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

After arriving at the Ducal estate and learning more about the situation within the family, I often found myself thinking:

Euclid must have had such a hard and lonely time.

Being the second son, he likely never imagined he would one day become the Duke. With a naturally unambitious personality, he would have simply accepted the life handed to him. But overnight, he lost both his father and elder brother and was thrust into a position of immense responsibility.

The mountain of debt was one thing, but to have all the retainers of the household and the people of the territory looking solely to him, with no one to rely on—it must have been overwhelming and suffocating.

Yet, despite such circumstances, I felt that Euclid’s strength to endure came largely from his young nieces and nephews.

Of course, I had only encountered him through the novel and had not known him in reality for long, so one could argue I was making baseless assumptions. But the feeling came naturally.

The way he made time to eat with the children no matter how busy he was.

The way he looked troubled but determined when he said he needed to return to the duchy for their sake.

And I could say with certainty:

“Really. Even if the Duke learns everything you’ve told me today, he will never, ever treat you as anything other than his cherished nephews. Not like Lady Biers claimed.”

If anything, the issue might be that Euclid’s elder brother made a poor decision blinded by love. But the children bore no fault in that.

Thus, Euclid had no reason to feel betrayed by them.

Hearing my words, the children, who had widened their eyes in surprise, seemed to feel relieved. Tears began falling, and they sobbed quietly.

After hesitating for a moment, I slowly raised my hands and awkwardly patted their trembling shoulders.

I worried they might flinch away in fear, but instead, as if waiting for this, they cried out, “Aunt!” and flung themselves into my arms.

Both of them at once. Despite being two, they fit snugly in my embrace, making me realize how small and young they truly were.

I couldn’t comprehend Amy, who had tormented such precious children.

‘And to think she even tried to sabotage my marriage?’

I resolved to settle this debt as my eyes turned cold.

At that moment, the children’s sniffles gradually subsided, their emotions calming.

I glanced down to see their reddened cheeks, blushed as deeply as roses, with teary eyes peeking up at me, embarrassed.

Their adorable faces sparked a playful streak in me.

“Ah, but now that I think about it, the Duke might feel hurt that you kept this a secret from him all this time.”

Flinch.

The children, who had only feared Euclid’s anger, seemed utterly unprepared for the possibility of him feeling hurt. They exchanged flustered glances.

Suppressing a laugh, I asked, “So, will you still keep it a secret? Do you really want me to say nothing at all?”

Marianne’s face turned bright red, likely recalling how she had nervously begged me not to say anything.

Even so, her hesitance to answer made me decide.

“All right. For now, I won’t tell the Duke.”

Truthfully, I wasn’t thrilled about keeping a secret from Euclid either. But I wanted to give the children time to overcome their fear.

“Really?” Marianne’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting my answer.

“Yes. But keeping it a secret forever…”

“I-I’ll tell him! I know it was wrong to hide it.”

Fortunately, my earlier words didn’t seem to have been entirely in vain. Marianne found the courage.

“Just… not right away. A little more time…”

It seemed they still needed time to prepare themselves mentally.

When I nodded in agreement, Marianne, still hesitant, asked for reassurance.

“Truly… will Uncle not hate us even if he knows everything?”

With Dior also looking at me with a tense face, I gave them a gentle smile.

“Of course not. No matter what, you are the Duke’s precious nephews.”

At those words, Marianne bit her lip and spoke again, her eyes welling up with tears.

“We treasure Uncle too.”

Dior nodded vigorously in agreement with Marianne.

Watching them, I held back my own emotions, resisting the urge to say that Euclid was the most precious person in my world as well.

Knock, knock.

A somewhat urgent knock sounded from outside.

“My wife, are you inside by any chance?”

To my surprise, the voice belonged to Euclid himself.

“Hic!”

Dior, who had finally managed to stop hiccuping, started again, and Marianne froze in place.

“May I come in?”

Euclid, seemingly worried by the lack of response as I stood there dumbfounded, suddenly swung the door open.

Following him were the butler, the head maid, and a servant, all of whom stopped at the doorway, looking inside with startled and bewildered expressions.

“Why…”

I was about to ask why everyone was acting as if they’d walked in on a scene of abuse, but then I hesitated and looked around.

The children, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, stood there, visibly upset. Meanwhile, I was standing in front of them with a stern expression.

Behind Euclid, the butler, and the head maid, a servant who usually took care of the children whispered in shock.

“My goodness, even the composed Lady Marianne is crying…”

Ha. Ha. Ha. So, this is how things have turned out?

When I came to the ducal residence, I had planned to win favor by being kind to Euclid’s niece and nephew, becoming the affectionate aunt in their eyes.

But just a few days later, contrary to my original intentions, I had become the wicked aunt who made Euclid’s niece and nephew cry their eyes out.

As if that wasn’t enough, I had frightened their usual caretaker into leaving.

Here’s what actually happened:

As usual, Amy arrived, and the servant who attended to the children stepped away to give them privacy, taking care of other chores in the meantime.

However, Amy, who would usually inform people before leaving, abruptly fled the ducal residence in a dazed state. The servant heard about this only after the fact.

Alarmed and unaware of what had happened, the servant rushed to the children. Though she couldn’t get a proper explanation, she did hear the loud cries of “Aunt!” echoing through the hallways.

‘I don’t know whether to be relieved or not.’

At least the children’s secret was still safe—for now.

Still, the servant, startled, ran straight to the head maid. The head maid, finding my office empty, reported directly to Euclid.

If I truly were scolding the children, the only person capable of intervening would have been their uncle, Duke Euclid himself.

And so, Euclid, followed by the butler, the head maid, and the servant, all ended up coming to the children’s room.

Marianne, who was sharp and perceptive enough to keep Amy’s bullying hidden all this time, quickly realized the situation was spiraling out of control.

“No! Aunt wasn’t scolding us. We didn’t cry because of her…”

“Then why were you crying, Marianne?”

“Well, that’s… because…”

Despite Euclid’s gentle questioning, she couldn’t provide a proper answer.

Of course, she couldn’t possibly bring up everything that had happened with Amy right now.

Marianne glanced at me nervously, and I gave her a small nod, signaling that it was okay.

Looking regretful, Marianne raised her voice to defend me.

“It’s really not because of Aunt!”

“That’s right! It has nothing to do with Aunt!” Dior chimed in, taking my side.

I smiled faintly, resigned.

‘I know this situation.’

The more you deny it, the deeper the misunderstanding grows…

It reminded me of the time at the Basilian estate when no one believed me, no matter how much I shouted that I wasn’t upset. All I got in return were pitying stares.