“—I’m sorry. House Erlanger cannot afford to keep a foolish woman like you any longer. I want a divorce.”
Lelia blinked several times at the declaration from her strikingly handsome husband.
“Um, my lord… did you just call me a fool?”
“I did. I’m sorry, but that’s why I can’t love you.”
Her husband looked thoroughly exhausted and, if anything, a little thinner than before. Meanwhile, as Lelia sat there in astonishment, a shrill, ingratiating voice rose from beneath her bottom.
“Hey! You! How long do you intend to use me as a cushion? Get off me!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You were simply so comfortable.”
“What?!”
The young lady who bristled at Lelia’s answer was Catherine Garcia. She was the childhood friend of Lelia’s husband, Duke William Erlanger, and was rumored to be his mistress.
It had all begun only a few minutes earlier.
Lelia had been climbing the grand, open staircase on the first floor of the mansion when she suddenly looked behind her. Catherine, her husband’s supposed mistress, was right at her back and had just launched herself dramatically down the stairs.
At that very moment, Lelia noticed a suspiciously large pile of cushions scattered at the bottom of the staircase. She instantly understood that her husband’s mistress intended to frame her—and was delighted to realize that this was an excellent opportunity.
Lelia made her decision in a fraction of a second, and her body moved smoothly. She grabbed the banister and pretended to support Catherine with her other hand. Then she tumbled spectacularly down the stairs along with the struggling woman.
(Lady Catherine probably intended to claim that I pushed her. But I would rather not shoulder a false accusation all by myself.)
As a result, Catherine landed on the cushions she had apparently prepared, while Lelia successfully used Catherine herself as a cushion.
William arrived at the scene shortly after their fall, whereupon he immediately demanded a divorce from Lelia.
And that was how the present situation had come about.
Catherine, who had safely broken Lelia’s fall, was now nestled among her own cushions and crying.
“William… It hurt when she pushed me down the stairs, but you’re finally divorcing Lady Lelia. I’m so happy.”
“Catherine? Why are you so pleased about that? More importantly, are you injured? Aren’t you in pain?”
The man who had just become Lelia’s ex-husband regarded his alleged mistress as though her happiness were entirely irrelevant. Lelia, however, turned shining eyes upon him.
“My lord… No, His Grace Duke William Erlanger! Thank you for everything you have done for me! Since you have pronounced our divorce, I shall take my leave at once.”
“Lelia? You look every bit as delighted as Catherine. But first, I’m calling a physician. Don’t move.”
“I sincerely apologize for all the trouble I have caused you. Still, it was a valuable experience!”
“What? An experience? What kind?!”
Her former husband’s face twitched with utter incomprehension.
Lelia rose smoothly and gave him a graceful curtsy. At once, the servants gathered in the first-floor lobby drew sharp breaths, and confusion spread through the room.
(That is only natural. After all, I have never once greeted anyone here properly.)
She could neither manage an estate nor offer a decent greeting. She was a foolish woman who did nothing but devour money. Naturally, her husband could never love her. She deserved to be treated coldly—as someone worth less than a mistress.
That was how everyone regarded Lelia, the unbelievably foolish duchess.
But now that her mission was over, none of it mattered.
Lelia delicately pinched her skirt, then swept it aside with elegant poise.
“I wish all of you every happiness. Farewell!”
Leaving her dumbfounded former husband and the others behind, Lelia waved cheerfully, beaming from ear to ear, and strode out of the Erlanger residence with a refreshing lightness in her step.
