Today's Goal is a Safe Divorce!

The original housekeeping budget was thirty million gold… Not only that, they gave her an additional thirty million of the gold as well. What did this mean?

“Still, it was almost useless. We tried to spend the money, but we couldn’t.”

“….”

Elysia couldn’t hear Sebastian. She didn’t even understand Damon’s intentions for this budgeting nonsense.

“If not… the first clause…?”

“Yes? What are you talking about?”

“No, nothing.”

…Was he planning to divorce her by making her extravagant? Deliberately inducing luxury to her?

“The Grand Duke said that the budget could be increased sufficiently. I understand that this was probably shortened by the deputy, Hubert.”

Elysia’s eyes widened at Sebastian’s talk. She couldn’t believe this was a reduced amount.

“He said it doesn’t matter if you use it as much as you like.”

“….”

“Your Grace?”

Elysia did not know if it was right to spend all of this money or not to spend any of it. Needless to say, it was difficult for her to figure out what she should choose.

“Ah, I was thinking about something else for a second…”

“As expected, was the amount small?”

Hearing Julia’s words, she quickly waved her hand. It wasn’t a small amount at all. On the contrary, it was too much trouble.

“It’s too much to worry about. I don’t have any intention to spend…”

To be honest, it had been a long time since she had bought a lot of jewelry and dresses in the name of wedding preparations. She could not even wear them all until her death unless she changed dresses every hour.

“It’s enough with the dress His Grace has already bought.”

Nonetheless, there were also dresses she bought.

Unless she wanted to sell the clothes, she didn’t have to buy dresses anymore, nor was the jewelry. It was so full that it was enough to put a ring on all ten of her fingers and cover all the jewels all over her body. She had even given some of those to Estelle.

“The Grand Duke told you to spend all your money every month.”

“…What?”

“He also said that it doesn’t matter if you take care of the house and paint everything gold.”

Was this guy really crazy? Otherwise, he couldn’t come up with the words to paint everything gold. Somehow, it seemed that all he wanted was for her to be extravagant…

* * *

There was no reason to hesitate any longer as long as she understood Damon’s intentions. Sebastian and Julia desperately wanted it, too…

“Then, what is the most urgent thing right now?”

Even though a lot of things seemed urgent to her, Elysia decided to tackle them one by one, starting with the most urgent.

“Right now, it seems that recruiting manpower comes first. It takes people to take care of the garden and clean up the castle.”

That was correct. The garden even had a greenhouse. However, none of it was maintained, and it was almost like a ruin.

“Will the Grand Duchess’ room be completed quickly if we fill in the manpower?”

“That… I think I’ll be late because it’s the most important room.”

Elysia frowned her brows slightly, hearing that her room would be delayed even if she hired more people. It was because if that was the case, she had to continue to sleep in fear with Damon.

“Is there a specific job you would like to hire more?”

“No, Julia will take care of it. She probably knows better than me.”

In the first place, it was Julia who had managed the Grand Duke’s castle all along. She, of course, would know better than her where the manpower was scarce.

“All right. I’ll do my best so that Madam won’t be disppointed!”

Seeing her smiling as if Julia was so happy, she got a little embarrassed. In fact, she couldn’t disappoint her no matter what because Elysia didn’t exist in the first place as the Grand Duchess. To her, this was just a place she had to hold out in order to survive.

“Ah! And there’s something I didn’t tell you…”

“What do you mean?”

She wondered if there was still anything left to talk about.

Elysia was already tired from running around the Grand Duke’s castle from breakfast until now. Just looking at the ignorant Grand Duke’s castle was enough to make her legs hurt. Even though she had wandered around like that, she hadn’t seen it all yet.

“The Grand Duke has asked to have dinner together.”

“Dinner…?”

“Yes.”

She was surprised at the notion. Since she skipped lunch because she was busy, Elysia wanted to have a leisurely dinner alone. Of course, she thought she would only see Damon while she was sleeping… but to have dinner together!

‘Doesn’t he know that it is uncomfortable to eat face to face?’

“He wanted to have lunch with you, but he understands that Your Grae was busy and waited.”

…Did he wait for her? Damon wasn’t the kind of person who could wait. Elysia’s eyebrows narrowed at that unbelievable words. It was doubtful as if Julia was now telling lies. After all, it didn’t make sense for him to just wait to have a meal with her.

“Will you have your meal right now?”

“Ah.”

She was asking Elysia, but inside, she was hoping for her to agree—that was what Julia’s rigid expression was conveying. Meanwhile, Sebastian had long since disappeared.

“I’ll take a break and then eat. I want to change clothes, too.”

Even though Julia wanted her to agree right away, Elysia didn’t want to. She had been running around all afternoon, and her body was drenched in sweat, so she was reluctant to see Damon unprepared like this.

“I’ll bring Rachel and Chloe.”

“Yes.”

After all, she wouldn’t even be able to find her room by herself. There was a fork in the middle of the Grand Duke’s castle stairs. It was full of mazes, like a secret castle that had hidden something.

“Your Grace, we have prepared everything, even the bath water.”

When did she get accustomed to living such a luxurious life? It was true that humans were animals of adaptation. It was just yesterday that she couldn’t take a bath properly, but now, she got washed several times a day.

“The temperature is not too cold?”

“Yes.”

Elysia felt the water splash on her back as she sat still. Far from having such warm bath water, not long ago, she had to wash her body, trembling even on the coldest days of the blizzard.

“Since you’re only going to eat, I’ll dress you in light clothes.”

“Yes.”

Here, she could sit still like a doll and say what she wanted, and everything was done for her, warm bath water, neat and beautiful clothes—from spacious bed to delicious meals—it was all she wanted.

“It’s done.”

…However, why wasn’t she happy at all?

Far from being happy, it was uncomfortable, like wearing clothes that didn’t fit her. It seemed to be, knowing that this really wasn’t her place.

“I’ll lead you to the dining room… Ma, Master—”

As she opened the door and headed to the dining room, Damon was standing in front and waiting for her. As soon as they confirmed his presence, Rachel and Chloe bowed their backs.

Seeing them trembling and greeting him, Elysia smiled bitterly.

“I’ve been waiting for you, wife.”

She saw Chloe and Rachel shaking so hard that they couldn’t even raise their heads properly, and realized that the man in front of her was the Damon she knew. In addition, the fact that she was married to a man everyone fears.

“Did you wait a long time?”

“No.”

Leaving behind the fearful Rachel and Chloe, Elysia acted casually. She was equally terrified as the two of them.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

She tightened her hand, which had grabbed the hem of her skirt as much as she could, and pretended not to be afraid at all. In fact, the two legs inside the dress are trembling.

“Oh, dear.”

“Why?”

“You’re going to fall.”

Before she could say anything, she felt her body lean forward. Her staggering body tilted, and she was about to fall down the stairs.

“Ah…!”

Somehow, from the first day, this high stairway was unsettling. Knowing what was going to happen, she would probably die from a concussion after tumbling down. It was embarrassing to face death by just such a momentary mistake…

As she thought to herself, Elysia closed her eyes tightly at the time that felt unusually long. She hoped for it to be a little less hurt.

“What…?”

But strangely, she didn’t feel any pain. Obviously, if she had tumbled down this high stairway, at least her limbs would have been broken though there was no pain. There wasn’t even a rumbling sound at all.

“What…? Did I die so quickly I didn’t even feel it?”

“What do you mean, you die?”

Damon’s voice sounded so vivid that Elysia lifted her head up. At that moment, she saw him holding her waist. Not knowing what was going on, her eyes were wide open. She was almost buried in Damon’s arms.

“…Damon?”

“….”

“Is it my imagination?”

He was a man who wouldn’t blink an eye even if someone died next to him. Did he catch her as she was about to fall? It was nonsense. Elysia thought she was dead, so she froze. Otherwise, this could not have happened.

“You’re so damn handsome.”

She wanted to do what she really wanted to do all this time, if all this was her imagination after all. Elysia reached up her hand and caressed his cheek. He had a really damn handsome face. His beautiful appearance was the same even after her death.

It was so vivid that it felt real…

Wait… Why did the face that her hands touched feel warm instead of cold?