Divorce Begins with Remarriage - Chapter 53

As the bond and intimacy between Berenice and Roberto grew, Terenzio’s dissatisfaction was also accumulating.

There were too many things that didn’t go well for Terenzio.

Roberto and Berenice shouldn’t be disturbed while working, and they shouldn’t be woken up when they were sleeping…

‘When will I get to play with Mom and Dad then?’

Terenzio pouted his lips and tapped his feet.

Terenzio usually never behaved like this to impress Berenice, but today was different. Of course, Roberto and Berenice noticed it.

Their eyes met.

‘Why is he acting like that?’

‘It seems like he’s dissatisfied about something.’

Ah.

Berenice read Roberto’s expression and nodded.

“Terenzio.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“What’s wrong? You don’t look happy.”

She chose to take a detour for now. Instead of pointing out Terenzio’s behavior, she decided to understand the child’s feelings.

At Berenice’s question, Terenzio, momentarily overwhelmed, burst into tears.

“Sob…”

“T-Terenzio?”

Surprised, Berenice quickly stood up and then sat back down.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I want to go play too…”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

Roberto also asked Terenzio. Seeing a child who rarely cried like this made him think something was really wrong, especially since he was saying he wanted to go play.

Berenice and Roberto’s eyes met again.

“Julia is going on a picnic with her Mom and Dad… Huhuhu… I want to go too!”

While Berenice and Roberto were busy, it seemed that Terenzio had gained one more friend to envy. Julia was the daughter of a vassal who was chosen as his playmate this time.

“Oh dear…”

Berenice let out a sigh. She had been trying to stay composed, but it seemed that Terenzio was feeling quite disappointed. The only fortunate thing was that some urgent matters were coming to an end, and they would have some free time.

Berenice urged Roberto with her eyes, and Roberto nodded in response.

“Ahem, ahem. Terenzio?”

“Sob…”

“If you stop crying, I’ll take you on a picnic this week.”

“…”

Terenzio’s eyes, full of distrust, returned. To soothe Terenzio’s heart, Berenice took the child’s hand.

“I promise you, Terenzio. Don’t you trust Mom?”

“Not that.”

Terenzio quickly shook his head. Even though he couldn’t trust Roberto, who was busy every day, he could trust his mother.

“Then shall we have breakfast?”

“Yes!”

Terenzio nodded vigorously. Fortunately, the child’s dissatisfaction was simple, and the kind Terenzio quickly relaxed and chuckled. Roberto and Berenice both breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I mustn’t let my guard down.’

Berenice reflected on her past indifference towards Terenzio.

And indeed, the three families set out for a picnic.

Since the weather was too hot and it seemed like they were losing focus on their studies, they decided on a lakeside location based on Miss Janis’s recommendation. Naturally, Terenzio’s happiness index soared sky-high without him realizing it.

Until now, when they went on picnics, it was always with his Dad and his uncles.

“Mom, I love it! This is the most fun picnic ever.”

If the knights of the duchy, who had devoted themselves to playing with Terenzio, had heard this, they would have felt quite upset. However, like a child who has forgotten the past, Terenzio laughed and frolicked by the lakeside.

Occasionally, he would look back to see if Berenice and Roberto were coming. Even as he looked back, Berenice smiled warmly while watching Terenzio run energetically.

“Wow! Dad, let’s go fishing today too! Please catch some fish!”

“Alright. So look ahead and…”

Of course, since he was running and looking ahead, falling over was perhaps inevitable.

“Oh my! Terenzio!”

Surprised, Roberto and Berenice rushed over to lift Terenzio up. After checking for any injuries and finding none, they let the child go.

And there were those who watched over them with pride.

They were the maids and knights who followed the three family members.

The sight of them looking like real parents to a child deeply impressed them as well.

“A good person has come as our madam…”

“Seeing Young Master Terenzio laughing so brightly…”

“He has become much brighter, hasn’t he?”

“He seems more like a young child than before. He used to be too mature before, which was worrisome.”

Such trivial conversations took place.

And a little further away.

There was one more pair of eyes watching them. No one noticed, however.

***

While some were happy, there was certainly someone who was unhappy.

The person who turns happiness into poison is Livio. News had reached him that his mercenaries had failed as well.

As days passed without any news, he grew anxious.

“Failed!”

After reading the report from his butler, Livio slammed the table. Bang! With a loud noise, the glass on the table shook and spilled.

But neither Livio nor the butler paid any attention to that place. Livio paced nervously in the study with an irritated expression, while the butler busied himself trying to gauge his master’s mood.

“Darn it. How much money did I invest there? They seem like worthless failures. Not just one but all of them failed?”

Livio, who had been grumbling for a while, grabbed a bottle of alcohol and threw it towards the wall. A bigger noise echoed through the study than when he slammed the table. And yet, not content with that, Livio scattered and threw whatever he could lay his hands on towards the wall and floor — ink bottles, books, decorations flew around, and papers scattered.

But those were all insignificant things. The truly precious things had been destroyed long ago.

Like Livio after his divorce from Berenice.

‘I guess I won’t be able to sleep peacefully again tonight.’

Since Berenice’s remarriage, Livio can’t fall asleep without alcohol. He used to enjoy meeting women even before that, but these days he was more obsessively seeking out new women.

Moreover, he was always sticking close to Anna, the maid.

‘Maybe I should have stopped it then.’

A brief regret flashed through the butler’s mind.

When he first met Berenice, Livio cleaned up other women. The butler thought it was because Livio was captivated by Berenice’s devoted love. He thought that a playboy had met his match.

But didn’t someone say that old habits die hard?

Just three months into the marriage, Livio dragged a courtesan into the bedroom. And as if that were just the beginning, he secretly met this woman and that woman behind Berenice’s back. At first, the butler tried to stop him, but it was in vain. Livio even argued that a man’s affairs were a sign of ability, and if you were a nobleman, it was only natural to have a couple of affairs.

So perhaps this downfall was foreseen long ago.

But he didn’t expect him to deteriorate to this extent.

But all regrets were already too late, and they had crossed an irreversible river. Even if Livio never admitted it, Berenice would never return to Cornell.

The butler smiled bitterly.

“Yes. Useless people like that are not needed. Bring in someone else, someone more competent, instead of useless people who can’t even kill merchants…”

“Count.”

Livio responded hesitantly to the butler’s call.

“Yes, Butler! Summon Viscount Raoul Philidem! Instruct him to bring in more skilled mercenaries…”

“Count. I’m sorry, but a notice demanding repayment of part of the loan provided by the Imperial Central Bank three hours ago has arrived. Since they cannot trust House Cornell’s repayment ability, they are requesting an initial repayment of three thousand gold after one month.”

“What? What nonsense…”

“One of the documents you confirmed earlier contained that information.”

As if urging him to check, the butler gestured towards the desk in the study. Livio’s gaze turned towards the documents he had thrown earlier.

Cyrilov Investigation Report, Berenice Investigation Report, Upstream Assault Outcome Report, Territory Operations Regular Report… Bank Notice.

Livio’s wavering gaze became clearer. He felt so surprised that the drunkenness that had filled him up to the tip of his head disappeared in an instant.

“Why is this…”

While House Cornell is a prestigious count family, they had already experienced financial difficulties once. It was difficult to cover it with the income from the countdom due to the extreme extravagance of the former Countess, and Livio squandered money on alcohol and women with no earnings.

With no investment in the territory, there was no development, and without development, revenue could only decrease.

The method that Livio chose when he felt financial difficulties at that time was to marry a wealthy daughter and receive a large dowry.

That was Berenice.

‘But after the divorce, that’s over.’

The butler thought while wanting to bite his tongue. When Berenice divorced, she took all the property she brought with her. However, it wasn’t like she had touched what she had already given them. There were already amounts invested in the territory, precious metals purchased by the former Countess, and emergency funds from allowances given in cash for several years somewhere as reserves.

If only he had managed just that after the divorce, things wouldn’t have come to this point…

“Now, if you manage your finances even now, you should be able to prevent that level of crisis. If you prevent it, no demand notices will come for other debts. If you make a mistake, not only banks but also other noble families may press for debt repayment.”