(23)):
In Front of Liam’s Office
Monica grabbed butler Peter and asked,
“Where’s Liam?”
“Well… that is…”
Monica had visited Liam’s office several times over the past few days, trying to see him.
But she couldn’t meet him.
After the incident with Angela and Baron Modern, the atmosphere in the duke’s household had become subtly strange. Monica couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
Originally, she just wanted to confirm whether a letter about marital counseling had arrived and ask about the low-grade demon, Lucky, whom she’d brought home.
But first, she had to ask the butler why she hadn’t been able to see Liam for days.
“Be honest, Peter.”
“P-Pardon?”
“Why can’t I see Liam? You know something, don’t you?”
“It’s just that… His Grace has been busy with work lately, so he said he’d be working from his office at the Imperial Palace.”
Suddenly, an absurd thought crossed her mind—that Liam might be avoiding her. But then again, could he not be avoiding her?
If he was deliberately avoiding her, that was something she had never expected.
‘But why?’
She stared at the butler, who was looking down at the floor. Something was off. She could feel it instinctively.
“Peter. Be honest with me. There’s something going on, isn’t there?”
“My lady…”
“You’re the only one who can help me here. You know that.”
She held his hand like a child and pleaded earnestly.
When Monica was a child, she used to fill her belly with sweets like candy and chocolate. Whenever that happened, her nanny would sternly forbid her from eating any more and never gave her more, no matter how much she cried.
But Peter had been a little different. He couldn’t ignore the crying Monica.
When she sobbed and begged, holding his hand, saying she wanted just one more candy, he would always secretly slip one into her pocket.
So Monica had expected this. That the soft-hearted butler would help her.
She gazed at him with slightly tearful eyes and asked again,
“Please tell me. What’s going on?”
With a heavy sigh, the butler looked around to make sure no one was nearby. What kind of serious secret was this?
Monica felt her anxiety grow.
“My lady, this isn’t confirmed, but…”
He paused, glanced around again, and continued only after confirming no one was there.
“I think Baron Modern has been spreading rumors that His Grace is swaying toward you emotionally. Several vassals came to see him and begged him to proceed with the divorce right away.”
Monica’s gaze wavered.
“Why do the vassals want us to divorce so badly?”
“Well… partly because of the things you’ve done in the past… and also, they want Miss Angela to become the duchess.”
“What? Angela?”
“Yes. Since becoming His Grace’s mistress, Miss Angela has been getting along very well with some of the noblewomen among the vassals’ wives.”
“But Peter, Liam and I are still in the divorce consideration period. They know that, don’t they?”
“Yes. His Grace informed the vassals that he had entered the consideration period. But he also told them that the divorce wouldn’t be canceled just because of it. Now that Baron Modern is spreading rumors about His Grace’s wavering feelings, the vassals are anxious and are pleading with him to proceed with the divorce.”
It was clear: The vassals, stirred by Baron Modern’s rumors, wanted to use this opportunity to push Angela forward and end things.
The butler leaned in closer and whispered in her ear,
“My humble guess is that His Grace is avoiding you so that these ridiculous rumors don’t cause further unrest among the vassals.”
“That’s strange. Just because I visit Liam’s office doesn’t mean the rumors should get worse.”
“Well… because of the hunting festival, some of the vassals’ wives were hurt emotionally. So His Grace did something to appease them.”
Monica tilted her head, puzzled by his vague explanation. She needed more information to understand the situation.
“They said they wanted to do some work for a while, so His Grace allowed them to work in the ducal household. So now there are a lot of eyes watching everything here.”
“What kind of work?”
“I’m still figuring it out too… but apparently, before you married His Grace, the wives used to do light work in the duke’s estate.”
Only then did Monica remember.
Right after their marriage, Liam had asked her a favor—to let the ladies continue doing small tasks at the estate.
‘What did I say back then?’
She had called it vulgar and improper, hadn’t she? Called them low-class nobles?
In the end, Monica had rejected the request, saying it lacked refinement and class.
After her refusal, the noblewomen were no longer allowed to do light tasks and had to take noble etiquette lessons instead.
“I heard Countess Pencil will now manage the estate’s kitchen from now on.”
Now Monica understood. She nodded heavily.
Liam must be trying to show that he’s cutting ties with her.
Having pieced together the situation, she asked the butler about the letter she’d been waiting for.
“What about the marital counseling letter?”
“Alex personally informed me it will definitely arrive this week.”
“When it does, tell me immediately and make sure it reaches Liam.”
“Yes, my lady. Also…”
The butler handed her a letter with a luxurious seal.
“This came from the Riat Trading Company.”
“Thank you.”
She quickly accepted the letter and returned to her room. She’d have to put off seeing Liam for now. She’d meet him when they attend the marital counseling anyway.
Holding a paper knife, Monica opened the envelope from the Riat Trading Company.
The contents were brief:
〈Tomorrow at 9 a.m.〉
It was a concise reply from Taylor to the letter Monica had sent a few days ago.
Back then, Monica had written down the complex web of interests and secret romances among nobles and royal family members that she had uncovered in social circles.
Then, she burned the paper.
‘Something like this could be dangerous if mishandled.’
She wrote a new letter to the Riat Trading Company, requesting to meet the merchant lord in person and asking for a time and date.
‘It’s safer to talk face-to-face.’
If confidentiality wasn’t guaranteed, she could end up imprisoned or assassinated for reasons other than her debts.
Monica was being extremely cautious with the opportunity she’d been given.
And before she shared anything, she had to determine how trustworthy Taylor really was.
She’d find out more tomorrow.
As she mentally prepared the conversation for tomorrow’s meeting with Taylor, Lucky, who looked tired and weak, rubbed against her feet and whined.
“Kyuuuuu…”
“Lucky, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Kyuu…”
“You haven’t eaten anything, have you?”
Since bringing Lucky home, Monica had tried giving it bread, water, meat—things a puppy might eat—at every mealtime.
But strangely, Lucky always shook its head and refused everything.
“If you keep refusing food, you might die. At least try some water, okay?”
Worried, Monica poured water into her palm and held it out to Lucky.
“Kyuuuuu…”
Lucky turned its head away, not even wanting water.
“Do you want to go back to the forest?”
“Kyuu, kyuu…”
Though it hurt her, Monica was willing to return Lucky to the forest if that would help it regain its health. But sensing her intent, Lucky stayed curled up under the bed, refusing to move.
As if that was where it belonged.
“…I need to see Liam to ask what low-grade demons eat.”
Monica sighed.
Even if not Liam, she could ask one of the vassals knowledgeable about demons and find out quickly.
Honestly, she really wanted to do that…
The problem was that after the Angela incident, the vassals and workers had been avoiding her even more noticeably than before.
So, Monica prayed earnestly for the letter from the imperial court’s marital counseling center to arrive soon.
She had a strong feeling that talking to Liam was the only way to untangle this mess.
Imperial Palace – Liam’s Office
The sound of knights training outside constantly rang in his ears.
After receiving his title, the emperor had gifted Liam a splendid new office.
But Liam insisted on using the small office located in the knight order’s building that he had used before his promotion.
Had he known that the training noises would interfere with his focus, he might have moved offices.
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Tsk.”
To be honest, the noise from the training ground wasn’t the real reason he was annoyed.
It was the fact that he had moved from the duke’s office to the palace office because of Monica that truly irked him.
‘Damn it!’
He currently saw himself as a man without pride.
He couldn’t forgive himself for being emotionally swayed by Monica—the woman who had trampled his love and humiliated him.
No, he couldn’t believe he was still being swayed by her.
‘How can this be?’
He felt pathetic and foolish.
Though he had resolved many times not to be shaken, he was now avoiding her for fear of being swayed again.
To add to that, her recent unexpected behavior kept throwing him off balance.
‘That kiss at the hunting festival…’
He couldn’t forget what happened that day.
It was the first time she had ever kissed him first. If it had ended with just a brief kiss, maybe it wouldn’t have been a problem.
Up to that point, Liam had still retained a normal state of mind.
But then Monica had cried in Angela’s room. Though unfamiliar, that sight had drawn him in again.
