Chapter 2

The guard who stood watch before the enormous iron gate recognized his master’s car from afar and hurriedly opened the gate. The car passed smoothly through the main entrance without the driver needing to honk, speeding down the driveway with ease.

After driving a bit further from the main gate, the car circled halfway around a massive fountain adorned with several pure white sculptures, then stopped before the grand mansion.

Before the bodyguard could even open the car door, Carlisle opened it himself and got out, straightening his posture and lifting his head.

Polshared Duchy. Glade Hills.

Standing confidently as the master of the mansion that commanded attention, Carlisle’s presence was enough to evoke admiration from anyone, but the chill in his expression was so severe that no one dared to speak to him.

He swept his gaze over the line of servants arranged in formation before the porch, then subtly furrowed his brow.

“Where is my wife, who has pulled such a ridiculous stunt?”

He was a master who had never once shown any curiosity about his wife’s whereabouts. Normally, the butler would have been flustered by such a question, but today, he stammered for a different reason, unable to speak clearly. The servants, who inwardly knew the reason, glanced at each other uneasily.

“Uh, that is….”

“Why? Is she enjoying socializing with her new lovers? Or is she indulging in her nasty habit of throwing away dresses she bought in a frenzy to squander my fortune, only to buy new ones?”

“Madame has left.”

Carlisle’s thick eyebrows twitched slightly. His expressions were always so perfectly controlled that no one could notice such a subtle change.

“She left?”

“That, um…”

Before the butler could finish, Carlisle entered the foyer and immediately ascended the central staircase. The third floor. It felt unfamiliar to seek out her room, which was located in the exact opposite direction from his own.

Soon, he found a room with its door wide open, but paused before entering.

The maids, who had been diligently cleaning, were startled by their master’s early return and quickly retreated. Striding across the space with broad steps, Carlisle’s gaze took in the interior, which was neatly arranged like a hotel room.

A cool breeze blowing in through the open window swept through the calm room. The room, ventilated as if preparing to welcome someone new, was devoid of any trace of warmth from a person.

His gaze settled quietly on the items that had remained in place since before his wife arrived.

Nothing was missing. The luxurious dresses hanging in the dressing room, the jewels neatly displayed on the vanity—all were still there.

Only Yvonne was absent from this place.

The butler, who had hurriedly chased after him, bowed his head apologetically.

“This morning, after you left for work, Madame went out carrying just a small suitcase.”

“Where did she go?”

For the first time, his question about his wife’s whereabouts came out rough.

“She did not take the carriage we provided, but called for a separate luggage wagon and rode off.”

The newspaper still held in his hand crumpled with a rustle.

He had believed that the woman would never want a divorce. He thought it was all bravado, but she had proven with her actions that it was not a lie.

* * *

A week had passed since the news that the Duchess of Polshared had submitted divorce papers after three years of marriage swept through the capital, Aerondo.

The rumor, which spread like wildfire, showed no signs of dying down, amplified by the fact that she was the wife of Carlisle Polshared, the master of the prestigious Windfog Duchy and the chief executive of Rein Kleint, the most renowned military supplier in the central system.

“You should keep your household in order. Don’t you think, Carlisle?”

Crown Prince Owen pushed his glass against the one in Carlisle’s hand with a sly smile.

Owen’s brown hair, who had spent more than half of Carlisle’s twenty-seven years with him, gently swayed with the impact. The handsome face that usually symbolized royal dignity now looked mischievous, as if reverting to their days of carefree camaraderie.

After finishing a private audience with the King, who summoned him upon reading the article, Owen had called Carlisle for a drink, supposedly to comfort him.

‘Do you know how important credibility is in this matter? Resolve it immediately.’

The recent dispute between the Osmil Kingdom and the Asnesh Kingdom was escalating towards war, and Carlisle had spent all of yesterday in a grueling meeting with representatives from both kingdoms, promising to supply weapons.

Even before these crucial negotiations were concluded, the King’s intent in summoning him was clearly political. He expected the King to ask him to tip the scales in favor of the nation that would benefit Windfog, but unexpectedly, King Bernhardt’s first agenda was Carlisle’s private life, which had been circulating in the media.

That topic had even come up during yesterday’s negotiations, so the King’s interference was enough to ruin Carlisle’s mood.

‘Isn’t there an image for Rein Kleint, which represents Windfog?’

It was laughable. The King, acting as if someone else’s business belonged to the state, fussed over image as he stroked his neatly trimmed beard and added arrogantly,

‘By the way, since we’re talking about it, Osmil must win the war against Asnesh. Keep that in mind.’

Pretending to worry, the King revealed his true intentions after his nagging, thinking about the various opportunities to gain an advantageous position from this incident. Carlisle felt bitter at the King’s shameless and thick-skinned behavior.

His business was not just about money changing hands, but about steering things so the royal family could gain an advantage.

The King always interfered, calling him in whenever there was an important deal, instructing him to supply weapons to the country that would benefit Windfog, but he never expected the King to meddle in his private life.

He could not understand how such a gentle Crown Prince could have come from such a shameless King.

Carlisle responded nonchalantly to Owen’s concern, which felt more like that of a normal noble’s son than a Crown Prince.

“If you’re asking how it feels to be branded a violent, trash husband, it’s not pleasant.”

“What on earth happened this time for things to escalate to this point? As a Duke and the chief executive of the central system’s military supplier, Rein Kleint, your reputation is in shambles.”

“Yvonne likes romance novels.”

Carlisle moistened his lips with whiskey tinged with a golden hue, crossing one leg with a bored answer.

Dressed in an elegant gray-toned suit rather than a military uniform, Carlisle’s appearance was dignified and noble. His masculine features and upright posture exuded the dignity of a grand noble.

His looks suited a fountain pen more than a gun, but his cold eyes were closer to those of a soldier.

Owen, puzzled by Carlisle’s nonchalance in such a serious situation, asked earnestly,

“No matter how much she likes romance novels, this time it’s too much. What’s this about a miscarriage?”

“It’s nonsense. That woman was never pregnant. To be precise, it’s impossible for her to get pregnant.”

Owen’s gentle expression twisted slightly at Carlisle’s firm reply.

“What’s your evidence?”

“There are documents. Her father, Earl Sellus, may be anxious because she can’t have children, but after the wedding, her attending physician examined Yvonne and said that, due to a congenital condition, it would be difficult for her to conceive.”

“That means it’s difficult, not impossible.”

“Even if she’s not infertile, I have never once allowed her to bear my child. After ‘that day,’ we didn’t even share a bed. We haven’t slept together for half a year, so there’s no way she could be pregnant.”

Owen finally understood the basis for Carlisle’s certainty and clicked his tongue at the harshness. Their marriage had been tumultuous from the start, so there must be circumstances he didn’t know.

“So, it’s a fabrication?”

“A cheap farce. I told you. Yvonne likes unrealistic things.”

Owen offered stern advice to Carlisle, who insisted his wife had schemed.

“Handle this before it gets more complicated. If the King called you here because of this, he might intervene. Then you’ll be in trouble.”

“Well, after three years, maybe it doesn’t matter if we part ways. She caused trouble and hid away in spite.”

“You, really…”

Owen, speechless at his friend’s indifferent attitude as he spun his glass, poured whiskey between his parted lips. Knowing that persuasion wouldn’t work, Owen pressed once more, thinking that at least this shouldn’t end so abruptly.

“Even if you break up, settle the rumors first. It’s bad for business. Especially since Commander Gilbert Ferdinand is obsessed with finding your weaknesses, monitoring your every move.”

Gilbert Ferdinand.

He was the one who took the position of Commander-in-Chief after Carlisle left the military for his business. He also viewed Carlisle’s lingering influence in the military with hostility.

Because of that, he constantly revealed his petty inferiority complex, nitpicking and even interfering with Carlisle’s business. Carlisle had caught several spies Ferdinand had planted in the company’s labs.

“Well. This has nothing to do with Rein Kleint. What weakness could he possibly find in my private life….”

“There’s no harm in being cautious…”

Owen was about to add another word to Carlisle’s indifferent tone when it happened.

Carlisle’s aide entered after knocking, bowed politely to the Crown Prince, and whispered in Carlisle’s ear.

“We found her. She appeared at the townhouse on Cadney Road an hour ago.”