hate me—I shook my head urgently.
‘No, Odette. Nothing will change. If things go as I think, Father will… on the day of the heir designation banquet, Basil will…’
I slapped my own cheeks sharply and clenched my teeth.
Whatever the reason, Basil still had no intention of granting me a divorce.
Looking around, I fixed my gaze on the box that Julius Noel’s guests had given me.
‘Yes, those people…’
I knew well of Julius Noel, the sudden millionaire who now held 10 billion gold in his hands.
He had come into his wealth thanks to La Mare—in other words, Crimson’s rival company.
‘Even if my connection to Crimson is severed, they could still help Basil.’
My resolve solidified.
‘…I have no choice but to disappear.’
If the ‘heir’ ceased to exist, nothing would go wrong for Basil.
But merely revealing the fake pregnancy would not suffice.
“Even if the child becomes ill, even if something goes wrong, or even if… the child in your womb is not Plivier’s child.”
Father was the kind of person who would say such horrible things about saving the baby or not.
He might try to cover up the truth of the fake pregnancy by any means necessary.
So I myself, the connecting link, had to disappear entirely.
‘This is the right thing to do.’
With that thought, I opened the vault.
As I counted the remaining jewels and accessories, I clenched my fists tightly.
***
The next morning.
To erase any trace of her tears, Odette applied her makeup far more elaborately than usual.
As I studied my reflection in the mirror, I turned to glance behind me. A bag slightly larger than what I typically carried sat in view.
‘With jewels of that caliber, I’ll have more than enough to live comfortably beyond the Empire’s borders.’
Since the banquet was tomorrow, today was my only chance to escape.
I would excuse myself from the mansion under the pretense of finding the banquet preparations too bothersome, then catch the next train south and board a ship.
Even my father, renowned as he was, couldn’t pluck a person off a ship once it set sail.
‘I’ll buy whatever I need in the Southern Region, so I should travel as light as possible. Make it look like an ordinary outing.’
I was grateful it was summer. A single change of clothes fit snugly into the bag.
I’d deliberately dressed in eye-catching finery before leaving, so once I removed my makeup and changed into plain clothes, any pursuit would be delayed. Besides, I planned to remove the padding from my dress on the ship, which would create even more confusion.
‘Father won’t publicly announce that I was never actually pregnant just to save face, so he won’t issue a widespread search.’
[Divorce Papers]
My eyes grew distant as I looked at the divorce papers I’d written long ago and the vault room key, both tucked into the top drawer of my vanity.
What if, just what if.
‘…What if I start missing Basil?’
He would likely be in the study by now. Should I at least say a final goodbye?
The impulse surged through me, but I forced myself to shake my head firmly.
If I saw his face, I would waver. I might even allow myself to hope that some solution could still emerge.
But with my father being Kaileb Crimson, such fortune was impossible.
I fidgeted with my wedding ring, then slipped it off.
“….”
I placed it atop the divorce papers and hesitated as I reached to close the drawer, then took the ring back into my hand.
“Just this one thing… I can take this much, can’t I?”
I murmured bitterly as I placed the wedding ring into my bag and rose to my feet.
“Ma’am, are you going out?”
As I headed toward the main entrance as naturally as possible, one of the maids fell into step behind me.
She was one of the newly hired servants. Her name was Sarah, if I recalled correctly.
‘I needed an alias for boarding the train and ship anyway. I could use her name.’
“Are you going shopping? If you tell me which store, I’ll send word ahead that you’re coming.”
I remembered thinking she was a good hire—personable and sharp. But now that quality didn’t feel like an advantage.
“Never mind. I’m just going out for some air.”
“Pardon? But still… ah, if you give me the bag, I’ll put it in the carriage for you….”
“I said never mind!”
I snapped irritably at Sarah, biting the inside of my cheek.
It wasn’t her fault, yet I’d lashed out anyway. What was amusing was that, perhaps because I’d been acting so much lately and had grown so temperamental, Sarah simply stepped back without complaint and bowed her head respectfully.
I was never like this before….
With a complicated heart, I threw out my next words.
“The banquet preparations are making too much noise. I’ll be back late tonight. Make sure everything is ready before evening. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Go on.”
…But why does she look so cheerful despite being scolded? It’s irritating.
She looks like someone whose predictions came true and she’s delighted by it. My mood is so twisted that everything grates on my nerves.
Odette sighed and paused mid-step.
In the distance, I spotted Basil in the garden. Across from him sat a frail-looking man who was supposedly Julius Noel’s legal advisor.
‘The investment discussion seems to be going well. …He’s smiling, after all.’
Basil was smiling as he tilted his coffee cup.
‘…He’s never smiled at me like that.’
My heart sank, and I hastily turned my head away, biting my lip.
Wasn’t there also that short-haired woman besides that man?
‘Where did she go?’
I caught a glimpse of her earlier, and I remember she was beautiful. She had a gentle, kind impression. …Unlike myself, with my sharp and bitter features.
Did Basil smile at the short-haired woman like that too?
The thought of it felt like a stone settling in my chest.
‘I shouldn’t have looked. …See? Now I’m wavering.’
Shaking my head vigorously, I deliberately turned my gaze away and headed toward the carriage.
I felt the urge to keep looking back, but I gritted my teeth and resisted.
“Let’s go to the Shopping District.”
The Train Station was close to the Shopping District.
I’d change clothes at the café and then dash straight to the station.
As I was hastily mapping out my route in my mind, a knock suddenly sounded, and I jumped.
“What, what is it!”
Looking out the window, the person tapping on the carriage door was completely unexpected.
“Hello, madam.”
It was her.
The short-haired woman with black hair, Julius Noel’s secretary.
The woman smiled brightly and gestured casually toward the inside of the carriage.
“May I ride along with you?”
She asked so naturally that I almost said yes on the spot.

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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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