It Feels Like I’m About to be Divorced, But my Husband is My Favorite

Episode 59

But no matter how much one organizes the ledgers, the only realization would be that the House of Rudion is buried under a mountain of debt.

“How much of it will they actually pay off?”

Amy’s insides churned.

Over the years, she had persuaded her father several times to propose marriage to the Duke of Rudion in exchange for reducing part of the distribution fees that the House of Rudion paid to them monthly.

However, the Duke of Rudion had rejected the idea outright every time.

Her father speculated that the strict Duke found the idea of marrying his late sister-in-law’s younger sister improper. However, Amy, who had visited the ducal residence almost daily and personally witnessed how much Euclid cared for his nieces and nephews, thought otherwise.

If anything, she believed that as their aunt, marriage would have made her position even stronger, allowing her to care for the children better. Yet, he hadn’t shown her even the slightest interest.

Then, as soon as she heard that the Duke of Rudion was progressing with a marriage proposal from the Duke of Basilian, she became convinced.

The reason the Duke of Rudion had rejected her was money.

Though she didn’t know exactly what the Duke of Basilian had promised, it was obvious they had offered to resolve Rudion’s financial difficulties.

The Duke of Basilian had an abundance of wealth, while the Duke of Rudion was severely lacking in it.

“Father is so stingy! Instead of offering to reduce the distribution fees, he should’ve boldly suggested not collecting them at all.”

After all, if she, the cherished only daughter, became the duchess, the wealth of the House of Rudion would essentially become her father’s assets. Just as her father’s assets were essentially hers.

Amy was well aware that the distribution fees paid by the House of Biers made up a significant portion of the income for their trading company. She also knew that her father secretly wished to bring in a son-in-law to inherit the House of Biers. Yet, she remained stubborn, holding on to her ambitions.

Simultaneously, she continued to pressure Marianne and Dior, whom Euclid cherished.

She believed that if she convinced the two children to like and need her, Euclid would eventually change his mind.

‘It’s so infuriating.’

If only the Basilian family hadn’t suddenly interfered, she would have undoubtedly secured the position of duchess by now.

Still, Amy hadn’t lost hope.

She didn’t understand why Euclid had married so suddenly, but everyone in the empire knew that the Basilian princess had been chasing after the crown prince.

‘There’s no way their marriage is harmonious.’

They might even divorce soon. No, the chances were incredibly high!

Dreaming of Euclid and Evgenia’s divorce, Amy had hoped that when Evgenia arrived at the ducal residence—especially in front of all the gathered retainers—she would display the infamous arrogance befitting her reputation, disrespecting the duke.

However, Amy’s expectations were shattered.

– I hope everyone continues to support us moving forward.

Even now, it was hard to discern whether Evgenia’s icy gaze and expression had been a threat or a genuine statement, but one thing was certain—it wasn’t the atmosphere Amy had anticipated.

‘It’s probably because it was the first day, and she wanted to save face.’

The gifts she had prepared for the children were likely a result of some impulsive pity she felt due to their similar circumstances, Amy speculated.

Believing that someone with Evgenia’s tarnished reputation wouldn’t care about appearances, Amy conveniently ignored rumors describing Evgenia as a heartless and ruthless villainess.

Thus, she pressured Dior to insist on sleeping with Euclid out of fear, thinking that if she set the stage like that, the princess would take the bait, leading to a ruined first night.

‘But how could the night have passed so quietly without incident?’

She couldn’t be sure whether the two had consummated their marriage or not.

In truth, she had overheard maids cleaning Grace’s room whispering with flushed faces about the bed’s torn canopy.

What unsettled her even more was the fact that the next day, Evgenia had genuinely toured the ducal estate as if she were its mistress and even reviewed the ledgers.

Amy began to worry—was Evgenia planning to stay at the ducal residence for good?

‘No, that can’t be. Once she sees the ledgers, she’ll realize the harsh reality of the Rudion estate’s finances.’

Amy couldn’t predict how much the Basllian family would cover of Rudion’s debts, but she doubted they’d pay off everything.

After all, the House of Rudion had always been drowning in debt in her memory, and it didn’t seem realistic that a single marriage could clear it all.

She couldn’t fathom that the Duke of Basilian possessed wealth far beyond her understanding.

‘And no matter how much debt they pay off, the monthly distribution fees to the House of Bierce won’t go away.’

In fact, those fees might even surpass the monthly allowance allocated to the duchess for maintaining her dignity.

Thinking that, the frustration and bitterness she had felt eased a little.

The next day, she still didn’t call for her, which made him even more brazen.

Even during the meal a short while ago, only the Duke came down to the dining hall.

Judging from how quickly he finished his meal and left, the atmosphere must have been unfavorable.

“Who knows? Maybe she’ll say she can’t take it anymore and leave in a month, or even a week.”

At Amy’s amused monologue, not only Marianne, who had been listening intently, but even Dior, who was reading a book, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Aunt is leaving? How could that happen?”

After all, he had only seen her twice—once in front of the Duke’s estate and once at dinner.

Naturally, they hadn’t had a proper conversation either.

‘But still…’

Though he had always enjoyed reading, after hearing Evgenia’s words, Dior had brought every fairy tale book about witches he could find from the library.

Yet, none of those books contained the beautiful and enchanting witch who lured children with candies, as Evgenia had described.

Instead, just as Amy had said, there were only terrifying witches who tormented children.

Though she had black hair instead of black clothes,

And while her scary expression somewhat resembled them,

Dior hadn’t thought of his aunt as such a bad person…

A heavy cloud of guilt hung over Dior’s heart.

Unlike when he had thoughtlessly called her a witch while only thinking about his sister,

Now, the fear of disappointing his uncle compounded with the guilt that his mean words might have caused Evgenia to want to leave.

At that moment, Amy frowned as she glanced around the room.

“By the way, where did all the toys in this room go?”

She had clearly seen with her own eyes the room being filled with gifts.

Though the past few days had been chaotic, Amy, now believing Evgenia wouldn’t call for her, finally decided to take a closer look around.

If it were Dior’s belongings, she wouldn’t care, but there might be luxurious dolls meant for girls like Marianne.

“Where are they?”

“…”

“Huh? I asked, where are they?”

When Amy glared at her, Marianne finally rolled her eyes and replied,

“The maids put them away since no one was playing with them.”

“Why weren’t you playing with them?”

Well, because it’s more likely you’d end up playing with them, not us.

Neither Marianne nor Dior wanted to see Aunt Evgenia’s precious gifts being carelessly handled by Amy, and they also felt the urge to cherish them simply because they were so valuable.

But hiding her true feelings, Marianne indifferently said,

“They seemed childish and boring.”

“You really are like a grown-up in a child’s body.”

Clicking her tongue, Amy looked disapprovingly at Marianne, who was always praised and admired by everyone in the grand duchy for her maturity.

A moment later, Amy decided to call a maid to ask where all the items had been stored.

Surely, no one would find it odd. After all, she was the children’s most trusted aunt.

Feeling pleased at the thought of leisurely inspecting the gifts, Amy jumped onto Dior’s bed.

Dior’s shoulders noticeably flinched, and Marianne’s sharp glare immediately followed.