The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 20

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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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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 20

I gazed at the side table and spoke.
“If I hit my face on the edge of this table, wouldn’t the wound be quite severe?”
Bibi’s expression shifted to one of surprise (though her face changed so little it was barely noticeable) as she replied.
“If the bone were damaged, your facial structure could be permanently disfigured.”
“What if I threw a stone into the air and caught it with my face…?”
“If it struck your eye by accident, you could lose your sight.”
“Should I wake Lloyd and have him strike me once? He’s certainly skilled at that.”
Listening to this absurd stream of suggestions, Bibi spoke with grim resolve.
“I shall do it.”
Bibi was a professional.
At the very least, she could inflict an injury far more safely than any of the methods I had proposed.
Yet I could not bring myself to nod at Bibi’s offer immediately.
“…Are you certain you can?”
“Yes.”
Bibi drew a deep breath and looked at me.
“I shall endeavor to make it as painless as possible.”
“All right then. I’m counting on you.”
I nodded and closed my eyes.
Bibi gazed at me with an anguished expression before striking my cheek.
Crack—!
The pain was in an entirely different league from when Lirika or Lloyd had struck me.
It felt as though my cheek had been torn from my face.
Yet I could not show the slightest hint of pain.
Because Bibi looked as though she might weep.
It was the first time I had ever seen such an expression on her perpetually composed face.
I grasped Bibi’s trembling hand and smiled brightly.
“It doesn’t hurt at all. Thank you, Bibi.”
At the sight of me smiling with one cheek swollen and flushed red, Bibi finally shed a single tear.
Since Bibi’s presence would complicate matters, I had given her jewels and instructed her to stay at a hotel outside the mansion.
But Bibi spoke earnestly.
“I wish to remain near you, my lady.”
In the end, Bibi returned to her original hiding place.
Afterward, I sent a letter to the Imperial Court informing them of Lloyd’s assault.
Normally, the Imperial Court did not involve itself in such trivial domestic matters.
Yet I sent the letter to leave indirect evidence that Lloyd had assaulted and beaten me.
But then something extraordinary happened.
Within mere hours of sending the letter, the Golden Knights arrived from the Imperial Palace.
‘How is this possible? Could there be someone among the Imperial Family who takes pity on me?’
Given that the scandal surrounding Artia and Lloyd has been shaking high society lately, it wasn’t entirely implausible.
Whoever it was, I was grateful for their intervention.
“We shall protect you, madam.”
The Golden Knights stood before Artia’s chamber door, their eyes blazing with righteous fury.
Intimidated by the wrathful aura of the armored warriors, Lloyd didn’t dare approach Artia again.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Artia tasted freedom and found peace.
She dined in the dining hall, strolled through the Garden, and read books in her chamber.
After several days had passed, the moment finally arrived.
The day the Emperor would render his judgment on the divorce of the Edenberg Duchy’s lord and lady.

* * *

In a darkened room with drawn curtains, Killian sat with legs crossed and finally spoke.
“Today is the day.”
Nocton, who had been arranging the tea service, tilted his head in confusion.
“What is, sir?”
“The day Artia von Edenberg is divorced.”
Nocton was taken aback.
Lately, all manner of nobility had been gossiping about the Edenberg Duchy couple’s divorce as casually as breathing, yet Killian remembering such trivialities was extraordinary.
‘The man who can barely recall his own birthday….’
Something had definitely changed about him recently.
Nocton made an effort to keep his expression neutral as he replied.
“Whether the divorce will be granted remains uncertain, sir. While many now support the dissolution of the Edenberg Duchy couple’s marriage, there are still those who believe it unseemly for a married couple to separate.”
Ultimately, what mattered was the Emperor’s decision.
No one in the Empire knew what lay in the heart of the Emperor, who remained confined to the Imperial Palace by illness.
“Why do you look at me that way?”
Nocton shrank back, his expression fearful.
Killian was regarding him with an unsettling gaze.
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t fathom why Killian seemed displeased.
Rather than answer, Killian rose to his feet.
Through the loosely draped robe, a physique corded with muscle was revealed.
Unlike his face—beautiful as if sculpted by a goddess—his body, forged in the crucible of war, was formidable and savage, almost bestial in its menace.
‘Terrifying….’
Nocton swallowed hard, sensing an instinctive threat, as Killian addressed him.
“Prepare my formal attire.”
“…?!”
Having spent years on the battlefield, I despised anything that felt confining.
On days without special engagements, I wore nothing but an unbuttoned shirt or, like today, merely draped a gown over my half-naked form.
‘Is there an event I’m unaware of?’
Nocton was curious but kept the question unspoken.
Once I issued a command, following without complaint was the first-rate skill of a servant attending to a mad Emperor.
“I shall prepare at once.”
After Nocton vanished, I swept my hair back.
In the darkness, my golden eyes gleamed.
Like a cat receiving the gift it had long awaited.

* * *

Artia stood before the mirror.
“A noblewoman’s adornment must always be splendid and beautiful, after all.”
But not today.
Today, Artia von Edenberg needed to appear as pitiful as possible.
Fortunately, it was not difficult.
Beneath the unadorned black dress, her collarbone jutted out sharply, and her arms were thin as withered branches.
The result of fasting these past few days.
“Already gaunt, and now even thinner—I look ready to collapse at any moment.”
But that was not all.
On her small face, the marks Lloyd had inflicted days ago—or rather, that Bibi had inflicted—remained vivid.
Artia traced the dark bruises and murmured to herself.
“All this effort pretending to apply healing salve while actually applying something to worsen the wounds—it was worth it.”
The effect was undeniable.
Every time the Golden Knights saw Artia’s face, they blazed with fury, cursing Lloyd as deserving of death.
‘If only the Emperor would do the same…’
I had done everything within my power.
I had cultivated an atmosphere where the nobility would not fiercely oppose the Emperor’s approval of a divorce.
I had even sent the Emperor documents densely filled with reasons why Artia must be divorced.
Yet I could not find peace of mind.
In his twenty-nine years of reign, the Emperor had never once approved a divorce.
“Please, let me be divorced today, I beg you.”
Artia whispered a desperate prayer to the goddess before leaving her chamber.

* * *

Artia flatly refused Lloyd’s suggestion that they share a carriage.
“I won’t.”
“Artia….”
As the Golden Knights escorting Artia widened their eyes in warning, Lloyd had no choice but to step back.
In the end, the two of them rode in separate carriages toward the Imperial Palace.
The attendant led them to an enormous Grand Chapel.
The building, constructed of white marble, hosted not only religious services but also the weddings of the Imperial Family and high nobility, as well as various imperial ceremonies.
As Artia, dressed in a black gown, stepped inside the building, memories of three years ago surfaced in her mind.
She had stood in this very place wearing a pristine white dress.
In pursuit of a slimmer waist, she had barely eaten for a month, leaving her utterly drained of energy.
The dress, encrusted with thousands of jewels, had been unbearably heavy, and her feet, trapped in pointed shoes, had throbbed with each step.
Above all, she had to stand before countless people.
For Artia, who feared their gazes, it had been a moment more terrifying than hell itself.
‘…Yet I was happy.’
Because Lloyd stood beside me.
I had been genuinely overjoyed at the fact that I was becoming the wife of the man I loved.
But contrary to my expectations, my marriage to Lloyd had been lonely, sorrowful, bitter, and miserable.
I endured it for three years.
‘That’s enough, Artia. Now let’s finally part ways with this tiresome first love.’
Unlike three years ago, there were no guests present today. In the silence, Artia lifted her head.
An elderly man with hair turned white as snow sat upon the dais.
The Emperor of the Empire—Gregory von Orpheus.

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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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