HDTRML I Chapter 04

Chapter 04

[Clause: “Except for official occasions, if there are three unnecessary physical contacts or conversations, 100 million talans will be fined.”]

What! Three touches or conversations equal 100 million?
“Ha! As if I even want to touch you!”
‘What a trashy regret male lead,’ I snorted and turned to the next clause.

The largest penalty amounts were the two I had already heard about:

Terminating the contract without proper reason → 5 billion talans.

Breaking confidentiality → 5 billion talans.

But those weren’t the only ones. There were other clauses with penalties of 2 billion, 1 billion, even 500 million talans—packed tightly throughout the document.

At first glance, the contract looked fair.
If either side violated the terms, the one who broke the rule would pay compensation and could be divorced by the other party.
It even stated that the spouse at fault must pay the highest penalty amount among the violated clauses.

‘Looks fair on paper,’ I thought.

But in reality, it wasn’t fair at all.
Just the fact that the Duke was “Party A” and I was “Party B” said everything about who had the power.
The contract was clearly written 100% in the Duke’s favor.

After all, he was paying off Marquis Houre’s debt for me—that was the price of my acceptance.

If the Duke broke the contract, I could demand compensation and divorce him.
But if I broke it, that was impossible—because I had no money to pay any penalty.

So that meant one thing:
I absolutely could not violate any clause.
If I did, I’d end up in even deeper debt than before.

‘Wait a second… right!’

‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’
If everything in this marriage was bound by money, maybe I could use that to my advantage.

I carefully began to reread the entire contract line by line.

The penalties tied me down—but at the same time, if I could find a clause that he violated, I could claim divorce and a nice pile of money.

So the question was—which clause would work best?

As I scanned the document with hawk-like focus, my eyes stopped on the fifth clause from the bottom.

[Clause on Infidelity]

“Bingo!”

Finally, I had found the perfect way to end this ridiculous marriage profitably.

“‘Cheater’ and ‘Duke Ricardis’—those two words practically mean the same thing!”

It was practically a guaranteed violation.

[If a spouse commits adultery, the other party may demand divorce and 2 billion talans in compensation.]

Two billion?
Wow. Perfect!

‘Why on earth didn’t the original Rena Palles ever use this clause?’ I wondered.

‘With that much money, she could’ve bought a small house in the countryside and lived peacefully. It’s not a fortune, but it’s enough.’

Even if she loved him, why didn’t she just take the money and go?

The Duke’s infidelity was the main reason everyone despised him.

That man—impotent as he was—still cheated.

Rena even knew about his constant meetings with another woman, a famous socialite he had been seeing before and after their marriage.
He kept the relationship going without shame.

Rena didn’t know about his impotence, so to her, it was a complete affair—heart and body both.
But even knowing that, she endured it silently.

Maybe it wasn’t a physical affair in the full sense, but emotionally? Completely.
Still, the Duke met that woman often enough for everyone to know.

That was what made Rena suffer so much.
And what made readers rage.
Me included.

She kept hoping, thinking, ‘He said he doesn’t love anyone… maybe it’s not love. Maybe he’ll change.’
What a fool.

And the Duke? He didn’t even care how much she suffered.

‘Yeah,’ I thought, ‘he probably didn’t care at all.’
His perspective only appeared much later in the novel, but one thing was clear—he kept cheating the whole time.

Did he think emotional affairs didn’t count? Or that if Rena asked for divorce, he’d just let her go? Who knows.

Either way, to me, he was pure trash.

He had an official mistress yet still added a no-adultery clause—obviously to control Rena.
So that she couldn’t cheat, even while he did.

Shameless. Selfish. Despicable.

The original Rena had loved him, so she never dared confront him about it.
Even though she knew, she kept silent—because at least they were tied as husband and wife, legally if not emotionally.

But I wasn’t her.

I didn’t love this man, and I definitely wasn’t going to endure his nonsense like some saint.

Once the mandatory marriage period was over, I’d take my compensation and divorce him immediately.

No waiting three years for him to “regret” anything.
The sooner, the better.

‘Alright then… let’s help him along.’

I decided to encourage the Duke’s cheating.

If he was already having an emotional affair, I’d just push it into a physical one.

After all, he was doing it anyway.
Might as well make sure it’s complete.

That way, I could secure my compensation—
for me and for my future financial freedom.

‘But… how do I help someone cheat when he’s hiding it so carefully?’

I was still thinking about that when—

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”
“This is the butler and the head maid, madam. We have something to discuss.”
“Oh! Please, come in.”

I rose from the sofa.

Ever since Rena first moved into this mansion, the servants hadn’t treated her warmly.
They didn’t think she was a suitable Duchess, so they only acted polite on the surface.

But honestly, I didn’t care.
It wasn’t like I planned to stay here forever.
Why waste effort on people I’d barely know for a few months?

“Madam, allow me to introduce myself. I am Bart, the butler.”
“And I am Nancy, the head maid.”

Both bowed politely.

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’ll be counting on you.”

In this world, nobles usually spoke down to servants, but they both looked at least thirty years older than me. I just couldn’t bring myself to talk so rudely.

“The madam’s personal maid will be chosen after we, the staff, hold a meeting,” Nancy explained. “We’ll assign her to you shortly.”

“A meeting? That’s fine, but can’t I choose her myself? I’d like to meet the maids first. No rush—it can be done tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well, that’s possible, but since you don’t yet know the household staff, perhaps it would be—”

The head maid tried to object.

“Nancy, you’re right,” I cut in smoothly. “But I prefer judging by impression. I can usually tell who I’ll get along with just by looking at their face. So I’ll choose personally. Is that a problem?”

“Ah… no, madam! As you wish.”

Nancy’s face reddened slightly.

Even if she was the real authority in the mansion, she couldn’t openly oppose the Duchess.

Of course, I’d already decided who I wanted—
a smart and kind maid named Ruth, who also knew herbs well.

Ruth wasn’t here yet, though.
In the novel, she arrived at the mansion the day after Rena did.
That’s why I’d asked to choose tomorrow afternoon.

“Was that all? I don’t need a maid for tonight, so if there’s nothing else, you may go. Oh, wait—where should I have dinner?”

“That’s actually why we came,” Bart replied. “The Duke has requested to dine with you this evening. Dinner will be served in the second-floor dining room in one hour. Will that be alright?”

In the original story, they also had dinner together on the first night—
to look like a normal married couple.

“Alright,” I said.

“Then we’ll see you at dinner, madam.”

With that, they left the room.

—

One hour later.

The Duke and I were eating in silence. Not a single word exchanged.

Seriously?
Treating your wife like air—did he think this looked like a normal marriage?

The butler stood beside him the entire time, refilling his tea every time it dropped below half.

So attentive. Tch.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re not even eating,” the Duke suddenly said.

“Ah!”
‘Oops, did he notice me staring?’