CHAPTER 13
Whenever Adele felt physically tired, she liked to take long baths with lots of bath salts. She tried to calm her dark thoughts by relaxing in the hot, steamy water. Just then, someone knocked.
“The Count is asking for you,” said Ben.
“Oh, Ben…”
Seeing Adele’s tired face, Ben cleared his throat and looked around.
“I’ll tell him you’re already in the bath. Take your time.”
Ben was not only a long-time servant of the Deverian family, but he had also looked after Adele since she was a child. His kindness made her smile warmly.
Even though her bath had ended long ago, Adele still hadn’t gone to see Ethan. She wanted to avoid him if possible—but she couldn’t keep ignoring the head of the family’s summons forever.
Dragging her heavy steps, she entered the main building with Susan. Ben greeted her at the entrance.
“You’ve come.”
“Where is the Count?”
“He’s in his office.”
She had expected him to be in bed at this late hour, but he was still working.
“Also… he has a guest.”
At this hour, the only guest who could be in his office was Anastone.
Adele sighed without realizing it. Ben asked quietly:
“Shall I let him know you’re here first?”
“No. Leave it. I don’t want to be alone with him tonight.”
Something must have happened earlier that upset Ethan, and Adele didn’t want to deal with him alone. As much as she hated seeing him take Anastone’s side, the thought of being alone with him—especially after the night she rejected him—was worse.
The mansion was so quiet, it felt like you could hear an ant crawling. At night, guards patrolled the grounds instead of standing at the doors, so no one was nearby. As she approached the office, Adele heard a sharp female voice—it was Anastone.
The door must have been slightly open, because the voices got clearer.
“Why won’t you send her away?” Anastone shouted.
Ben looked startled and tried to step ahead to stop Adele from hearing, but she stopped him with a hand and silently asked him to stay quiet.
Then Ethan replied:
“Ana, calm down. You’re still not on the noble registry.”
“I know divorce takes time. That’s why I want you to hurry!”
“Divorce isn’t easy for nobles.”
“What are you saying?”
“Exactly that. It’s not simple.”
Ethan had grown tired of seeing Ana. When they were younger, she had been like a light in his boring life. But now that she was back, she always demanded things from him and was constantly angry.
He had tried to understand her, thinking life must have been hard while she was gone. But that patience didn’t last long.
“I know the law! If a couple has no heir after five years of marriage, it’s a reason for divorce.”
“That’s… not Adele’s fault.”
“So what? Why does that matter?”
“Ana, please… I’m tired.”
Ethan rubbed his forehead, exhausted.
“Do you know what you say to me most often since I returned?”
Without waiting for his answer, Ana continued:
“‘I’m tired.’ That’s what you always say. If you were going to treat me like this, why did you accept me back? Why make me feel so miserable?”
Ethan didn’t know what part of this made her feel miserable, but he didn’t respond. He knew talking would only make the argument go on longer.
“I’m not asking you to divorce her immediately. I just want a promise.”
“A promise?”
“That you will divorce her. Isn’t that what you were planning when you brought me back as a noble’s woman?”
“What are you talking about? That’s not it. I just didn’t want Ruwein to stay in a vague, unclear status.”
In Hesenia, if a noble had a child with a maid, the child followed the mother’s status and became a commoner. Once they became adults, they couldn’t stay in noble houses. Though they got some financial support, many ended up going down bad paths.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying you’ll take Ruwein away from me and give him to her as an adopted son?”
“She is the Countess.”
“What?”
“Don’t call her ‘that woman.’ She’s the lady of this house.”
“Is that really important right now? I waited all this time for you to become Count. Do you even know how hard it is for a woman to raise a child alone with no protection? You could never understand.”
Ana cried, and Ethan panicked. Her tears had always made him freeze since they were young.
Ana was a year older than him and had always been beautiful, even among the maids. He still remembered how happy he had been when she finally accepted his love.
“Ana, I’m sorry. Please stop crying.”
“You swore eternal love. You said you’d die without me!”
Then came the muffled sound of her crying in his arms.
Adele had hoped their conversation would end quickly. But the fight dragged on and on. She decided it was time to walk away. With a sigh, she turned to leave.
“Be honest. You don’t love me anymore, do you? You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Ana’s words made Adele stop.
She wanted to walk away—but she desperately needed to hear Ethan’s answer.
She already knew the truth, but she still held onto a foolish hope.
But Ethan said nothing.
Then Ana’s voice came sharply again:
“See? You have changed. You’re pushing me into misery and ruining my life!”
“That’s not true…”
“Then why won’t you accept me? Why won’t you divorce her? You said you only loved me. Are you saying I should share you with her?”
Ethan couldn’t think clearly after hearing Ana ask if he loved Adele. The only thing in his mind was that he absolutely could not separate from Adele. He suddenly felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff.
“Say it! Is it because you love her?”
“Please stop. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“If you don’t answer, I’ll take Ruwein and run away! Somewhere you’ll never find us!”
She turned as if to leave, and Ethan panicked.
“The dukedom!”
“What?”
“Yes, the dukedom. The Crown Princess promised to give our family a duke title if I married Adele. As you know, Adele is her sister. Soon she’ll become Empress. Until then, I can’t divorce Adele.”
After saying it out loud, Ethan strangely felt relieved.
Honestly, he never cared much about being a duke. Sure, it was the highest honor for a noble outside the royal family, but that wasn’t why he did it.
Still, rejecting the future Empress’s sister at this moment would definitely mean losing the title.
With this excuse, maybe Ana would finally stop pressing him.
And just as he hoped, Ana stopped shouting and fell silent. Ethan decided to end it clearly:
“So, for now, I absolutely cannot get a divorce.”
Ben, who had been listening from outside, couldn’t take it anymore and was about to rush to the office. But Adele stopped him with a shake of her head and quietly walked away toward the stairs.
Once they left the house, Susan finally spoke up, her voice shaking with anger.
“Why didn’t you say anything, my lady? You should’ve gone in and punished that woman! Who does she think she is—trying to take your place? She’s just a lowly maid!”
“Susan, being a maid doesn’t make someone lowly.”
But Adele couldn’t scold her. Even in her dazed state, she could tell Susan was crying.
“Why are you backing down like this? Go and tell the Crown Princess everything. Tell her to make sure he can’t divorce you, even after becoming a duke!”
“Be quiet. You’ll wake everyone in the mansion.”
“If you won’t say it, I will!”
Susan tried to go back inside, but Adele grabbed her hand tightly.
“Don’t. Don’t get involved.”
“But my lady, you can’t just let this go!”
“I said no. Don’t do it.”
“But why? Why not?”
“Because… there’s nowhere to go.”
“What?”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
Adele knew how awful this situation was—but the truth was, she had no place to go.
If she asked for a divorce, Ethan would surely agree, especially now that he had what he wanted: the dukedom.
Then what?
As a noblewoman without an heir, she’d return to her birth family. And her cruel brother, Max Milliam, would definitely force her to marry into another royal family as a political tool. That would make her enemies with her sister, the Crown Princess.
Adele shivered at the horrible thought.
She was disgusted with herself. Here she was, talking about love when she didn’t even know what would happen to her tomorrow. It made her feel pathetic.
