Today's Goal is a Safe Divorce!

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 19

“….”

The good news was that Damon accepted the opinions of others as far as Caitlyn’s affairs were concerned.

If it had been before, he would have ignored other people’s opinions, so that was why he was hesitating now. Damon was originally a person who never cared about other people’s opinions.

“I just want to bring her right now. Sebastian, you don’t know how painful it is not to bring her back that day.”

“Yes, I don’t know. However, it’s also being said that the preparation period is set for a month now, Master. Though you know what would happen if we just brought Lady Caitlyn.”

It had not been long since Sebastian began serving Damon. It was at most five years now. He had been serving him since he became the Grand Duke, so it didn’t take long at all. But, Sebastian got to know Damon inside and out while serving him for a short time.

…The secret of Grand Duchy Raphael and the secret of Damon.

As rumored to be plagued by madness, Damon could not stop his urge to kill. It was always carnage that took hold of him, and it made him feel very inhuman. As it was rumored, it was a symbol of inhuman cruelty.

However, strangely, after meeting Lady Caitlyn, Damon Raphael became a little more human.

“What does it have to do with people’s perspectives?”

“It may not matter to Your Grace, but it will matter to Lady Caitlyn. Do you want to see Lady Caitlyn in pain?”

“Someone tormenting my wife… “

Sebastian shook his head quickly at the rising energy. In front of Damon Raphael, even a blunder was not tolerated.

“Calm down! I understand your feelings, though… Lady Caitlyn doesn’t know anything. What kind of person you are.”

It seemed that the beast that had been running wild because it could not be controlled finally had a restraint device.

“How should we proceed?”

Unlike Countess Arianne, the Marchioness was an expert in this work. As she learned later, Estelle was a person who held a firm place in the social world.

“I…”

“Your Grace will also have many choices to make while running the Grand Duchy’s family in the future. Think of it as practicing one by one from now on.”

Preparing for a wedding was not just preparing the bride’s outfit. Elysia had to learn basic noble etiquette, and she also had the things the bride had to prepare and the things she had to give to the people.

“From tomorrow, the dance teacher will come. And, you will practice meeting people from social circles with me.”

“Yes.”

“Your Grace was not in good health, so you could not debut when you were young… It would be right to debut even now. However, it is a slightly different matter for a married woman to make a debut.”

She certainly had not heard of a married woman putting up her debutante. To have a debutante, a young girl would wear a pure white dress to signify her entering the adult social circle and being recognized.

Nevertheless, in Elysia’s age, the time has already passed and she would have been engaged to Damon. It was humorous that the Grand Duchess, who was already engaged, made a debutante in a white dress.

“In this case, I think it would be better to make a social debut together at the same time as you get married.”

Estelle seemed like she already knew everything. She was uninterrupted in everything. Everything was perfect when it went through her touch.

“You know that the moment you sign the marriage certificate, you take on the title of Grand Duchess.”

“I know.”

“The marriage of nobles seems like a pretense full of vanity. There is nothing conferring a certain position than by signing a marriage certificate stamped with the emperor’s seal. Besides, it is also important to make the marriage vows in front of everyone in the noble society. It means that the couple will be together forever without ever breaking up.”

Together forever…?

“Together forever?”

“Yes. Together forever. Marriage vows are so important. It’s the same in a commoner society, although it’s even more important in a noble society. In the first place, Caesar’s Empire is not a country where divorce is allowed.”

One of Estelle’s words lingered in Elysia’s ear, ‘It is not a country where divorce is allowed.’

This was a country where divorce… was not allowed…?

“Yes? Divorce not allowed?”

At Estelle’s words that divorce is not allowed, Elysia jumped up from her seat. She was so shocked that her heart was pounding. No matter what she heard, there seemed to be no such desperate remark. She even had the illusion that her eyes were turning white.

“Your Grace…? Is there any problem?”

“Ah… No, I was embarrassed because I did not know about it for a while.”

“Is that so?”

She realized too late that she should not do anything suspicious here.

Of course, divorce was nothing in modern society, and she thought it would be the same here. It was not uncommon for a man and woman to get married and then break up if they did not agree. There was no such content when overhearing the stories of the maids.

In the beginning, Elysia often did not even know basic common sense. All of a sudden, Estelle just said that she was not allowed to divorce.

She and Damon could not divorce forever.

Her eyes narrowed, and her heart was pounding, revealing its presence.

“That… Then, there are no divorces at all?”

“Right. This is unavoidable even if you are the Emperor.”

It was complete despair. There was nothing she could do without any power that even the Emperor could not do. So, maybe Damon would kill Elysia. She thought that if the divorce did not work, he would just kill her.

It was a very Damon Raphael idea.

“Ah…”

“It seems that you do not know much about the laws of the Empire.”

“Yes, yes… right.”

Now, there was nothing in front of her.

With a feeling of wanting to do nothing, Elysia uttered no answer. The only thing that filled her mind was the fact that she could not get a divorce. Her plans for a safe divorce had failed miserably even before she even started.

‘Isn’t there an answer other than death…?’

She did not want to die. Even more, it was poison, too!

Elysia shook her head violently, feeling the shuddering pain just thinking about it. Every time she watched a historical drama, she was thrilled when the King gave poison because the villain will finally be gone.

However, it was terrifying that she had to take that poison herself now.

“Even in the Empire, it’s not like there is no divorce at all. Even if you made a marriage vow, you could break it.”

At Estelle’s words that she could break the marriage vows, Elysia lifted her head up and her eyes lit up. She was very curious about what the method was. There was no way to hide her open mouth and her heart beating with excitement.

It was the only ray of hope that came down from a situation where nothing but despair remained.

“Really…?”

“Though why are you curious about that?”

“That… Just… I’m just curious.”

Fool! It was an absurd answer, no matter what anyone thought. No matter who heard it, it shouts ‘I want a divorce!’

Estelle’s mouth opened when Elysia was blaming herself for the answer, which was so obvious.

“The Caesar Empire forbids divorce, but only allows it in three exceptions.”

So, she wondered what those three things were. Whatever it was, she was confident she would do it.

“The first is when the spouse dies.”

“…De, death?”

At the words of death, Elysia felt her heart pound and sink.

She was fed up with the Empire’s law, which did not grant her a divorce until she died. So Damon would have killed her because he wanted a divorce. No matter how much it was, it seemed that she had no choice but to do so when it came to the law.

“Yes. Divorce is only recognized upon death. Until then, divorce will not be recognized even if the spouse is sick.”

“I think that’s a good thing.”

Not a single thing was good. If he were not really dead, pretending to be sick would not work either. Her plan to divorce him on the pretext of going to another empire for recuperation after getting sick like Edward was canceled. Although she had many plans, she wondered if any of them would work.

“The second is when your spouse cheated on you. Not the cheating person, though only if the victim, the spouse, wants it.”

Even the second was in desperate condition. Damon Raphael could never have cheated on her… It was absurd to say that he was having an affair, as he hated even touching people.

It might have been faster for her to have an affair. That was how to make Damon ask for a divorce. Maybe, he wanted it, too. Then, he did not have to get a divorce by getting his hands dirty to kill his wife for nothing…

“There are very few nobles who divorce on this condition. It’s a disgraceful divorce. Even in a noble society, it’s easy to cheat. Most of these cases are common among commoners.”

“…Is that so.”

The second condition was also rejected. Damon could not tolerate a dishonorable divorce. Elysia did not know if she was going to get a disgraceful divorce from him. If she did, she would not survive.

As this was the second, she heard the last condition. Even the rope that she barely caught was nothing but a rotten rope in the end.

“The last one…?”

Despite the fact that she almost gave up now, Elysia could not give up until the end as a human being. Just in case, she looked at Estelle with eyes full of anticipation.

As Estelle opened her mouth again, she smiled softly.

“The last condition is…”

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────