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

Episode 69

Thud!

“Eek!”

How foolish. All I did was stomp my foot threateningly.

“Get out. Now.”

As soon as I spoke, Lady Biers, who had been screaming hysterically, scrambled to her feet, stumbling several times as her legs gave out beneath her. Watching her flee in panic, I twisted my lips in disdain.

If it were up to me, I’d drag her straight to Euclid and let him hear all the vile things she had said.

But I couldn’t do that.

Because…

“It’s okay now.”

Marianne’s face had gone deathly pale, and Dior was stomping his feet in distress as he watched his sister.

As I took a step toward them out of concern, Marianne reflexively stepped back.

I thought it was Lady Biers and her threats that had frightened her, but…

‘Was it me?’

Hurriedly, I softened my expression and let go of the cold aura I had exuded.

Meanwhile, Marianne, tears brimming in her eyes, pleaded desperately.

“Aunt…”

“Yes?”

“Please… please don’t tell Uncle about this.”

“P-please keep it a secret,” Dior added timidly, glancing at me for approval.

So there’s something going on after all.

I was glad I hadn’t escalated things and had instead sent Lady Biers away quietly.

“I’ll decide after I’ve heard everything,” I said.

At my words, Marianne clenched her jaw, trying to hold back her sobs, and nodded.

I listened to the children’s full story.

And now that I knew the situation…

Though I felt sorry for how difficult it had been for the children to open up, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

‘So, Amy or whatever her name is…’

She had been threatening the children by invoking Euclid’s name, so I assumed they weren’t actually his blood relatives. But that wasn’t true at all.

‘Is it because I came from another world? Am I too used to the wild dramas filled with hidden birth secrets?’

When she claimed they were the children of a con artist, and that Euclid wouldn’t consider them his nieces and nephews if he knew the truth, I thought they weren’t related to him at all.

Specifically, I imagined Euclid’s brother had been deceived by some swindler and raised the children as his own, unaware they weren’t his biological kids.

But no. It was actually the opposite—Euclid’s brother had been the one deceiving everyone.

He had been conspiring with Count Biers, whom I had vaguely suspected of shady dealings.

‘Does Euclid know about this?’

Maybe that’s why, despite knowing it was unfair, he had continued to send the money his brother had promised to Count Biers.

Yet, considering his falling out with the royal family, I couldn’t say for sure.

One thing was certain, though:

‘No one really understands Euclid.’

Even if, as Amy and the children suspected, Euclid didn’t know the truth…

Even if, as I imagined, the children weren’t his blood relatives… Euclid wouldn’t treat them any differently.

‘He’s ridiculously kind, almost to a fault.’

No matter how many times he’s disappointed or betrayed by others, he could never turn away from them…

“A-Aunt…”

Marianne’s tense voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

When I turned to look at her, she flinched and bit her lip, her gaze falling to the ground.

“Should we… should we stop calling you Aunt now?”

Why all of a sudden?

I tilted my head in confusion, only to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror hanging in the children’s room.

‘Wait, what’s with my face?!’

My expression was so cold and twisted that even I found it terrifying.

I quickly cupped my cheeks, trying to soften my features, and spoke to the children.

“What are you talking about? I’m your aunt. Why would you stop calling me that?”

“But you heard everything… We’re not really…”

“Yes, I heard everything. Count Biers and her daughter claim you’re not their real family, right?”

I asked for confirmation, and Marianne, visibly deflated, answered timidly.

“Yes… Amy isn’t really our aunt. And Mother… isn’t actually Count Biers’ niece, either. Also…”

Even though they had already confided everything to me.

When the children couldn’t bring themselves to admit aloud that they had committed another crime, I casually intercepted their words, pretending nothing was amiss.

“Really, it’s such a relief, isn’t it?”

“…What?”

The children widened their eyes in confusion as if they had no idea what I was talking about.

Their reaction reminded me of the first time we met at the construction site, and it made me chuckle slightly.

‘It must have been because they were told to call me a witch back then too.’

Although it annoyed me that not only I but also the children had been put in a tough spot, I was relieved that they hadn’t genuinely feared me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Isn’t it true? At least you’re not family with those vile people who resort to threats.”

“Uh…”

The children blinked slowly, as though the thought had never occurred to them before.

Marianne fidgeted with her fingers and murmured softly.

“But we’re not nobles…”

Coming from a world without a class system, such words didn’t faze me in the slightest.

Honestly, I thought it was meaningless. But to these children, who had lived in a world where class distinctions were ingrained from birth, it wasn’t something so easily dismissed.

So, I said this instead:

“What do you mean you’re not nobles? You were born from a legitimate marriage and officially registered as members of the Rudion ducal family. You’re the only precious nephew and niece of the current Duke Rudion. Who could possibly deny that?”

Perhaps it was because I had refuted all of Amy’s oppressive words, or maybe it was because I still acknowledged the children as Euclid’s nephews even after learning everything.

Marianne, who had been holding back her tears, finally burst into sobs.

“But! We’re just a burden to Uncle.”

Goodness. What on earth is this child saying?

Just how recklessly had Amy run her mouth for such words to come out so naturally?

‘Here I am, holding back even my laughter and speaking carefully so as not to scare them!’

Hiding the ache in my heart, I asked gently.

“Do you really think so? If you mean it, I might be a little disappointed.”

At the word “disappointed,” the children flinched and looked up at me.

Perhaps it had hurt their feelings. Dior, whose tear-filled eyes finally spilled a drop, pouted like a duck and said:

“B-but we didn’t do what Amy told us to. We like Uncle, so we didn’t say we wanted her to become Aunt.”

Huh? What did he just say?

“We didn’t do it even when Amy yelled and got angry. She told us to say we’d like it if she ate with us in the dining room and went out with us, but we held back…”

“Idiot, be quiet.”

Marianne belatedly tried to stop Dior, but I interrupted her, asking:

“She told you to say those things?”

So that’s what she had in mind?

‘I thought she just wanted the kids to make me hate them…’

I had no idea she’d been aiming for my favorite’s spot right beside me.

“Hic, hic!”

Suddenly, Dior started hiccupping as he looked at me.

I could guess the reason.

Even without looking in a mirror, I could tell my expression must have turned fearsomely menacing.

At that moment, Dior, as if something was eating at him, mumbled and confessed urgently.

“C-calling you a witch… she said it was to punish my sister. I didn’t really think Aunt was a witch. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

I was about to say it was okay since I’d already suspected as much.

“And on the day Aunt came over, she told me to beg Uncle to sleep together…”

What? She even planned that?

I realized that my first night could have been ruined without my knowledge, and my face stiffened instantly.

Noticing the children flinching alongside me, I quickly softened my expression.

Then, addressing the still-tense children who were anxiously watching me, I spoke firmly.

“Listen carefully. You are never a burden to the Duke. If anything, you’re a source of strength.”