Chapter 4 – Part 23

“Are you really getting divorced?”

Arlen asked with a voice that could be heard, and at the same time, his steps came to a halt. His expression, turning towards her, seemed to ask what she meant.

No, Eli’s sharp gaze was closer to questioning why he heard such words.

However, Arlen, seemingly unaffected by his gaze, shrugged her shoulders.

“Lady Grit has been absent from parties and gatherings for a year now. Even without saying it, everyone is expecting it.”

Despite trying to keep it under wraps, a year was a considerable time, and rumors were bound to surface.

“But I believe you’re not the one whose spreading it around.”

Eli said it as if asking.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Rather, it was Eli who wanted to know the most about why the situation became this way.

“No, Lady Grit didn’t frequently participate in social events to begin with. Surely she hasn’t left just because she couldn’t occasionally attend?”

It was a question mixed with reproach.

“I hate myself more than Ruby did.”

Eli said, as if she should know.

“If I could, I’d only want her to see me.”

“… Are you keeping Lady Grit from going out?”

“That’s what I want, but I won’t do anything she dislikes. As you know, I am quite weak when it comes to my wife.”

“So you let it get to this point? She won’t even fulfill her minimum duties as a wife?”

Eli didn’t respond further, just gazing at her with a calm, silent look.

“It’s your family. Aren’t you bothered at all?”

“I actually prefer it this way.”

Responding casually as usual, it took Arlen some time to understand the content.

“That’s what you wanted for the family’s reputation to be shaken? What nonsense.”

Arlen, who had known Eli since childhood, knows why he became so fixated on work.

“This is my problem, and there is no reason for you to interfere between my family and my marriage.”

“…”

“If it’s because of the luncheon gatherings, let’s stop here.”

His voice was still calm, but his gaze was chilling. It seemed as if he was drawing a line that Arlen could not surpass.

“Oh, and about the divorce.”

Eli, who seemed to have suddenly remembered, turned back again.

“The reason I was preventing the rumors about the divorce is not for the sake of my family’s honor.”

“…”

“I don’t want to divorce Ruby, and I’m clinging to her. If it becomes public, it will be certain that Ruby will leave. There are people who hope for the rumor to spread.”

Although not explicitly mentioned, Arlen easily understood that the person was Marie.

The image of her gossiping about Ruby’s mistakes at the party came to Eli’s mind. Arlen, who had always been by Marie’s side, felt discomfort for no apparent reason.

“So, if someone asks about the divorce, tell them. Lord Grit is desperately begging Lady Grit to stay.”

“…”

Having finished speaking, Eli left the mansion.

Arlen, left alone in the corridor, remained there until he disappeared.

“Why? Why is he clinging to that woman?”

Moreover, she wasn’t even a woman of his level, but a woman far inferior to him.

She couldn’t understand this fact more than the warning she received from him.

* * *

Arlen was moving to get back to the party hall.

“It’s been a while.”

The ones approaching with greetings were Lady Iana, the Countess of Chain, and Lady Lynn, the Baroness of Blora.

“I see you two haven’t seen each other in a while either.”

“That’s because Eli has been busy lately.”

Arlen’s expression hardened for a moment at the unwelcome appearance of the two, then she smiled as she always did.

“Oh my, you’re still calling him by his first name; if anyone overhears, they’ll get the wrong idea.”

“It’s just that I’ve been calling him that since I was a kid, so it stuck.”

As it had been a recurring comment and excuse, Arlen responded as usual.

The relationship she had with Eli and the memories she’d built with him made it impossible for even the Marquis of Grit to say anything to her.

“No, I don’t. I mean, it’s not that I misunderstand your relationship.”

Lady Iana approached Arlen a little more.

“It seems like Duke Miles’s daughter, Lady Arlen, is showing interest in a man who’s already married.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Arlen asked, lifting the corners of her stiff lips.

The intense gazes of the two women clashed.

“I was referring to the way you were looking at the Marquis, who didn’t seem to be interested in the young lady, or maybe I was just mistaken.”

Iana pulled away again, as if she’d been stuck.

“My dear Lady Miles, if that’s not your intention, you should be more careful. And given your name and your reputation, I know you can find someone better.”

“…”

“If that’s not your intention, Lady Miles is crossing the line.”

Lynn, who had been firing nonstop, looked at Arlen as if she were seeing something impure, and then turned away.

Iana followed behind Lynn, covering her raised mouth.

Alone again, Arlen lightly pursed her lips, looking at where the two had disappeared.

From Shannua’s gift to everything around her today, it seemed like everything was testing her patience.

* * *

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Returning to the party hall together, Lynn asked Iana, seeming worried.

“Why would we follow Lady Marie Grit and try to outshine her? Can you honestly say you have no intention of doing that?”

“Well, at the party hosted by the Dowager Marchioness Grit, only the two of us weren’t invited. According to one of my friends, she said Lady Marie was subtly gossiping about Ruby.”

They may not have been socialites, but at least their husbands held important positions in the Luben Empire. Even the Duke of Miles was nothing to sneeze at.

Still, it was ridiculous that she would throw a party without inviting Lady Blora, who was known to be close to Ruby, and Iana, who was openly in Ruby’s favor.

Later, the two also witnessed Marie secretly blaming Ruby for the Marquis’s problems, with Arlen standing beside her in sympathy.

Lynn and Iana tried to control the atmosphere, but they couldn’t actively intervene, unable to explain or reveal Ruby’s disappearance.

The two exchanged a small sigh as their eyes met.

* * *

“I heard she received praise for learning etiquette well.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A high-ranking noblewoman who made her debut on the same day praised her. I was worried she’d be embarrassed.”

Reading the letter from Palman sent from the capital, Ruby sighed with relief.

However, as she turned to the next page, Ruby’s smile gradually disappeared.

“Is Palman having some trouble?”

Dominic asked, puzzled by her changing expression.

“…She debuted at the Grit Marquis’s mansion.”

“Really? Aren’t they still young to debut?”

Dominic subtly glanced at Ruby.

“It seems like Marie did it early.”

The rest of Palman’s letter went on about how wonderful the Marquis of Grit’s mansion was and how beautiful and wonderful the Marquis people who lived there were.

But the largest portion of her letter was devoted to Eli Grit.

How he was like a fairy tale prince who came along late in the game, using all the fancy words.

But what caught Ruby’s eye was the sentence that followed her praise of Eli.

The story was about how Lady Miles, next to Marquis Grit, accompanied him, and people mistakenly thought she was Lady Grit because they looked like a prince and princess together. According to Gloria, a relative, the two were close even within the family, and it seemed like she filled the void left by Lady Grit.

However, there were also nobles casually saying that it might work out well between the Marquis and his wife. The letter concluded with a thank you for Ruby and a cute request for a reply.

“Are you okay?” Dominic asked, glancing at the letter Ruby had put down.

“Yeah.”

However, there was less strength in the answer than usual.

“Are we going to wash the blankets today?”

Ruby, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, got up with a light laugh.

Watching Ruby’s back as she went off to find some work, Dominic recalled the words she had heard from the carriage.

“Because I like to.”

“Huh?”

“I think it’s because I want to.”

She still didn’t understand why she had to leave if she still liked the Marquis of Grit, but she could see how Ruby’s feelings would be upset.

“The weather is nice, so put it in the tub and step on it.”

Dominic rolled up her arms and dragged over a large pail to wash the blanket.

“Step on it diligently, brush off the gathered dust, and then we’ll have something nice for dinner tonight.”

Dominic filled the tub with water, making eye contact with Ruby and rolling up her sleeves.

“Let’s do that.”

Ruby smiled lightly and agreed, knowing it was Dominic’s way of comforting her.

Since leaving Devens, she vaguely expected that it might turn out like this. She didn’t expect to hear the news vividly through a letter, but if he was doing well, that was fine with her.