“My help……”

The head butler, raising an eyebrow, trailed off and picked up his monocle.

“I’m reviewing the budget breakdown, and I’d like to hear your opinion.”

Roina wanted to gain the trust of someone prudent who wouldn’t betray her master, at the very least.

Even if it was a marriage made by imperial decree, she wanted to fulfill her duties as the mistress of the ducal family.

Though it might be far too late to turn things around.

If she was going to live in this estate from now on, she wanted to show her own efforts.

Donovan, whose face was momentarily shadowed by complex and subtle emotions, reluctantly bowed his head.

“……I understand, my lady.”

Soon the head butler took a seat at the table and began examining the budget proposal Roina had prepared.

Then he looked at her with somewhat puzzled eyes.

Feeling that gaze, Roina tilted her head obliquely and asked.

“Is there some problem?”

“May I ask why you allocated 150 rusos?”

“Did I set it too high?”

Since 50 rusos was enough to acquire a building in the capital’s central district, 150 rusos would be enough to easily buy about three buildings.

At those words, Donovan politely shook his head.

“There seems to have been room for misunderstanding in my words. I was merely suggesting that one digit seemed to be missing.”

“You mean I should allocate 1500 rusos for the budget?”

1500 rusos would be enough to acquire a grand theater in the capital’s central district and still have money left over.

At those words, the head butler tilted his head sideways with an expression asking what the problem was.

“Of course, since it’s House Asheter’s banquet.”

Roina came to realize anew just how wealthy House Asheter was.

“Then…… I’ll reallocate it.”

※※※

Working on business until late at night, Roina checked the clock placed on her desk.

‘By now, I should be able to meet him.’

She was thinking of visiting Conrad’s study since there were matters to discuss regarding the banquet budget allocation.

He usually came home by no later than midnight.

Gathering her documents and moving her steps, she hesitated briefly before lightly knocking on the door.

Knock knock—

“Conrad, may I come in for a moment?”

But no answer came from the study.

Just as Roina was about to knock on the door again with more force, Harrison, who was passing by, approached her.

“Duchess, what brings you here at this late hour?”

“I have something to discuss briefly with Conrad.”

The aide, glancing at the documents she was holding, sent quite a favorable look.

“His Grace will return soon. If you wait inside first, I’ll bring him to you.”

She tried to decline saying it was fine, but seeing Harrison who had instantly gone far away, Roina eventually decided to accept.

Unintentionally having to wait for Conrad inside the study, she quietly looked around this place she was entering for the first time since losing her memory.

A few pieces of furniture in low saturation, neatly arranged books and documents.

The clean study with only necessary items seemed to fully reflect his personality and tastes.

Just as she was about to return to the sofa to avoid any misunderstandings, one document envelope that Roina accidentally touched fell to the floor with a thud.

Hurriedly organizing the documents that had half spilled out, she suddenly stiffened.

“What is…… this exactly?”

She hadn’t intended to look closely, but the document that naturally caught her eye was none other than a divorce agreement.

One with the signatures of Conrad Asheter and Roina Asheter.

At the existence of documents she couldn’t believe even seeing directly, Roina felt her heart sink.

Wondering if she might have seen wrong, she checked several times, but the document’s contents didn’t change.

Conrad’s signature section was filled in with neat handwriting without any excess, and the handwriting in Roina’s signature section was definitely hers too.

“Why on earth did I write this?”

There surely must have been a reason for it, but now she just felt like she was wandering in a maze.

While Roina couldn’t take her eyes off the documents, a low voice came from behind.

“What exactly are you doing here right now?”

At Conrad’s sudden appearance, her hands trembled finely.

RUSTLE—

Looking at him with a somewhat dazed expression, she ended up dropping the documents she was holding.

“……!”

Before Roina could pick up the documents scattered on the floor, he strode up to the desk.

The man’s expression, casually skimming through the documents he picked up instead, suddenly hardened coldly.

“Why do you have this?”

“That, that’s……”

When she trailed off, not knowing how to answer, Conrad twisted one side of his eye area.

“Now you’re entering spaces without the owner present and touching other people’s belongings?”

“……”

Roina looked at her husband with purple eyes that shook mercilessly.

Though she had many things she wanted to ask, her mouth wouldn’t easily open.

The man, who couldn’t know her inner thoughts, wore a sneer and asked.

“What, did Marquis Würetti order this too?”

It seemed he misunderstood that Roina had secretly entered the study to steal information about the ducal family.

At the sight of the man who consistently suspected her, she felt her chest tighten suffocatingly.

As hurt was added to her pent-up feelings, her throat choked up and she slowly shook her head.

First, she wanted to have a calm conversation with Conrad and clear up the misunderstanding.

“No. I just wanted to tell you—”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t enter my study carelessly from now on.”

At Conrad’s extremely cold warning, Roina swallowed and looked up at her husband.

The moment she faced the man who didn’t withdraw his contemptuous gaze, she was certain.

That no matter what she said, he wouldn’t believe her.

With her mind going blank, Roina barely managed to open her mouth.

“……I’ll be going first.”

No one noticed that her steps were getting faster as she left the study.

※※※

Returning to her bedroom, Roina was casting meaningless glances at the window where moonlight fell.

“What exactly is going on?”

Muttering quietly, unlike the flustered moment earlier, she was alone seeking answers in the quiet silence.

‘Surely in that divorce document……’

Her handwriting was written there without a doubt.

The self in her lost memories had definitely agreed to divorce.

What on earth had happened between them that they had brazenly prepared divorce agreement documents?

She tried to recall past events, but her lost memories wouldn’t easily return.

Her mind was just confused and her thoughts wouldn’t organize.

“I thought divorce would be impossible due to the imperial decree.”

No matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t seem like she would have presented divorce documents to him first.

Still, she wanted to know the reason why she had signed the documents.

A sigh naturally flowed from the lips of her who was deep in thought.

Because the intention of him taking out documents she didn’t even know when they were written was too clear.

“Did you want to divorce that badly?”

Recognizing once again that there was no place for her in Conrad’s future, sorrow spread fully in Roina’s eyes.

※※※

Inside the study with a desolate and silent atmosphere.

Conrad furrowed his brow while looking at the divorce documents with his and Roina’s signatures.

“Something I hadn’t opened for a while.”

It had just been caught between other documents he was taking out.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have placed these documents on the desk.

He certainly hadn’t expected Roina to discover the divorce documents while he was briefly away.

“Ha—”

Just as Conrad, letting out a low sigh, was organizing the documents, Harrison entered the study with a short knock.

Glancing at the aide who was bowing, he put the document envelope in the desk drawer and said.

“There shouldn’t be any remaining matters to report.”

Then Harrison, looking around the study briefly, asked with a flustered face.

“Did the duchess not stop by?”

At those words, Conrad’s straight eyebrows rose obliquely.

“How do you know about that?”

He, who was always indifferent to servants, unusually had emotion in his voice.

Harrison, sweating at his superior’s rare appearance, continued his explanation step by step.

“She was waiting outside, so I told her to go inside and wait.”