I Thought a Villainess' Divorce Would Be Easy

The horse’s speed slowed as it arrived at the duke’s residence.

There was still a bit more running to get to the mansion, but Anthea hurriedly raised her head.

“Duke, please stop.”

At Anthea’s request, Richard immediately stopped his horse.

As rude as it may seem, she had an obedient attitude, unlike when she rode a horse without permission. When Anthea turned her body and tried to get off the horse, Richard, who got off faster than her, skillfully picked her up and put her down. Although he was a bit rough, she wasn’t pushy. When he faced Anthea, who had turned pale, Richard’s blue eyes shook as if he had not expected it.

Oh, what was it? It looked like a large dog that ran wild because it was so excited to go for a walk with its owner.

Sundae was like that too.

During the rainy season, she couldn’t go out through the heavy rain, so after a clever strategy, she took advantage of the light rain and went out for a walk in a week, and she ran out of sundae.

It was a muddy, water-soaked flower bed, and I was rushing, digging, and rolling around without anything to do. Even though she was a mess, he said she had to run further, and as she struggled, even her owner fell. The wound on her knee, which she had severely scratched at that time, was deep enough to eventually remain as her scar. Although her knees were pure white now with no scars.

When she couldn’t bear it anymore and called Sundae’s name out loud, she could clearly see Sundae’s clear eyes looking back with excitement. She was so upset that she noticed that the atmosphere was strange while she was trying to catch her breath. But what was in front of Anthea right now was not a pitiful sundae who couldn’t even walk alone.

He was just an immature husband who went out hunting for wild beasts of his own accord, returned unexpectedly, and as soon as he refused to go horseback riding, ran off excitedly wearing them like luggage.

If it had been her real-life husband, he would have scolded her here, but he was a temporary husband who would build her future with the heroine who would stay at the mansion from now on. Even if it cost her emotionally, it was Anthea’s loss.

She sighed, trying to get her mind together. Even though she was standing on solid ground, she still felt anxious as if she was on a running horse.

If she took a deep breath and did it again, she should be okay.

“Ha…”

“Ma’am!”

‘Ah. I guess I overdid it today.’

Richard, who immediately picked up the staggering Anthea, was embarrassed when he saw her pale face. Her small body was cold in his arms. She immediately took off her cloak and jacket, wrapped Anthea, who was flaccid, in a tight hug, and rode her horse.

It seemed like it was all a joke until now, and Anthea’s eyes seemed to blink black before turning completely white as she moved so violently that it was difficult for her to even breathe.

The sound echoed in her head to the point where she thought it would be better to just faint like this. She felt sick to her core. If she had swallowed even a piece of meat when she stopped by the inn earlier, she would have looked ugly. Even if she has an empty stomach, if she continues to shake like this, she will faint and vomit. If she had to choose between the two, she would rather faint.

She passed through her front door in an instant and Richard, who ran all the way to the entrance of her mansion, arrived before her servants even came out. She was surprised when some workers who were cleaning found Richard and hurried over to him.

“Already here? Are you experiencing any problems during the subjugation?”

* * *

“Master, the thing you held in your arms…

“Lord, my lord?!”

“Call your doctor. I think her wife is about to faint.”

Anthea wanted to at least give her thumbs up at Richard’s assurance, but as soon as she got off her horse, she was so relieved that her consciousness was blown away.

Anthea’s stiff body, which was in a precarious state, lost strength in an instant.

The sensation of her going limp in his hands was more horrifying than when her demonic beast attacked her from behind.

“Right now. Bring it.”

It was difficult for even Richard to imagine what would have happened to his nowhere-directed anger if his doctor, who was about to go out for a walk, had not immediately responded to his call.

The doctor found the pale, unconscious duchess and wondered how many times this had already happened. A sigh came out of her. However, she was not foolish enough to show off in front of the duke who was spreading her evil energy.

“Basically, he is a person with very weak physical strength.”

“Enough to knock you unconscious just from riding her horse?”

“Yes. There are many delicate ladies in the world who can swoon beautifully, but the Duchess is truly weak. She must never overexert herself.”

The doctor, wondering if Richard didn’t believe it, emphasized that the truth was different from the intentional actions of other noble ladies.

“If you faint just from riding a horse for a moment, shouldn’t you refrain from going out?”

“I think I can recommend taking a walk in the greenhouse garden.”

The greenhouse garden was small, the size of a palm, decorated with expensive glass and magic stones.

Of course, the impression of this size was based on Richard’s standards, but considering the very large ducal house, it was small.

“Are you saying it’s that weak?”

“Even though it hasn’t been long since I came to the Duke’s House, the maids have visited me several times. What is normal for others may be too much for this person.”

Even without the doctor telling her, Anthea knew from her report that her body was weak.

She thought she knew from experience how thin her arms were and how easily they bruised when she touched them. So he even practiced his grip strength with a snow rabbit.

“You’re so fragile.”

“I can confidently say that you are weaker than my daughter, who turned 10 this year.”

“Ha…”

Richard once again realized how fragile Anthea, who was sleeping soundly surrounded by a soft blanket, was.

* * *

The duchy’s night was quiet even though a significant number of knights and servants were awake.

As usual, they were faithful to their respective tasks where they were supposed to be, but unlike usual, small whispers continued.

Not only did the Duke, who had been away from the mansion for nearly a month to 15 days to subdue demonic beasts, return home early, but the story of the Duchess returning in Richard’s arms was constantly spreading through the mouths of the employees.

Everyone was happy that a new wind would blow in the dukedom thanks to the mistress who even melted the duke, who was thought to be blunt and cold. Even after the duke’s doctor came, Richard watched Anthea for a long time.

From the first time he saw her, her small and thin body was as fragile as it seemed.

He had never heard or seen a body so weak that it lost consciousness just by riding a horse. If she could handle the carriage, she wanted to touch it again and again.

Each of these feelings was unfamiliar to Richard. Even though she did not drive the horse herself and only rode along with it, her body was so weak that she fainted. She wanted to stay by Anthea’s side until she woke up.

She thought it was foolish to think about efficiency. One night when she was young, her fever was so high that she couldn’t go out to practice.

She couldn’t understand why her mother stayed by her side. She felt ineffective because she was not a doctor and Richard was asleep after taking her medicine. But now she seemed to have a vague idea.

She wanted to see it with her own eyes.

She said her doctor said she would be fine, but she wanted to see her eyes open.

Even though she knew she was only asleep, as time passed her anxiety grew to the point where she couldn’t keep her hands still. It was difficult for her to resist her desire to shake Anthea and wake her up. Unlike Richard, who was nervous, the maids continued their work as if they were used to this situation. She skillfully wiped Anthea’s cold sweat and replaced her nearly burned-out scented candle with her new one.

Richard felt like he was going to put his hand on her as he watched her like this, so after a while he shook her off and got up.

Not long after Richard left her room without a sound, Anthea gently opened her eyes.

In fact, she had been conscious for a long time. She thought the reason Richard was waiting was so she could tell Bianca’s story, so she pretended to be asleep. Because the two were not close yet, she was worried that Richard would talk Bianca away and sleep with her.

She sent Bianca away. She was losing the person who would be most helpful to her plans. That was a bit difficult.

Fortunately, Richard did not force Anthea to wake up. Unbecoming of her title as the northern slayer, famous for not missing even the slightest breath of a demonic beast whose specialty was ambushing, she returned without noticing Anthea’s pretending to be dead, or rather, sleeping, in the end.

Ellie, who found Anthea with her eyes open, approached her with a fuss.

“Ah, ma’am. The master was by her side until just now.”

“I will tell my master that you have awakened.”

Anthea slowly gestured towards the two people moving in unison.

“I can see you tomorrow. Besides, did she tell Bianca where to stay?”

“Oh, that’s…”

She expected a light answer of course, but Anthea’s head tilted at her hesitation.

“Huh? Are you really going to bully Bianca?”

“No, ma’am. We were going to take her to the maid’s quarters.”

The maid’s quarters were a collection of rooms shared by four or five people.

Still, since she is the heroine, I think she should be given a room to herself, but what the maids said next was a bit strange.

“Since a new person is coming in, I reported it to the head butler and the head maid first.”

“Then suddenly the head maid gave Bianca a room to use alone.”

“Huh? The head maid?”

Rosa didn’t think anyone would treat her kindly because she was new.

At any other time, Anthea would have put off this question until tomorrow morning, but she was different now.

“Could you please call Rosa?”

“The head maid? Excuse me… It’s late at night. Are you sure?”

Julie and Ellie were worried because they knew that Rosa was free to say what she wanted even to the duchess Anthea. But in reality, Anthea smiled and nodded her head lightly.

“Huh. If possible, tell her that she would like to drink the milk tea served by her maid Jang.”

 

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