Chapter : 8
At the sudden appearance of Patron, everyone on the balcony was so shocked that they were left speechless. Haley was the first to recover and open his mouth.
“How did Your Highness come here?”
Instead of answering Haley’s question, however, he looked at Klitaim and continued speaking.
“Did he perhaps do anything strange?”
“No, he didn’t.”
Klitaim, who had also been startled, quickly regained her composure and played along.
She glanced at Nestra, who was staring intensely at her, then smiled at Klitaim and treated her warmly.
The more he did so, the more Nestra’s expression hardened, but he paid no attention to it. Instead, he turned his head away even more coldly.
“Are you openly ignoring someone right in front of you?”
“Understand. When you love someone, you can see no one but the person you love.”
You should know that better than anyone, shouldn’t you?
Patron subtly put Haley down while wearing a broad smile.
Because it was true, Haley could not retort and simply kept his mouth shut.
After all, he was also someone who had taken a mistress.
Patron suddenly closed the distance between himself and Klitaim and whispered quietly.
“Do you have anything else to discuss with him, wife?”
Klitaim shook her head at Patron’s question and moved her lips.
“Rather than that, you should keep your former wife under control first.”
Thanks to the Grand Duke’s former wife, my divorce is about to be completely ruined.
I think we’ve played the mistress act enough.
Hearing the anger in her voice, Patron discreetly glanced toward Nestra. Judging by the fact that their eyes met, it seemed she had been watching them the whole time.
“Very well.”
Patron kissed the back of her hand once again, then naturally stepped away and headed toward Nestra.
“Are you really going to be all right?”
“Yes. Isn’t she my close friend? Please escort her.”
Having hastily come up with an excuse, Klitaim smiled innocently and sent the two of them away.
Thanks to that, Calix also entered the ballroom with them, so Klitaim took the opportunity to send Electra inside as well.
Only Haley and Klitaim remained outside.
“How petty.”
You can’t say a word when the Grand Duke is around.
Unlike before, Klitaim’s sarcastic remark made Haley openly reveal his emotions as he spoke.
“So, how long do you think that man will truly be sincere toward you?”
You’re nothing more than a source of amusement to him.
But Klitaim did not back down and continued.
“I don’t care. As long as I can divorce you.”
“……”
“Just wait until the divorce trial.”
I’ll make sure you can never show that face in public again.
At her threat, Haley’s expression twisted viciously, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. But this was a banquet hall. Moreover, it was the Grand Duke’s residence, not the Baron’s.
In other words, this was not a place where a mere baron could throw his weight around.
Knowing that very well, Klitaim casually knocked his hand away and went inside.
“Didn’t Klitaim tell you not to come out?”
Meanwhile, Patron, who had brought Nestra upstairs, put her inside a guest room and asked.
Nestra looked wronged as she protested.
“I only went downstairs for a little while.”
I even wore a hat so no one would recognize me.
Seeing Nestra whimper without even realizing her own situation, Patron was dumbfounded.
How old was she, yet she was still acting like a child?
There had been a time when he liked that innocence of hers.
But not anymore.
“Do you know why I left you in my residence?”
“……”
“Because you’re Calix’s mother. Even if he doesn’t listen to me, he listens to you.”
Stay here quietly. Unless you want to be thrown out right now.
At Patron’s final warning, Nestra abruptly turned her head away as if she did not want to hear anything more.
Patron also realized that there was no point in saying anything further, so he fell silent.
He immediately found a servant who was currently free and ordered them to keep watch over her before returning to the ballroom.
After the Grand Duke’s banquet ended, Klitaim and Haley’s divorce once again became the hottest topic among the nobles.
And once Patron became entangled in the matter as part of a love triangle, the rumors became even more explosive.
Whether it was a garden party, a hunting competition, or anywhere else people gathered, there was nowhere the rumor had not spread.
As a result, whenever Klitaim attended a party to check on the rumors herself, everyone would bombard her with questions, asking whether they were true.
“Is it true, Madam?”
“What are you referring to?”
“Um… Is it really true that you are divorcing your husband—”
“That is something the people involved should settle among themselves.”
When the attention became too excessive, the Marquess’s wife Grace, a famous figure in high society, would occasionally step in and shut the questions down appropriately.
Apparently, the conversation they had shared that day had been quite useful.
Klitaim was quite satisfied and began diligently preparing for the divorce trial.
Late at night, in Klitaim’s bedroom.
She could not sleep and paced around the room until almost dawn.
It was because she needed physical evidence for the divorce trial.
She had requested a divorce from her husband, Haley, on the grounds of domestic violence and abuse. Naturally, she needed evidence to support those claims.
She intended to show the traces of the violence she had suffered at her husband’s hands in court.
It was the most certain way to win sympathy and prove her case.
There’s nothing else I can use as physical evidence.
Things would have been different if she had had a mana stone, but unfortunately, she had not had enough freedom to obtain such an item without attracting her husband’s attention.
Klitaim stared at the fading scars on her body, lost in thought.
If I manipulate the wounds with magic, the priests will notice.
Divorce trials held at the temple involved priests examining the evidence to prevent tampering.
Because they investigated even the smallest pieces of evidence thoroughly, unless there was an insider helping her, any forgery would be discovered without fail.
For a perfect victory, she could not leave even the slightest opening for them to exploit.
As expected, I’ll have to do it myself…
The rumors had spread, but there was still no word from the temple.
With everyone talking about it, it should have reached them by now, but evidence would not wait.
Having made up her mind, Klitaim called for Becky, the maid who had accompanied her.
“Did you call for me, Madam?”
Becky, who had stayed by her mistress’s side until late at night, entered the room with a tired expression.
Klitaim gave her an order as though nothing were wrong.
“Could you go to the kitchen right now and bring me a knife?”
Becky, whose eyes had been filled with sleepiness, widened them at the chilling request.
“Pardon?”
“Bring me a knife.”
“A knife? What happened? I’ll do it for you.”
From the Baron’s residence until now—
Unlike the other maids, Becky had served Klitaim faithfully to the very end.
Klitaim knew that very well, so she remained silent and stared at her.
Becky lowered her head, regretting whether she had overstepped her bounds, and apologized.
Klitaim softened her expression and gently reassured her.
“It’s not your fault. It’s something I have to do, so would you please bring me a knife?”
In the end, Becky followed her request, took a paring knife from the kitchen, and tucked it into her clothes.
Since everyone except the night guards would be asleep at this hour, she tried to make as little noise as possible.
But as she walked through the hallway, she ran directly into Patron, who had been wandering the corridor because of his insomnia.
“What are you doing?”
It was late at night, so Becky’s movements looked quite suspicious, unlike during the day.
Unable to come up with a suitable excuse, Becky eventually answered Patron’s interrogation honestly.
“Well, actually…”
After learning about Klitaim’s strange request, Patron took the paring knife from Becky.
“I’ll speak to Madam myself, so you go back inside.”
“Yes, my lord. Please stop Madam.”
Becky returned to her quarters, worried about Klitaim until the very end.
Patron tightened his grip around the paring knife he had received and headed toward Klitaim’s bedroom.
“Why are you so late… Your Highness?”
Klitaim had been annoyed by how long it was taking, but she became flustered when an unexpected person appeared and quickly closed her mouth.
Patron calmly entered and shut the door.
The atmosphere was similar to the previous night.
Though the prop he was carrying was completely different.
Patron took out the knife and began.
“I don’t think this is something a Duchess should be looking for.”
A sharp light glimmered in his blue eyes.
When Patron exerted a strange pressure on her, Klitaim explained the situation as though she were the one being wronged.
She needed physical evidence to win the divorce trial, and these wounds would serve as that evidence.
Patron let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“So you’re going to hurt yourself?”
“If it means I can get a divorce, what wouldn’t I do?”
I even threatened that great Grand Duke.
Klitaim had no hesitation when it came to hurting herself.
And for good reason.
She had already experienced death several times after regressing.
Compared to death, inflicting a mere wound on herself would hardly be painful.
Of course, from Patron’s perspective, who knew nothing about this, it would look like complete madness.
“Don’t.”
“I have to.”
Do you think it’s easy to prove domestic violence without this much physical evidence?
Everyone is already calling me a fraud.
Public opinion was gradually beginning to turn in her favor, but it was still not enough.
In this empire, where people placed great importance on the divine, the label of “False Saintess” was not something that could easily be removed.
Faced with Patron’s firm attitude, Klitaim could not accept it and tried to forcibly take the knife from him.
But because she was at a disadvantage in both size and strength, taking the paring knife from Patron was nearly impossible.
Still, Klitaim stubbornly continued struggling with him, and the two unintentionally ended up pressed closely against each other.
Their warmth and breathing brushed against one another’s ears.
Yet because both were focused entirely on their respective goals, neither was conscious of the intimacy of their position as they continued to struggle.
Eventually, Patron stretched his arm out, causing their center of balance to shift significantly.
Klitaim, who was considerably shorter than him, tried to pull his raised arm down and take the knife.
Of course, he was not so easy to overpower.
After struggling for quite some time, the two of them eventually fell over together.
Klitaim ended up in an embarrassingly compromising position, as though she had fallen on top of Patron.
Only then did she come to her senses.
She hurriedly tried to lift her upper body to get away, but suddenly her leg cramped, making her stop.
“Are you all right?”
“I just got a cramp. Give me a moment.”
Klitaim placed her palm against the carpet and tried to get back up, only to collapse again.
She had exhausted all her strength during the struggle moments earlier.
After spending quite some time completely worn out, Klitaim finally managed to stand.
Feeling relieved, she did not miss the opportunity and snatched the knife.
Having accomplished her goal, Klitaim smiled in satisfaction.
Of course…
That was the only problem.
Tap.
Someone had witnessed the entire scene.
At the sound of a door closing in the quiet night, both of them turned their eyes toward it at the same time.
A chill ran down Klitaim’s spine, and her expression stiffened.
Of course, since they were a married couple, it was entirely possible for an atmosphere like this to arise between them.
But she certainly did not want someone else to witness it.
Thinking it would be better to find out who it was rather than continue wondering, Klitaim hurriedly opened the door to see who was outside.
Unfortunately—or fortunately—the person was still standing outside.
Electra, who looked utterly bewildered.
At the sight of her daughter, Klitaim’s mind went completely blank, and she stumbled over her words.
“Uh… Electra, what are you doing here?”
“Ah, no… I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d sleep with you—No! I think I’ll be able to sleep!”
Electra rambled as she explained why she had come to her mother’s room, then suddenly put two and two together and turned around.
She thought she had interrupted her mother and the Grand Duke.
Klitaim hurriedly tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but Electra’s ears were already deaf to her words, her mind having jumped to an entirely different conclusion.
