Chapter: 6
“Did you meet him because of that?”
Roseline asked, her voice trembling as she struggled to steady it.
“Yes. The Duke has agreed to help us.”
“Allen…?”
Roseline remained hunched over, her entire body frozen. Since sending him a letter after their marriage, she had never once replied to any of his letters.
“I know you feel guilty toward Duke Pianos,” Ludiana said softly.
“How… how do you know that?”
“I overheard Lea Berther mention it before. But Mother, we have no other choice now.”
Ludiana guided Roseline, whose body was stiff with fear, into a chair. She gently placed her hands over Roseline’s. Ludiana’s small, not yet fully grown hands couldn’t cover her mother’s entirely, but the warmth was enough to start melting Roseline’s frozen heart.
“Lea Berther will never leave us alone. She might even try to kill you. And if that happens… we—”
Ludiana stopped speaking and looked toward the terrace. These events hadn’t happened to Roseline yet, but Ludiana had already lived through them. There were too many unsettling aspects surrounding Roseline’s potential death.
Just mentioning it made tears well in her eyes as she recalled her own hellish past life. Her jaw trembled slightly, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.
“Ludi…”
How terrified must she have been? What had this child thought when she went there? How worried had she been about this letter, about her mother? Roseline felt her heart tearing in two.
“I hope you can be strong, for your sake, and for ours.”
Ludiana’s trembling voice gradually calmed. Then, in an instant, her gaze changed.
“Let’s leave Nurnberg.”
Roseline looked silently at Ludiana and Irene behind her. These were the two most precious people in her life. One of them, Ludiana, was anxious. For a woman in the West, divorce was almost an irredeemable shame—but at that moment, it no longer mattered.
“Yes… let’s.”
Roseline’s violet eyes mirrored the determination in Ludiana’s.
Two days later, the day after the Emperor’s coronation, Roseline arrived at the main mansion. Her resolve not to let her daughters continue living in confinement with her had brought her here.
“Ma… madam!”
Roseline opened the mansion door herself. She had never come here since being pushed to the annex—a space so shameful for her.
As the door swung open, the staff who were organizing the main mansion met her gaze, their mouths agape in surprise.
“Where is the lady of the house?”
But today, Roseline held her head high.
After living like a mouse since being expelled, the “legal wife of Nurnberg” had suddenly opened the mansion door herself. The staff were dumbfounded.
“Won’t you answer me now?”
Roseline raised her voice, revealing her displeasure.
“Sh-she’s… in her office!”
One maid finally spoke, flustered. Though sent to the annex, Roseline was still the legal wife. Even in her diminished state, no one could challenge her authority.
Roseline scanned the other staff with a sharp gaze, then ascended the main staircase. Seeing this, Lea’s personal maid rushed up the servant’s staircase.
“Le-Lea!”
The maid ran straight into Lea’s room without knocking.
“Oh, you…!”
Another maid scolded her in surprise.
“What’s going on?”
Lea didn’t reprimand the rude maid. Her urgent tone suggested that something more serious was happening.
“Ma… no, Roseline is going to the office!”
‘I almost called her “madam”…!’
The maid shivered as she responded.
“What?”
Lea’s face darkened with displeasure, and she quickly rose from her seat.
“What is the meaning of this?”
On the second-floor corridor leading to the office, Lea Berther tilted her head back, partially covering her mouth with a fan, as Roseline ascended the stairs slowly.
“What’s wrong with me coming to my own house?”
Roseline clenched her trembling hands and restrained her voice.
‘I won’t let this woman intimidate me anymore—for my children’s sake.’
Lea’s eyes flickered in shock at seeing Roseline acting differently. Her voice rose in agitation.
“…Did the head of the house summon you?”
“No. I came because I had business.”
“Hah! I knew it! The head of the house is busy.”
Lea straightened her posture, one corner of her mouth lifting arrogantly.
“That’s fine,” Roseline said, ignoring her and walking past.
“You heard me! She’s busy?!”
Lea’s shrill voice grew louder as she blocked Roseline’s path.
“Being busy doesn’t stop a husband and wife from meeting. Mrs. Berther.”
Roseline’s icy gaze swept over Lea, who was daring to obstruct her.
‘How dare she interfere?’
No matter how much Lea pretended to be the mistress of Nurnberg, Roseline was the legal wife.
“Y-You…!”
Lea’s face flushed red and purple, letting out sounds reminiscent of Nartas’s outburst.
“How dare you…!”
Her gaze burned fiercely, and the hand holding the fan trembled.
“How dare you, Mrs. Berther. Observe proper etiquette.”
By imperial law, a mistress had to treat the legal wife with utmost respect. Family hierarchy was determined by the head of the house, but Jonas allowed Lea’s tantrums to continue. In other words, as a mistress, she was subordinate to the legal wife.
Roseline walked past Lea with dignity.
“Roseline…!”
Lea could only tremble and stare at the floor, unable to speak.
‘How dare that girl presume anything!’
Roseline reached the office at the end of the corridor. Clutching her trembling hands, she knocked.
Knock. Knock.
“…Come in.”
Jonas’s dry voice came from inside.
Closing and reopening her eyes, Roseline gripped the smooth office door handle and pushed it open roughly.
“…Madam!”
Rupert, standing beside Jonas, called out in alarm.
“I came to speak.”
“….”
Jonas walked confidently toward Roseline, sitting behind his desk, his gaze indifferent.
‘Is that really Roseline?’
For a moment, he doubted as he noticed her demeanor and subtly nodded, as if granting permission for her to speak.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
At her words, Rupert’s face went pale, and Jonas’s expression tightened.
“Divorce? Are you sane?”
No woman in the Kalatos Empire wanted a divorce. If ordinary women avoided it, how could the timid Roseline even consider saying it?
“Yes, divorce.”
“…She’s lost her mind. Rupert, take her to the annex.”
Had she gone mad after being sent there? Tch.
“I can’t live like this any longer. If you refuse a divorce, I’ll take this to a noble court.”
“What?”
Under Kalatos law, divorce wasn’t impossible. Those who had married improperly or were dissatisfied could request a divorce trial—or agree to an amicable settlement.
‘Which woman would ever request a divorce trial?’
Most noblewomen didn’t want divorce. Requests were usually made by men wanting to install a new legal wife. Even then, they rarely went to court if they already had a mistress.
Divorce trials were conducted by jury vote, a source of immense shame for nobles. Affairs were always the talk of the town.
“I said I’ll take this to a noble court. If it comes to that, I’ll claim all the property and business rights of Roembec.”
Roembec was Roseline’s maiden name. Once wealthy from trade routes linking East and West, the Roembec family had declined after the death of her husband and heir in a carriage accident.
With only daughters remaining, the family became vulnerable prey. Jonas seized the opportunity, and Roseline, to protect her family, ultimately allied with him. But Jonas broke his promise, taking all business rights for himself and becoming a dominant power in the West.
“Hah… insane.”
One of Jonas’s eyebrows rose noticeably. A sneer crossed his face.
“No. I’m serious. If we go for an amicable divorce, I’ll relinquish all but one business right.”
As if daring him to speak, Jonas leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
“Just the Bruno Guild. That’s all I want.”
“Bruno?”
One corner of Jonas’s mouth twisted upward slightly.
