CHAPTER 1

I racked my brain and concluded.
 
Because now, unlike in the original story, Oscar hasn’t promised me my convenience…….
 
‘You mean I’ll be in a bad position after the divorce? ’
 
Marlena had given up everything she had to marry Oscar.
 
She had given up her status as the eldest daughter of Marquis Rowissum solely to marry him, and if she were to divorce him, she would lose her title as Duchess.
 
Oscar would undoubtedly bring up that point.
 
‘If you receive alimony from me, you will have assets. But what are you going to do with your status? ‘
 
Well, I can almost hear Oscar’s deep, menacing voice right next to me. And he has a point.
 
The capital is a world of survival for the fittest.
 
To thrive in business and social circles here, one needs appropriate influence. If you’re not in the “right” circle, you won’t be welcomed.
 
If you don’t fit in, even entering clubs and salons becomes difficult, let alone using dressing rooms or restaurants. It’s practically giving up city life.
 
But returning to the Rowissum estate isn’t an option either. They probably wouldn’t accept her.
 
A dishonorable marriage, a dishonorable divorce. Her father would be horrified and ban her from the estate.
 
Marlena would be in a very difficult position if she lost her position as duchess… …
 
It was. Until a few months ago.
 
I smiled to myself.
 
I didn’t declare the divorce simply because I couldn’t stand it anymore for emotional reasons.
 
Would I, who had been considering divorce for quite some time, overlook something Oscar could think of overnight?
 
I had a secret that he didn’t yet know.
 
After double-checking that the door was securely locked, I opened the safe in the room.
 
The contents of Marlena’s personal safe were mostly expensive jewelry that she treasured.
 
She loved to walk the streets wearing thick jewelry to match her gorgeous beauty.
 
Perhaps she relieved the stress of not receiving Oscar’s love by purchasing jewels, as the jewelry box filled the safe.
 
I picked the least expensive-looking wooden box and opened it.
 
It had originally held a ruby-studded platinum bracelet. But now, instead of jewelry, it contained three sheets of paper.
 
It was a paper I received just a few days ago. It was an invitation from Count Balthus, Malena’s maternal uncle.
 
The Counts of Balthus are a family known for their extremely weak bodies and short lives. In fact, Marlena’s mother died at a young age.
 
Naturally, they were desperate.
 
The old count had no children, no nieces or nephews. They all died young.
 
He, too, had been pronounced dead a couple of months ago.
 
Before he died, he had secretly sent a note to Marlena, who had married into the capital, asking if she would come and visit him.
 
The real Malena would not have gone.
 
No wonder.
 
She doesn’t want to be separated from Oscar, not even for a day, and she has a terrible personality.
 
She’s the type of person who would have been annoyed if her relative died and asked why he was bothering her.
 
Knowing Marlena’s temper, one of Count Balthus’s people who came to me had a determined look on his face, prepared to be rejected.
 
But I felt a pang of guilt for some reason.
 
How desperate must someone be to send a request to a distant relative, whom they would obviously expect to refuse?
 
I told the maid that I was going to be away for a few days to make Oscar jealous, and I visited Count Balthus consistently for two months.
 
Oscar seemed to enjoy the time when I wasn’t around, and he didn’t even ask where I had been when I returned.
 
Maybe he just didn’t care.
 
When I returned, I surreptitiously asked the maid what Oscar’s reaction had been, and she told me that at first, he didn’t even notice I was gone and went about his business.
 
Even though he is my husband, isn’t he worse than anyone else? To some extent, it is understandable that Marlena turned away.
 
Unlike my husband, who seems to have preferred my absence, Count Balthus was quite pleased with my visit.
 
He treated me with great friendliness and cordiality, even though I was a relative with whom he had little interaction.
 
For me, who was accustomed to the treatment at Crestwell Manor, it was a somewhat overwhelming but enjoyable time.
 
“I preferred spending time with the Balthus rather than my husband, anyway,”
 
I remembered his face, slightly moist at the corners of his eyes, his color deepening by the day.
 
I often visited him, read to him, and waltzed with him as his eyes grew sunken, and he fell in love with me.
 
‘People misunderstand you.’
 
I remember him saying, with tears in his eyes.
 
‘Whatever people say, you’re Alice’s daughter. You’re affectionate and kind, like Alice’s only child should be.’
 
You’re wrong, The old Malena is gone, and I’ve become a completely different person.
 
I just laughed, of course, because there’s no way she could have said that.
 
Oh, by the way, Marlena has a younger sibling, but he’s different from her and her mother. He’s the child of the new wife, who came in after her mother passed away, receiving lessons as the heir to the Ruwissum Marquisate.
 
So they don’t share Count Balthus’s blood. Marlena is the only one left who is related to Count Balthus and his next of kin.
 
……That means that I am the first heir of Count Balthus.
 
And Count Balthus, who lived a very lonely life, enjoyed the last two months of his life with me, so when he passed away a few days ago, he willingly bequeathed all of his property to me.
 
Even his title.
 
What I had hidden in my jewelry box without Oscar’s knowledge was the will I had received on the day Count Balthus died, as well as a letter he had handed to me in private, a letter of great affection.
 
Honestly, if my husband had paid a little attention to my whereabouts, these documents would never have gone unnoticed.
 
So here’s the bottom line.
 
I may lose the title of Duchess of Crestwell, but I will never lose my place in the capital’s social circles.
 
The moment I submit these papers to the proper authorities and have them duly processed.
 
I am Countess Marlena Balthus, a wealthy noblewoman who owns an orange plantation in the South!
 
However, I am delaying the submission of these documents.
 
The reason is simple. I had been considering the worst-case scenario.
 
And that worst-case scenario is Oscar losing his mind and refusing to divorce me.
 
Even if such a thing were to happen, I had no intention of remaining Oscar’s wife.
 
In that case, I would have no choice but to proceed with my own divorce.
 
What is advantageous to me about the divorce laws of this country is that the alimony for the innocent spouse is not fixed but calculated proportionally to the property.
 
With my current financial situation, the only things Oscar could claim as alimony are the jewels in my safe. 
 
Which is just a tiny fraction of my inheritance as Count Balthus.
 
At worst, I’ll give it to him.
 
If the divorce proceedings are finalized and I inherit the title and estate of Count Balthus, then……. Oscar cannot claim additional alimony from me.
 
The money in the House of Balthus is mine to keep.
 
It was a loophole in the kingdom’s laws.
 
‘I’ve already looked into it.’
 
Of course, Oscar would be in trouble if he found out about his death and my inheritance before the divorce. …….
 
But there’s no need to worry about that. Oscar won’t even consider investigating. He’s too busy pretending to be indifferent to my situation.
 
For a man who is so meticulous in his theater work, he is so dark in his household affairs. He forgets that my uncle is Count Balthus.
 
That would be a shame for the original Malena, but good news for me.
 
Still, it’s better to be cautious, so I plan to keep these documents hidden as much as possible and expedite the divorce proceedings.
 
“Phew.”
 
My status and fortune are now secure enough that I won’t have to worry about anything after the divorce, but I’m not necessarily happy about it.
 
It would have been better if Count Balthus…… hadn’t died.
 
With a slightly saddened heart, I looked at the documents.
 
Although it was a brief acquaintance, and I already knew he would pass away, the wound in my heart wasn’t too deep…
 
Still, he was the first friend I ever had in this world, and I still feel a lingering sadness that I lost him so soon.
 
If he were still alive, he might have been the only one to stand up for me against Oscar.
 
I wish he could have stayed with me and eased my loneliness a little longer.
 
Still.
 
‘Count, I will live well.’
 
You gave me this title and the fortune to live well.
 
In your letter, he told me not to grieve too long. With me by his side, he could prepare for the impending death without feeling lonely.
 
I am very sad that I left without seeing people recognize your true worth.
 
Indeed… What a misunderstanding.
 
After reading the letter once more, I rolled it up and put it back in the jewelry box, locked it in the safe, and locked the door.
 
And then, I thought quietly for a long time.
 
Hmm, no matter how much I think about it.
 
For my sake, for Count Balthus’s sake… I cannot give his property to that worthless husband.
 
Not a single penny.
 
“But to do that, the situation must be reversed. Oscar must be the one to call for divorce first…”
 
There will never be any suspicion on my side.
 
I thought a little more carefully.
 
By the time dawn was deepening, the outline of the answer began to emerge.
 
* * *
The next day.
 
I got up at the crack of dawn and rang
the bell. 
 
If the bell rang at this hour, it was usually to bring hot water and breakfast.
 
But Albert, the butler, came up alone and bowed deeply to me.
 
“His Grace wishes to have breakfast with you, Your Grace.”