Chapter 37: What Lies Ahead for Harid and the Others
After completing his wedding with Livia, Harid returned.
It would be hard to say that the ceremony ended smoothly.
The duke and duchess had spread an unmistakably ominous atmosphere throughout the event.
They had suddenly appeared despite having nothing to do with the wedding, and even went so far as to cast a shadow over it.
That was how Harid felt.
And then there was the woman who had been pretending to be Electra.
Her real name was Maylin Albright.
She was a married woman, and moreover, the wife of a merchant guild master.
At the reception, she had brazenly revealed that she was an impostor, sending Livia into a rage and plunging the situation into chaos.
Despite being a couple who were supposed to be deeply in love, they ended the reception under the worst possible atmosphere.
“…Livia.
Why are you so obsessed with Electra?”
The carriage ride home was shared with Livia.
The servants who had traveled with them to the royal capital were riding in a different carriage.
“Obsessed?”
Livia tilted her head.
“You are obsessed.”
“You divorced her already, and yet you keep bringing her up.”
“No matter how many times I say not to worry about it, you keep talking about Electra.”
“What is it?”
“You have never even met her, have you?”
“…Even so!”
“Using a fake to deceive me is unforgivable!”
“Harid, aren’t you hiding the real Lady Electra somewhere!?”
“Hiding her?”
“From what?”
“No one is after Electra.”
“…You still have feelings for her, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It has already been a year since I divorced Electra.”
“Before that, I only spent a single day with her after the wedding.”
“It was a marriage in name only.”
“We were not even husband and wife in truth.”
“So—”
So there was no lingering attachment.
That was what he meant to say.
But something caught in his throat, and Harid could not continue.
He hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
“Livia.”
“We are officially husband and wife now.”
“We are married.”
“Let us celebrate that.”
“So many people congratulated us.”
“Our marriage was acknowledged.”
“We were called hero and saint because we worked hard, weren’t we?”
“…Harid.”
Until they returned to the Carlson domain, Harid continued trying to placate Livia.
Because they had not held the ceremony in their own territory, the journey took time, and the two still had not shared their first night.
If they had simply returned straight home without any detours, it would have been a journey of about four days by carriage.
Along the way, they stayed overnight in other territories.
At last, they returned to the Carlson domain.
If there was any regret, it was that they should have held the ceremony in their own land instead of forcing one in the royal capital.
Come to think of it, even his marriage to Electra had been a marriage in name only, and they had never shared their first night.
All told, three years had passed.
Harid had always been interrupted before he could truly unite with his “wife.”
But now.
At last, things would settle.
That was what he thought.
…However.
“I am home.”
The head butler Said and the others should have been following in a separate carriage, yet Harid and Livia arrived at the estate first.
He expected the servants to rush out and welcome them as they had done before, treating them like high nobility.
“…Why is no one coming to greet us?”
“You’re right.
What is going on?”
Just like a year ago, the servants should have poured out to welcome them home from the battlefield.
Feeling something was amiss, the two entered the mansion.
“…What?”
“What is it, Harid?”
“No, it feels like… there’s no one here.”
The mansion felt strangely deserted.
As if human presence had faded away.
“…Hey, someone!”
“Why isn’t anyone coming out to greet us!?”
Harid raised his voice.
Livia, looking bored, fiddled with her fingernails.
After a while, a male servant emerged from deeper inside the mansion.
“Ah, welcome back, Master.”
“And welcome, Madam.”
“What is the meaning of this!?”
“You do not even greet your master properly—!”
“Ah…”
The servant was a relatively young man.
He let out a troubled sound.
“Master, please allow me to explain the situation first.”
“Um, have the head butler and head maid returned yet?”
“An explanation?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Said and the others have not returned yet.”
“I see.”
“Um, Madam, would you like to rest first?”
“You must be tired after such a long journey.”
“…Yes.”
“I will return to my room and rest.”
“Call a maid for me shortly.”
“Understood.”
Harid saw Livia off, then glared at the servant, demanding an explanation.
“Master, the resignation letters of those who are no longer here…”
“They are on the desk in the study.”
“…What?”
Harid could not immediately grasp the meaning of those words.
“More than half of the servants who lived in this mansion have already resigned and left.”
“W-What…?”
“What are you saying…?”
Why would such a thing happen.
Just when they had gotten married.
Why now.
“Please see for yourself.”
“And also… um… Lady Electra has also left.”
“She is no longer here.”
“That…”
“I know that.”
“I see.”
Maylin, the fake Electra, had already parted ways with them in the royal capital.
He understood that she would leave the Carlson estate.
Now that Livia knew she was not Electra, there was no reason for her to remain.
“But why the servants?”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Well… it seems that Lady Electra?”
“She was making arrangements.”
“I heard from those leaving that they were hired by her merchant company.”
“The resignation letters should state the same.”
“…!”
Harid hurried to the study and looked at the desk.
Just as the servant had said, multiple resignation letters were stacked there.
The sight reminded him of a year ago.
The day he found a divorce document different from the one he had prepared, left on the desk.
The day he felt humiliated, as if Electra had discarded him.
“…So they really quit without permission!?”
Over the past year, there had been no major complaints about the servants’ work.
If anything, everything had become more refined than before he went to the battlefield.
Livia’s selfish demands had been deflected skillfully by Lady Albright.
Everything had run smoothly, without issue.
“They were hired by the Albright Trading Company!?”
“That woman dares to steal my servants!”
The servants had been poached by the Albright Trading Company.
Such humiliation was unforgivable.
He thought of lodging a protest.
Of demanding his servants back.
At that moment, the head butler and head maid returned, having arrived later.
“Master, you have already returned.”
“We have just been informed of the situation as well.”
“I will protest!”
“At that woman’s trading company!”
“Said, you brought her here, didn’t you!?”
“Did you know about this!?”
“…No.”
“That is not the case.”
“However… yes.”
“Master, there are things we can explain.”
“But before that, please look at this.”
“What is it!?”
The head butler handed him a letter.
“A letter?”
“From whom?”
“…The seal appears to belong to the Pharmason ducal house.”
“The ducal house again…!”
“What do they want now!?”
Harid snatched the letter, confirmed the familiar crest, and opened it.
“….”
As the head butler and head maid watched, Harid read the letter.
His face gradually turned pale.
“…Livia…?”
“Master?”
Harid leaned heavily on the desk, as if his strength had left him.
“What does it say?”
“….”
He remained silent, at a loss for words.
Unable to bear it, the head butler continued.
“May I read it, if you allow?”
“…Yes.”
The head butler took the letter and read it.
The sender was the Duchess of Pharmason.
The letter detailed who Livia truly was.
A child born to a common woman named Fatima.
Her father was none other than the Duke of Pharmason.
However, she had no right to inherit the ducal title.
Nor would she ever be taken into the ducal house.
The duke was a husband who had married into the family, originally from a marquis house.
If Livia wished to contest succession within that marquis house, she was free to try.
No support would be given.
If she dared to oppose the Pharmason house, there would be no mercy.
Until now, the duke had secretly supported Livia.
The wedding expenses had originally been intended to be covered by the duke.
However, that support would not be provided.
Meaning.
All future payments must be covered by the Carlson viscountcy.
Harid now bore debt.
And most importantly.
“…It says that divorce from Lady Livia will never be permitted.”
“Well, they just married, so that alone is not—”
“She is being targeted by the ducal house!”
“They hate her!”
The duchess’s message was clear.
“Suffer together with her.”
She intended to force Livia, the daughter of the duke’s mistress, into a long and painful life.
To show the disgrace and downfall of the “mistress’s child.”
And in doing so, make the unfaithful duke suffer for a long time.
Casting Livia away as a curse was forbidden.
If they did so, the Carlson house would become an enemy of the ducal house.
Therefore.
Accept the given circumstances and live with Livia.
“Debt… Why… why did they propose that wedding…?”
The wedding of Hero Harid and Saint Livia.
It should be held grandly in the royal capital.
That was what a merchant had suggested.
Now, in hindsight, all those convenient words felt suspect.
“How much… how much are we being charged…?”
Harid was driven to assess the situation immediately.
There was no room to think about a wedding night.
Livia made no advances either.
They did not come together as husband and wife.
Instead, complaints increased due to the lack of servants.
Which was only natural.
Yet Livia seemed more selfish than ever.
The reason was clear.
The fake Electra was gone.
The woman who had deflected her whims and indulged her fantasies.
With that breakwater gone, Livia’s unmet desires surfaced openly.
“…Is this… repayable?”
He braced himself, expecting an impossible sum.
“…It is not impossible to repay.”
“The payment schedule and amounts…”
“It will not lead to bankruptcy.”
“However.”
“What?”
“…They will be forced into a frugal life for the next ten years.”
“It seems Lady Albright even grasped our financial state.”
“Ha… hahahaha…”
They were completely trapped.
The Carlson house had been stripped bare.
Everything was known.
Everything decided.
How they would suffer.
How they would live.
Even their distant future had been planned by the duchess.
They would not collapse immediately.
They would not be freed by an immediate divorce.
Livia would be bound to the Carlson house.
They would live in poverty together.
Fail to do so, and the Carlson house would be finished.
No matter how much they were called hero and saint.
In truth, they were merely viscounts.
They could not oppose a ducal house.
That had already been proven.
At least ten years.
Harid and Livia were to endure such a life.
Even the number of servants taken and those left behind seemed calculated to match their future “budget.”
“How… how could this happen…”
Because he sought Livia.
Because he was drawn to her and wished to be with her.
At the end of the duchess’s threatening letter, mockery was written.
“If it is true love.”
“If you truly love her.”
“Then you can overcome any trial, can’t you?”
“…Ah…”
That was something Harid himself had once thought.
When was it.
A trial.
A trial of love.
True love.
Yes.
That was when.
“…Electra.”
When he returned to his domain with Livia.
When he prepared a divorce document in his chest.
Calling it a trial of love.
Believing Electra would surely cling to him in tears.
Yet still choosing Livia.
Believing they could overcome this painful trial together.
That was the choice he made.
And this was the result.
“Why… did it come to this…”
Harid muttered, clutching his head.
Where had he chosen wrong.
What choice would have led to happiness.
He did not want to think about it anymore.
Harid lost the strength even to stand, sinking into the chair in the study.