Chapter 17

Oscar’s divorce was indeed a shocking story.

Marlena Rowissom, a “mad dog,” traveled from her hometown to the capital to marry Oscar and turn the capital upside down. And Oscar Crestwell, who sacrificed himself to tame her.

Their story was famous in the capital.

Jacob Hennessy had repeatedly begged Oscar to let him write a script based on their story, but Oscar had always refused, making their story even more famous.

Everyone thought Oscar couldn’t stand Marlena and would divorce her soon, but they were wrong. Oscar had managed to maintain a seemingly smooth marriage with Marlena for a long time.

Of course, there were deep-seated issues, but outwardly, everything seemed fine.

But the divorce came so suddenly. There were no signs…….

“What… what happened…?”

Oscar chuckled bitterly and lowered his gaze.

“You know her temperament. I… I’ve reached my limit.”

With a voice rich in emotion and resonance, the narrative unfolded in an instant. Ruben raised his eyebrows and nodded several times toward Oscar.

“But I don’t think your wife would have agreed to that easily.”

“She did.”

Oscar lied nonchalantly, not even bothering to wipe his mouth.

“When we were signing the divorce papers, she threatened to drag me down by any means necessary. Honestly, I was afraid she’d spread baseless rumors. She has nothing to lose.”

“Trying to tarnish your reputation!”

“This is a personal request…”

Oscar leaned in closer to Ruben and Edward, whispering.

“No matter what my wife says about me after the divorce, ignore her completely. She’ll spew nonsense as long as money is involved.”

“Well, your wife is about to be ousted as Marquis of Rowissum……. and deprived of the Duke’s wealth, she’s likely to spread vicious rumors.”

Perhaps because they had been in sync for so long, Ruben accepted Oscar’s gesture warmly. Placing his hand on his chest, Ruben solemnly nodded at Oscar.

“We promise not to react to anything Lady Crestwell says. We also have journalistic ethics, after all.”

“Good.”

Oscar smiled as if a burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

“Enjoy the snacks.”

Edward opened the box without realizing what was going on, clearly thinking he was being told to eat the sweets now. Ruben quickly slapped the back of his hand.

Feeling somewhat refreshed, Oscar enjoyed the scene as if watching a theater.

‘Yes, try holding out with 50 million Acrons, alimony, and jewels too.’

‘Then you’ll try to make a living selling stories about Serwen, but no one will write about a woman like you.’

Everyone wants to be close to something precious, and no one wants to take a raggedy doll with strings, even for money.

Thinking he had perfectly thwarted the Serwen story, Oscar smiled genuinely and pulled out a cigarette from his metal case.

* * *
Ruben and Edward left the Crestwell Grand Theater and boarded a carriage for the ride back to the Eleveth Daily’s headquarters.

Edward, the rookie journalist, thought the box of sweets was strangely heavy. As he climbed into the carriage, he cautiously said to his senior.

“Sir, about the Duke’s divorce story earlier…”

From the moment they left Oscar’s reception room, Ruben had been stiff and twitchy.

“What about it?”

“We can’t definitively call it an obituary just from hearing the Duke’s story, can we? It’s a bit strange. The fact that Lady Crestwell signed the divorce papers…”

Ruben glanced at Edward over his glasses.

“So, well. What are you trying to say?”

“I’m just saying that maybe we should look at this a little more objectively.”

Ruben burst into laughter for a moment, but then he suddenly sobered and looked at Edward.

Then he whipped out his journalist’s notebook and slapped Edward on the head.

“This is the problem with you rookies, you think you’re the smartest guy in the world, and this is how you treat your seniors like idiots.”

“What?”

“Of course, the Duke is hiding something about their divorce. I know it because I don’t think the Duke of Crestwell would come to us asking for a favor like that.”

Did Ruben also suspect that Oscar’s request was suspicious?

Edward was puzzled.

“Well, why would you…….”

Faced with a situation that he, as a journalist, couldn’t understand, he stammered out his question. Ruben responded disdainfully.

“Open the candy box.”

Dumbfounded for a moment, Edward quickly opened the box of sweets, and his mouth dropped open.

It felt heavy.

The sweets weren’t the only thing inside. There was a gold nugget nestled among the sweets.

Ruben pushed Edward’s forehead with his journalist’s notebook.

“Do you understand now? Please, don’t do anything stupid. Don’t go against the Duke of Crestwell’s wishes, because that’s the end of your ‘treats’.”

Edward was in awe that his respected senior had laughed so abruptly.

“And, if not at a time like this, when else would you be able to see Nina Ford right under your nose? ”

Nina Ford, golden nugget…….

Senior Ruben, for things like this…….

It was the moment when my fantasy as a journalist shattered completely.

Whether he liked it or not, Ruben raised both hands with a chuckle.

“Hail, His Excellency the Duke of Crestwell!”

Hurrah, hurrah!

Edward clenched his lips tightly.

This didn’t seem right at all.

* * *
After separating from Oscar, I felt relieved.

Feeling better, I walked into the brunch restaurant with my new bodyguard.

The thought of him not eating anything since he’d been down since yesterday was crazy.

Well, hadn’t he eaten anything since yesterday? Considering the hustle and bustle on the streets of Eleveth, he would remember a few proper meals.

‘I can’t do this. If I don’t feed him well and let him sleep well… … .’

I made up my mind.

I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility because he was now under my control.

My bodyguard looked around in disbelief for a moment, but when the server came over and set up a bowl of water and utensils for him to wash his hands, he naturally washed his fingertips and wiped them on a napkin on his lap.

As if such manners were second nature to him.

I didn’t miss that sight.

“Indeed…”

A well-educated man.

Even if he’d lost his memory, his body language spoke volumes about where he came from. I don’t think he even realizes it’s natural.

But regardless of his original status, it was time to treat him as such.

It would only create an awkward situation if a noble spoke to someone who was nothing more than a bodyguard.

Later, when his memory returned, he could adopt the appropriate decorum.

Luckily, the man seemed to be more comfortable with my condescension.

“Do you really not remember your name at all?”

He pondered my question deeply. The wrinkles on his forehead showed how profound his contemplation was.

“Ah…….”

His head jerked up in thought, then drooped slightly again.

“L…….”

“L?”

“That’s all I can remember…”

He shook his head as he said it.

“Ugh…….”

Just thinking about it seemed to weigh heavily on his mind. He suddenly grabbed his head and bowed. I hurriedly calmed him down.

“You don’t have to force yourself. Just don’t think about anything right now. I’ll come up with a name for you.”

The man looked at me with eyes, questioning if I was serious.

Ugh, it’s dangerous to look him straight in the eye. He looked so innocent that I wanted to give him everything he asked for.

“Yeah, I’ll do it. Let’s see……. How about Roche? … Well, now that I think about it, it’s a bit… If you don’t like it…”

“It’s fine.”

I spit it out and realized it sounded too much like a puppy name.

I was about to tell him he could say no if he didn’t like it, but he interrupted me in a cute and polite way.

He seemed to really like the name.

His light-green eyes were giving me a rare, powerful look of approval.

I smiled sheepishly.

“Okay, I’ll call you Roche, then.”

“Yes.”

Roche smiled, his eyes crinkling nicely.

“Thank you.”

“Uhhhh…….”

I was slightly touched by those words of gratitude.

Since becoming Marlena, I have never been thanked for something without spending a dime.

Everyone around me was keeping as much of an awkward distance from me as possible to keep Oscar’s attention, but this man smiled and said thank you so sweetly.

It was a heartwarming scene.

I even felt a little warm inside.

At that moment, the salad was served at the right time. The server who placed the plate had very neat hands.

Without thinking, I raised my head to confirm the server’s face.

“……?”

Oh, it’s her.

The server looked at me for a moment.

‘Katharina Blanchette? ’