CHAPTER 06…………………………………
In Leandro’s hands, the divorce agreement—missing only one person’s signature—was ripped to shreds.
“Well, looks like these papers are ruined,” he said with a shrug.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s go inside somewhere and talk calmly for—”
“It’s fine. Just in case, I prepared another copy.”
I took an identical sheet from the document envelope I was holding and showed it to him.
Leandro frowned, snatched it away, and tore it up again.
“I have another one.”
He tore that one too.
“And another.”
Rip.
“I actually brought three.”
Rip.
“Just kidding, it’s four.”
Rip.
“Oh, look, there’s another.”
Rip.
After a while, he simply took my entire document envelope.
“Even if you prepare thousands of copies, I have no intention of divorcing you.”
His blue eyes burned quietly.
“My wife is not allowed to leave me.”
What is he even saying?
I clicked my tongue indifferently and lowered my gaze.
“Then I suppose there’s no choice.”
“Right. Let’s talk this out. If we open our hearts and each give a little—”
“Let’s go to court.”
“…What?”
“If you won’t agree to a divorce peacefully, what else can I do? I’m determined to divorce you.”
He looked as though he’d just heard something utterly impossible.
“Do you truly believe you can defeat me—Cassius—in court?”
I drew in a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Of course! I’m divorcing you! Leandro Cassius!”
It wasn’t just to declare my resolve.
“Cassius?”
Murmurs spread.
When I looked around, people coming and going from city hall for various errands were cautiously watching us.
We were in front of city hall, one of the busiest places in the capital, making a scene with divorce papers—and I’d even shouted.
There was no way we wouldn’t attract attention.
“Is that person… of House Cassius?”
Among the onlookers were nobles, and people who recognized Leandro.
It was only a matter of time before rumors spread about discord between the young duke and duchess of Cassius.
“Damn it.”
Only now did Leandro seem to grasp the situation; he covered his face with his hand. He must have been too worked up earlier to think this far.
I curled my lips into a smile.
This was my primary purpose in sending the divorce agreement and calling him to city hall today.
To imprint on a sizeable audience the fact that the young Duke of Cassius was facing a divorce crisis.
If, by some miracle, Leandro agreed to divorce peacefully, great. If he refused, I would raise a ruckus and draw as much attention as possible.
Either way, it would no longer be easy for him to bury this quietly.
Even the mighty Cassius couldn’t control rumors that had no legs. Word would spread in an instant.
“I’ve got no dignity to lose in a mudslinging fight.”
I leaned in and kindly whispered the next words close to his ear.
“Unlike someone who has a younger sister desperate to marry His Highness the Crown Prince.”
It was a declaration of war.
“Let’s see who gets exhausted first.”
After quitting my role as a pampered lady, I’m an unemployed woman with nothing but time.
I turned to leave.
“Next time, I’ll see you in court.”
“…Does it really have to come to that?”
“Yes. It does. Goodbye.”
“Wait, my lady!”
Ignoring Leandro, I walked out of the city hall plaza.
If he had any conscience, he’d clean up the papers he’d torn himself.
The crowd that had gathered eyed me sideways, but perhaps overwhelmed by my momentum—or the severity of the atmosphere—they cautiously parted to make way.
My steps through the crowd were resolute, but my heart was anything but.
‘So it really has to be court…’
Ah. The road ahead looks bleak.
I’d put on a show of confidence before Leandro, acting as though I had the upper hand—but reality was the opposite.
It was true that I had little to lose in terms of reputation from a divorce scandal like this.
Which, in other words…
‘Means I’m overwhelmingly disadvantaged in every other way!’
Even with Leandro’s cooperation, divorce was difficult and complicated.
Submitting the agreement to city hall was merely the first step on a long, exhausting road.
After enduring a lengthy lecture from an official preaching the sanctity of family, there would be a series of pointless, time‑wasting formalities.
And even that wouldn’t be the end of it.
Getting approval from the temple was twice as hard.
Since all couples swear eternity before a priest at marriage, divine permission was supposedly essential.
On top of that, a noble divorce came with a mountain of issues—division of property, return of dowries, succession of titles for children.
As a bonus, the imperial family would meddle, concerned about shifts in power between influential houses.
‘And now a trial on top of all that!’
My shoulders felt unbearably heavy. Worse, I had no confidence I could even win in court.
I recalled my consultation yesterday with a lawyer specializing in divorce.
“Did your husband have an affair?”
“No.”
“Then abuse?”
“No.”
“Verbal abuse—insults, threats?”
“Not at all.”
“Any history of gambling?”
“Not that I know of.”
“An illegitimate child from before the marriage…?”
“None that I’m aware of.”
“Failure to provide living expenses for several months?”
“He paid about five thousand gold every month without delay. An additional three thousand as allowance.”
“…That allowance is higher than my annual salary. And I do quite well for myself.”
That kind of exchange repeated over and over. I can still remember it vividly.
The lawyer’s eyes seemed to say, Do you really have to divorce? Married couples are supposed to endure.
I protested silently.
‘That allowance was so burdensome I didn’t spend a single coin—I kept it untouched!’
…I hate to admit it, but on the surface, Leandro was an almost flawless husband.
Even the way he doted excessively on Rienna looked, to outsiders, like nothing more than close sibling affection.
‘There is exactly one thing that could qualify as grounds for divorce, though.’
It was a sensitive matter—too early to blurt out to a lawyer just yet.
Once I found someone I could truly trust, I’d formally retain them and discuss it properly.
“Haa…”
…Honestly, I’d been secretly hoping Leandro would lose his temper and agree to divorce.
That was why I’d needled him so deliberately earlier.
With his sky‑high pride, and after being insulted as a fool, I thought there was at least a small chance he wouldn’t want to see my face again.
“Things never go that smoothly, do they.”
I muttered as I walked through the bustling street.
I could guess why Leandro refused to divorce.
He still hadn’t obtained the “benefit” he sought through our marriage.
Until he reaped that harvest, he’d cling to the marital bond.
Cassius would assemble a formidable legal team and likely exert pressure on everyone involved.
Meanwhile, I had no backing and no funds.
Even if I had legitimate grounds, I wasn’t naïve enough to believe a trial would be decided purely on principle.
Cassius had the power to make the impossible possible.
Naturally, my chances of successfully divorcing under current conditions were slim—assuming I was just an ordinary “Idel Wallis.”
‘But I’m a transmigrator.’
I knew secrets not yet revealed, and I knew how the future would unfold.
It was time to put my long‑laid plan into motion.
“Madam!”
Someone suddenly spun me around. Unsurprisingly, it was Leandro.
I reflexively stepped back several paces and asked,
“…Were you following me?”
“That’s an unpleasant way to put it. I merely followed you to speak in a quiet place.”
“That’s exactly what people mean by ‘following.’”
He’d waited until I turned into a deserted alley. I suppose he was embarrassed to keep talking in front of city hall.
“Going to court is foolish.”
The man who had lived his whole life above others declared arrogantly,
“It may tarnish Cassius’s dignity somewhat, but in the end, my victory is inevitable.”
“You won’t know until you measure it.”
He proceeded to explain logically why divorce was impossible, but I didn’t listen at all.
When I tried to continue on my way, he changed tactics.
“Weren’t we good once?”
An emotional appeal.
“There was never a time we were good.”
“What about when we were dating!”
Dating?
Surely he didn’t mean those few formal pre‑marriage meetings where we drank tea to kill time?
Admittedly, that was when our relationship was at its best.
Back then, Leandro treated me with respect, and I hadn’t yet seen the true nature of him or House Cassius.
Scratching his cheek, he said,
“I’m not good at expressing myself, but even now, my feelings for you haven’t changed. Things just… turned out this way.”
His face was utterly repulsive.
“You expect me to believe that? You don’t like me.”
“That’s not true! I married you because I liked you, and I don’t want to divorce you now because I still do.”
“Love in a political marriage? Don’t make me laugh.”
At my sarcasm, Leandro replied calmly,
“I apologize, but House Wallis is more than sufficient as a family. However, the only woman I ever considered as my wife was you.”
At that plausibly sweet deception, a fact I’d momentarily forgotten resurfaced.
Come to think of it, Leandro didn’t know that I was fully aware of the truth behind this marriage. That must be why he thought such lies would work on me.
“You chose Wallis for a reason.”
I hadn’t bothered to reveal it before. There was no need.
“The abandoned mine in Andala.”
His expression stiffened instantly.
“Because Rienna wanted the abandoned mine owned by House Wallis. That’s why you married me.”
