The Duchess Is Looking for Her Husband

Chapter 8

No matter how much they begged, Artia did not change her mind.

Finally, one of the servants brought up Royd’s name.

“The Duke will never forgive you for throwing us out when he returns.”

Artia gave a small laugh.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Royd probably doesn’t even remember your name.”

She wasn’t being sarcastic.

It was simply true.

Royd had absolutely no interest in the people beneath him.

Artia would bet a hundred carrot sticks that he wouldn’t even notice if every worker in the mansion were replaced.

But Artia did not fire Elma, who had treated her the worst.

“T-thank you, Madam. I will devote my entire life to serving you.”

Elma looked delighted, as if Artia had finally accepted her.

That wasn’t the case at all.

‘I have something I can use against Elma, so I can control her whenever I want. There’s no reason to get rid of someone useful like her yet.’

After so many workers were replaced, the atmosphere in the mansion completely changed.

Even the maids who had laughed and said Artia’s change would only last for a short time became much more careful.

No one in the mansion dared to look down on Artia anymore.

“All right, then…”

Artia held out her hand toward Elma.

“Give me the Duke’s account books.”

“Madam, keeping account books is difficult and troublesome. It would be better to continue leaving them to me…”

“The account books.”

Artia impatiently waved her hand at Elma.

In the end, Elma had no choice but to hand over the evidence of her own crimes.

She sniffled as tears filled her eyes.

“My parents are very sick. I had no choice but to do those things to pay for their medical treatment. I never meant any harm. I swear to God, I will never do it again.”

“Yes, yes.”

Artia answered absentmindedly while reading through the account books.

The records of everything Elma had spent on Artia’s behalf over the past three years were enormous.

It took Artia an entire week of staying up late to read everything.

But it had been worth it.

She found countless signs of Royd wasting the family’s money.

However, this alone was not enough to stand against Royd.

‘Right now, I’m like a newborn baby deer that has only just learned how to stand.’

She had determination, but almost no real power.

If Artia wanted to gain power, she needed someone to help her.

Artia searched through her memories.

Her biological mother had died from an illness thirteen years ago.

Her biological father had died of a heart attack three years ago.

She had a stepmother, but after Benedict died, the woman had moved to a villa far away from the capital.

“Besides, she doesn’t really care about me. Asking her for help wouldn’t be useful.”

The same was true of her other relatives.

Because of Benedict’s selfish personality, he had been on bad terms with almost everyone in the family.

Artia had suffered because of it.

No one in the family cared about the only daughter of the previous Duke.

If anything, they felt hostility toward her.

‘Sigh… Forget about useless family relationships. I’ll look for someone outside the family.’

But no matter how hard she searched her memories, she couldn’t think of a single person.

A hot tear rolled down Artia’s cheek.

“What kind of life did you live, Artia…?”

Fortunately, Artia still had one weapon.

“The name Edenberg.”

Artia herself might have been powerless.

But the name Edenberg was not.

The name of such an old and prestigious noble family carried great power.

‘Who would be willing to pay the highest price for that name…?’

After thinking carefully, Artia wrote some letters.

At the bottom, she wrote:

From. Artia von Edenberg

She sent letters bearing her name to twelve people.

‘Will anyone even bother to read a letter from the powerless Duchess of Edenberg?’

She wasn’t even sure about that.

All Artia could do was pray that at least one of them would reply.

Three days after she sent the letters, Royd returned.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

‘He used to walk very carefully and quietly after becoming Duke. He must be extremely angry if he’s making this much noise.’

Then—

Bang!

The door flew open.

An angry voice filled the room.

“Artia, how dare you lock Lirika in her room—”

Royd suddenly stopped speaking.

He stared at Artia.

Artia was standing by the window in the bright sunlight.

Her face was free of makeup, and she was wearing a simple indoor dress, just as Royd remembered.

But everything else was different.

Her skin, which had once been as pale as a corpse, now had a healthy glow.

Her cheeks, which had been hollow because she barely ate, were now smooth and full.

Most importantly, her pink eyes, which had always been filled with fear, now shone like jewels.

Royd looked completely confused, as if he wanted to ask,

Who are you?

Artia looked at him and thought,

‘At least his eyes, nose, and mouth are all in the right places.’

The reason Artia had fallen for Royd wasn’t only because he had been kind to her.

Half of it had been because of his appearance.

Royd was a handsome man with brown hair and blue eyes.

Yes.

Artia had a weakness for handsome men!

But unlike before, when her heart had pounded whenever she saw Royd, the current Artia felt absolutely nothing.

No matter how good-looking he was on the outside, she now knew that inside he was nothing more than rotten garbage.

‘I’m not into disgusting things.’

Artia spoke with an indifferent expression.

“Yes. I locked Lirika in her room.”

Then she touched her cheek and continued.

“She slapped me. But I didn’t give her any other punishment because I was thinking of you.”

Royd’s neatly shaped eyebrows rose.

Artia expected him to shout that she had lost her mind for treating his precious baby bird that way.

But instead, he said something completely unexpected.

“Why are you talking like that?”

Is he seriously angry because I’m not using polite language?

Artia looked at him in disbelief.

“You talk to me like that too. I’m just talking to you the same way.”

Royd’s face twisted even more.

“They said you went crazy after falling into the lake. I guess they were right. You’re completely insane.”

Artia answered calmly again.

“I’m not insane.”

“……!”

“If I had to choose someone who’s crazy, I’d say it’s you. You’re the one who brought your lover into the house where your wife lives and openly flirted with her.”

Deep contempt filled Artia’s pink eyes.

Perhaps Royd still had some sense of shame, because his face turned red.

But that embarrassment quickly turned into anger.

“You really…”

Royd reached toward Artia.

Slap!

His hand struck Artia’s right cheek.

It was the exact same place where Lirika had hit her a few days earlier.

‘No wonder they’re a pair of cockroaches. They even act the same.’

With that thought, Artia collapsed onto the floor.

The difference between a man’s strength and a woman’s strength was obvious.

It hurt much more than when Lirika had slapped her.

Artia’s cheek quickly became swollen.

Royd looked down at her and said,

“Looks like you made some big decisions while I was away. Come to your senses. You’re a disgrace to the Edenberg family. You belong down there on the floor, trembling in fear.”

Whenever Royd used violence against her like this, the old Artia would become terrified and simply cry.

‘But I’m not the old Artia anymore.’

Artia raised her head.

Her clear, shining pink eyes met Royd’s.

Royd’s shoulders moved slightly before he could stop himself.

Artia spoke.

“For the past three years, you’ve ignored me, abused me, and brought your mistress into our home.”

“You even gave me medicine that prevented me from having children.”

“H-how did you…”

That’s none of your business.

“I don’t want to continue this hellish marriage anymore.”

She finally said the words she had wanted to say more than anything.