Leave the Divorce to a Professional Lawyer

Natasha couldn’t help but ask again.

“…When did you remarry?”

“It’s not about me.”

“Oh, I see. So, the client is someone else, and you’re here as a proxy?”

“Exactly.”

Phew. That was close.

Natasha felt sorry for briefly thinking of Claude as “an unprincipled man of this era who remarries and divorces rapidly within a month of his divorce.”

After all, isn’t this the nature of the business, where yesterday’s defendant could be today’s client? Natasha quickly responded with a businesslike smile.

“Did you check the price range before coming? My fees are on the expensive side.”

“I don’t care about the cost. I’ve already experienced your skills firsthand.”

His words had a certain edge.

“Haha, I see. Thank you for the compliment. Before I take on the case, I would recommend a brief legal consultation first. It’s 50 gold per minute.”

Ivan glanced at Natasha to gauge her reaction.

Normally, Natasha’s legal consultation service was 10 gold per minute.

But this was Duke Richard.

‘It’s natural to squeeze as much as possible when you have the chance.’

Sure enough, Claude casually placed a stack of gold on the desk.

“Shall we begin now?”

“Of course, sir. Then, how are you and the client related?”

Natasha quickly took a seat opposite Claude.

He crossed his legs, maintaining his signature arrogant demeanor. With his upper body leaning slightly against the sofa, he gave off an intimidating aura.

It was the uniquely tense atmosphere of a well-trained knight.

“I want you to handle my sister, Chloe Richard’s, divorce.”

“Yes, your sister’s divorce…”

Natasha struggled to keep her expression neutral.

‘Chloe Richard? The commoner-born princess?’

Moreover, as far as she knew, Chloe Richard was currently…

“…You’re aware of the Petrov dukedom, aren’t you?”

Claude’s gaze was icy and sharp.

“She’s married to the eldest son, Mikhail Petrov.”

Look at that. Things were getting complicated.

“…That’s quite an interesting coincidence.”

“I don’t like speaking in circles.”

“Can I be frank?”

“By all means.”

“You must know I’m from the Petrov dukedom, so why specifically choose me for this case?”

Officially, Natasha had been the exclusive lawyer for the Petrov dukedom but had broken away after suddenly initiating the duchess’s divorce—a sort of betrayal, in a way.

She always met Jerome in private, secretive places, so not many knew that she still had ties with the Petrov family.

Except for Madam Olga, perhaps.

“They say if you know your enemy and yourself, you will win every battle. That’s an old saying from the Eastern Continent. I felt it keenly during the last trial.”

It was a reference to Natasha infiltrating the Richard household and digging for information.

“You can’t learn things like which garden I frequent or whom I’ve banned from entering from behind a desk, can you?”

“Should I take that as a compliment?”

Or should she consider it a threat?

They were treading a fine line. Claude chuckled nonchalantly.

“Do I look like someone who would stoop to threatening you?”

It was an incredibly arrogant statement, but then, that was possible only for someone who had always been at the pinnacle of power.

” simply thought you would handle it better since you once belonged to the Petrov family.”

“Then you’ve come to the right place.”

Natasha dropped her client-service smile and replaced it with a genuine smirk.

“No other lawyer knows the Petrov family as well as I do.”

Chloe Richard.

The only commoner-born princess, there was much talk about her background, but now she was undeniably treated as the only daughter of the Richard family.

Some even mocked her as a ‘fake princess.’

Why? Because Chloe had been adopted in place of the missing daughter of the former Richard couple.

Claude vaguely remembered as well. When he was about nine years old, his sister, a year younger, was suddenly kidnapped and disappeared. They waited for a ransom demand from the kidnappers, but… there was no contact at all.

A massive search was conducted, but she was never found, and thus his only sister never returned.

He remembered well the pain his parents went through because of that incident.

It was around that time when Duchess Cecile, who had stopped eating for a long time, suddenly brought in a street child.

With beautiful silver hair and red eyes that looked just like his sister’s.

After his sister’s disappearance, Claude had to handle everything by himself, while the new girl clung tightly to his mother’s arms.

“Introduce yourself, Claude. She will be your new sister.”

What had he replied to such an absurd statement?

“I only have one sister, Mother.”

Slap!

As he spoke, a stinging pain shot through his cheek. Cecile, seemingly shocked by her own reaction, awkwardly apologized.

“I’m sorry, Claude. I was too harsh. But… you must not speak like that to your sister. Understand?”

Realizing that his opinion didn’t matter at all, Claude quickly resigned himself.

“Yes, I understand. I’m sorry, Mother.”

And that’s how Chloe became Chloe Richard. Everyone envied her, calling her a child of great fortune. Her life had turned around in an instant.

However, she always just observed the whole process with clear eyes.

With those red eyes.

“…Sir? Sir?”

Claude snapped out of his thoughts. He must have been lost in memories for a moment.

Even in front of the Duke, the audacious lawyer looked at him as if something was odd.

“Hmph. Normally, the client should come in person, but in this case, it’s better for a representative to handle it. The other party mustn’t suspect anything until the divorce papers are served.”

“It’s difficult for her to come all the way here herself. Even if she tried, she’d be caught quickly. That’s why she asked me.”

“I understand. Well, don’t worry. Our Natasha Law Firm also offers on-site legal consultation services.”

Just like she did with Estelle.

Perhaps recalling that, Claude frowned slightly.

He hadn’t known that Natasha was inside the Richard household or that Estelle no longer needed to seek a lawyer.

‘Who could have expected that? That’s the blind spot.’

Moreover, unless one wanted to announce to the world how lax their household security was, they wouldn’t even file a lawsuit.

A very convenient method.

Except for the risk of losing one’s life if caught.

“You mean you’ll enter the Petrov family as a maid again?”

“They all know my face there, so that would be difficult. And I don’t always go in as a maid.”

Such direct involvement was actually quite rare.

Natasha was a well-known divorce lawyer, with many clients seeking her services.

She didn’t have the luxury to focus on just one case. Of course, the story changes when it comes to a case involving a noble family like the Duke’s.

“Would it be possible to have a way to contact Miss Chloe directly? Do you perhaps keep messenger pigeons?”

“Messenger pigeons? Are you from the North?”

Claude asked, puzzled.

These days, only the North still used messenger pigeons. It was almost a forgotten practice.

Because the mountainous terrain was so rugged that it was difficult for postal workers to traverse, or because there were still ongoing wars with monsters, except for the North, where confidentiality was guaranteed, people preferred human messengers.

“I’m not from the North, but… one of my clients uses them. They’re quite convenient.”

“Are there divorces even in the North?”

“People live there too, you know.”

The North, teeming with monsters and wild beasts, was often portrayed as if it were inhabited solely by cold-blooded people.

‘Not as much as you’d think. Everyone there is actually quite kind…’

Of course, since Natasha mostly worked in the capital, she didn’t know much about the North either.

“Hm… is Miss Chloe living separately from the Petrov family since she got married?”

“No. She still resides in the main Petrov mansion.”

“What about Duke Petrov?”

“I hear he doesn’t come home often.”

That was a relief, at least.

She might not know Mikhail’s house, but as for the Petrov mansion, she could come up with a reason to get in.

“The client probably finds it difficult to open up to her family about all this. I’ll go see her soon and listen to her story.”

Especially when it comes to divorce, there are often many things people find hard to talk about, even with those closest to them.

Moreover, he wasn’t her real brother but an adopted one.

Claude and Chloe weren’t on bad terms, but they weren’t particularly close either, both having cold personalities.

In fact, Natasha was somewhat surprised that Claude got directly involved in Chloe’s matters.

“That sounds good. It’s not a good look for me to get involved.”

It wasn’t exactly a good look for a recently divorced man to assist his sister with her divorce.

‘The Richard siblings are going to end up divorcing together.’

She wasn’t sure if she should feel proud or awkward about being involved in both divorces.

The next day, Natasha headed straight to Madam Olga’s mansion.

Knock, knock.

Entering with a knock, Natasha immediately met Olga, who had been waiting for her.

“Would you like some tea?”

“I would appreciate it if you offered.”

“Wait a moment.”

Olga personally brewed the tea, a rare luxurious tea time.

“So, you said you had something urgent to discuss?”

Natasha pondered how to bring up the topic. Initially, she thought about pretending not to know, but it seemed better to be direct.

“Madam. The truth is, I recently received a new case… I thought I should inform you in advance.”

Olga wasn’t unaware of what Natasha did for a living. As a divorce attorney, it was only natural that she’d receive divorce cases.

Seeing that Natasha came in person to inform her, it seemed like something serious.

Moreover, Olga had only one child who was married.

“…Did Mikhail cause some trouble?”

“Quite a big one.”

“Oh dear…”

Olga’s gaze darkened. Just because he was her ex-husband’s child didn’t mean he wasn’t hers.

The news of her eldest son, who had been her pride, left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Please pretend not to know anything. It’s not a public case yet.”

“…You didn’t come to ask for my permission, did you?”

Olga realized that Natasha’s words were more of a one-sided notification. Natasha had come to “inform” her in advance, not to ask for her permission.

“When you became free, I, too, was freed from the Petrov name.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Olga lowered her gaze to the teacup for a moment and then spoke.

“You’re right. It’s not something you need my permission for. Thank you for coming to tell me first.”

Natasha silently sipped her tea.

“…May I ask just one more thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“What mistake has Mikhail made?”

Natasha hesitated, wondering if she should disclose this. But, since it was something Olga would learn about once the trial began, she cautiously spoke up.

“…It seems there’s another woman.”