chapter 16
“When the other party is the master, it’d be stranger if nothing happened. You’ve really had it rough too, my lady.”
Even though I hadn’t explained anything yet, Mary’s words were full of certainty.
And in truth, her guess was right.
Ugh.
‘My poor life.’
As if suddenly waking up in a stranger’s body wasn’t bad enough—now I’d possessed a throwaway supporting character destined to be killed by her ill-mannered husband.
‘That’s why I tried so hard to butter up Siderion just to survive!’
And in the end, it all came to nothing.
No—let’s think positively.
In a way, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing.
Why?
‘Because I can give up early.’
Looking back, I think my approach was wrong.
‘Building intimacy—how much could that really amount to?’
Even if I managed to gain a sliver of trust by appealing to Siderion’s young heart, there was no guarantee it would last eight years.
More likely, he’d forget.
Siderion might be a child, but he wasn’t as childish as one might think.
Because he couldn’t properly feel emotions, he relied on logic and common sense.
Of course, when he met the female lead—the first person who allowed him to feel emotions—he probably didn’t think about logic at all.
‘Forget intimacy or whatever. I should just say what I want.’
Maybe I’d been overcomplicating something very simple.
That whenever he wants a divorce, I’ll give him one.
I just need to make sure he knows that.
After all, divorce would be far easier than cleaning up after the sudden death of a grand duchess.
‘In the original story… my problem was that I showed I didn’t want a divorce.’
And then I was killed on the spot. Ugh.
‘I’ve decided.’
When Siderion returns from the war, I’ll ask for a divorce immediately.
I’d love to do it right now, but there was a reason I couldn’t.
I was still young. I needed a household that could protect my body.
Instead, I’d just let him know in advance—because I never knew when the original plot might change!
Alright.
“My lady?”
When I suddenly sprang to my feet, Mary stared at me in surprise.
“Thank you. I realized something.”
“Realized what?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back!”
I left the room at once and headed for Siderion’s office.
But—
“His Grace isn’t here right now.”
At Herden’s words, I tilted my head.
“Why?”
“His Majesty summoned him.”
The word emperor made me flinch.
The emperor calling for Siderion… It wasn’t unusual, but the timing—so soon after the banquet—made me uneasy.
No matter how awful Siderion might be, I didn’t want him to suffer because of me.
‘It’s not because I used my ability earlier… right?’
No. If that were the case, they’d have dragged in the man I used it on as well.
Self-defense—if I said that, things wouldn’t escalate too much.
“…When will he be back? I’ll wait.”
Herden smiled awkwardly.
“He’ll probably be late. It’s about the upcoming war.”
“Ah…”
The war.
Right. It was coming soon.
They said two months, but just preparing for it would take at least one month—and that was a heavily condensed estimate.
I started to feel anxious.
Had I missed something important?
Once Siderion left, there’d be no turning back.
“When the Grand Duke returns, I’ll let him know you came looking for him.”
When I just stared at him silently, Herden added cautiously,
“…I didn’t want you to waste your time. Was that rude?”
Rude—to a thirteen-year-old?
I shook my head.
“No. Tell him that.”
Herden smiled brightly and nodded.
“I will.”
But of course, Siderion never came to see me.
And I didn’t go looking for him either.
I didn’t know what had upset him so much at the banquet, but he didn’t even come to dinner anymore—even though he used to come every day.
Honestly, I was curious. What was the problem? Had I made a huge mistake?
But would Siderion really let a mistake of mine slide?
Thinking that approaching him might just make things worse, I spent my days like a criminal awaiting judgment.
I met Siderion again exactly one week later.
I was returning to my room after dinner when I spotted a familiar back of the head.
“Siderion…?”
I thought we’d grown fairly close, but maybe because I’d been worrying so much lately—
I froze, startled.
No. First, let’s greet him.
“It’s been a while.”
Siderion ignored me completely.
Seriously—!
But then—
“Yeah.”
Huh?
Did he just answer?
For a moment, I was overwhelmed—but I quickly shook my head.
‘Why am I getting emotional over that?’
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah—no. Nothing’s wrong. But… I haven’t seen you lately. You must’ve been busy?”
I needed to talk to him if I was going to tell him about the divorce.
But Siderion didn’t look like he had any intention of responding.
‘At this rate, he’ll just leave again.’
Thinking I needed to stop him somehow, I opened my mouth.
“You’re going to war soon, right?”
“……”
Ah. That wasn’t it.
I glanced at his expression.
Thankfully, he didn’t look particularly bothered. I continued naturally.
“Have you been busy preparing for that?”
Siderion nodded.
“That must be really hard. War and all…”
I meant it.
Like most protagonists, Siderion’s life wasn’t exactly smooth.
I pitied him.
“…Are you worried about me?”
When he asked that, I was momentarily at a loss—but I forced an answer.
“Huh? O-of course!”
At that moment, a faint smile spread across Siderion’s lips.
My eyes widened.
‘What?’
I looked again to be sure—and yes, he was smiling.
But the smile vanished almost instantly.
“I didn’t like you from the beginning.”
Suddenly?
Well… it wasn’t hard to understand.
“You kept irritating me for no reason. You got under my skin. I’d never cared this much about someone before.”
His expression was unusually complicated.
‘Was I really that annoying?’
This felt like I’d unknowingly raised a massive death flag.
‘What do I do? Should I apologize? Say I won’t do it again?’
But… what wouldn’t I do again?
Everything I’d done so far was… bringing him food, eating meals together, attending one banquet—
‘Ah. The banquet.’
I asked as carefully as I possibly could.
“Th-that… was it because of the banquet…?”
“The banquet?”
Oh. Not that?
“Ah. Right. That happened.”
As if remembering something he’d forgotten, his expression twisted.
…Yeah. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.
‘I should just stay quiet.’
The more I talk, the worse his expression gets.
“So that too annoyed me. Especially him.”
“Him…?”
There were way too many possible candidates.
When I tilted my head, Siderion said magnanimously,
“The one who grabbed your hand at the end.”
That could only be Kallak.
Only Siderion would refer to the crown prince as that guy.
Of course, from Siderion’s perspective, it made sense to be annoyed.
He couldn’t punish someone who insulted him.
But that wasn’t what mattered to me.
“Siderion. I have something to say to you.”
“Something to say?”
I swallowed hard.
Hoping what I was about to say wouldn’t upset him, I spoke.
“You’re going to the battlefield soon.”
“……”
“When you come back, you’ll be a magnificent Grand Duke.”
“…Grand Duke.”
“Yes! You’ll be a great Grand Duke, so when that time comes, lots of people will seek you out!”
“That’s true. If I make it back.”
“Huh? Oh—yeah! Of course!”
……
Silence followed.
‘No, this can’t just end like this.’
“Wh-when that time comes… a wife like me would just be a burden to you, right…?”
“……”
Hey. Say something.
As I watched him, I could see dissatisfaction written all over his face.
…Did I say something wrong?
“What if I don’t come back?”
“Huh?”
“I could die.”
“Well… no. Probably not?”
In the novel, he didn’t die.
‘But I can’t exactly say that.’
Siderion spoke with a scornful expression.
“The emperor isn’t stupid. He won’t send me somewhere I can survive. You saw it too—why do you think people treated me like that at the banquet? Because they were sure I’d die.”
Now that he mentioned it—
‘It was strange.’
Even if Siderion was young, he was still a Grand Duke.
I’d thought their blatant disrespect was odd, but I chalked it up to plot convenience.
Now I understood.
To them, Siderion was already a dead man.
What authority could a child who’d soon die possibly wield?
Even knowing they were just fictional characters, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
“That look again.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t make that face.”
Now he’s policing my expressions too?
I bit my lip and glared at him.
Of course, I couldn’t keep it up for more than a few seconds. I didn’t have the nerve.
“You’re strange.”
“Strange? …Me?”
“You’re full of strange things. There’s nothing I like about you, you irritate me to no end, and you keep saying things that mess with my head.”
What is he even saying…?
Even he looked like he didn’t fully understand his own words.
Just… that was the impression I got.
Did he have even the slightest hint of emotion?
‘But.’
“So in short, you hate me. Right?”
No matter what expression he showed, I decided I wouldn’t be swayed anymore.
‘It’s temporary anyway. When he comes back, whatever humanity he has will be gone.’
Expecting anything was exhausting.
‘And there’s no possibility anyway.’
I wasn’t the protagonist of this novel.
I was just Supporting Character #2—the one used to trigger the second male lead’s realization of love.
But my life was far too precious to be discarded for a single line of text.
So—
“When you come back from the war, I’ll divorce you.”
