The Reason For Divorcing The Villain

May 23, 532, Imperial Calendar. The central hall of the Grand Duke’s mansion.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

The countess’s face was speckled with finely ground pearl powder as she lifted her chin and smiled.

 

“If you only have one set of clothes, I will give you my spare clothes. I’m not lending it to you, I’ll just give it to you. Well, I don’t know if you are a lady or not, but I won’t be able to wear the clothes that touched your body again.”

 

The Countess easily insulted and laughed at the woman in front of her. Many people who were presumptuous even to raise their heads and look up came crawling into the Grand Duchess’s mansion, daring to take the place of the Grand Duchess.

 

Grand Duchess selection party. Although it was not directly written on the invitation, every family in the White Empire would have known the meaning of this party. Therefore, the Countess decided to willingly pose as a villain for the other ladies. This was because she had always played the role of a pioneer. Among the many clumsy country bumpkins whose faces she had never seen in central society, she singled out one who stood out to her in an unpleasant way. Maybe it’s just her mood… She was a woman with a strange air, different from other floating people. She was a woman like an egret among countless crows, whose presence was not hidden even though she did not make eye contact with anyone, like an awl in her pocket. But the Countess was confident that she could crush the woman with her glass of wine and her three-inch tongue. 

 

She was a woman the central social circle has never seen before. Of course she is not the daughter of a powerful family. Although her bright red hair was a bit of a hit, she knew that if there was a descendant of ‘that’ family, the entire empire wouldn’t be this quiet… 

 

“If you need money for clothes, I’ll pay for them. I just need one earring.”

 

As soon as the countess finished speaking, blatantly belittling her woman, giggling noises erupted from all over her. However, the woman did not give any particular answer. She just looked at the black and red wine that had soaked her chest and stomach, and at the countess who had spilled the wine on purpose, and then slowly looked around. The people in this huge, ornate hall that her gaze landed on were one of three. They giggle as they watch her plight. Those who ignore her situation. Lastly, those who openly show their ridicule and contempt towards her and join in her mischief.

 

The Countess, who was laughing with a low expression of satisfaction, opened her mouth again and paused. 

 

‘This woman, why isn’t there any reaction?’

 

The woman did not try to suppress her cries because of her shame, nor did she explode with anger at her humiliation. She just stared at her with her glassy blue eyes. And at first glance, it really seemed like she was smiling.

 

The Countess’s chin twitched slightly involuntarily. Because the woman’s bright blue eyes, which seemed to contain nothing in her, seemed to cut through her like sharp blades without her well-honed nature.

 

“How can you look at me like that? Despite…!”

 

The count’s daughter’s upset voice was completely cut off by the very calm and cool voice of the Grand Duchy’s employee.

 

“His Highness the Grand Duke of Caliente is eating it.”

 

The hall became silent for a moment, as if it were a vacuum where all the air had escaped. The door on which everyone’s eyes were focused slowly opened without a sound, and behind it, the Grand Duke whom everyone in the hall had been waiting for so long appeared.

 

He’s like… Like a deep sunken night.

 

In absolute silence, she took a step toward the center of the hall. And then she took another slow step. Just by walking, he took everyone’s breath away, pressed down on their shoulders, and made them bend down their stiff necks, but suddenly he stopped. The attention of those who were watching him without even being able to breathe caught his gaze.

 

There she was, at the end of his gaze. A woman with hair as red as a blazing fire. She was the woman covered in wine and being laughed at by everyone.

 

The Grand Duke’s low voice, as if resonating from a bottomless cavity, tore through the extremely heavy silence of the hall.

 

“Asili.”

 

The next moment, the eyes of those in the hall turned towards her at once.

 

She’s like… Like a flame that burns all unclean things.

 

The woman, who was as expressionless as a well-made doll, smiled brightly on her smooth lips when she saw him. Her eyes were wide open, and they could not take their eyes off her, like moths drawn to her fire. As she took a step towards the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke also took a step towards her.

 

Two people so close that their breath could touch each other. The woman tapped the Grand Duke’s chest with the tip of her finger, then lazily swept up the wine that had soaked her chest. The Grand Duke’s eyebrows furrowed, and at the same time, his lips were as red as her hair. It contains the name of the Grand Duke, which no one has ever mentioned in his mouth.

 

“Ludwig.”

 

Her brief call caused an uproar in the hall. It would be correct to call it a silent clamor. All the ladies, regardless of status, who had gathered from all over the empire to become the Grand Duchess next to Ludwig were astonished. Was she saying the name of the Grand Duke of Caliente?

 

‘Ludwi…’

 

‘His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I am the Grand Duke of Caliente.’

 

Even the crown prince wouldn’t be able to call the Grand Guke’s name carelessly.

 

Ludwig looked only at Asili, not looking at anyone else, as if she was the only one in the large hall.

 

“Something happened.”

 

“It was just a minor accident. No, is it a vicious harassment?”

 

Asili smiled at the countess and her daughter, who poured her wine on her.

 

“If it was an accident, it would mean that the young lady was overly nervous, and if it was bullying, it would be absolutely base. Either way, you’re too stupid to be sitting in an important position.”

 

Contrary to her smile like a blooming rose, the words were cold enough to chill her to the bone, but unlike before, the Countess could not keep her mouth shut and only her face turned red with contempt. Soon, Asili, who very naturally leaned her body slightly on Ludwig’s arm, whispered with a bright smile and barely moving her mouth.

 

“I expected something like this to happen.”

 

“I didn’t know it would fit this well?”

 

“Did you hear what that woman said? It was so similar to what I said to you right before this party that it gave me goosebumps. Rather than feeling bad while listening to it, I actually felt slightly good because it went as expected.”

 

Ludwig’s pale azure eyes followed Asili’s gaze and sank like the deep sea. Her ‘expectation’, as Asili said, was for someone to one-sidedly insult and criticize her. The Countess, who considered herself the pioneer of everything, got angry when Ludwig caught his gaze for a brief moment, and her face turned blue. It was so brief and fleeting that even the Countess who was with her did not realize what she was doing.

 

Ludwig looked at Asili and pulled her waist a little closer.

 

“Where are you injured?”

 

“It can’t be. No matter how soft my skin is, it doesn’t get torn or bruised just by being hit with wine.”

 

It seemed to anyone that she was too attached to him, as he pulled her close to her without any gaps, but Asili didn’t care at all. To be precise, she didn’t even think that she was that close to him or that the distance between her and him was that much. Because the two always looked at each other from that distance. Even when they met in a dream. And even now that the dream had become reality.

 

Asili looked down at her red-black dress and then opened her mouth.

 

“Can you help me?”

 

As soon as she finished speaking, Ludwig untied the ribbon on Asili’s back. She wondered what could be more surprising than when Asili called Ludwig, the Grand Duke, by his first name. He took off the woman’s clothes right before her eyes in this brightly lit central hall in front of so many people… The eyes of those who were choking and unable to take a breath were almost torn apart.

 

-Sureuk.

 

Who would have guessed that she would hold her breath and listen so intently to the sound of fabric rubbing together? Soon the wine-stained dress was taken off by the Grand Duke’s hands. No, it did peel off, but only the exact area where the dark red stain disappeared. And at the sight of Asili’s revealing dress, people’s jaws dropped and their mouths fell open without even realizing it. Because her dress was a perfect match for Ludwig’s uniform.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Whenever.”

 

Ludwig’s eyes widened as he lifted her hand and lightly kissed the back of her hand. She had seen the shocking scene so many times that she lost any sense of surprise at the fact that the Grand Duke would laugh at someone in front of so many people. The hall fell into a crucible of chaos and confusion and fell into a grave-like silence.

 

No one spoke. No, she couldn’t take her lips off. Because she needed time to distinguish whether what was happening in front of her eyes was reality or a very bad dream. She was an unidentified woman who fell from nowhere. Whether that woman was the daughter of an unknown family from some corner of the country or not, her identity no longer mattered to her. For them, the fact that Asili was by Ludwig’s side was a thousand times more important. But let that thought last for a moment.

 

“The introduction was later than that.”

 

Ludwig, who had everyone’s attention with just one word, took a step back from Asili.

 

Asili pulled her chin, straightened her back, and nodded lightly, and then her true identity flowed out of Ludwig’s mouth. And people’s expectations that there would be nothing more surprising or important than the fact that the seat next to Ludwig was filled were, without fail, shattered. Because a descendant of ‘that’ family appeared.

 

“This is the daughter of Duke Bolsheik, Asili Bolsheik.”

 

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Translator Note:

New novel!! And… to celebrate you will have double release 😉