WFMW 48

Chapter 48

Divorce Him Right Now

(2024.04.17.)

I had been explaining to Grisha all about the magic circle I’d carved in the garden, and somehow, I ended up talking about the young mossa leaves I needed to harvest as well.

When Grisha heard that, she cheerfully volunteered.

“Then I’ll go pick the mossa leaves. Nellie, you can’t go outside the estate anyway.”

“Huh? B-but, Grisha, you must be tired too. I can’t ask you to—”

“From what I saw, you didn’t plant that many anyway. Just wait a bit.”

Before I could stop her, she darted out the door.

And as if she had read my mind, she returned soon after, holding exactly the kind of young mossa leaves suitable for potion-making.

If it were Cidder, he would’ve plucked even the ones too small to use.

Not that I was complaining—Grisha being a fellow mage meant we understood each other without much explanation. It was nice, really.

I bowed my head slightly.

“Thanks to you, I got the ingredients quickly. Thank you.”

“It was nothing. It wasn’t hard at all. The academy gave us way worse chores, remember?”

“That’s… true.”

I couldn’t find a single fond memory from the academy, even after all this time. I looked down, unwilling to recall those miserable days.

Almost as if we’d agreed beforehand, both of us shook our heads, trying to erase those awful memories from our minds.

Grisha changed the subject and fiddled with the herbs she had picked.

“These mossa leaves are excellent quality.”

“They are.”

Now that I had someone to help me, maybe I could make the potion right away.

Not that I was creating anything dangerous—no deadly poison or shape-shifting elixir. Those required too many ingredients and complex processes.

In my current situation—without even a house to call my own—making something that elaborate was impossible.

Thankfully, Cidder’s house had clean water and plenty of containers.

I brought the mossa leaves to the kitchen and began brewing the potion diligently. The mossa leaves were added at the very end.

“If I grind this finely and mix it with the liquid here…”

As soon as I stirred in the powdered leaves, they melted away like sugar. I held out the mixture to Grisha.

“Can you infuse it with just a tiny bit of mana? Like… blowing softly on it.”

A tiny amount of mana that was precious to me meant nothing to her.

As soon as she infused it, the transparent liquid turned a deep violet color.

I grinned and announced proudly:

“Ta-da! The Charm Water is complete.”

“Charm Water? The one that makes people look more beautiful?”

“Yup!”

I shook the shimmering bottle and explained its effects.

“It just makes your skin look a little clearer and your eyes sparkle a bit more. That’s all. Sure, I could make an actual love potion, but that’s unethical—you can’t just make and sell those freely.”

“You can make them?”

“Of course.”

There were two kinds of mages at the academy:

Those who explored many fields broadly and shallowly—and those who focused deeply on a single specialty.

I was the former. Grisha was the latter.

They used to laugh at me for studying potion craft. Who knew it’d actually become useful one day?

Potion-making wasn’t considered prestigious—it was a field studied mostly by lesser magicians or charmers with weak mana. The academy never treated it as serious magic.

To them, casting a spell looked more impressive than brewing a potion.

I only learned it out of curiosity… but see? You never know when knowledge will come in handy.

Feeling pleased, I nodded to myself.

Grisha smiled warmly.

“You really know so much about potion craft too. I guess not just anyone can become an archmage.”

“Flattery doesn’t work on me, you know?”

I felt so embarrassed that my fingers tingled.

Grisha studied the potion thoughtfully.

“But this is more like a luxury item, isn’t it? Wouldn’t medicine or nutritional tonics sell better? Why start with this?”

“Charm Water is easy to make, so I wanted to test it first. And people will probably buy it out of curiosity. What do you think?”

Grisha stroked her chin, answering seriously.

“If the effect is noticeable, of course people would want it. But it’ll be hard to prove the effect repeatedly, so… maybe let someone influential try it for free first. Then, when people start asking around, you can sell it to them.”

“…”

“What? You don’t like the idea?”

“No, I love it! I was just taking notes because it’s such a good idea! Grisha, you’re amazing.”

This was too useful to let slip by. I quickly found a pen and paper to jot it down.

It looked concise but captured the essence perfectly. I bit my pen and muttered.

“I was planning to just sell it on the street… but you’re right. For something rare, word-of-mouth marketing is better.”

“Exactly. People value what’s hard to get—and want it more desperately.”

“Right. If it’s too easy to buy, it doesn’t feel luxurious.”

I nodded earnestly. For a luxury item, scarcity was key.

I was still deep in thought when a dark shadow fell across my face.

I looked up to find Grisha standing close—very close.

“Nellie.”

“Mm?”

Her voice was low, heavy, and filled with emotion. I couldn’t tell what kind—it was too complex for someone like me.

Her long, slender fingers brushed my hair, twirling a strand around them.

As I lifted my head, my lemon-blonde hair glinting in her fingers, I met her sharp blue eyes.

“How long are you planning to stay here?”

“What? Where’s that coming from?”

“You said it wasn’t a marriage you wanted. And now that I’m here to help you, shouldn’t you just get divorced? Before, you said you had nowhere to go—but now you could come with me.”

The way she said it—so naturally, so matter-of-factly—made my heart sink instead of feeling grateful.

Just like when she once tried to abandon her dream of becoming a mage for me, now she was rearranging her entire life around me.

At the academy, we had been as close as family. Grisha was dear to me.

But she can’t keep centering her whole life around me.

She should walk her own path and reach out to me from there, not live her life orbiting mine. That would only hurt both of us in the long run.

How could I convince her gently?

I gave her a soft smile and said lightly:

“You should only say that kind of thing after you’ve got your own house first, you know?”

It was my way of saying, you’re still too young to talk about supporting someone else.

But her response wasn’t what I expected.

“I do have money. My father transferred all the dowry my mother brought with her into my name.”

“Oh? That’s… surprisingly tidy of him.”

Not so tidy when it came to women, though.

Grisha frowned at my muttering.

“Don’t change the subject, Nellie.”

“…”

She wasn’t going to back down easily. I sighed and finally answered.

“I’m not getting divorced. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Cidder said he needs a wife. If he doesn’t have one, Lady Briar will probably pick one for him herself. So I agreed to stay as his wife until he’s free.”

“Why do you have to help him? He’s always managed fine on his own.”

“I met Lady Briar too—she’s terrifying. That’s why I wanted to help him.”

“Nellie.”

Grisha’s face hardened more than I’d ever seen.

“Then when will he be free?”

“Huh? Well… good question.”

I honestly didn’t know.

Come to think of it, we never discussed the end of the contract.

Cidder wanted a contract marriage so he wouldn’t have to inherit the dukedom.

The condition for inheriting it was having a child.

So if someone else inherits the title of Duke of Granite, our contract ends…?

But who else could inherit it?

Before I could finish the thought, Grisha spoke again.

“If you really want to set him free, then divorce him right now. I can make you free.”

“Huh?”

How could she possibly do that?

Wouldn’t the same condition apply to her—marriage and children?

Did she already have a spouse? Or was she planning to run away with me beyond the empire’s borders?

Her sudden words left me speechless, my lips parting but no sound coming out.

Time passed silently. Then—mercifully—the moment broke.

“I’m back.”

Cidder had returned.

“Cidder…!”

I tried to greet him, but Grisha was still holding my hair, keeping me in place.

Cidder’s calm blue eyes rested on us, as if searching the depths of my thoughts.

That gaze—it made my breath catch.

I’d never felt that kind of tension before.

I couldn’t look away or step back, just stood there awkwardly until Cidder finally walked into the kitchen.

“You two—what exactly are you doing in here?”