I Failed to Divorce My Husband

As soon as Erin arrived at the mansion, she hurried inside.

She was about to head to the reception room upon hearing that Julia was waiting there.

“Lady Charte is not in the reception room, but in the atrium,” the butler informed her.

“The atrium?”

“Yes, she is with the Duke.”

“Aiden and Julia together?” Erin tilted her head in surprise at the unexpected combination.

However, considering that there were also matters concerning the artwork to be sent to Lady Quiness, she thought they could well be together and nodded slightly.

“Alright, I’ll go there.”

As Erin entered the atrium, she easily spotted the two of them.

“You two, here you are.” Erin approached them with a light smile.

Upon which Aiden immediately turned towards Erin.

“Erin. Where have you been? I don’t recall you planning to go out.” Aiden’s question made Erin flinch.

Aiden considered the actions of the Zahard Duke towards Erin to be rude, so Erin didn’t like meeting him separately.

“I just stopped by the boutique for a bit. I had something to order,” Erin replied casually.

Aiden looked at Erin’s face for a moment, but he didn’t seem to have any particular suspicions.

“I had a brief conversation while waiting alone.”

“Well done. Thanks to you, Julia didn’t get bored,” Aiden said.

For a moment, a forced smile appeared and disappeared on Julia’s face.

“Well then, I’ll be going. I hope you have a good time,” Aiden said a few more words before withdrawing and telling Erin and Julia to have a good conversation.

As Erin moved to another seat with Julia, she said, “I’m sorry. I made you wait by leaving the seat while we had plans.”

“I was really okay. Don’t worry about it,” Julia said, earnestly clasping her hands.

If Erin apologized once more, she seemed like she would be embarrassed and her face would turn red.

Erin found Julia’s innocent appearance appealing, but it was because of that innocent appearance that other nobles could treat Julia more disrespectfully.

“After a week, there will be a banquet at Hertisga.”

The reason Julia came to find Erin today was because of the upcoming Hertisga banquet.

“This time, almost all the nobles will attend.”
It was not only because this was a welcome banquet for Claire’s return to Hertisga after three years.

There was another important reason: news had recently spread about Claire and the crown prince.

It was said that they were preparing for their marriage a year later.

Typically, the preparation for a crown prince’s wedding takes a year, which means they would marry roughly two years from now.

It was a prospective crown princess’s banquet, and all the nobles invited would attend.

“Then I should do better.”

“Don’t worry too much. After all, Hertisga’s banquets are relatively relaxed.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Each family has its own unique atmosphere.”

The overall atmosphere of Hertisga was more relaxed than formal.

“Moreover, since it’s the social season, many debutantes will attend. So, the atmosphere will be even livelier.”

As it was a time to meet new people, the atmosphere tended to be more open than usual.

“Then it will be even better for Julia, don’t you think so?”

Erin said, cheering her on.

“I think it would be great if Julia appeared in a different light then.”

“Wow, I’m looking forward to it.”

Julia’s eyes sparkled with excitement, showing no worries as if it were someone else’s business.
Erin gazed at her and smiled faintly.

She opened her mouth, thinking that Julia looked much better than being nervous.

“This time, there will be no one rude to pester you like last time.”

That day, Erin had warned them. Since then, everyone knew that she was close with Julia.
Julia was no longer alone.

“Of course. And I’m different from last time.”

Julia said with a confident expression.

“During this time, you have taught me a lot, especially about the social circles.”

As they had been together, Erin had taught Julia how to handle relationships and rude remarks within the social circles.

“In addition, I have been practicing dancing diligently and now I’m quite good at it.”

“Then I’ll be looking forward to that day.”
“Of course, anytime.”

Julia said confidently with a smile.
In Erin’s eyes, she noticed a red mark on Julia’s wrist.

“Julia, what happened to your wrist?”

“Oh, I accidentally hurt it while working on a sculpture this time.”

Julia said, looking at her wrist.
“Come to think of it, the banquet is coming up, we should go, shouldn’t we?”

Julia asked as if she had forgotten about it, her eyes widening.

Erin remembered how everyone had discreetly sneered at her old scar at the last banquet.

“Should I cover it with long sleeves? Or should I wear long gloves?”

Julia murmured with concern, looking at her new wound.

“I should have been more careful.”

Julia prodded the injured area, although it wouldn’t make the scar worse.

Erin silently observed her and got lost in thought.

“Julia, that scar, are you going to cover it up?”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to hide it?”

“I guess we should, shouldn’t we? It doesn’t really bother me, but other people might not like it.”

“…”

Erin’s expression turned stern at Julia’s response. She slowly spoke after pondering something that didn’t seem to sit well with her.

“Don’t cover up that scar.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a scar from something Julia loves to do. You wouldn’t really want to hide it, would you?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“I like it too. Julia, doing what she loves. So, you should show it off even more.”

Erin said meaningfully, her lips curling into a smile.

“And make it look pretty too.”

“…”

As Erin smiled gleefully, Julia blinked.

Erin had decided to disregard the original plan because she wanted to be happy. She wanted to move towards a happy future with Aiden.

In order to do that, it was essential for Erin to twist Julia’s fate from the original story.

She didn’t want Julia to fall into a different unhappiness just for Erin’s sake.

If that were to happen, Erin’s happiness would become incomplete.

So, at the very least, she hoped that Julia, except for Aiden, would receive everyone’s love and be well, just like in the original story.

But now, she wasn’t sure about Julia’s relationship with the other noblewomen.

However, she was determined to make sure Julia was not ignored by the other noblewomen and ladies for now. She wanted to make sure that everyone acknowledged Julia.

She helped and taught Julia a lot for that purpose.

However, what’s the use if she had to suppress Julia’s own charm just to fit into society? Her scar from carving was not something to be ashamed of.

Instead, she enjoyed carving. So, hiding it seemed meaningless. Hence, Erin came up with a different idea.

“How about trying it this way? Instead…”

Erin expressed her curiosity about Julia’s reaction.

“Okay. I’ll do it like that,” Julia immediately nodded without hesitation at Erin’s suggestion.

“But, are you not bothered with all this attention just because of me?” Julia asked cautiously, seemingly concerned.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Erin spoke after a moment of contemplation.

“I didn’t realize it myself.” Indeed, at first, it was an urge born of regret for the changes that came about as a result of altering the original story.

However, while being with Julia, Erin naturally realized something.

“It seems like I actually enjoy stepping up for others,” Erin said with a grin.

It was true. Erin found herself enjoying the things she did for Julia, hoping for her well-being.

It made her wonder if it was her true self that she hadn’t known all along. Erin had become engrossed in her realization.

“I think I know what that is,” Julia empathetically responded to Erin’s words.

“I felt really proud this time helping the princess,” Julia said with a wide smile.

“I also had a slight thought of wanting to help others with my abilities in the future,” Julia added, placing her hand on her chest, as if it meant something precious.

Just thinking about it made her heart pound.

“It’s a good thing. I’d love to meet Claire Hertis again,” Erin said with a smile.

“Of course. Lately, my mother has been talking a lot about the princess, so I want to meet her even more,” Julia replied.

“I hope she returns soon,” Erin said, smiling as she listened to Julia’s expectations.

The two continued to engage in various conversations, and as late afternoon approached, Julia went back home.

***

Before dinner, Erin headed to Aiden’s study.

“Aiden, I’m here.”

“Seems like Julia Charte has gone back,” Aiden replied.

“Yeah, a little while ago,” Erin responded, comfortably taking the chair next to Aiden’s designated spot.

“Is the negotiation going well?” Erin inquired about the progress of Lady Quiness’ divorce proceedings.

Aiden placed the letter from Lady Quiness in front of him and said, “I was worried she might have doubts, but she was so blinded by the immediate gains that she didn’t think of anything else.”

As expected. This was the kind of behavior Erin anticipated from Count Quiness, a person who never strayed from her predictions, which was fortunate in the current situation, but probably made for an unhappy marriage for Lady Quiness.

Aiden then calmly assessed the current situation.

“It seems we will reach an agreement easily. Once the divorce settlement is finalized there, the Emperor won’t be able to interfere anymore.”

Lady Quiness’ divorce proceedings were progressing smoothly.

She will soon return to the Empire.

Then Erin intended to meet her, partly because of the parts related to Café Angela and Brody.

She also thought that she could do more if she was with Lady Quiness.

“Then she’ll be back soon,” Erin murmured with anticipation.

“That’s right.” It would probably proceed at a rapid pace from now on.