The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 99

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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 99

“The staff?”
“Yes. The maids and servants working at the mansion—don’t they know about Count Elysium’s assault?”
“…My husband always beat me in my room. I never let anyone see the bruises, but I think the mansion’s staff must have noticed. They just never said anything.”
Artia’s pink eyes gleamed with determination.
“Then let’s find someone among the staff willing to testify.”
Unlike Artia’s clear resolve, Frigia wore an anxious expression.
She simply couldn’t muster the courage to return to the mansion. Artia spoke as if to reassure her.
“You don’t need to be involved, Frigia. There’s someone far better suited for this.”
Artia summoned Susan, the head maid.
Having worked as a maid at the Convent for over twenty years, she knew many servants, and among them were those employed at House of Elysium.
After hearing the situation from Artia, Susan spoke.
“I shall look into it.”
“Thank you.”
Frigia spoke, her face flushing slightly.
At that moment, Marigold interjected. She removed all her jewelry—the rings on her fingers and the bracelets adorning her wrists—and handed them to Susan.
“No one will come forward to testify without compensation. Give them enough jewels that they can’t refuse to take our side. If it’s not enough, they can always visit House of Golthus for more, and whatever remains is yours.”
Dahlia, standing nearby, also produced a silk purse. It contained a substantial sum of emergency funds she always carried in case of unexpected circumstances.
“Use this as well.”
Susan gazed at the two noblewomen with astonished eyes, then nodded calmly.
“I shall do so.”
After Susan left the room, Artia spoke.
“I’ve entrusted finding witnesses to Susan, so now let’s discuss what we must do.”
To Marigold, whose eyes blazed with the intensity of someone ready to throttle Count Elysium on the spot, and to Dahlia, who was mentally composing a deeply venomous curse letter directed at the Count, Artia continued.
“The factors that can influence a trial are evidence, witnesses, and public opinion.”
Unfortunately, current public opinion was not favorable to Frigia.
Even if her assault were proven true, many believed that reporting her husband to the Court was a blameworthy act. The reasoning was that such matters should be resolved within the family, not exposed to the outside world.
Just as Frigia was about to lower her head in dejection, Marigold cried out.
“Who’s spouting such nonsense? I ought to sew their mouths shut.”
Dahlia also spoke in a cool voice.
“Count Elysium is clearly the perpetrator. It’s wrong to blame Frigia, the victim.”
Artia nodded in agreement.
“I agree. So let’s change public opinion to align with our thinking.”
As the three women listened to what Artia said next, their expressions grew increasingly astonished.
Marigold’s face took on the look of someone realizing that the gentle rabbit they’d thought her to be was actually a master of the back kick.
“So it wasn’t luck that allowed me to divorce. I created the circumstances that made divorce possible.”
Artia smiled shyly.
“I realized that simply waiting patiently would never bring about the situation I desired.”
Artia’s pink eyes sparkled as she gazed at the three women.
“If you want something, you must strive for it yourself and seize it.”

* * *

The women who entered the Banquet Hall of House of Golthus could not help but gape in astonishment.
Chandeliers studded with diamonds, vibrant spring flowers rarely seen in this season, desserts dusted with gold powder, and a hundred servants and attendants dressed in the finest formal wear and gowns.
Marigold appeared in a space that transcended mere elegance—a display of extravagant, overwhelming wealth.
Marigold smiled, adorned from head to toe with diamonds so large one worried they might be too heavy.
“Welcome, everyone.”
Marigold continued speaking to the women, whose gazes were captivated by her appearance, which was ten times more resplendent than usual.
“I’ve held this gathering after so long because I wished to speak with you all. You’ve all heard the news about Frigia, haven’t you?”
Marigold dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief embroidered with golden thread.
“When I heard the news, my heart ached so terribly that I wept for days. To suffer such frightening and horrible things at the hands of her own husband—how terrified she must have been. Poor Frigia….”
The women were bewildered.
So the recent rumors that the Flower Ladies’ bond had weakened were all false.
Marigold still appeared to be Frigia’s staunch ally.
Like a theatrical actress, Marigold wiped away tears with a tragic expression, recalling Artia’s words.
“If the women understand that the bond between the three Flower Ladies remains unshaken, they won’t easily condemn Frigia. Rather, they’ll sympathize with her. After all, there aren’t many women in High Society who don’t heed the Flower Ladies’ influence.”
Artia’s words proved true.
The women surrounding Marigold eagerly nodded in agreement.
“When I heard the news, I was so worried I could hardly bear it. To think such suffering existed behind someone who always seemed so happy….”
Some women actively took Frigia’s side.
“It’s truly disappointing that Count Elysium, who seemed to love and cherish his wife so much, would do such a thing.”
Artia’s voice continued.
“Of course, not all women will think this way.”
One woman cried out with a sharp expression.
“Don’t speak of things you don’t understand. Count Elysium claims that his wife fabricated and exaggerated a minor incident of drunkenness and reported it, and he completely denies the assault. He says he’s frustrated and saddened, unable to understand why his wife would do such a thing.”
Countess Axina.
She had long been among those opposed to the Flower Ladies. She glared at Marigold sharply.
“And even if Count Elysium did commit assault, reporting one’s husband to the Court is clearly a wrong action. What wife in this world would try to make her husband a criminal?”
This woman. Let’s see what she does.
Marigold was about to speak, breathing heavily like an enraged wild boar, when Dahlia, standing beside her, stepped forward.
“Countess Axina, I believe we should refrain from speaking carelessly about matters whose truth or falsehood remains uncertain, as you yourself have suggested. However….”
Dahlia continued, looking at Countess Axina and the other women.
“It’s incomprehensible to condemn the act of reporting rather than the assault itself. Between assaulting one’s spouse and exposing that assault, which is the greater sin? It’s so obvious that even a child could understand.”
Faced with such fair and righteous words, as if spoken by an impartial judge, Countess Axina could not offer a rebuttal.
“But no matter how hard Marigold and Dahlia try, there will be limits. At best, they’ll only shake the board. We need to overturn it entirely. To do that, we must make people move beyond mere surface agreement and truly stand with Frigia.”
How?
Artia’s eyes grew bitter as the three women posed the question.
“How many wives in this Convent do you think are beaten by their husbands?”
On the surface, none. The women desperately conceal such treatment from their husbands.
But when the truth was uncovered, the numbers were far greater than anyone could imagine.
“I’m going to bring them forward.”
That task fell to me.
Women sat before me.
All of them had received confidential counsel from me, and afterward we had grown close, often meeting to share tea and conversation.
Clara, one of the women, spoke hesitantly.
“Is it true that the Countess Elisium is staying at your Mansion?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The women’s expressions shifted to shock. Artia and Frigia were known to be far from close—their relationship was openly poor.
‘How on earth did those two end up in such a situation?’
Unable to ask outright for fear of rudeness, the women’s eyes cried out their curiosity, and I answered them.
“Actually, I’ve experienced the same thing Frigia has.”
“The same thing meaning….”
“I was beaten by my ex-husband Lloyd.”

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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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