Chapter 5

Being the new Duchess was not easy from the start. Everyone around her was astonished. From the vassals of the dukes to all the nobles of the social world. They widened their eyes at the news that Cassia would become hostess to the Duchy instead of Diana.

They gave an incomprehensible look, as if how dare she do that.

It must have been enough to be angry for those who did not know the circumstances of the marriage. When the news of the marriage became known, her reputation, which was low before, sank to the bottom.

‘The woman who betrayed her friend.’

‘An immoral woman married to her friend’s husband.’

Not only that, but some rumours started following her.

The reason why she had been close to Diana all along was that she tried to secure the position of the Duchess. She stayed next to Diana because she was actually in love with her friend’s husband.

Diana ended her life in an accident and death because Cassia actually put a curse on her.

The rumours circulated like the truth, and people believed them completely. Cassia expected this to happen, but when the rumours went too far, the Duke spoke to her as if he was concerned.

“I think it would be a good idea to tell people that this marriage is a contract, Cassia. Even if we can’t tell you the details…”

“It’s okay. Don’t say it.”

Cassia stopped Axion.

“If you come now and tell the reasons for our marriage to those who already believed the rumors, they would only see it as a lie to justify the marriage.”

“But, Lady-.”

“It’s something I was prepared for anyway. I’m fine, Sir, don’t worry about it either.”

The Duke couldn’t say anything more to his words, which were cut off and rejected.

Their wedding was full of curses, and it was the most controversial scandal in history.

However, since it was none other than Duke Whidrian’s wedding, people couldn’t even openly boo about it. But when the Duke was away, they whispered at Cassia so she could hear them.

‘Isn’t she crazy? How can she marry her friend’s husband?’

‘I knew it’d be like that. She must have lived next to the Duchess for that.’

‘Isn’t it true that she really killed that woman?’

‘It’s true, it’s true.’

To them, Cassia was the greatest trash and scandalous woman in the social world. 

A woman who took advantage of her friend’s death to take her place as her own, and abandoned even the least morality.

Cassia didn’t mind those stares, but she felt sorry for her parents. That was after they had already died. After ascending to the position of Duchess, she began to live in the mansion as the side character. The time has come to hold out and sit here amid the excessively tight security provided by the Duke.

Cassia didn’t know anything else, but she wanted to make sure that she could lead the Duchy for the purpose that Diana had asked her to do.

There were people around her that she had to get through or persuade. The maids blatantly ignored her, and it was necessary to properly imprint her status on them. 

She had to be full of pride. She fired the handmaiden, who worked the longest in the Duke’s mansion and ignored the new Duchess, in front of everyone.

“Start packing up your stuff and leave. Today.”

“What?”

The handmaiden gave her an absurd look. 

‘Dare you kick me out?’ her eyes seemed to ask.

Cassia smiled faintly in front of that arrogant face.

“You don’t seem to have figured out what’s going on.”

“…Madam.”

“Butler. Get her out of the mansion today.”

The butler looked at Cassia with bewildered eyes. He hesitated and couldn’t answer easily. Only then did the handmaiden look at Cassia with repentant eyes as if she had intuitively sensed that the situation was unusual.

“Madam, why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“What’s going on?”

People, including Cassia, turned their heads at the sound of the voice next to her.

The Duke, who had gone out for a while, came back and stopped in front of an unfamiliar commotion.

“I asked what was going on.”

“She kept ignoring me. So I’m about to fire her as of today.”

“Oh no, Sir!”

Cassia pointed to the handmaid, who fell on her face in front of the Duke and bowed her head.

“I never ignored the Duchess!”

“Weren’t you ignoring me?” Cassia’s voice grew cold.

“Didn’t you spit in my coffee, deliberately brought me food on broken plates, and ice-cold water to my bath? And you expect me to overlook all of this? If so, you have been underqualified as a maid of this mansion for a long time.”

The maid’s face turned white as all her atrocities poured out of Cassia’s mouth.

The Duke, who watched the situation with his eyes narrowed, ordered the butler.

“Butler, get the maid out of the mansion right now.”

“Your Excellency!”

When the butler followed the orders of the master, the maid’s face turned indescribably white.

“Your Grace, I have worked for the Duke for the longest time among the maids here. How can you kick me out with just one word from the new Duchess?”

“Working for many years is not an excuse for your mistakes.”

“But…!”

“Listen carefully, the rest of the users.”

The Duke’s voice resounded among the users.

“Treat the Duchess like a Duchess. If something like today comes to my notice one more time, then I will hold everyone accountable.”

The air in the mansion turned as cold as ice.

All the workers bowed their heads, and the Duke went into his office, passing by them. 

Only the cries of the handmaiden seemed to resound in the mansion.

***

The Whidrian family was the founding contributor who shared the beginning of the Empire. As a family full of legitimacy that uses a giant dragon as the family crest, the pride of its users was higher than any other family.

Therefore, the dismissal of the handmaiden must have been a powerful event that shocked the entire mansion.

Even after leaving the mansion, the handmaiden has visited the Duke several times. She stopped in front of his moving carriage, knelt down and ran to him, but the Duke refused to accept her until the end. Since then, the handmaiden stopped going.

Since that incident, at least in front of her, the users kept quiet, and they have begun to regard Cassia as the Duchess, even superficially.

“I’m sorry. You told me not me, but I eventually sided with Lady Benette.”

Axion seemed worried that it would rather be an arrow for Cassia to take even though he took her side. 

Cassia shook her head.

“No… I’m so thankful and reassured that you took my side.”

When Cassia smiled and thanked him, he shook his head and smiled bitterly.

“… No, it’s not. Shouldn’t we do something like this?”

Axion Whidrian.

A man with moderate manners and a meticulous personality compared to his sharp impression. He was a good person, as Cassia had seen with Diana all along.

During their marriage, he took great care of her and became a good colleague.

But that was all. 

There was no love between them. 

Of course.

***

It was a very dry marriage.

Throughout our marriage, they used polite words to communicate as if they were strangers.

The titles were always limited to ‘Sir’ and ‘Lady’ when the two of them were alone.

They did not ask about each other’s personal lives, other than doing their part in their respective positions.

They were good friends, but there was always an invisible wall between them.

He didn’t know what she liked, what she didn’t like, what she wanted to do, and she didn’t know where he was going or who he would meet.

For them, marriage was a play set in the world before Diana’s grave. And I was nothing but Cassia, Diana’s friend, who will always be the actual Duchess.

“Do you have any discomfort these days?”

The Duke was always polite to her and asked her about her condition.

As if treating her like a guest, as if making her stay in the mansion a little more comfortable.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

She always used to reply like this. Along with thanking him for taking care of her, if there was one less dry aspect of the marriage, it was the consideration for Cassia. Not long after marriage, he even made some pretty radical proposals first.

If you want, Cassia, you can meet another guy.

“Are you serious?”

“Even if I do this, I think it will make me feel more comfortable.”

Axion seemed to care very much that Cassia had mortgaged her life here on her own to do her friend’s a favour.

She was grateful for just thinking of her like that, so she answered him with a smile.

“Thank you for your consideration. If I have a lover, I will introduce him to Your Excellency first.”

Of course, she hasn’t met any other men.

There’s nothing much to the reason. Living as a ‘The Duchess’ was more work than she had thought, so she couldn’t afford to pay attention to relationships, and she was worried that it would cause inconvenience to the Duke if she met another man. 

Anyway, they were really far from being a ‘couple’.

In fact, throughout the marriage, Axion and Cassia seem to have consciously avoided getting close to each other.

It was inevitable. 

It was originally a marriage made by Diana, and they only came close once a year.

Diana’s death anniversary.

In particular, until three years after Diana died, a memorial service was held according to etiquette. They dressed up in black together, attended the memorial service, and sat in the front seat to honour Diana. Whenever that happened, there were indescribable deep emotions on Axion’s face that Cassia sometimes saw from the side.

As the years passed, the feelings seemed to fade and keep fading…

Axion and Cassia were a married couple by name, and always had a relationship with a wall in front of them in a non-approaching tone. In fact, she didn’t really care about any of that because she didn’t expect a personal relationship with him. It was a pity that her first marriage did not contain love, but that was all. 

There was a really hard thing. 

It was nothing but dealing with Ken and Nick.