Chapter 133
After the boisterous welcome ceremony ended, Elaina and her companions’ luggage was immediately moved to Diane’s house. The mansion, which had a small space suitable for experiments, was just as cozy and lovely as Diane had described.
“This will be much less comfortable than the Grand Duke’s residence, but you can live here comfortably,” Diane said.
“Hm? It’s not uncomfortable at all. By the way, Diane, you’ve been standing for too long. Please, sit down. They say complete rest is best during pregnancy.”
Elaina pulled a soft cushion from her pile of luggage and placed it on a chair. She also introduced Diane to various items she had bought whenever she heard something was good for pregnant women in the capital.
“This is to keep you warm. This is a blanket, these are wool slippers, and this is a healthy tea.”
“Oh my… baby socks? We don’t need these yet.”
“Huh? No, these are a gift hoping the baby will be born healthy. It’s said that if a close friend gives them, the baby will be healthy, so I made them myself.”
The tiny socks clearly revealed Elaina’s clumsy handiwork.
“They could have been better, but it was hard to get Sarah’s help…”
Diane held the crooked little socks in her hands and said nothing. Elaina, embarrassed, tried to explain herself.
“You’re not disappointed, right?”
But Diane, who remained silent, shook her head vigorously, as if to show she was not disappointed at all. At that moment, tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall.
“D-Diane? Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
“Sniff… Th-thank you…”
“Don’t cry. When you cry, I end up wanting to cry too.”
Before long, tears filled Elaina’s eyes as well. She hugged Diane tightly. For Elaina, who grew up as an only child, if Leo was like a friend and a brother, Diane was like another sister.
“You have to make mine too, okay? I can’t ask Leo for this.”
Diane nodded through her tears. Between hiccups, she joked that she would make something much better than this. They cried, laughed, and gradually, the day passed.
Life in Henet was very monotonous. In the peaceful rural village, unlike in the capital, there was hardly ever anything significant happening.
The children were fascinated by Nox, who came from the big city. Soon, the children became friends, forgetting the social gap between nobles and commoners, running around the mountains and rivers together every day. Thanks to this, Nox’s previously pale, snow-white body tanned under the winter sun, resembling a well-cooked potato.
Elaina spent every day chatting with Diane. They talked about things they could do for the baby once it was born, even though it was far in the future, and wrote down potential names for the child. Even such trivial things made the days pass by in a flash.
“This is really peaceful,” Elaina said, rolling on the bed and gazing out the window.
Ryle, who was changing clothes, chuckled.
“So… you don’t like it?”
“No, it’s nice… but I’m only now realizing that I’m a city person. There’s never a moment without incidents in the capital, right?”
“So you wish incidents would happen?”
“Not exactly, but… I wouldn’t mind if something unusual happened…”
Ryle gently tidied Elaina’s tangled hair.
“I heard there’s a wedding in a few days.”
“A wedding? Ah…!”
Elaina’s eyes sparkled. She remembered that one of the older sisters of the children friendly with Nox was getting married.
“Since it’ll be your first time seeing a wedding in this area, it should be fun, right?”
“Yes, it seems fun!”
Elaina nodded repeatedly. Since she rarely saw commoners’ weddings, she was interested. Diane had told her that in this countryside, weddings were celebrated as a village festival.
Ryle chuckled at Elaina’s quickly renewed enthusiasm. If she wanted something unusual to happen, she could simply return to the capital, but she didn’t seem to think that way at all.
He kissed the round forehead of Elaina lying on the bed. The wedding was three days away.
Yet, the “unusual event” arrived sooner than the rural maiden’s wedding.
“W-what does this mean…?”
Elaina’s voice trembled as she checked the letter delivered by the postman. Flustered, she read it twice, then thrice, hoping she had misread it, but the content of the letter remained unchanged.
“Ryle! Explain! What does this mean?”
“…I had forgotten,” Ryle said, pressing his eyebrows as if he had a headache. Nox, who had been quietly observing their conversation, glanced at the letter in Elaina’s hand.
“We hereby notify you that the mediation period has expired and the divorce between the two parties has been finalized.”
“A… divorce?”
Nox accidentally read the word aloud. Surprised, he looked at his brother and sister-in-law.
“Divorce? Brother! What does this mean?”
Elaina squeezed her eyes shut. Even though she had hoped for something interesting, she never imagined an event of this magnitude would occur…
Here’s how the situation came about:
Ryle had been threatened by the Marquis to submit the divorce papers due to the previous Grand Duchess kidnapping incident. Amid the urgency, everyone had forgotten the matter. By the time the divorce papers were noticed, the cancellation period had already passed, and the temple eventually approved their divorce.
“What… what do we do now?”
Elaina asked Ryle in a daze. At her side, the lord of Henet cleared his throat.
“May I speak?”
“Our brother majored in law,” Elaina said, giving Nathan a pleading look. The lord ignored it and spoke.
“Unfortunately, this marriage is now officially ended by divorce.”
“What? But…”
“The temple provides a generous period to cancel the submission of divorce papers. If you fail to cancel it within this time, responsibility clearly falls on you,” he continued.
Elaina felt dizzy.
“Divorce… th-then…”
The lord shook his head, already understanding what Elaina wanted to say.
“Under marriage law, once divorced, the couple cannot remarry. Although this is rare, there has never been a case where it was allowed.”
Elaina slumped into her seat in despair. Ryle glared seriously at the lord beside her.
“Is there really no way?”
“Hum. But in your case, there might be a way,” the lord said.
“What way? Tell us!”
Elaina jumped up, yelling. The lord flinched, surprised by her sudden outburst.
“Normally, the temple holds about three mediation hearings before accepting a divorce, but in your case, none occurred, correct?”
“That’s right!”
“You should file a complaint regarding this. If there was negligence in handling the matter, a mutual resolution might be possible.”
Elaina’s face brightened. She and Ryle immediately began packing their luggage. Although leaving Henet was regrettable, solving the pressing issue before them was paramount.
“I’ll contact you as soon as things are settled, Diane,” Elaina said, forcing a bright smile at Diane, who blamed herself for their absence from the capital. Though anxious inside, she didn’t want to worry Diane, who was pregnant.
The carriage sped forward. As soon as they returned to the capital, they rushed to the temple. A senior cleric was waiting, seemingly expecting them.
“Unfortunately, the temple’s decision is absolute. We cannot reconsider your case.”
Ryle meticulously pointed out the temple’s errors, as the Henet lord had advised. The senior cleric was slightly taken aback by how deeply Ryle delved into the law, but he did not budge.
“Errors are acknowledged. However, failing to cancel the divorce papers is also your responsibility. In fact, the processing took longer than usual, which sufficiently compensates for the temple’s mistake,” the cleric argued.
Elaina slammed her fist on the table. The senior cleric’s eyes widened in shock at the Grand Duchess’s rough gesture.
“So, what do you want us to do? Just accept the divorce?”
The cleric wanted to say they were already divorced, but he could not tell her directly, given the fire blazing in her eyes.
“Hrm.”
“I believe even the gods would not want such a senseless divorce. You are aware of what happened, aren’t you, cleric?”
Indeed. Who in the capital didn’t know about that incident?
“If the gods truly oppose this divorce, they will perform a miracle. Only then will the temple acknowledge that this divorce was a mistake.”
“…A miracle?”
“It is said in legends that the gods occasionally perform miracles to open the eyes of foolish humans. If the gods truly oppose this divorce, a miracle will occur. Then, the temple will recognize that the divorce was wrongful.”
The senior cleric spoke, secretly expecting Elaina to get angry. But Elaina stood up with a proud expression, as if she had some unseen reassurance.
“Don’t you ever forget that. Understood?”
With a triumphant smile, Elaina grabbed Ryle’s arm. Ryle smiled back, as if he too sensed something. The cleric, meanwhile, could only gape in confusion, unaware of their inner thoughts.
