In this world, I knew that it was not uncommon for nobles to have their own lover. There were also rumours about Crown Prince Jarvis with several noble ladies.

But for someone like me who had learned morals for a long 12 years in elementary, middle, and high school in South Korea, betrayal was an unimaginable line to cross. So I tried to endure the curse until the divorce was finalized, but it didn’t work. What’s the point of having a conscience or principles when I’m going to die!

I had no intention of reliving that painful moment.

“Now that I see you eating well, my heart feels relieved.”

Lily blinked her eyes with a moved expression as she watched me eat the soup aggressively.

“The doctor said they don’t know the cause of your fever, but you must have been so scared.”

Chewing on a piece of meat that I barely found in the watery soup for better digestion, I nodded silently. There’s no way to know the cause. It’s definitely a fever caused by the curse.

“If you didn’t wake up today, I was going to send letters to all the doctors in the empire.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

I smiled at Lily. I was grateful to have someone who blindly worried about me like this. I remembered everything she did to take care of me while I was feverish.

“Have Diart ever come to visit me?”

“Ah… well….”

It was a question I asked without much expectation, but it was still the same. After all, that cold-hearted guy who couldn’t be found in my subconscious, would he ever come to see me when he didn’t even want to show his face?

Then that means the hand I held wasn’t Diart’s either, so could it have been just a dream? No, but still. Even Lily, who is a complete outsider, was worried about me like this. Shouldn’t that bastard called ‘husband’ come to visit at least once? After all, we spent some time together!

‘Yeah, let’s just have an affair, let’s do it!’

The guilt that lingered in a corner of my heart scattered away.

“He must have been busy. He couldn’t find the time to come!”

Lily pondered over Diart, worried that she might hurt my feelings.

“I didn’t expect anything anyway.”

I was just curious about whose hand it was that I held.

“Oh, while you were lying down, everyone came to visit and brought flowers.”

Lily quickly changed the subject as she noticed my reaction.

I was already curious about the unfamiliar vases filling my room. I thought Lily had decorated them, but it seems like that wasn’t the case.

“Annie, Daisy, Tammy… Oh, and Sir Milto also came to deliver a message at the door.”

Lily smiled as she recounted the names one by one with her fingers.

“They all hoped for you to wake up soon.”

“Did they?”

She’s probably exaggerating the number of servants, but it felt good nonetheless.

‘Yeah, when did I have time to sit on the bed like this?!’

I need to find a man before the curse manifests again. As Lily said, it’s nice to eat good food, so I should look for a handsome, fit, wealthy, and well-behaved man!

‘Oh, but first, I should finish that conversation with Diart, right?’

Since I’ve decided to have an affair, I didn’t want any more contact with Diart.

But since I’ve reincarnated into a romance novel as the daughter of a Duke, I wanted to enjoy everything life has to offer until I became a little old lady. Then, he wouldn’t have to destroy my family in the future.

There’s a lot to do and I’m getting impatient, so let’s handle it quickly.

After scraping the soup clean and putting down the spoon, I turned my head to Lily.

“Where is Diart right now?”

Lily insisted that it was still too early for me to push myself and told me to lie down on the bed, but I really didn’t care.

No, rather, I felt even lighter than before I collapsed. If the refreshing energy flowing through that hand was just a dream, then it seemed like after suffering from the curse once, my body would feel refreshed.

“Madam, have you woken up?”

Gordon, who was coming out of Diart’s office, widened his eyes when he saw me.

“Yes, just now.”

“I’m relieved.”

Gordon let out a sigh and showed a relieved expression.

“But is it okay for you to be walking around already? Wouldn’t it be better to rest a little longer?”

“It’s okay. Is Diart inside?”

“Yes, should I announce you?”

“Yes.”

Gordon immediately knocked on the office door.

“Sir, Madam is here.”

“Let her in.”

As the low voice gave permission, Gordon opened the door himself.

“Thank you.”

After asking Lily to prepare tea, I entered the office. Diart was sitting in front of a desk piled with documents, just like when we met right before I collapsed. And he still didn’t look at me.

‘Cold-hearted bastard.’

Even though I had been bedridden for three days and just got up, couldn’t he at least glance at me, and, even if it’s just empty words, ask me if I was okay? The doctor must have informed him that I had fainted.

I sat on the sofa secretly cursing him under my breath.

“I’m sorry about last time. I suddenly fell ill.”

I purposefully acted as if I was in pain, but Diart didn’t react at all. Even the unpleasantness that remained as little as a speck of dust was completely removed. Yes, you are as bad as expected.

“I’ve come to finish the conversation we couldn’t finish last time.”

Diart, who was twirling his pen, stood up from his seat. Then he walked slowly and sat across from me.

“Go ahead.”

Leaning against the sofa, Diart continued to stare at me until he took a sip of the fragrant tea that Lily had brought and put it down.

‘What? Are you telling me to talk quickly and get lost because you’re busy?’

“Ahem. I know how to imbue mana into a gerastone.”

As I finished speaking while putting down the teacup, Diart raised an eyebrow. It was a gesture that meant to continue.

“More precisely, I know someone who knows that method.”

“Who is it?”

“I can’t just tell you. The essence of a deal is give and take, right?”

“What do you want?”

Diart asked as if it was obvious.

“I have something I want to ask you first.”

“Go ahead.”

“What do you think of my family?”

Diart raised an eyebrow as though he had heard something unexpected.

“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”

“Because it’s important. Please tell me.”

“I don’t have any thoughts about it.”

Diart replied nonchalantly. Despite being in-laws who have interacted for a long time, his expression was indifferent as if we were just one of many families.

But I was relieved to see that look on his face. It was said that if your wife is cute, even looking at the fence posts of her family’s house would make you bow. On the other hand, if you hated your wife, even looking at the fence of her house would make you frown. It’s a zero-sum¹A “zero-sum” situation is one where one person’s gain is exactly balanced by another person’s loss, resulting in no net change in wealth or resources game, so it’s fortunate that there are no pluses or minuses.

As long as I don’t do anything stupid, he won’t bring any disgrace to my family.

“What I want is for the Duke to grant my wish.”

I quickly spread out three fingers.

“Just grant me these three wishes.”

Diart narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll listen and decide.”

“Promise me first before you hear it. Oh, don’t worry. I won’t ask for anything that will harm the Duke.”

“…One wish seems enough.”

“Three. The information I’m giving you is worth that much.”

“Just one wish.”

“Three!”

“One.”

“Three!”

After a while of tug-of-war between one and three, Diart sighed.

“Two wishes.”

“Okay, two is good.”

I hid my satisfied smile inside. I was originally going to ask for two wishes, so nice.

“What is your wish?”

“For the first one, I would like you to expedite the divorce process.”

Diart’s eyes widened slightly. Yeah, it’s an unexpected request.

“Noble divorces take too long. I heard that some count couple took a year. I hope we can finish the paperwork quickly and concisely. Please give a word to the Emperor on behalf of the Duke.”

What’s the point of having power if you don’t abuse it?

“I hope it won’t take more than three months.”

No matter how determined I was to make a fuss, I didn’t want to do it for long. I wanted to meet a really good man and have a happy relationship without guilt. So I hoped everything would be sorted out by the time he met Adelia, at the latest.

Calculating that even with these only two wishes, if I push for a divorce, that guy will believe that I no longer have feelings for him. Then maybe the wall he’s putting up against me will soften a bit.

Diart, who had been looking at me for a moment, nodded his head.

“What about the second wish?”

“I’ll think about it and tell you later.”

“Later?”

I smiled playfully at Diart, who seemed slightly puzzled.

“I won’t make unreasonable demands.”

Right now, it seems like my family has no regrets, but who knows what will happen in the future. It’s like having an insurance policy. If there is a conflict between his side and my family, we might end up using it.

But if such a thing doesn’t happen?

I’ll ask for a whole diamond mine when we divorce. Preferably the biggest one!