Chapter 182

“It is I, Duchess.”

“… Please come in.” Though her voice seemed somewhat unpleasant, the Duke of Efreni opened the door without noticing. The Duchess sat inside dressed in black, as she drowned in her sorrow.

He spoke to his wife. “I heard you arrived a few hours ago. I am sorry that I was not able to meet you.”

“… Because you were busy. It is fine.”

“Are you well? It must have been an immense shock.”

“Was I the only one to receive such an immense shock?” The Duchess of Efreni looked at the Duke of Efreni, a mixed expression on her face. Obviously, both of them had lost their child. But he seemed so unmoved. The Duchess’ heart trembled. “Our son is dead. He missed his homeland until the day he died. It is one of my biggest regrets that I could not bring him home to die here!”

“How could I not be sad as well, Duchess? I am grieving right now, too…”

“Really?” The Duchess looked at the Duke with her piercing gaze. “Is it really grief? But why…”

“…”

“… do you not look so sad in my eyes?”

“Duchess, that is a misunderstanding. Currently, I am…”

“I did not like the idea of sending David overseas to begin with. You sent your son to study abroad, but was that really for his benefit?”

“Iz, what are you talking about? Of course…”

“Did you even love David?” the Duchess of Efreni asked him, an edge in her eyes.

The Duke calmly responded, “Of course, I just told you. I am very sad even now.”

“So then, why can I not detect any sadness in your eyes?” The Duchess of Efreni was cynical. “You are lying right now. Of course you would be sad. But it does not hurt like you are going to die, does it? Since there is another son over there? Are you planning to make him the successor to the Efreni family?”

“Iz, calm down. You are too wrought up now.”

“Wrought up.” The Duchess of Efreni asked him in a voice full of ridicule, “Why not just say that I have gone crazy?”

“Iz…”

“Do not call my name!” The Duchess of Efreni jumped up from her seat in a fit of rage. As the Duke stared at her without uttering a word, Duchess Efreni spoke as if she was nailing him down, “I am going to adopt a child. Jacob will be your illegitimate child forever. The bloodline of that mistress will never, ever be the successor of my family. Do you understand?!”

After finishing her rant, she angrily left the room. She then went to the butler, and instructed him to contact the rest of her extended family. The butler faithfully followed her words. Duke Efreni caught up behind her and asked, “Duchess, what are you doing right now? In the middle of our mourning!”

“My son is dead, and the son of that mistress might become the successor to my family name, but you think that is important now?” Duchess Efreni coldly warned him, “You should also be careful. I am the master of this household. That means there is no reason I cannot divorce you, since David has died.”

“…” The Duke Efreni felt a sense of crisis at the end of her words, and shut his mouth. If she divorced him, he would no longer be the head of the great Efreni family, nor the Duke of the Efreni estate. He would have to go back to using the Hedwig name, which was his original family. Not only that, his brother had inherited the family title, and so he would not even have the title of Baron. It would mean his destruction!

“I will warn you this once. That woman and her son, send them out of this house.”

“…”

“Until now, I could not get a divorce because of David, but since he is dead, I will not tolerate this anymore.”

“Duchess, divorce is not something that simple. Your reason for divorce is insufficient. Strictly speaking, having a mistress is not valid grounds for a divorce.”

“So you are saying you will not be sending those two away?”

“No matter what, Jacob is still young. How can you tell me to kick out that young child…”

“I gave you a warning!” the Duchess of Efreni cut off his words sharply. “Before the funeral ends, kick the bile-inducing mother and son out of this house! Otherwise, I will not stand idly by!”

She went back into her room after she finished speaking, and the Duke was left alone. He let out a sigh with a perplexed face.

There was a person watching him from behind a pillar.

‘What should I do?’ It was January. She bit her lip, a frustrated expression on her face, and slunk silently back into her room. She muttered to herself restlessly while wandering around the room, “Rosemond is being held captive, and the Duke of Efreni is about to be divorced…”

From a certain point, everything had gone wrong. How could this have happened? January was ready to burst into tears as she continued to talk to herself, “Rosemond will surely face execution. What do I do if she drags me down with her?” She had barely thought that far when she suddenly remembered something, and looked for the box that held the letters she had exchanged with Rosemond. She had to burn them!

She hurriedly opened the jewelry box, and unfolded one of the letters she had picked from the pile.

It was the most recent letter from Rosemond, with the content requesting January hire the assassins for the attempt on the Empress! She burned it over a candle without delay, and shoved the rest of the letters into the fireplace.

Since she did not confirm the content of the letters, she had no way of knowing that the letters had already been switched out by Petronilla…

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED