Episode 5
“Are you sure you’re fine? Should I tell the Madame about your situation?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I shook my head and walked back to the mirror.
“Please help me put on my makeup, Rona. I need my face to look presentable.”
I spoke with a strong voice, like a fighter on his way to war.
“Yes, I’ll bring you some warm water to wash with.”
As soon as Rona left the room, I walked to the vanity barefoot.
I saw the same face in the mirror as always.
I gave the person in the mirror a cold look.
Even though they seemed confused, beautiful green eyes glanced back at me.
Even Madam Louise said that my eyes were the best thing about me.
My smooth, golden-brown hair with golden highlights fell to my waist in a waterfall.
I felt good because my face looked fine, and my body had the right amount of curves.
I experienced quite a dream, but even so, my face still looks fine, not half bad.
No, it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was pretty good.
I agreed by nodding my head.
Seeing Amoide’s face every day had definitely made me think more highly of beauty, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.
I remember hearing whispers with the maids.
<Everyone else’s faces look like squids next to the Duke’s.>
At the time, the maid had called out to the other maids.
After getting some time off, she went on a date with her boyfriend, but when she saw him again after a long time, his face looked ugly.
She was sad because she could no longer see well because of how good-looking the Duke was.
And I was the same.
Because I was used to my husband’s surface beauty, I can’t even react properly to other types of beauties.
One thing I really liked to do was look at Amoide’s face.
Even for a moment, I had the embarrassing idea of having a child who would look like and as wealthy as him.
Because he kept telling me to ‘get lost,’ I had to stop even thinking about it at some point.
But I didn’t dislike Amoide.
I understood his point of view very well.
Who in the world would want a woman who, his very own mother pushed with him to have a child out of the blue?
So unless I go crazy one day, the idea of me killing Amoide must have been a huge misunderstanding.
Something let me fall down the abyss without me even knowing.
I had to make things right. At least now that I know this, things could be different in the future.
Yes. That’s what it is.
And for me to know all of this, I had to have full control over everything going on in this house.
Rona was using a comb and a few hair accessories to finish fixing my hair, which was a mess from tossing and turning.
I looked a lot better after I changed into a new dress.
When I put on some light makeup, my skin looked much more alive. Before I got up, I took a good look at myself in the mirror.
Then I spoke in a serious tone.
“Rona, I’ll take care of everything that has to do with my husband from now on.”
“Yes?”
Rona tilted her head as if she thought she had heard wrong.
“I’ll take care of Amoide’s health myself. I’ll say that to the Madame.”
Rona’s eyes got bigger when she realized what I was up to.
“The Madame might not agree though?”
Rona asked this question with worry, but I gave a firm nod.
Just see what happens. I will make it through this and leave this place in one piece.
Taking care of this important life I have.
The ideas I had been thinking about for the past two weeks needed to be put into action.
“Now let’s move on.”
I got up from my seat and opened the door with as much courage as a knight in armor.
—
“I heard you fainted.”
Camilla asked, but there was no worry in her voice.
“Yes.”
I just gave a plain answer.
Camilla looked like she didn’t like my answer because she frowned and clicked her tongue.
“How weak…”
I pretended to not hear her and said,
“I heard you called for me.”
“I did.”
“For what…?”
“You’re asking me why? I wanted to take a look for myself, the person who faints easily, I mean, how could you bear the heir of the family if you have a weak constitution?”
She doesn’t even worry about me.
Camilla’s words didn’t hide what she meant… It was very clear.
“My son is already weak. What will happen to the heir if you also start to get weak?”
I quickly cut her off before she could start to nag.
“It’s just a little dizziness. I am fine.”
“You felt dizzy?”
Camilla asked again, straightening up from the sofa, where she had been sitting in a relaxed way.
“Dizzy? In what way? Do you feel something moving on your stomach?”
Camilla’s eyes were shining more than ever as she spoke.
“Ah.”
When I saw her eyes sparkle for no reason, I knew right away what Camilla was thinking.
“Can you feel something on your stomach?”
At that time, she had the most useless hope in the world.
“None. Mother.”
“No?”
Without a topic, we were able to understand each other perfectly.
Camilla’s face was filled with short-lived hope, but it was gone in an instant.
I put my shoulders back and tried to show Camilla that I looked fit.
A good body and mind go together.
Up until now, that was the strength that kept me going.
Sadness would have been a hundred times worse if I had been poor and complaining.
What’s worse than being sick and not being able to go to the hospital or buy medicine?
In this way, I was glad that my parents made sure I had a healthy body.
“But why did you faint?”
With a sharp look, Camilla asked. But I couldn’t answer that question quickly.
‘All of a sudden, memories from my past life came back to me.’
So, I couldn’t say that I had been mentally and physically drained for the past two weeks.
As I was thinking about what to say, I heard Camilla’s voice.
“If you don’t take good care of your body and can’t have a child, it would be a huge loss for me.”
“…”
I was speechless after what she said.
“The time I spent on you and the work I did to get you to be pregnant will have been for nothing.”
When Camilla said this, she looked so cold that it scared me.
“It’s clear that you’re to blame. I will ask for the right amount of money for that. You also remember…”
“It says so in the agreement.”
I took a deep breath and answered first.
Sigh, now I can’t even get sick.
Duchess Camilla Ifrit wrote the contract with no loose ends, at least on her side.
‘Should I just get a divorce?’
When I first heard about all of this, my first thought was to break the contract and leave this house as soon as possible.
If I could stop being the Duchess and stay away from her, I could get out of this sad and dangerous situation, right?
But the truth in front of me made me stop.
I read the contract hidden deep in the safe in the dressing room over and over again, and my dreams for a divorce broke.
If ‘Party B’ leaves before ‘Party A’’s suggested contract time is over, or if the contract can’t be kept going for some other reason, ‘Party B’ must pay ‘Party A’ a penalty equal to the contract amount.
Oh my God, did I really agree to this?
This deal is full of terms that are landmines to me.
A charge. And that, too, for the same amount as the deal.
In that case… ‘Party A’ will pay ‘Party B’ 500,000 ducats if Party B meets the conditions set by Party A’. 500,000 ducats. In the world I used to live in, it was about $5 billion.I don’t have that kind of money, of course. I couldn’t believe how much it was.
I had no chance of getting it, and on top of that, I was in a situation that could have killed me!
She had a lot of money, but she still wanted to be paid back. She really was a cruel person.
Every sentence was meant to make me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
I never thought in my life that being sick would be seen as a ‘fault.’
Where else would you find a deal like this? But I was the one who agreed to those terms and signed the contract.
Aren’t I just surrendering my body to Camilla at this point?
I can even take this contract to a legal facility and I’m sure they’ll find tons of disadvantageous clauses for me.
When I thought about living in the ducal house with this piece of paper tied around my neck, I felt very sorry for myself.
In fact, it was a deal where both sides knew what they had to do. Camilla didn’t make it happen on her own, either.
Because there were a lot of good things I could get out of having a child.
The deal said that my siblings’’ living costs and school fees would be paid for while I was the duchess.
If I asked for a divorce, it was clear that my siblings would no longer be taken care of.
In and of itself, that would be a relief.
I would have to pay back all the money that had been given to me so far, so the situation was worse than before I signed the deal.
So I gave up quickly and decided to do something else.
I tried hard to look for a way out of the deal.
There is always a hole in a deal, no matter how good it seems.
No, one must be there. If there isn’t one, one must be made.
Then, somewhere in the distance, there was a faint flash of light.
It was written on the last page of the contract, where there were special rules.
If there is no longer any reason to keep the contract going, ‘Party A’ can end the contract.
I read that part several times.
