Night of the Abandoned Duchess

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Chapter 15

Not fun…?

His words reminded him of his presence with Olivia. Did he have any fun with her? Or, maybe he didn’t just have fun with her, he might have more emotional exchanges?

Rosalind wondered if he saw the moment when he was a child in her when she was gone.

In an instant, it felt like her situation was going to be infinitely miserable, and her mind was all messed up and confused as if someone had stirred it up.

“…No, I don’t want it.”

Kyle slowly raised his head at the sudden voice.

The moment he was about to pass that voice, a whining, more decisive word came out.

“No.”

Rosalind kept repeating her words of dislike like a broken clockwork doll. Then, Kyle said, “You don’t want it?”

She actually couldn’t hear anything he was saying.

‘No. no, I don’t want it. I hate everything…’

She hated everything from the fact that she was infertile, the fact that he was so friendly with Olivia, the childish provocations that Olivia made towards her, the way she fell for the provocations, and the way she felt miserable in the end.

“No, I hate it.”

“Do you really hate it?”

“I really hate it.”

Tears streamed down the corner of her eyes, and Kyle stared at her. Perhaps, he really lost his fun as he pulled his hand away coldly from her. Eventually, as if he had lost interest, Kyle left Rosalind behind.

She swallowed the tears in silence, unable to wipe her tears away, in the empty room after her husband left.

It wasn’t long before he left that Rosalind was finally able to button up. Maybe, it was because he had sucked her chest so hard that she felt a tingling pain just by touching it. Maybe, it wasn’t because of that…

The pain, like a cut, was suffocating.

Since that day, her husband has not come to the bedroom where she was.

She, too, spent the night and the morning alone in her empty bed. Even when the sun was shining, she spent her time just draped in the blanket until her husband went to work and Olivia went out.

Rosalind did her own thing when the two weren’t there.

She got out of bed and didn’t even eat, and she calmly went on to do what she had to do. She had originally planned to take care of Olivia herself, though a maid took her place.

One day, a week later, she was told by the maid that Olivia was returning to her original home. Rosalind didn’t know if Olivia had a good tour of the Capital, though to be honest, she didn’t care.

The day Olivia left. She would have sent her off as husband and wife like she did when Olivia arrived here, although Rosalind has been in her room all day. The maids became particularly busy, and the powerful voice of the coachman hitting the horses could only be heard.

“Miss Olivia has left. She thanked you for the hospitality, and she said she would come again.”

“…Will she comes again next time?”

Sitting blankly in the vanity chair, Rosalind pulled up the tip of her mouth.

“Yes. She said that she was really grateful and that she would definitely come back.”

“Maybe, next time, she will come as the mistress instead of a guest.”

She murmured lowly as if talking to herself.

The eyes of the maid, who understood the meaning of her words, quickly became wide, but she herself was only dazed.

“Where is the Duke?”

“After seeing her off, he said he’d go to work.”

“I see. Thank you.”

After smiling calmly, she then looked at herself in the mirror. Lately, she hasn’t been able to eat properly and sleep well, so her skin texture was rough, and her complexion was dark. The clothes she was wearing were roughly layered, as though it was not to reveal her body.

Although she was mostly at home, she was never fully comfortable. Rosalind kept her neatness to a minimum so that she didn’t look too shabby.

It was the habit she had been accustomed to, though above all else, she wanted to look good to him. In addition, Kyle was always neat. Of course, he didn’t mean to look good for her.

Rosalind looked at herself in the mirror for a long time.

When she first got married, she had a face full of excitement like a child who had received a present. She told herself that someday she wanted to be loved by him, and she smiled. However, now, a little over a year later, she sits like this, with a haggard face and expressionless.

Looking into the mirror for a while, she could see the silhouette of a familiar man behind her.

When Rosalind recognized the identity of the man reflected in the mirror, she heard a muffled voice in her ear.

“I thought you were oversleeping because you didn’t come out, but you weren’t.”

“Yes. I wasn’t.”

She turned her head and looked straight into Kyle’s eyes.

“I didn’t want to go see her off.”

It was a neat voice, although it sounded a bit bold, perhaps because the content was straightforward.

“…Duke, I have something I want.”

Saying so, she slowly got up from her seat and began to take off her robe. The dress Rosalind wore underneath was relatively light and active. It didn’t inflate too much to make her look dull, and it didn’t tighten her waist too hard.

One after another, she calmly untied the emerald earrings from her ear and placed them on the dressing table. She also began to untie the large necklace.

“…A child?”

Kyle seemed to have misunderstood when she was taking off her clothes and putting them down one by one.

“No.”

“Did the wife want anything other than children?”

Since she used to talk about a child like a habit, it was not unreasonable for him to think that way.

In retrospect, it was stupid. She was infertile, and she was been wanting a child throughout her marriage.

“…Yes. I don’t want children.”

Even though Rosalind spoke quickly, she calmly spoke before he could even cast doubt on his face.

“It’s a divorce.”

She could see his expression contorted. Then, as if she was talking nonsense, he retorted at once.

“Divorce?”

“Yes. Divorce. Please, divorce me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Literally as I said.”

Despite Rosalind’s resolute words, Kyle still had a cold face as if he was not convinced.

“I want a divorce.”

“If you have any complaints, don’t be childish like this, just say…”

“I can’t have a child. I am infertile.”

Kyle’s lips, which had been dangling for a moment, stopped as they were.

Her husband has always been a skillful figure. That night he taught her to dance, as he deals with business, deal with people, even in bed. Seeing such a man shaking, she felt a little funny for some reason.

“More precisely, I could be infertile. I can’t say for sure, but it’s much more likely that I am infertile.”

As her words continued, Kyle narrowed his eyes.

Rosalind could see his straight forehead frowned as if in doubt or disbelief. No, it looked more like confusion than simple wonder.

“What do you mean?”

“It means that I am of no use.”

At first glance, she said things that might sound self-blaming.

The week she worked diligently to do her own thing was just time to clear her mind. Like a diligent gardener pruning branches, to her, it was throwing away and cutting off the tiny, pointed branches one by one.

Her husband has a woman to spend the night with, and she herself was barren. Like the flowers in that garden that would lose their value if not pruned and would never survive, eventually, she had to get rid of useless things in order to survive.

No matter how much it hurt, even if she was stabbed by a sharp thorn…

“That means—“

“Are we spending more time together than in bed? So, that doesn’t have any meaning anymore.”

“The issue of having children should be discussed more slowly…”

“Discussed? Does the problem of infertility change with discussion? Don’t you know, our marriage means nothing…!”

“Who said that?”

At that moment, Kyle strode over and grabbed her wrist. The strength of the grip was so strong that it felt like pressure rather than a desperate hand to grab a lover.

Rosalind flinched slightly, although she quickly opened her eyes and looked at him. Even though the wrists held by him were stained red, she was clear with no sign of backing down.

“Who decides whether it has meaning or not?”

“You don’t even love me, anyway.”

“Divorce and love have nothing to do with each other.”

Rosalind paused for a moment at his answer. It was a reaction she had never expected. She thought it’d be right if she asked for a divorce. Isn’t he the one who hated her more than anyone else? So, why…?

“There is no such thing as a divorce.”

“Why?”

“That is, of course, the honor of the family…”

“If you don’t have children, you can’t pass on a generation, so whose family?”

As she quickly responded, Kyle lost her words, and only a cool breeze permeated the empty space.

That was right.

In fact, her heart fluttered for a moment as he pretended to gather himself. Her heart pounded like a wave at the word ‘love.’ No matter how much Rosalind pruned and made a promise, she still had a heart that was attracted to him.

Even though Kyle pretended to grab it for a moment, that was just enough to keep her mouth shut at the words. Even the reason he caught her was the ‘family honor.’

The only reason she had hopes and regrets in this marriage was love. However, the issue of family and fame was intertwined with him. It was too big and plausible for the childish reason of love, so she felt shabby.

With such a large gap between the two, it was impossible for the marriage to last.

Honor or fame… There were many nobles in this country, so they could be replaced at any time.

Eventually, Rosalind saw her husband’s neck twitching.

“That…”

“I think you should sign this document and put your family seal on it.”

Rosalind, holding the hem of her dress as if she had made a decision, spoke with a firm voice. She then placed the papers she had prepared on the desk before leaving her husband frozen behind and opened the door and headed out.

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