~Chapter 104~
“Let’s go, now!”
Diana urgently ordered the carriage to start. Calypso still seemed stunned, unable to think straight.
“This can’t be… That plant wasn’t properly verified by Father? What do we do now…!”
He hung his head in despair. The mountain of gold coins he had just seen felt like a sweet dream now.
“And the diamonds were fake… How could this happen…?”
He couldn’t figure it out. Those diamonds had come directly from the mine. Unless the miners had stolen them, they couldn’t have been fake.
His head throbbed. Calypso washed his face with his hands and tried to think. But the more he thought, the worse it was. If the diamonds were fake, the land rent and the money spent cultivating the herbs all became his personal debt.
Now that it was revealed the plant was poisonous, the business was completely ruined.
Of course, Calypso didn’t have enough money left to repay any of it.
And cultivating poisonous plants was illegal. If he was caught, it was straight to prison.
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped his lips. He didn’t even know where things had started to go wrong.
Maybe it was a mistake to jump on the Marquis’s item so recklessly. Maybe it was his greed for fast success.
He wished he could turn back time.
“…For now, I’ll ask Aisel to sell the mine she lent us and pay off your debt.”
“…My wife.”
Calypso looked at Diana with gratitude in his eyes at her calm words.
“But before that, the creditors might come, and the Imperial Knights could be sent here.”
“Yes… That’s true.”
“What if we file for divorce on paper, so they don’t suspect I’m hiding you?”
Calypso stared at her, surprised. But her eyes showed nothing but concern for him.
“Once everything is settled and your name is cleared, we can remarry. At least we should protect the mansion from being taken…”
Diana glanced at him carefully. He just sighed over and over, conflicted. She put her hand on his shoulder and spoke gently, as if she meant every word.
“If we do nothing, we’ll lose your title, the land, and even the mansion. The children’s debutante balls are coming soon. We must at least keep the house…”
The mention of the children darkened Calypso’s face. He thought of Aisel, who had trusted him enough to lend the mine, and Catherine, whom he had unknowingly hurt.
He didn’t want to ruin their debutante balls after confidently promising everything would go well.
“…Yes, we should do that.”
“Once we’re back at the mansion, we’ll handle the paperwork. Then you should hide in the hut for a while.”
“The hut?”
“Yes, the one at the corner of the estate. The knights could come here.”
How ironic. The hut where Diana had once been locked up and left to die… now he was the one hiding there.
“…Alright.”
There was no other choice. Calypso frowned and nodded.
The carriage soon reached the mansion. As soon as they arrived, Diana asked Belinda to bring the prepared divorce papers and Calypso’s seal, then headed with him toward the hut.
“It hasn’t been used in a long time, so it’s dirty… but we don’t have a choice.”
Calypso’s face twisted in disgust as he entered the hut.
The dusty air was damp and unpleasant.
“So filthy…”
He hated things like this. He had always struggled to escape poverty, and now even for a short while, he had to live in a place like this.
“Just for a little while.”
Compared to how long I was trapped here, Calypso, this is nothing.
Diana’s emerald eyes gleamed with hidden malice as she watched him look around the hut.
Her words were true. He would only stay in this hut for a short time. His final destination was somewhere else entirely.
“Your Grace, I’ve brought the seal and documents.”
Belinda entered with the prepared divorce papers and the Erenshte family seal. Diana spread the documents on the dusty table.
“Here, you just need to stamp it.”
She pointed to the bottom of the paper. Calypso flinched. Diana personally handed him the seal.
He didn’t even have time to question how she had prepared the divorce papers so quickly. She guided his actions so naturally.
Calypso hesitated for a moment, then firmly stamped the divorce papers.
Diana’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the stamped seal.
At last, her long, bitter tie with Calypso was cut.
“I’ll bring you meals every day, but you must not leave here. Understood?”
“…Understood.”
Diana left the hut with Belinda. She was smiling brightly as they headed toward the mansion.
But as they neared the entrance, loud voices could be heard.
“Your Grace, stay behind me,” Belinda said, shielding her. Creditors who had lent money to Calypso were storming in from the entrance.
The noise brought out the mansion’s servants, as well as Aisel and Catherine.
“You cultivated poisonous plants! Where is that scammer?!”
“Tell him to pay back my money now!”
They stood at the mansion’s front, their faces flushed with anger. Diana bowed her head sincerely, looking sorry. She planned to repay them all anyway, but she needed Catherine to see her act.
“I’m sorry. You may take anything from inside the mansion. Whatever is left, I will repay personally.”
“Hmph! We heard you’re divorced!”
“Even so, he’s still my former husband. I’ll repay it all in the name of the Marquis of Pereshte.”
The creditors immediately pushed into the mansion. Catherine gasped and shouted loudly.
The rough creditors took everything of value—decorations, dresses, jewelry—regardless of whose room it was from.
“No! Mother, please stop them!”
Unlike Aisel, who calmly accepted the situation, Catherine panicked and watched helplessly as her dresses and jewelry were taken.
“What’s going on? Did Father’s business fail?”
She confronted Diana.
“…The herb your father cultivated turned out to be a poisonous plant.”
“What?!”
Catherine’s eyes went wide with shock.
“He didn’t even confirm that before growing it?!”
“He stole the business from your grandfather, so he must have thought it had already been verified.”
“This is awful! What about my debutante ball?!”
Even now, Catherine was only worried about her debutante. Aisel shook her head at her sister’s selfishness.
Soon, the creditors left the mansion carrying anything of value.
“We’ll send the rest of the bill by mail!”
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
Diana bowed and apologized to them until the very end. They were victims after all. Once everything was over, she planned to compensate them further.
Catherine stared blankly at the ruined interior of the mansion.
Diana put her arm around her shoulder, looking genuinely sorry.
“I’m sorry, Catherine. I can’t make it fancy for you.”
“Then… at least the catalog you showed me before…”
“We can’t afford even that now… I can’t get you a new dress.”
“Then you’re saying I have to wear what’s left?”
Diana only nodded. Catherine’s face filled with despair as she stomped upstairs. Her wardrobe and jewelry box had been ransacked by the creditors.
She looked at what was left. All the dresses were old or out of fashion, and all the jewelry was gone—only cheap accessories made of glass remained.
Then she saw a single crystal earring missing its pair. Catherine grabbed it and threw it angrily.
“How am I supposed to wear things like this?!”
She screamed, but no one cared. She felt utterly miserable. Looking at the mark Eclipse had left on her palm, she broke down and cried.
“Hm…?”
Something outside was noisy. Alicia stood from the hard floor and felt the wall. She could hear things being moved and broken outside.
Was something happening in Aisel’s room? Alicia pressed her ear to the wall and waited. Then, she heard a man’s voice she didn’t recognize.
“There might be valuable books in the bookshelf!”
Someone shook the bookshelf, and the shelf imprisoning Alicia opened slightly.
After a while, it grew quiet again. Alicia felt around and noticed the small gap between the shelf and the wall.
She pushed the bookshelf gently, but the lock kept it from opening fully.
Not that it mattered—she was blind and couldn’t escape far anyway. Alicia sat back down on the floor.
Then, she felt something under her.
“What’s this…?”
She carefully touched the object beneath her.
“Ah…”
She cut her finger instantly on a sharp edge.
She couldn’t see it, but she guessed it was a shard of glass, about the size of her palm.
Some men must have broken something while ransacking the room, and the shard had rolled under the bookshelf.
Alicia clutched her bleeding finger and hid the shard in her blanket.
God hasn’t abandoned me after all.
Alicia’s lifeless eyes glimmered with malice.
Diana, I’m not dead yet. And even if I die, I won’t die quietly.
She felt the shard hidden in her blanket and curled her lips into a sinister smile. Then she gently touched her stomach.
She vowed to survive and give birth to her child, no matter what.
