CRBM 04

Chapter : 4

At her remarkably different attitude, Duke Verden looked displeased. However, Clitaim paid no attention and continued brightly, raising the corners of her lips as high as she could.

“Give me half of the ducal family’s wealth as my dowry.”

Since I’m marrying into the Grand Duke’s family, wouldn’t that much be necessary?

At present, the Basil Ducal Family had already returned most of its wealth to the Imperial Family under the pretext of reclaiming its lost name. Although the Duke had managed to recover a considerable amount of it over time through his own abilities, the family still hadn’t regained its former status.

The Duke narrowed his eyes and glared at her when she said she intended to take half of the wealth they had painstakingly accumulated as her dowry.

It was an excessive condition, but that was precisely what made the offer so tempting.

Clitaim carefully observed every reaction on his face, waiting for him to give a positive answer.

But no matter how long she waited, the Duke’s mouth remained firmly shut.

‘So he’s not quite that stupid.’

She slowly examined the Duke’s face before casually encouraging him.

“Is there really anything to think about? It would be a profitable deal for you, Duke.”

His daughter becoming the Grand Duchess was practically the same as becoming a member of the Imperial Family.

If they were later granted autonomy, she would at the very least be guaranteed the position of queen.

What a wonderful cover that would make.

At the very least, it would erase the dishonor.

‘And you’re still going to refuse?’

A man who valued honor so much that he had even severed ties with his divorced daughter?

Besides, this remarriage would benefit his family not only in terms of honor but also materially.

There shouldn’t have been anything to deliberate over.

After a brief silence, the mouth of Duke Verden, who had seemed as immovable as an iron fortress, finally opened.

“Fine. First, let’s find out the Grand Duke’s preferences—”

“There is no need for that.”

I’ve already received a proposal.

At her unexpected words, Duke Verden, unlike himself, was visibly startled.

“What?”

“It means that once I get divorced, I’ll immediately become the Grand Duchess.”

After receiving the dowry and overall assistance from Duke Verden, Clitaim immediately declared that she would move to the Grand Duke’s estate.

And in exchange for her safety, she returned to the carriage accompanied by one of the Duke’s personal escort knights.

“Who’s that beside you?”

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Francis, a knight of Duke Verden.”

When Hailey asked with obvious displeasure written all over her face, Francis greeted her according to the etiquette of a knight.

Upon hearing that he was a knight of the ducal family, Hailey could no longer find anything to complain about. She merely clicked her tongue and turned her head away.

‘What a petty bastard.’

Clitaim snorted and told the coachman to set off.

The mansion they arrived at was unbelievably quiet, making the commotion from earlier seem like it had never happened.

Except for Electra’s whining.

“Mommy is a liar!”

“I’m sorry. The conversation took longer than I expected.”

Electra had been sulking for quite some time, but since her complaints came from worrying about her mother, Clitaim wasn’t particularly offended.

‘She’s so cute.’

When Clitaim had first possessed this body, Electra hadn’t seemed this adorable.

To her, Electra had merely been a character in a novel.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But the more she got to know her, the more Electra reminded her of herself in her previous life, when she had suffered domestic abuse.

She couldn’t help but keep looking at her.

After several regressions, Clitaim had somehow grown attached to Electra.

Without even realizing it herself.

“Electra.”

“Yes?”

When Clitaim called her daughter’s name with a faint smile, Electra immediately focused her attention on her, as if she had never been sulking in the first place.

“What do you think about suddenly living apart from Daddy?”

“From Daddy?”

At Clitaim’s question, Electra’s eyes widened slightly.

Instead of answering, Clitaim simply nodded and held her daughter’s hand tightly.

By the time Electra’s cold hand had grown warm—

“Then Daddy won’t be able to hit Mommy anymore?”

Clitaim had expected her daughter to simply say, ‘Yay!’

Instead, she blinked twice in surprise at the unexpected answer.

“Of course! He won’t. Don’t worry about Mommy. But what do you think about it, Electra?”

“If Mommy is happy, then I’m happy too!”

Clitaim swallowed a bitter sigh as she looked at Electra’s innocent smile.

‘Those are the words coming out of a child’s mouth?’

She was at an age when she should have been spoiled and throwing tantrums.

Clitaim stroked the head of the little girl who had been forced to grow up too soon and murmured almost to herself.

“I’ll definitely protect you.”

Electra simply smiled brightly, delighted.

‘This time will be different.’

I won’t let my husband hurt either me or my daughter.

“Bring your pillow. You’re sleeping with Mommy tonight.”

“Okay!”

Electra’s eyes curved into happy crescents as she hurried off to her room and returned with her pillow.

“I’ll escort you.”

Early the next morning.

The maids were busy loading belongings into the moving carriage.

Since there were two people to prepare for, one or two maids weren’t enough.

Clitaim had changed out of the bustle-style dress she had worn for so long and into a two-piece suit, watching everything unfold with ease.

‘I should be grateful to the mistress.’

Thanks to the much bigger scene she had caused than expected, everything was proceeding smoothly.

If she had caused only a moderate commotion, Duke Verden wouldn’t have made such a fuss, nor would she have been able to receive his immediate assistance.

‘I do feel a little sorry for barging in the very next day after threatening him… But since we’ve already made a contract, it’ll be better for both of us to get things settled quickly.’

Clitaim crumpled the corner of her clutch bag as she mentally organized everything she needed to say the moment she faced Patron.

Otherwise, if she simply blurted things out as they came to her, something like yesterday might happen again.

She was thinking about the clauses that should go into the contract when a cute, cheerful voice came from behind her.

“Mommy!”

“Oh, Electra, are you all finished?”

After hearing that she was going to a new home, Electra had taken twice as long to prepare because she wanted to look especially nice.

The bright yellow dress, which complemented her pale blonde hair, made Electra look like a cheerful little girl.

Clitaim smiled as she looked at her daughter, but the moment she saw Camilla following behind her, her expression hardened.

Electra noticed and mumbled,

“I told her I didn’t want her to come, but she kept following me.”

Hearing her daughter’s words, Clitaim stroked Electra’s hair a couple of times before immediately turning her gaze toward Camilla.

She gestured for Camilla to step aside, then left Electra alone for a moment and walked away with Camilla.

“What are you doing?”

Yesterday’s incident should have been more than enough.

At Clitaim’s cold voice, Camilla snorted and spoke sarcastically.

“So you’re finally leaving.”

I came to see that.

I’ll be the mistress of this household now.

At Camilla’s words, Clitaim burst into laughter before speaking.

“You should be careful too.”

He’ll take his anger out on you now.

A person’s nature doesn’t change easily.

Especially someone who has been exposed to something as stimulating as violence.

Until now, perhaps he had treated Camilla well because he had someone as easy to target as me.

But who knew what would happen later?

Despite her warning, Camilla showed no sign of being shaken.

Apparently, she didn’t know because she had never experienced it herself.

‘I don’t need to worry about her any further.’

Clitaim ignored the pointless remark and immediately climbed into the carriage.

“Welcome, Baroness Schulz and Miss Electra.”

As soon as they arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate, they were greeted by Martin, the head butler of the mansion.

Despite their unexpected visit, Martin maintained perfect composure and greeted them with impeccable manners.

“I was wondering if we’ve come a little too early. Is His Grace the Grand Duke inside?”

“Ah, His Grace is working at the moment, so it may take some time. Would you care for a cup of tea in the rotunda?”

Following Martin’s guidance, the group headed toward the garden.

What they found was a tea table in complete disarray.

“Oh, my apologies. I’ll have it cleared immediately. Please wait a moment.”

The butler looked flustered and instructed the maids who had followed them to clean the table.

“……”

Clitaim gave him a faint, understanding smile and waited patiently.

A short while later, the head maid personally brought tea to the neatly arranged rotunda.

Just as Clitaim was enjoying the high level of hospitality—

“What is that? It tickles!”

A dog approached Electra, wagging its tail.

After spending quite some time acting affectionately, the dog seemed to notice that Clitaim was watching and barked at her.

‘Where did this dog come from?’

The exterior of the mansion looked like a place where not even an ounce of warmth could exist.

Its master was the same man who had tried to strangle her yesterday.

The appearance of an animal that seemed so utterly out of place with both of those things made Clitaim tilt her head.

‘Ah… Does Calix like dogs?’

Calix Ludwig.

The original male lead of this novel.

He should be around the same age as Electra, so he was certainly at an age when children tended to love cute animals.

Satisfied with her conclusion, Clitaim watched them for a moment with a pleased smile.

No matter the circumstances, the combination of a child and a puppy was impossible to resist.

‘After spending every day fighting, hiding, and running away, having a peaceful moment like this…’

It feels like a dream.

She took a sip of her tea, which had cooled to a comfortable temperature, and held it in her mouth.

Then a low voice came from behind her.

“Alex, come here.”

The pleasant mid-low voice mixed with a gentle tone, overflowing with tenderness.

Clitaim instinctively turned her head, and her eyes met Patron’s.

She had already heard his voice before, but perhaps because yesterday’s events had been so intense, hearing it now felt strangely unfamiliar.

Alex recognized his master’s voice and came bounding toward Patron.

His tail spun around like a windmill.

‘Don’t tell me… Calix isn’t the owner. The Grand Duke is?’

The way the dog reacted to his call made it clear this wasn’t the first or second time he’d called him.

Could this be a dream too?

As Clitaim stared at him in bewilderment, Patron turned back toward her with his usual businesslike expression and spoke.

“You came early.”

His tone had returned to the one she had heard last night.

Clitaim came to her senses, swallowed her tea, and answered.

“Yes. It was urgent.”

“Leave the child here for a moment. Let’s speak alone.”

At Patron’s suggestion, Clitaim glanced back and forth between him and Alex before subtly urging him to send the dog over to Electra.

Patron looked puzzled for a moment, then realized what she meant and released Alex.

Fortunately, Alex immediately approached Electra and began acting affectionately toward her again.

Only after confirming that the dog had gone to her daughter did Clitaim rise from her seat.

Inside the reception room.

Seeing how surprised he was, she responded casually.

“You told me to come, but I didn’t expect you to come this quickly.”

“I came without hesitation because I have circumstances that require me to do so.”

It’s a little early, but I was going to move in anyway. Wouldn’t it be better if we settled things quickly?

Her brazenness wasn’t enough to actually irritate him, so Patron silently listened to Clitaim.

After saying everything she had to say, she briefly raised her glass to wet her throat.

“I’d like us to draw up a contract. Is there anyone who could act as a guarantor?”

The nobles of the empire usually appointed guarantors when drawing up contracts.

The number of guarantors varied depending on the importance of the contract, and generally, the more guarantors there were, the greater the credibility.

But the contract the two of them were about to make concerned marriage.

It wasn’t a simple agreement regarding the division of property.

It was a remarriage with a predetermined ending.

Given the nature of the matter, it seemed difficult to name a guarantor unless they were someone with considerable trust and credibility.

“I have someone. What about you?”

Surely you aren’t planning to have only one side provide a guarantor?

There was only one reason Patron deliberately asked her this.

‘I can provide a guarantor, but I don’t want to.’

As for Clitaim, it was obvious at a glance that she had no one willing to stand as her guarantor, so naturally, she shouldn’t be able to answer.

But in response to the Grand Duke’s question, she gently curved her lips into a smile and said something unexpected.

“I have a guarantor as well.”

At the same time, Clitaim looked toward the door behind him and continued.