The savings run out before the honeymoon period is over.
 
Marlena is the worst human being Oscar could find—a tool to hurt Serwen and an accessory to show off his wealth.
 
So Oscar looks the other way when she buys dresses and jewelry with her personal savings.
 
When Marlena’s savings dried up and she started paying for everything with Oscar’s money, Albert would let her know when her spending exceeded a certain level.
 
People secretly laughed and looked down on her, but they also envied her for splurging on “Oscar’s money.
 
Marlena’s love for Oscar was so great that she endured this treatment without a word of protest, merely yearning for her husband’s love, over and over again.
 
As the Duchess of Crestwell, her demeanor is more subdued than it was as the Lady Rowissum, and Oscar earned people’s admiration by saying that he had ‘the mad dog of the capital.’
 
Unable to live like Marlena after my possession, I wanted to make money for myself, so I proposed to Oscar that I co-manage the theater, and I tried other things.
 
Of course, as you can imagine from the word ‘tried’, it didn’t work out.
 
Oscar stopped me.
 
“Do you know what it means for a noblewoman to meddle in external businesses?”
 
I frowned, remembering Oscar’s voice.
 
“It means that her husband is so incompetent that she has to earn her own money! Is that what you intend to reduce me to?”
 
Ugh.
 
I can’t believe I put up with all that just to hear him say we should divorce.
 
I was so glad I didn’t have to put up with it anymore.
 
* * *
After dismissing Marlena from the theater, Oscar immediately decided to move Serwen’s residence.
 
He was studying a map to see if he could find a suitable place in the Luini district, a relatively quiet neighborhood far from Eveleth Street, when his portable communications device made a noise in his drawer.
 
Someone was trying to reach him.
 
Interrupted, Oscar frowned and opened the drawer.
 
He wished he’d left the power switch down. But if he cut off the communication once he had a signal, the other person would know that Oscar had deliberately ignored him.
 
He couldn’t treat someone who knew the office’s communication code like that. It’s a shortcut to tarnishing his reputation.
 
Oscar cleared his throat and operated the communication device.
 
“This is Duke Oscar Crestwell. Who is this?”
 
“Oh, Oscar. It’s Lowell.”
 
It was Lowell, who worked as the Deputy Head of Customer Support at the Royal Central Bank.
 
Although he hadn’t received a title in the inheritance competition due to having many siblings, his father was an influential man, and it was good to have a close friend at the bank, so Oscar befriended him.
 
Whenever the bank needed to contact Oscar, it was always Lowell. Oscar himself had assigned him to do so.
 
Through Lowell, Oscar could use some tricks and receive some conveniences.
 
“Yeah. What’s going on? Do you have an agenda?”
 
“It’s nothing much, but it’s work-related.”
 
Oscar’s eyebrows were slightly wrinkled. Something didn’t seem right.
 
“Don’t beat around the bush. Just tell me quickly.”
 
“It’s about your wife. She took out a loan today under the family name. I contacted you as it’s a loan that requires approval first and then notifies the spouse after.”
 
“What?”
 
Oscar’s face immediately turned grim.
 
“A loan?”
 
Heat radiated from his face.
 
He forgot to be polite. He’d never done that before, not in front of a ‘useful connection’ like Lowell.
 
Trembling and unable to control his anger, he lashed out at Lowell.
 
“Who authorized this without even checking with me? Is this even possible? What the hell is going on in your bank?”
 
Oscar hated the idea of Marlena spending the money he had earned from his theater work. Such a disgusting woman… … .
 
But since they were married, he thought some things were unavoidable, and he tolerated a certain amount of spending.
 
Even that was already remarkable patience.
 
It was almost unbearable to waste even a single penny. That’s why he didn’t forget to strictly limit Marlena’s cash usage.
 
Under Oscar’s direction, the ducal family’s internal budget was being handled entirely by Albert.
 
It was somewhat shameful, but Marlena received pocket money from Albert. But Oscar doesn’t care about Marlena’s humiliation.
 
After all that, Marlena takes out a loan in the family name. How does that make sense?
 
Lowell explains.
 
-“Mm……. Calm down, Oscar. First of all, there is no problem in terms of bank policy. Duke Crestwell’s credit rating is good, and the deposit size is sufficient to approve the loan.”
 
Oscar jumped to his feet and began pacing the office.
 
“You bastard……. That’s not the problem, Lowell; it’s my name. It’s my name. Why would you lend money to someone else in my name?”
 
-“Crestwell’s name is…… the Duchess’s, too. It’s not just bank policy; it’s the law of the kingdom. Think about it. Marriage is a union, and no one judges you and the Duchess as different.”
 
Lowell’s calm explanation felt like a reprimand to Oscar, asking, ‘Did you get married without knowing that? ‘
 
Oscar barely restrained himself from smashing the communication device as he growled through gritted teeth.
 
“Without any confirmation from me!”
 
-“If the amount had been larger, the pre-approval process would have been required from you as well, but your wife requested the ‘fastest available loan.’ She demanded a loan without such a procedure.”
 
Oscar is at a loss for words.
 
-“This, it’s limited to 50 million Arcrons. It’s a small sum, isn’t it? It’s not something that requires spousal verification, do you understand? It’s not uncommon among the high nobility. It’s something they borrow at their own discretion for auction bidding or something, to fill up without their spouse’s consent. ……. The interest rate is high, assuming you’ll pay it back in a week, and the repayment is usually within that.”
 
He felt dizzy.
 
It seemed like Lowell was talking nonsense.
 
Fifty million Acron was not a burden to Oscar, as Lowell had said. He could pay it back right now.
 
But the issue lay with the borrower.
 
“I’ve locked her out of my account so she can’t touch my money! She can’t even access my deposits. Yet she can get a loan? What kind of nonsense is this, Lowell?”
 
-“It’s not tied together. Didn’t you only discuss the deposits at the time of marriage?”
 
He didn’t realize Marlena would be such an asshole to take out a loan in the family name.
 
He was blindsided. She can’t withdraw her savings, but she can take out a loan. What kind of joke is that?
 
“I thought it was naturally tied! Why isn’t it automatically tied? Isn’t customer protection necessary? At least, if one is tied, shouldn’t the other be informed? If it’s like this, who would entrust money to the bank?”
 
Oscar’s face turned crimson with anger. But it was useless.
 
Even Lowell’s calm and courteous tone began to prick Oscar like thorns.
 
-“Naturally? You’re going to tell me what’s natural, now? Keeping your wife from accessing the family savings is not ‘natural’ in the common law of the kingdom. That was an extraordinary demand, Oscar, and you’re the only one who’s ever made it. Do you remember how much I compromised my principles for your favor? But now, should I take the blame for not automatically linking the loan? “
 
“What?”
 
-“I suffered a lot to handle that matter without damaging your image. Get a grip. I don’t understand why you’re making such a fuss over this small amount.”
 
Two words about being ungrateful and being a jerk made Oscar’s blood pressure rise, and he felt like he was going to collapse.
 
He was dying of injustice. She’s the one who’s crazy, and she’s making him look like a bad customer!
 
He knew that Lowell had struggled with Oscar’s ridiculous demands when he got married.
 
But it seemed like the least he could do for him now. His own situation was the most frustrating.
 
Oscar, who tends to lose his cool when Marlena is involved, impulsively blurted out the words he’d always had in mind but never spoken.
 
“Why are you speaking like that? Do you look down on me because I’m working on a performance business, because I’m not doing something important?”
 
It had always been a longstanding insecurity for Oscar.
 
The Duke of Crestwell.
 
The first Duke of Crestwell was Oscar’s grandfather and the late king’s younger brother.
 
Wary of the First Duke of Crestwell, the King had the political limbs of the Crestwell family severed.
 
The number of bodyguards who could be considered ‘armed’ was limited, and entry into the council was naturally impossible.
 
Currently, Oscar’s focus on the performance business is also a consequence of this.
 
Although his father, Kieran, managed to gain considerable wealth and cultural influence with the Crestwell Grand Theater, Oscar always felt unsatisfied.
 
He could never shake his insecurity that he was always engaged in something insignificant.
 
He wants to be in the council, to be involved in politics and the military, and to run this country, but it is not easy for his family to get involved in such things.
 
Oscar chuckled, and Lowell, on the other end of the communication device, was silent for a long moment.
 
When the silence ended, Lowell’s heavy voice came through.