It was the busiest time of day.

The heart of the Eastern Seaboard, Empire City, buzzed with a cacophony of shopkeepers and visitors ranging from quaint boutiques to the most luxurious department stores.

Among them, Iridescent Department Store was widely recognized as the best of the best. The three-story white building, adorned with arch-shaped embossed trims on all four sides, looked like a pristine palace of capitalism. The lobby gleamed with elegance—golden floors shimmering like droplets about to slide off, and wallpaper featuring stylized plants in soft, curving lines.

As always, the manager of Iridescent wore his most refined customer-service smile.

“Welcome, Lady Duquesne!”

As the Duquesne family’s daughter-in-law, Cordelia was naturally one of Iridescent’s most important clients. Though not one to spend extravagantly, she had a keen eye and always selected only the finest. Lucas himself was known to shop here frequently for gifts for his wife.

Cordelia offered a gentle bow, her smile indifferent.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lester. I’ve come to trouble you once again.”

“Oh, don’t say such a thing, my lady. Ah, and Lord Lucas recently purchased a gift for you—did it suit your taste?”

“……”

Cordelia gave a vague smile. So the pearl necklace she received on the worst wedding anniversary had come from here.

Everywhere she went, people said she must be so happy—loved and cherished by her husband. She used to believe that herself. And even though she knew better than to take pride in such flattery, she couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased by it.

Now, all those words brought her nothing but pain, like pressing down on a bruise, and bitter self-reproach.

If she even dared consider divorce now to protect herself, how ridiculous would she look in the eyes of others?

Still, Cordelia raised her chin a little higher and smiled with refined grace.

“Thanks to your recommendation, he found something quite lovely. I appreciate it.”

“An honor, my lady!”

The manager, thrilled, began talking animatedly about a new brand recently launched in-store. Cordelia nodded along, pretending to be interested just enough not to seem rude—her attention skimming the surface of the conversation.

But mid-sentence, the manager paused, eyeing Cordelia’s complexion with perfect timing, and asked just the right question.

“Goodness, it seems I’ve even sold off my sense of awareness. If you’re feeling fatigued, my lady, allow me to escort you to the resting lounge.”

“Thank you. And for the attendant, I’d like to request Miss Caroline Smith.”

“Understood. Then, this way, please…”

The area to which the manager led her was not a typical rest area, but a private lounge reserved exclusively for wealthy women. While resting in this space, one never had to tolerate unwanted company. The only people allowed to enter were those approved by the woman already inside.

Even the department store staff were likely unaware that the woman working as an attendant here, serving the noble ladies in this lounge, was practising medicine without a licence.

While waiting for Caroline to arrive, Cordelia stared blankly out of the window at the view beyond the department store.

She had spent the last few days in anguish, suffering alone after the nightmare that had been her wedding anniversary. No matter how many times she revisited the betrayal and disappointment brought on by her husband, the pain only intensified, to the point that she wanted to curl up and hide.

But no matter how much she wanted to deny reality, she knew that no one else would make a decision for her. She already knew what the right thing to do was in this situation — what it meant to choose herself.

‘I can’t have Lucas’s child.’

Before the anniversary, she had been desperate for it. But now she knew that the outcome would be unforgivable.

However, she couldn’t avoid the possibility of having a child forever. The only option left to her was to leave him.

Not through any legal procedure, such as divorce, but by fleeing in the dead of night. She would need to work out a plan to see if that was even possible.

Her heart felt as though it were being torn to pieces, yet her numbed mind kept urging her to think about what to do next. If she didn’t, she feared she might truly fall apart.

Eventually, a woman in her twenties stepped inside. She wore the department store’s sleek purple uniform, and her ash-brown hair was neatly pinned up.

“Welcome, Miss Caroline.”

“My lady. I came as soon as I was summoned. Do you need more of the medicine already?”

Cordelia had come to know this woman thanks to a connection from the Old Continent. After suffering a serious injury at age eighteen, it was a doctor who had discreetly informed her of a few places where women could obtain this specific medicine.

“My lady, I will no longer be able to treat you myself. You’ll have to find these places on your own from now on.”

If a woman was injured, either physically or mentally, marriage became impossible. The hardships that followed were even more severe.

In the event of divorce, they could lose everything on the grounds of ‘concealing their defects’, or if they were lucky, they would simply be sent to a mental health institution.

This was why Cordelia had kept this truth from Lucas. She had initially felt guilty, but with the benefit of hindsight, she now felt a bitter sense of triumph at having a secret to hide too.

In any case, of the sources the doctor had shared with her at the time, this woman was one of them.

Caroline made it all the way through medical school but failed to obtain her licence. Instead, she moved into a highly confidential business catering to elite women like the department store’s clientele. Disclosing her clients’ information would result in her arrest for practising medicine without a licence, so the risk was mutual.

“Miss Caroline. I’d like a different prescription than usual. I need birth control pills.”

“……”

Although Caroline looked slightly surprised, she didn’t ask any questions. After all, as an illegal operator, it was not in her interest to dig into a customer’s secrets.

However, as the silence dragged on, Cordelia became increasingly uneasy and pressed her for answers.

“Is something wrong? You don’t have a suitable prescription?”

“I can prescribe them, Madam. However, the pills are rather strong, so you’ll need to stop taking your current medication.”

“……”

“Will that be all right with you?”

Cordelia gave a silent nod. Dealing with the demanding East Coast high society sometimes made her feel so drained that she needed medication. But this was more urgent. She would simply have to endure the emotional pain alone.

When she eventually stepped out of the department store, a new bottle of pills was tucked inside her handbag. Her palms were clammy with sweat after hearing that she would have to take them consistently, well in advance of any intimacy.

The thought of taking unfamiliar, potent medication made her nervous. She had wanted a child so badly. Did she really need to go this far?

‘No. This is the right choice. Don’t be afraid.’

As she made her way home, Cordelia carefully began reassessing her situation.

Although she lived in one of the most affluent neighbourhoods, all of the properties were registered in her husband’s name. This meant that she had to start by selling items discreetly, such as jewellery, to avoid arousing suspicion.

“……”

She instinctively looked down at her left hand and bit her lip. The radiant pink ring had disappeared, leaving her thin finger, with its poor circulation, unpleasantly bare.

She still hadn’t got used to the emptiness.

It wasn’t the gemstone’s value that she had cherished, but the man who had given it to her as a symbol of love. But now, there was no pretending. She couldn’t bring herself to wear the ring again as if nothing had happened.

Whenever she saw it tucked away in her vanity drawer, memories of happier days would invade her mind unbidden.

“Lucas, this ring is beautiful… but isn’t it a little too much?”
“What are you saying? Nothing could ever be too much for you, Cordelia.”

‘Liar. The ring, and those sweet words—it had all been lies. Then my joy… my gratitude… back then, those must’ve been lies too.’

How could she possibly hope for anything from him as the father of her child, when even this much love had been a lie?

‘Let’s not panic just yet. Even if I have to sell my jewelry, I’m sure I’ll find a way to support myself somehow.’

She had once been the young mistress of an estate. Though she could no longer return to the Old Continent, the New World was vast—far beyond comparison to the Empire—and many cities were rapidly developing.

‘If I leave the East Coast, there won’t be many who’d recognize me anyway.’

Somewhere, in some distant place, there must be a life she could live and something she could do. She would rather cling to the slightest glimmer of hope than break her heart over her husband again and again.

However, when she returned to the estate, the anxious expression on the head maid’s face made her pause. The woman approached swiftly.

“Pardon me, Madam.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just… Lord Richard has inquired as to whether you’ll be attending the family dinner this Friday.”