I’m Ready for Divorce!

“Caville, please… It’s not what you think…” Elody begged as she held onto his arm.

She panicked because he had misunderstood her motives.

“Please, Caville…”

“What exactly am I misunderstanding?”

“Caville…”

She stared at Caville anxiously.

Theodore stared at the two in shock.

“Caville, just go back to your room and take a rest, okay?” Elody pleaded.

“……”

At her words, Caville was forced to let go of Theodore.

“Ha…”

Theodore was finally able to breathe.

On the other hand, Elody stared at the paladin with an apologetic look on her face.

Suddenly, Caville dragged Elody away from Theodore by holding her hand to who-knows-where.

In all honesty, he really wanted to punch that guy’s face. But dealing with him could be done later. Right now, his wife was his utmost priority.

Still holding hands, the two turned towards the garden before finally disappearing from plain sight.

‘He’s insane…’

Theodore clicked his tongue in fury. Somehow, he was really angry after the two left. Or rather… he was jealous of the duke that could casually hold the duchess’s hand.

Theodore smiled a little.

The two didn’t seem to have a good relationship with each other. It was as if only the duke was one-sidedly chasing after the duchess. If this were true, then Theodore thought that perhaps he might have a chance.

* * *

“Caville! Please wait…!”

“……”

Elody, still being dragged by Caville, was unable to keep up with his pace and ended up pulling her hand away from his hold.

“……”

The two stopped in silence with Caville staring at his wife coldly.

Unexpectedly, the duke just lifted her up, took her in his arms, and went along his way.

“Caville!”

No matter how loud she shouted, Caville just continued to rush up the stairs.

Carrying his wife was just a mere problem. He proceeded to carry her until they reached his bedroom. The place where they used to sleep together when they were kids.

After slamming the door open, Caville put Elody down on the floor.

However, as they finally faced each other face to face, the young duke didn’t know what to do…

“Caville…”

Caville was confused and frustrated. There were so many emotions in his head that he didn’t know what to say.

The first thing he blurted out was, “Where were you trying to go…?” Caville asked, trying to sound calm.

Elody surprised by his question, hesitated for a moment before answering, “I… can’t be here anymore, Caville. In fact, I should’ve left before you returned from the war…”

Caville slowly approached his wife. The corner of his lips unexpectedly rose, forming a twisted smile.

“While I was fighting on the battlefield, you were prepared to run away.”

“……”

“So, that note you left me was just a lie? You never meant to come back?”

“No, that’s not it…”

He started wrapping her waist with his big hands and looked straight into her eyes.

He was smiling, but his eyes were burning with intensity.

“Caville…”

It was as if his pink eyes had turned red. The anger reflected from his orbs like an ethereal fire. He was certainly filled with rage.

“Is he your lover?” He coldly spoke.

Elody knew who he was talking about.

He was obviously talking about Theodore.

It had been less than seven days since the guests from the Temple had arrived, and during that short span of time, her husband hadn’t seen her at all.

Elody vowed to clear up the misunderstanding and resolve things as fast as possible.

“……”

But…

Caville’s face was far too close to hers…

He was so close that it seemed as if his lips could touch her s at any moment!

Embarrassed, Elody gave him a little push, and contrary to her expectations, Caville stepped back from her immediately.

She sighed in exasperation.

It was finally time for her to be honest with Caville.

“Sir Theodore and I are strangers. He’s a nobody to me. Please don’t misunderstand him…”

“…I believe my wife’s words.”

Caville wasn’t actually suspicious of Elody, but when he saw that gaze in Theodore’s eyes, he could not help but think of the worst. Even if his wife had no relationship with that guy, he was still clearly interested in her.

Elody spoke calmly, “I… I was actually thinking of running away. I felt like I had to leave the mansion for at least a few days…”

She had lost all reason. She feared for the things that could happen to her in the days ahead of now. That was why she wanted to run away.

However, after listening to the priests’ conversations, she decided to come back to her room. Elody feared that if she were absent, she might not be able to prevent them from plotting Caville’s murder.

“You see… there’s…”

“……”

“This is your home. Where were you planning to go, wife?”

Caville’s eyes trembled in fear. Strange emotions were dwelling from deep inside his heart. He was once again confused by not being able to understand the meaning behind his emotions.

“…I want a divorce. Let’s prepare the divorce papers, Caville.”

Elody thought that divorcing him first would be the best option to take as of the moment. After that, she could go ahead and take care of the guys from the Temple. That way, things would be less uncomfortable for both the princess and Caville himself.

Or so she thought…

“Why?!”

Caville’s response surprised her greatly.

“Uh.. I mean… You and Princess Larissa…”

“What does that woman have to do with me?”

“Aren’t you going to… marry her?”

“……”

Caville stared Elody in the eye as if trying to read her thoughts…

Elody frowned, something seemed wrong. The atmosphere was weird and his response was certainly not what she expected.

“You… have to marry the princess.”

Their perception of the situation clearly differed from each other.

Elody genuinely thought that the two were close. However, Caville seemed to have no knowledge regarding that whatsoever.

“…I do not have the intention of divorcing my wife.”

“……”

“You can try to divorce me over my dead body. Even if I have to die, such a thing will never happen!”

“Caville?”

“You told me you loved me.”

Elody stared at him, stunned.

His eyes started tearing up before his tears fell to his cheeks.

“I…”

“……”

“I do! I already told you, I will always love you!”

Elody was confused, how did it come to this? Caville seemed to have no desire to marry Princess Larissa, which meant that they weren’t lovers.

Those two had spent so much time together on the battlefield. Yet, he didn’t even hold the tiniest bit of feelings for the princess. Was that even possible?

And yet, he was able to talk to her with that look on his face. A look filled with so much passion, with the tone of his voice that made her think that the two of them were the only ones in this world.

Still, she doubted that maybe he didn’t understand what love was.

When they were children, Elody used to tell Caville that she loved him. She told him those exact same words in her letters as well. But… it wasn’t something that she had thought about deeply. She didn’t know that it could have caused his feelings to distort so much from the original plot.

‘It’s all my fault!’

Elody bit her lips. All those affections were for him. Though, she should have given it up before it was too late…

“Caville, you’re not thinking straight…”

“You think I don’t know my own feelings?”

“You… You’re misunderstanding your love for me from familial love. You think of me as your sister… not a lover.”

“And where is that sister? I don’t have a sister so I have no idea what you mean by that. The only family I have here is my wife.”

“Caville.”

“My wife, you can’t leave me! You can’t leave me for the rest of your life! We’re married!” He cried.

Thanks to Elody’s words, Caville finally realized how he actually felt about her. Caville loved his wife as much as he did when he was a child, but that feeling was subtly different from that in the past. As he said to his wife, it was not the affection he would feel for a sister.

“……”

He silently gazed at his wife’s face. Her rosy cheeks and luscious lips…

He was in love with her.

“Caville, you and Princess Larissa are bound by fate.”

But the words that came out of her lips were the last thing he wanted to hear.

“No. You are my fate.”

“……”

Elody had finally confessed that Caville and Princess were destined for each other. Unfortunately, Caville’s answer had made it clear: she had ruined the plot of the novel way too much.

And she noticed it too late.

* * *

That night, Elody returned to her room. Meanwhile, Caville sat on the hallway floor, keeping guard of her room due to the fear that she would change her mind and run away again.

It seemed that it would not work as they could not continue sleeping in a separate room.

He used another room because his wife felt uncomfortable, but it was weird when he actually thought about it.

Even if she was uncomfortable, it was better for them to sleep in the same room. Furthermore, the two were married and he was deeply in love with his wife.

But Caville was aware that Elody didn’t feel the same. He still remembered what his wife had told him last night, “Caville, you and Princess Larissa are bound by fate.”

He would blindly believe anything she told him, but not that.

He was greatly irritated. Why was everyone trying to pair him up with Princess?

If she was indeed his fate, Caville had no qualms about fighting fate or destiny or whatever head-on just so that he could spend the rest of his life with his wife.

“Oh, my Lord…!”

Early the next morning, Marie went to Elody’s room and was surprised to see Caville sitting in the hallway.

“What is Your Grace doing here?”

“……”

The night had finally passed. Caville got up and without giving her an answer, he immediately headed to his room.

After washing his face with cold water, Caville changed clothes and went to visit Count Defore and the princess.

* * *

“Your Highness! His Grace is looking for you!”

“Wha-what?”

At Carolina’s words, Larissa stared at herself in the mirror in excitement.

“Your Highness is as beautiful as usual! Now let us go see His Grace!”

“Yes…”

Princess Larissa opened the door and went out, calming her beating heart.

But contrary to her expectations. The duke didn’t come to see her alone, Count DeFore was with him and the duke’s expression was as cold as ice.

“Count DeFore…? What’s happening…?”

Caville parted his lips.

“Your Highness, Count DeFore, and the other guests from the imperial palace. As of today, you must leave the Duchy of Cernoir immediately.”