47. Katya Had a Plan All Along
“What… what are you talking about? Darling, this prank is going too far.”
Ivan asked, denying reality.
“Originally, trials could only be held in courthouses, but Hersen’s territory is vast and its population large, right?”
The current provincial courts couldn’t accommodate everyone, and the accessibility issues gave judges headaches. This was an innovative idea to allow trials to be held outside of courthouses.
“If this demonstration trial ends successfully, it will become national law and be formally implemented. So, I’m counting on you today, Ivan.”
“So, so you’re saying this is now a trial for marriage fraud?”
“And you just confessed with your own mouth. That you filed a false lawsuit.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Ivan, furious to his core, shouted.
“It’s too late! We made our marriage vows before a priest! Whatever this demonstration trial is, you can’t overturn it now! You know what? A wife can’t divorce without her husband’s consent. Do you think I’ll agree to divorce so easily?”
“Um… I apologize for interrupting, but actually this marriage isn’t valid.”
The priest who quietly raised his hand answered on Katya’s behalf.
When Ivan turned to look at him, he scratched his cheek awkwardly and continued.
“Because I’m not actually a priest.”
“What are you talking about? I clearly came to the priest’s office yesterday and gave you money to ask for this!”
“Ah, that? While the actual clergy were out enjoying the lunch I treated them to, I was the only one left there when you came to make your request. My actual position is…”
“Boris Tranov, my aide.”
Nikolai, sitting in the front row, finished the sentence.
Boris nodded with a satisfied expression, thinking he had faithfully completed his assigned mission.
“That’s right. My actual duty is serving His Highness the Grand Duke. Though I haven’t received ordination as a priest, I am a deeply devout and faithful believer.”
He must have been so excited when asked to participate in this play.
Especially since the priest’s role was essentially the most important one, marking the finale of the performance.
His original dream had been to become a priest.
But after failing the clergy exam, he followed his family’s wishes and became a retainer to the Grand Duke’s household.
Just being able to stand before the altar in priest’s robes made him feel he could die without regrets now.
“Then, don’t tell me those people looking for you earlier…”
“Everyone’s acting was terrible, but you fell for it so easily that we could all relax.”
Katya recalled how nervous she had been earlier as she spoke.
When she first selected the participants for the play and handed out the scripts, Alyona had been beside herself with joy.
“My lady, how did you know I once dreamed of being an opera singer? Shall I sing a tune? Ahem. Ah–”
As she warmed up her voice enthusiastically, Alyona’s note went off-key with a squeak.
“No, that’s fine. This is a play, not an opera, so just delivering your lines properly will do. Can you manage that?”
“Of course! I’m quite confident in my acting abilities!”
She then stayed up all night memorizing her lines.
Though it was just a few lines of dialogue, she felt like a prima donna.
Despite practicing so hard, Alyona was so nervous about doing well that she messed up her crucial line at the decisive moment.
“At this time she should be sound asleep, but when I went in to change the flowerpot in the vase, her bed was empty!”
How does one change a flowerpot in a vase? She had accidentally misdelivered the line that should have been ‘when I went to change the water in the vase.’
Poor Alyona, realizing she had made a mistake in her debut performance, collapsed to the floor, buried her face in her knees, and began to cry.
She had completely forgotten her next line as well.
Flustered by her unexpected behavior, the knights also forgot their lines and began awkwardly spouting words that weren’t in the script.
“How could this be so surprising? What in the world is happening?”
“Indeed. I feel like I might faint.”
“Right. I’m thinking it wouldn’t be strange if His Highness fainted right now.”
Though they struggled valiantly to keep the play going, they ended up like wooden puppets flailing in a swamp of bad acting.
Once the only capable actor was out, the performance fell apart with everyone reciting their lines as if reading from a book.
Watching this chaos unfold from the front row, Nikolai placed his hand on his forehead, thinking it was all ruined.
Katya, who had been with Ivan behind the wall, also felt like crying.
‘Seriously, they’re all terrible actors? Is this how they treat the script I wrote all night with my blood and tears?’
Her work was titled The Little Mer– no, The Little Merman.
It was a piece depicting Ivan’s dreams disappearing like sea foam, just like the mermaid.
Finally realizing he had been fooled by a fake play, Ivan kicked the altar in a rage.
“Aaaargh!”
As he charged like a madman to strangle Katya, Nikolai blocked his path.
Restrained by the Grand Duke, Ivan fell helplessly to the floor like a paper doll despite only being pushed lightly.
The tears fell even harder at the humiliating difference in build and strength.
“Your Highness! Do you even know what that detestable woman is hiding from you?”
Ivan shouted between sobs.
At this point, it was all or nothing.
If he couldn’t have her, it was better to destroy everything so no one could.
When Nikolai just stared down at him coldly without responding, Ivan turned to address the audience.
“Honorable Judge, and citizens of Padovangrad, please hear me out! This woman is a materialistic, loose woman who promised to marry me but abandoned me for His Highness the Grand Duke!”
As Duke Smirnov rose in anger at the insults to his daughter, Bianca beside him grabbed him and made him sit back down.
Though she didn’t know the full extent of her sister’s plan, now wasn’t the time to intervene.
Ivan began appealing to emotions like an actor performing on stage.
“You see, I truly loved that flawed woman. That girl with a fatal defect as a woman! Your Highness, please don’t be shocked when you hear this!”
Katya didn’t try to stop Ivan, just letting him continue as he pleased.
Had she completely given up now? Well, why should he care?
Though Ivan felt something was strange, he soon opened his mouth again.
“That woman cannot bear children! She’s been diagnosed as infertile by a physician! I have the medical certificate right here!”
He pulled out the document from his inner pocket and displayed it before everyone.
He had always carried it with him even after promising marriage to Katya, just in case.
Seeing the crumpled paper, the audience was quickly stirred and began to whisper.
In this era, it was a woman’s duty to marry when she came of age and continue her husband’s family line.
A married woman’s inability to bear children was clear grounds for divorce.
Moreover, for an unmarried woman to be infertile was an Achilles’ heel that must never be revealed, a shame to her family.
“That villainous woman tried to marry the Grand Duke by deceiving him! Imagine such a woman who doesn’t know how to respect her husband’s authority and just talks back becoming Grand Duchess! What would happen to this country? Wouldn’t it lead to the worst situation where the Grand Duke’s line ends here?”
Ivan shouted in a hoarse voice from all his yelling.
Katya approached him while looking at him as if he were pathetic.
“Are you done?”
“What?”
“I asked if you’re done. That’s your only card, isn’t it?”
Despite her carefully guarded secret being revealed to everyone, Katya didn’t seem particularly affected.
“Has your head gone crazy from shame? How can you be so confident when you can’t even bear children?”
“Are you sure you won’t regret those words?”
“Regret what!”
Ivan snorted.
“If your claims aren’t true, you’ll face severe punishment for defaming my honor.”
“Don’t try to deny it! The evidence is right here plain as day, where do you think you can run?”
“I have evidence too.”
Katya pulled two papers from her pocket and handed them to Boris.
He carefully received them and walked over to deliver them to the judge.
The elderly judge’s eyes widened as he checked the documents, and he lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose to verify them with his n*ked eye.
“This is a certificate issued by the Archbishop of the South. According to this, it confirms that Lady Katarina Smirnov has no disqualifying factors to become Grand Duchess.”
Marriage among nobles was more about the families than the individuals involved.
Long ago, some cautious boyar parents who wanted good matches for their children created a peculiar culture called the ‘Ideal Spouse Qualification Certificate.’
To obtain this, one had to be verified in various ways—men were typically checked for their financial situation to properly support a family, violent tendencies, criminal record, and alcoholism.
Women underwent comprehensive examinations of their health status, including genetic diseases, family history, and ability to bear children, using both the clergy’s holy power and medical expertise.
Both men and women had to score points and pass each gate to receive this document.
Only two Archbishops—in the North and South—could issue these, making them highly credible documents.
“In other words, this means Lady Katarina Smirnov is not infertile.”
As Ivan floundered in confusion about what was happening, the murmuring crowd only deepened the chaos.
Then, the judge discovered the paper behind it and spoke again.
“Ah, I apologize for my mistake in address. Please forgive my rudeness. I stand before Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
At this shocking announcement, the stirred audience bowed their heads toward Katya, following the judge’s lead.
The document behind was a fresh family registry received just last night.
Katarina was no longer a Smirnov.
As of yesterday, she had become Katarina de Vasily—the Grand Duchess of Hersen.
