My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 26

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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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Beldamin Pollen acknowledged the necessity of amending the Inheritance Law.
I naturally assumed he would accept my financial backing, given that receiving political funds from nobility was perfectly legal.
Besides, a politician always required funding.
Before submitting an amended draft proposal to His Imperial Majesty, he would need to gather numerous signatures, which inevitably meant lobbying. Investigating the current legal climate to prove the law’s absurdity also demanded money.
Yet, a politician was turning down money.
‘Moreover…’
What truly unsettled me was that ours was not a transactional relationship.
I had to trust him based on nothing but pure faith and goodwill, a dynamic completely foreign to me.
There had to be a mutual give-and-take between people.
If he accepted nothing from me, I would feel indebted every time I asked for a favor.
“Won’t you please just accept my sponsorship?”
I was entirely sincere, but Beldamin shook his head once more.
“Haha. I will certainly reach out when the need arises, so please look after me then.”
I could see exactly why he was close friends with that rigid Papilion Cortius.
Left with no alternative, I nodded, prompting him to offer a suggestion.
“Instead, I would like to meet more frequently. I am gathering opinions from various people to draft the proposal…”
“I would be glad to grant such a request. In fact, having my input reflected works entirely to my advantage.”
Beldamin conceded with a nod and handed me a document.
“I brought the draft proposal, thinking you might be curious.”
I accepted it eagerly and scanned the contents.
The clause stating ‘Inheritance prohibited for unmarried women’ had been completely omitted.
The wheels were turning. It seemed my anxieties had been entirely in vain.
“When do you think the bill will pass?”
“It will take at least three months, I imagine.”
Three months. That was quite manageable.
I simply needed to hold out without getting a divorce until then, right?
* * *
Thereafter, Scheit Huniswald behaved exactly as he always had.
Whenever we went out together, he would say things like,
“The glare was so bright I thought the sun had risen. But it was only you, Lini.”
He spouted such nonsense that goosebumps prickled my skin, and the sheer embarrassment made it impossible to linger in one place for long.
Still, he made no mention of a divorce.
‘Is he trying to keep me from going outside?’
To be precise, he seemed intent on sabotaging my attendance at social gatherings.
The moment a carriage rolled up to the entrance, Scheit would fully dress and step out of his room.
He even went so far as to subtly threaten me against leaving.
‘Is there a rumor out there that I am not supposed to know about?’
If so, that was all the more reason to go out and investigate.
I would visit the Opera House in the Square or perhaps an art exhibition. I would go and listen to every bit of gossip circulating.
To slip out unnoticed, I carefully cracked open my bedroom door.
Fortunately, Scheit’s door remained firmly shut, and the hallway stood completely empty.
Lifting my heels to walk soundlessly, I slipped outside through the back door.
Then, I headed straight for the stable.
The stablehand evidently had not expected me to come in person, rushing out the moment he spotted me.
“Baroness. What brings you all the way out here…?”
“I need a horse. I intend to take Silfina, where is she?”
Fidgeting anxiously, the stablehand stammered out his explanation.
“I reported it to the master, but it seems the message has not reached you yet, Baroness. Truth is, all the horses began vomiting a few days ago…”
“What? Then what about Silfina?”
Upon stepping into the stable, I found most of the horses lying down with their legs folded beneath them.
With the horses in this condition, they had not even given me a single word of warning?
As I stroked the curled-up Silfina, drawing a deep breath of rising fury, the stablehand continued his explanation.
“Thankfully, the Baron summoned an equine veterinarian immediately, so they are all in the recovery stage. It is not an illness; we recently changed their feed, and it might just be that they failed to adjust…”
“So there isn’t a single horse I can ride right now?”
He appeared to deliberate for a moment before inquiring tentatively.
“Should I go and borrow one from elsewhere?”
That would consume far too much time.
In that interval, Scheit might realize my absence and come looking for me.
Should I ride a donkey? No, that would be far too undignified…
As I stood there weighing my options, the stablehand spoke up hesitantly.
“Um, Baroness.”
“Yes.”
“Actually, there is a horse that arrived recently as a gift. It is still adjusting and has been refusing food, so its condition is perfectly fine, but it has not been fully groomed yet and its temperament remains unknown…”
“Could you bring it out first?”
The horse the stablehand led out appeared sturdier than expected, enough to pass for a warhorse.
Seeing it snort the moment it caught sight of me, its temperament seemed decent enough as well.
“I’ll take this one.”
The stablehand nodded and assisted me in mounting the beast.
Since I was wearing a dress, I gathered my legs to one side before gripping the reins.
“Thank you for your help.”
I offered a brief nod and set off immediately.
Guiding the horse along a path hidden from Scheit’s window, I passed through the main gates.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I intended to stop by the boutique first, when,
“Oh?”
The horse began to pick up speed.
“Why—why is it doing this? Stop!”
Panicking, I yanked hard on the reins, but the horse only struck the ground faster.
To avoid being thrown off, I gripped the leather lines even tighter, lowering my posture to maintain my balance.
The scenery rushed past my eyes like a torrential stream.
The surrounding view felt strangely familiar.
‘This is the road to the Palace!’
In the distance, the entrance to the Palace was already coming into view.
The horse was hurtling directly toward the entrance meant strictly for carriages.
To pass through, one had to present identification.
Noticing the horse charging at breakneck speed, the guards stepped forward to block the path.
“Halt!”
I want to do exactly that!
Tears pricked my eyes from sheer terror. I pulled back on the reins with all my might, but the horse refused to slow.
At this rate, it was going to trample someone!
Had I been riding astride, I could have squeezed the horse’s flanks with my thighs to signal it to stop, but of all things, I was riding sidesaddle.
I yanked the reins to change direction, but even that command went unheeded.
“Please, please…!”
Crying out desperately, I leaned back until I was practically lying flat, pulling the reins with everything I had.
Fortunately, the beast finally began to decelerate.
As I drew closer, the guards recognized my face and parted to clear the path.
I had possessed no intention of entering, yet by the time the horse halted, I was already deep within the Palace grounds.
Moreover, it was right in front of the building where the administrative offices were clustered.
Though the horse had stopped, my heart continued to hammer violently against my ribs.
That had nearly been a catastrophic accident. It was a stroke of absolute luck that there were few people or carriages on the path where the horse had bolted. What if it had collided with someone and caused an injury? What if I had lost my balance, fallen, and been crushed beneath its hooves…
The mere thought made me dizzy.
With hands trembling uncontrollably against the reins, I managed to dismount onto the ground.
The Palace was entirely open to the nobility, save for the private quarters of the Imperial family.
Since hundreds of nobles practically resided within the Imperial Castle, the place always bustled with crowds.
Which meant that a vast multitude of people already surrounded me as I suddenly appeared on horseback.
Before I could even catch my breath, wild rumors drifted into my ears.
“Isn’t that the Baroness Huniswald?”
“I heard they’re getting a divorce.”
“Didn’t they get along well?”
“Word has it a divorce lawyer was frequenting the estate. The wife summoned him, but the Baron supposedly treated him to a meal and sent him packing.”
“They say Beldamin Pollen is her paramour. More than a few people have witnessed them enjoying trysts completely alone at a restaurant.”
“Oh my. Then is the wife trying to abandon the Baron?”
“Well, when I saw them last time, the Baron clearly cherished her, but the wife looked rather displeased.”
The ‘acquaintance’ Scheit had mentioned was a divorce lawyer?
And Beldamin Pollen was my paramour?
A breathless, hollow laugh threatened to escape me.
So this was the rumor he had been trying so hard to suppress.
I was barely maintaining a polite smile while absorbing the gossip when it happened.
Whoosh, thwack!
“Neighhh!”
Accompanied by the dull thud of something striking flesh, the horse reared its front legs high into the air.
The reins yanked upward violently, throwing my body severely off balance.
Before I could even attempt to steady myself, the horse’s front hooves and massive chest filled my vision entirely.
“Ahhh!”
“The Baroness!”
The screams of the fleeing onlookers sounded entirely surreal.
My mind went completely blank, and before I could even try to dodge, the breath caught in my throat as the strength drained from my legs.
The moment I collapsed outward, the hooves came crashing down at terrifying speed.
‘I’m going to die.’
Just as I was on the verge of fainting from sheer, paralyzing terror, a sudden force yanked me backward, dragging my body clear.
The very instant the face of the person who had pulled me to safety burned into my retina, my consciousness gave out entirely.

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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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