I’ll Become the Heroine’s Capable Divorce Partner - Chapter 49

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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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Chapter 49

‘I’m scared.’

I had lived my life holding my breath and keeping myself low, afraid of earning David’s displeasure.

The countless words piled up layer upon layer in my heart, words I had never been able to voice.

Until now, I thought living that way was natural.

But.

‘Now… I don’t want to back down anymore.’

Isabel lifted her head straight up.

Her clear green gaze looked directly at David.

“I’m sorry if it sounded like I was arguing back. But I still…”

Isabel took a moment to steady her breathing before clearly finishing her words.

“I think the family’s interests are important, but the young lady’s happiness is important too.”

“Isabel!”

David raised his voice angrily.

However, Isabel’s eyes remained calm and unwavering.

“I dare to ask you, Your Grace. Is wishing for a family member’s happiness behavior unbecoming of a duchess?”

“……”

David felt himself at a loss for words.

He wanted to argue back somehow, but he was at a loss for what to say.

But then.

Knock knock.

A knock sounded.

At the same time, a worried voice came from beyond the door.

“Sister-in-law, are you feeling alright?”

It was Elodie.

David, who was agitated, irritably threw open the door.

“Elodie, why are you here…!”

But David couldn’t finish scolding her.

Because not only Elodie but also Marquis Bartsen was with her.

“I asked the Marquis for permission and came with him.”

Elodie looked up at David with an innocent face as if she knew nothing.

“We couldn’t very well enjoy touring the garden in peace when the duchess was feeling unwell.”

Marquis Bartsen smiled good-naturedly and supported Elodie.

“The princess is truly caring. She was very worried about the duchess.”

“Ah, thank you for your concern.”

Isabel quickly stepped forward and smiled brightly.

“I just had a moment of dizziness. I’m fine now.”

“Really? That’s a relief, but…”

The two women chatted amicably.

Normally, he would have lost his temper regardless.

‘Damn it, the Marquis is right there.’

With someone watching, he couldn’t bring himself to get angry.

David suppressed his boiling anger and glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye.

‘Why is Isabel being so defiant?’

He felt strangely unsettled.

It was like a puppy that had always looked only at him had finally withdrawn its attention from its master.

What was this strange sense of defeat…

* * *

After Marisa’s eventful birthday party ended.

I went to find Isabel late at night.

“Sister-in-law.”

“You came, young lady?”

Isabel warmly welcomed me.

I had been worried that she might have been very shocked by what happened during the day.

But her expression looked more comfortable than I expected.

“Are you okay? Earlier when you two were alone, it seemed like Elder Brother spoke harshly…”

I found myself unconsciously being cautious.

When I had just knocked on the door earlier.

The atmosphere between the two hadn’t been very good.

That was probably.

“…because of me, wasn’t it?”

Because she had protected me from Marquis Bartsen.

If she hadn’t bothered to help me, she wouldn’t have had to be scolded by David.

“Don’t be so cautious. I’m fine.”

Isabel gently softened her eyes toward me as I hesitated.

“Wishing for family happiness is natural, isn’t it?”

“…Sister-in-law.”

“If you keep acting awkward, I’ll feel uncomfortable too.”

Isabel playfully scolded me and added in a relieved voice.

“More than that, I think that was the first time I ever expressed my opinion to His Grace.”

Isabel’s smile deepened even more.

It was a smile as bright as sunlight.

“I thought I’d have to live my whole life keeping my mouth shut… but it really feels refreshing.”

At that moment.

I truly felt Isabel’s change with my whole being.

‘Isabel has really changed so much too.’

She forgave me when I was once cruel and accepted me as family.

She decided to open Bella’s dress shop.

And she even confidently expressed her opinion to David.

Such an Isabel was truly dazzling.

…I could see why she was the female protagonist of this world.

“Oh right, that’s it.”

At the same time, Isabel looked back at me with a mischievous expression.

“Earlier when I called His Grace ‘darling.'”

Isabel’s eyes sparkled like a mischievous child toward me as I blinked in bewilderment.

“Did you see Baron Scofield’s daughter’s expression?”

Ah.

Of course I saw it.

Her face was completely distorted, and she was trembling with her shoulders shaking…

“Pfft.”

A sound like air escaping leaked from between my lips.

I burst out laughing loudly.

“It was really funny!”

“Right? I wasn’t the only one who found it funny, was I?”

We chatted away like that until late into the night.

It was like drinking a cup of cold carbonated water.

I felt like my stuffy chest had been completely cleared.

* * *

Inside the carriage returning to the Marquis Bartsen’s townhouse.

The Marquis looked down at the rose bouquet in his hands.

It was a flower the Duchess had prepared for him before leaving the Laventess Ducal Residence.

‘These roses are quite lovely.’

The Marquis had deliberately chosen the pink roses.

Because this vivid color reminded him of someone.

That’s right.

Someone with beauty more radiant than these roses…

“Princess Laventess.”

Elodie von Laventess.

Fragrant roses have thorns.

The Princess was the same way.

Thanks to her outstanding beauty and overwhelming status, she reigned as the queen of high society.

But she was equally known to be arrogant and sharp-tempered.

They also said her head was completely empty.

However.

‘She didn’t seem that way in person.’

The Princess Laventess he saw today was a woman with excellent artistic insight.

Instead of preparing common jewels or precious items as gifts, she had chosen rare porcelain imported from the East.

And the way she gently explained about the porcelain…

‘Yes, she’s not bad at all.’

The Marquis already knew.

That Duke Laventess was subtly pushing Elodie as his match.

With her excellent status, young age, and beautiful appearance as advantages.

He must be calculating that he could secure a solid position through this marriage…

“…She’s a woman worth paying a high price for.”

The Marquis’s lips curved into an arc.

Until he finally arrived at the marquis’s residence and handed the bouquet to his attendant.

That satisfied smile never left his face.

* * *

At that moment.

The Crown Prince’s annex located on Elton Street.

“…Your Highness.”

“……”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

Ah.

Joshua suddenly came to his senses and raised his head.

Samuel, the Crown Prince’s personal secretary, was looking at Joshua with a puzzled expression.

“Is something troubling you?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Joshua shook his head.

Samuel handed Joshua a stack of documents.

“Here are the documents you requested.”

“Thank you.”

Joshua took the documents and turned the pages.

But the words wouldn’t register in his eyes at all.

That was because the scene he witnessed earlier in the day was too strange.

‘Uncle, and Duke Laventess.’

Today was the day the House of Lords meeting was held.

But as soon as the meeting ended, Duke Laventess and Marquis Bartsen rose from their seats together.

While their status was similar, the Duke was quite young.

There was quite an age gap for the two to be socializing together.

‘Shall we go together, Marquis?’

The Marquis laughed heartily and replied to the Duke’s polite suggestion.

‘Haha, I’m not sure if I should intrude on such a fine occasion.’

‘What are you saying? Mother’s birthday will shine even brighter with your presence, Marquis.’

…Since when had the two of them been acquainted?

Joshua felt a bit puzzled.

Of course, friendship could transcend age, but until now there had been no particular connection between the two.

As some of the Empire’s few high-ranking nobles, they had only known each other by face.

‘If you visit us, our Elodie will be delighted as well.’

The Duke added those words with a smiling face.

At the same time, Joshua unconsciously hesitated.

‘Elodie… you mean Princess Laventess?’

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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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