The Duke and Duchess' Divorce Circumstances

At the day to try on the family dress that fit Ray’s body.

Ramiel, who was full of love for his wife-to-be, entered Ray’s room as if it were a natural procedure. As soon as he entered, the servants in the room left their seats without saying anything and left them alone.

The dress was a clean, original design with no decorations, unlike the previous madam’s design. The simple, pure white dress contrasted with Ray’s black hair and bright appearance, and although it was a completely opposite combination, it went very well together.

Even in Ramiel’s eyes, who was indifferent to fashion, Ray was able to pull off the family dress very well.

“Ramiel, are you sure it’s okay if I wear this?”

Ray asked with a guilty face as soon as the people left.

“It suits you well.”

Ray, who was silent for a moment and looked at Ramiel’s face, smiled brightly and said.

“Oh. Even if I read a book, it would have been more emotional.”

He snickered at Ray’s whining. To Ramiel, her whining felt like a squirrel chirping at its master for more acorns.

“Yes. I think that kind of nonsense is more genuine. It’s just the two of us anyway, so you’re comfortable, right?”

“Wear it. It’s the dress that was made for you, so you should wear it.”

Ramiel’s mother had wanted to wear this dress while she was alive. She knew her place well, but she probably wanted to console herself that her existence would improve a little if she wore it even once.

His mother had only expressed her wish once. And that was the last time.

She had only said, “I want to try it on.” But the response from Ruivan was so cold and miserable that even young Ramiel could tell it was severe.

“How dare a commoner, a concubine, covet something that only the madam can wear.”

“As expected, she was aiming for the position of the madam, relying on her half-faced appearance.”

Was it the continued beatings that were the cause? His mother, who was already weak, rapidly lost strength after that and passed away in less than a year.

“…Are you okay?”

“I said it’s okay for Ray to wear it.”

The clothes that only great mistresses should wear looked great on Ray, a commoner and temporary mistress.

‘This is nothing special. It’s just clothes.’

To him who had become the Duke of Ruivan, the dress was still nothing special, just a piece of cloth that anyone could wear. Rather than making a fuss about a dress, saying it was a family tradition or something, it might be better to get rid of it forever on this occasion.

There was nothing that could stop him, who was currently the ‘only’ Ruivan. Not only were there no elders in the family, there were no influential relatives, and to top it all off, there was no affection for him to keep the family tradition.

In fact, Ruivan was now a family that could disappear depending on Ramiel’s wishes.

“No. It’s not the dress, it’s Rael. I meant, are YOU okay, Ramiel?”

Instead of answering, Ramiel made a face as if asking what that meant.

“You don’t look so good.”

“Does my expression look bad?”

“Well, your expression is incredibly affectionate, but the aura you give off is sharp.”

She noticed an aura that even he didn’t notice. He had already finished evaluating the person called ‘Ray Alexis’, and she was a person who exceeded his expectations, but it was still surprising.

‘I guess this dress wasn’t meant to be worn after all.’

As soon as Ray thought that she wouldn’t be able to wear it twice, she thought that maybe it would be better to get married this time.

“Ramiel, how about we get married on the day we go to the royal palace?”

At Ray’s suggestion, Ramiel looked at her with interest, as if telling her to continue talking.

“Since many distinguished guests have gathered, ask everyone to witness the marriage contract and congratulate them, and if you consider it as a marriage, you can finish it in one go without doing any more trouble.”

The engagement contract had already been submitted to the royal family, but there was a separate order for the wedding ceremony where the two couples signed the contract, and this was the highlight of the event. It was a procedure to solidify that they were officially a couple and let everyone know about it.

Since the two had already submitted the engagement contract to the royal family, the signing at the wedding was going to be done as a ‘show’.

“Anyway, a wedding is like a decoration to decorate the moment of signing the engagement contract, so we’re going to remove all that and just take the main part. It’s like killing two birds with one stone, saving money and time.”

Ramiel slowly opened his mouth after hearing Ray’s opinion.

“…I guess I should tell the prince that Ruivan will be in charge of the banquet food.”

Ramiel also liked this idea. However, even if it was a title award ceremony and a wedding, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, so the guests had to be entertained. However, no one had to know that the two of them had decided so lightly. Even if the hostess was fake and temporary, it wasn’t just Wilpoff in Ruivan who couldn’t just pass up a large-scale event with the name ‘Ruivan’ on it.

Furthermore, even if the Prince’s Palace had the Crown Prince as a witness to the marriage vows, it was obvious that the Ruivan couple would strongly oppose a simple wedding ceremony with the title award ceremony.

For the sake of the stability of the two families, the Ruivan couple kept all of this information a secret until right before the event.

It was such a secret that even Ruivan’s family didn’t know. If Eina Ruivan, who was soft-spoken and full of honor, found out, no matter how secret it was, the entire capital would know in at least three hours. So Ray had no choice but to keep quiet, even to his parents.

If they found out later, the Leanello couple would be upset, but they decided to put Ramiel forward. They were sure that if a beauty with a long-standing title smiled at them, Eina wouldn’t be angry.

Instead, they agreed to have a separate reception at the Leanello family so that Eina could brag to everyone.

The prince would naturally allow it since he could reduce the cost of the banquet and since he would be hosting the wedding of Duke Ruivan, he would have a solid noble line, so he would have no regrets.

Therefore, the wedding that was to be held at the banquet today was a secret event known only to the Ruivan couple and the prince couple who approved it.

* * *

The prince awarded Ramiel a medal in recognition of his contribution to the punitive expedition and a medal indicating the title of duke.

The award ceremony ended with the prince approving the title on behalf of the emperor, and now the highlight, the oath ceremony disguised as a wedding, remained. The prince looked at Ray, who was standing in the most visible spot and clapping.

Ray walked forward, feeling like he was taking his first step toward a brilliant solo life.

People suddenly looked puzzled at Ray’s appearance going to the public stage where the prince and his wife and Ramiel were.

“Why is that guy going up there?”

“Even if he’s my husband, isn’t that usually the only place that only people with titles go up there?”

“I guess he doesn’t know manners because he’s a rich kid.”

“They must have taught him in Ruivan.”

“I guess he forgot. How could he have memorized just one or two things?”

While everyone was whispering, the prince said something unbelievable.

“We’re going to start the wedding vow ceremony for the Ruivan couple.”

Someone couldn’t control their surprise and let out a voice that failed to control its volume.

“…What, what are you doing? Huh.”

The room was quiet for a moment, enough to hear the man quickly shutting his mouth and taking a deep breath.

It was only when Ramiel turned around to greet Ray that the applause began.

The people gathered here today were shocked twice.

Once with Marin’s web, and once with the current wedding vow ceremony.

Those who suspected that the playful prince was playing a prank were in an uproar when they saw the table with the engagement letter. Everyone was shocked by the development of the wedding ceremony held right after receiving the title.

Since it was a title award ceremony, many nobles did not attend, and everyone came with a light heart, so suddenly a wedding vow ceremony was held. The vow ceremony was no different from the wedding itself, so the fact that it was held together with the title award ceremony was extremely shocking.

It was supposed to be the most extravagant wedding, but no matter how much the crown prince was present as a witness to the vows at the crown prince’s palace, a family of Ruivan’s level would ruin the marriage like this.

A wedding was essentially a grand event where two people showed everyone they were signing a marriage contract and announced that they were definitely a couple.

The main purpose was to inform everyone who invited them of the union between the two families, and it was common to enjoy a splendid banquet because it was considered a virtue to treat guests in a grand manner. Even commoners, not just nobles, thought of weddings as village feasts.

It was common to hold such a grand ceremony in front of so many people, but the Ruivan couple smiled brightly as if they didn’t care while roughly passing over the important part of the vow ceremony.

“Why don’t we just show it off now and have a real wedding later?”

“That could be possible. They could have gotten the crown prince involved to put an end to rumors that it was a fake marriage.”

“Even so, why would they do such useless things? They could just have a wedding.”

Countless speculations and stories ran wild, but the people involved were very satisfied with the idea that the wedding was over with this.

Even though it was a vow ceremony, there was nothing special about it. The ceremony ended with writing each person’s name in cursive on two pieces of paper with the marriage vows, placing them side by side, and stamping a seal with the imperial seal in the middle.

The couple kept one piece and submitted the other to the imperial family. In the event that the authenticity of the engagement document was questioned later, it was confirmed that the seals submitted to the imperial family were aligned in the same location.

“The two hereby declare that they have become husband and wife.”

When the prince declared, applause, perhaps reluctant, erupted in the hall.

‘Ah, I feel relieved.’

To Ray, the applause sounded like the sound of rain that helped ease the midsummer heat. For the next year, he could live off Ruivan’s assets and enjoy himself, and then leave the capital.

‘If I hadn’t met Yuju. If I hadn’t gone to Korea.’

She must have thought marriage was a given and gotten swept up in it, married Weber, who she found in her family, and lived her whole life being ignored and stealing Leanello’s fortune.

‘Come to think of it…’

She thought of Weber, who had been persistently casting his gaze in her direction at the banquet hall.

He seemed more surprised than any of the other nobles, and quickly changed his expression and glanced inwardly. It seemed as if he was trying to talk to her, so Ray didn’t even glance in his direction.

“Now, the two of you should kiss in front of everyone to announce that you are a married couple!”

Ray’s thoughts were broken by the prince’s loud and spirited voice.

 

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