Today's Goal is a Safe Divorce!

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 8

Elysia opened her mouth with a relaxed attitude.

“Isn’t the original deal just about offering something that corresponds to each other?”

So, that means she’ll take what she wants.

“What treatment do you think you can ask for?”

“What can’t you do? If I were to become Grand Duchess Raphael, it wouldn’t be a losing deal.”

“That will be when you really become the Grand Duchess. Don’t be fooled by your dreams.”

It was the first time the Countess had been driven into a corner like this. These were just remarks meant to push her down. If the Countess really thought so, she wouldn’t have come to find her at this hour.

“If I hadn’t really been able to become the Grand Duchess… The Madam probably wouldn’t come to find me.”

“….”

She was not afraid of the sight of the Countess, who was staring at her while she bit her lip without saying anything, though rather found it exhilarating. It’s been a long time since the flow of transactions had passed this way.

A smile bloomed across Elysia’s face, who had gained the upper hand at the negotiating table.

“I will quietly marry Grand Duke Raphael as you please. Instead…don’t touch brother Edward anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know everything, so don’t think about pretending you don’t know. The reason for the disease that my brother is suffering and… That’s a terrible thing to even say.”

As Elysia spoke her words, she felt disgusted, and her face frowned. She felt like she wanted to shake the Countess by the head right now. However, if she had decided not to run away for Edward, she shouldn’t have let go of the tension until the last minute of the negotiation.

“It’s interesting. Are you going to threaten me now?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You…”

“You are a person who is better at calculations than anyone else. If I were to become the Grand Duchess, I’m sure you know what I’m going to do.”

“….”

Fortunately, the Countess did not doubt her last challenge.

To be honest, Elysia’s last words were utterly pretentious. Though she would marry Damon did not mean that she would gain the power to attack the Countess. She has the power of a wife whose name just passed by.

Isn’t she the wife who even gets poisoned…?

She could not have attacked the Countess from such a position. As soon as she entered the Grand Duke’s House, she didn’t even know what kind of treatment she would receive. Nonetheless, she was certain of this.

‘Fortunately, the Countess was not suspicious.’

That said, Damon was a scary existence even for the Countess.

“…Starting tomorrow, I will be staying in a new room, not the attic.”

“Yes.”

“And, I hope the bloodstains are washed away quickly.”

It meant that she would no longer be in the attic, for she might become the Grand Duchess. Damon’s power was greater than expected.

Even though she hasn’t been accepted or replied to yet, and only the marriage proposal has been put in, her room has been changed… The attic that even Edward could never change.

“If you really become the Grand Duchess, I won’t touch Edward anymore. Rather, it’s better that you don’t do anything that will harm our family. Even if you leave, won’t Edward still be there?”

She really was the worst woman ever. Still, she thought that it would be a great development for her to simply accept the request.

“I know what you mean. Still, don’t forget Madam… The Grand Duchess could do a lot more than you thought.”

“…From now on, call me mother, not Madam.”

“Yes, good night. Mother.”

Finally, the door closed, and Elysia’s legs relaxed and she sat down on the floor. So many things happened today. She sighed at the fact that, above all else, she had walked herself to Damon’s side, whom she had tried to avoid.

“Ha… Now the only way is to get a divorce before being poisoned.”

She couldn’t avoid marriage, only getting a divorce before she lost her life. Of course, she knows that this is by no means easy.

But at first, her body was so tired that Elysia closed her eyes.

 

*** 

Bang, bang.

Elysia’s eyes were opened at the sound of knocking on the door.

The person in front of the door seemed very urgent. The sound of knocking on the door wasn’t too loud.

“Mother? No, Rowena?”

Since the Countess, who had finished talking with her yesterday, couldn’t have knocked on the door like that. Then, the only one left would be Rowena.

“Elysia, it’s me.”

“Brother…?”

However, the person who unexpectedly came to Elysia’s room was Edward. He had never knocked on a door like that. He was always calm, and no matter what, he wasn’t as agitated in front of her.

Thinking it was a serious matter, she quickly opened the door.

“What are you doing in the morning?”

“You…”

“Why?”

She was taken aback by Edward’s reaction as he looked at her with a painful face that looked like he was about to cry. At the same time, tears welled up in his blue eyes.

“Brother?”

“Who, who hurt you?”

“Yes?”

Elysia touched her face, wondering if it was because of the swollen cheek that the Countess slapped yesterday. There was a slight tingling sensation when she touched her hand, though it didn’t seem like there was a separate handprint.

“Tell me who. Is it mother?”

“Mother hurt me?”

Edward’s reaction was unusual, so she had to look in the mirror. He couldn’t have reacted like that with just a little swelling in her face.

“Yes, that blood.”

At that moment, Elysia realized what Edward was misunderstanding at the word blood. She was very tired last night that she slept without washing, so there were bloodstains on her clothes and hands. Apparently, seeing that, he thought she was injured and misunderstood.

“Don’t worry, it’s not my blood.”

Seeing the blood reminded her of the man yesterday. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but it took a little while and she couldn’t stay by his side until he was all right.

‘Still, the patient was a patient…’

“Elysia.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you come back? I told you to run away.”

It seems that Edward was going to hide it from her until the end. But, there was something he didn’t know. He was not good at hiding everything… Sometimes it’s better to know.

“Is it because there was a wedding proposal with Grand Duchy Raphael?”

“You already knew…?”

Just as she was about to speak to him to comfort the shocked Edward, an uninvited guest came to the door.

“What do you mean? Who will marry Grand Duke Raphael?”

 

*** 

The identity of the uninvited guest was Rowena. She was someone who usually did not come to Elysia’s room by herself.

“Rowena? How are you here…”

Today, it seems that this shabby attic has become a hotspot. This morning, Edward and Rowena came up to her out of the blue.

“Are you going to marry Grand Duke Raphael…?”

“It’s not decided to get married. It’s just that mother put a proposal to the Duke’s family.”

Elysia felt uncomfortable with the bloodstains she couldn’t erase.

“Mother told you to marry the Grand Duke…? Not me?”

Rowena’s eyes, swaying as hardly as a boat hit by a storm, showed that she was shocked.

“Yes. But, I just need to wash up now.”

“It can’t be…! It’s not you, it’s me, isn’t it?”

Confused, she could not understand why Rowena had been visiting since morning. No matter how much she coveted the Grand Duke, there’s no way Rowena wouldn’t have heard of Damon.

Even when she knew of the rumors, Elysia couldn’t believe she wanted to marry Damon.

“Don’t you lie! Don’t lie—!”

She couldn’t figure out why Rowena suddenly came to see her in the morning and acted like this. Rowena used to be good at annoying her, although it wasn’t this much.

“Why are you…”

“Oh, are you awake now?”

Behind Rowena appeared the Countess.

When the Countess appeared, Rowena immediately silenced her voice and looked into her eyes. The absolutely perfect hierarchical order was visible in her eyes. Even though Rowena was also abusive to Elysia, she was nothing more in front of the Countess.

“Madam.”

“I told you to call me mother.”

Elysia could not adapt at all to the crowds of the house family that burst into her narrow attic. This was especially true of the pretending Countess.

“You need to wash up first.”

At that moment, she then was taken aback by the actions of the maids, who grabbed her arms as soon as the Countess said that she should wash.

“When you come out after washing, all your belongings will be moved to the room.”

“A room…?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? We’re moving rooms.”

Behind the Countess with a pretentious smile was Rowena, who was staring this way with an angry face.

It was only now that she, who had come since morning, understood. The Countess suddenly became friendly and now, changing her room. It seemed that her mother changed her card from Rowena to Elysia.

And, she was abandoned. Rowena came to see Elysia with her eyes because she couldn’t believe it.

She was truly an unbelievable woman.

“Isn’t the water hot?”

“it’s okay.”

It was difficult for Elysia to adjust to the attitude of the maids that changed overnight. It was the first time in her life that she had been served by someone.

“Where will my new room be?”

“….”

The maids’ response, who did not answer the question of where the new room was moved, was strange.

‘Why can’t they answer?’

The question she just asked was not something they couldn’t answer. As Elysia was about to rush, the maid bowed her head and said, “It is Miss Rowena’s room.”

“What…?”