How to Divorce the Male Lead - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The next day, Juliana was sick in bed with a cold. She felt guilty and regretted crying yesterday.

After all, the body in which she was reincarnated was very weak. Being reminded of her weak stamina, she regretted attending the late-night ball and her scuffle with that idiot. Furthermore, she even cried.

Juliana’s limbs felt as heavy as lead, and she couldn’t bear it.

“Uhhhhh…. this damn stamina.”

Oh, my gosh.

What’s the point of flame magic and being a pretty good magician if her physical strength, well known throughout the empire, couldn’t keep up with even half of her mana.

‘Is God fair about this?’

Juliana frowned and tried to stand up.

Then, the maids who were standing around the bed rushed quickly to support Juliana.

“The Duchess!”

“Are you all right?”

“Shall I bring medicine?!”

‘Oh, it hurts.’

Juliana raised her head and said.

“You there, only you stay here, everyone else, get out.”

“What?! Me, me?!”

The youngest maid quivered in contemplation. She had written ‘I’m a rookie maid’ all over her forehead.

Among the maids who were looking at each other, the oldest maid, the most courageous, opened her mouth.

“Well, Duchess. She’s just a clumsy kid doing simple chores. I’ll serve you.”

‘This person must be the head maid.’

She was a middle-aged woman with a wrinkled face and a rather strong mouth.

Normally, she would have said, “Fine.” Juliana Auburn. In other words, Lee Sian was born and raised in the Confucian country in the past, so it wouldn’t be unusual.

But she spoke resolutely, ignoring the instinctive submission to the elderly person’s words.

“I don’t think I’m getting any better since you’re all around me. She just needs to help change my wet clothes and know how to pour water into the tub, so go out.”

“But, Duchess….”

“What are you still doing here?”

Juliana opened her eyes.

When she raised her trembling eyes, she looked wickedly, and it was scary to those born and raised in the social class system.

When the sick woman took a deep breath and pointed at their chests, the head maid and the other maids felt threatened and had no choice but to retreat, leaving only the youngest maid.

“…Jen, Mrs. Jen!” [the head maid]

The other senior maids disappeared through the crack in the door, feeling sorry for a poor child left in the room.

The youngest maid trembled helplessly. Pretending not to know this, Juliana said triumphantly.

“What’s your name?”

“Ah, my name is Anna.”

“Okay. Anna. I need you to be my ears and mouth for a while.”

“……what?”

“Hmm. This isn’t it. Should I tell you to be my limbs?”

The powerful people in dramas always did this. Did he say he was going to bribe people with this? Juliana pondered over.

The maid, Anna, shook her mouth as if she had sensed something was entrapped.

“Well, I…. the Duchess.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“Huh? Ah. Yeah. You have to bribe them.”

“……what?”

Juliana searched through the jewel box. Then she found a diamond necklace and suddenly gave it to Anna.

“Take this.”

“The Duchess! I can’t take this. I’m getting paid-. Besides, other maids also said, ‘You should never covet things like this.’”

“Oh. Can’t I give it myself?”

“Well, that’s……”

Anna, overwhelmed with worries, closed her eyes. When she found such a gap, Juliana suddenly put a necklace in her apron pocket.

“The Duchess!”

“Oh, see, it’s not a big deal.”

Juliana said, ‘Put it in-. Put it in-.’ and smirked. Anna jumped from her seat and was at a loss.

“I’ll be in trouble if you do this!”

“Anna.”

“Yes?”

Anna, who was trying to take the necklace out of her pocket, suddenly stopped. Juliana, rubbing her pale cheeks, looked at the maid with pitiful eyes.

“The Duchess…..?”

She couldn’t help but succumb to the eyes of the mistress. Although word of mouth spoke of the Duchess’s weak physical strength, she had a splendid appearance, along with her unique profile as a flame magician.

And the Duchess in front of Anna’s eyes was a beautiful woman who could easily surpass any rumors. Beauty for any gender was a term referring to the Duchess in front of her eyes.

Anna blushed her cheeks in front of the rumors protagonist.

And Juliana, who had spent her entire life trying to make use of her looks, smiled inwardly.

Then she coughed on purpose.

“Cough, cough!”

It was just a forced cough, but Anna was startled, she brought some water, patted her back, and said that she would open the window because the air was too stagnant.

Juliana managed to calm her down.

“Anna.”

“Yes!”

She said mournfully, looking at Anna’s glittering eyes, bending her knees with a frank heart in front of Juliana.

“If the Duke tries to enter my room, can you make excuses so that he can’t come in?”

In other words, ignore the employer who pays your salary.

Anna said in astonishment.

“Well, that’s…..”

“Cough, cough!”

“The Duchess! I have to bring a doctor to you…..”

“…..it’s okay. It’s okay. I was always sick when I was young. I don’t want to see a doctor.”

“But, but.”

Anna burst into tears.

Juliana tapped her cheeks with her slender fingers. And laughed weakly.

“Cute. Are you worried about me?”

“I’m, I’m the duchess’s maid. So, of course.”

Anna blushed madly. Then they held their hands together. And Juliana said woefully.

“Yes. All the employees here belong to the duke’s house. I don’t have any limbs.”

“That’s not true! The Duchess is the Duke’s wife, so she belongs to the house-.”

“What are you talking about? Evan is the only one who inherited the duchy of Hilcheon. All I inherit is my father’s posthumous title, castle, and dragon ruins. Do you know how stinky and dreamy the Dragon site is? Think about it. It’s like making money out of someone else’s grave.”

The number of aristocrats who would throw off their titles if they could take over these ‘insignificant’ dragon ruins was enormous.

Anna tilted her head.

Isn’t that a really big deal? After five generations of being rejected as a battalion leader, the Marquises of Auburn formed a force based on the powers of the empire and the money.

Juliana Auburn was the only daughter of the Marquis, and when the Marquis dies, she will inherit the title of the Marchioness and everything else. Anna didn’t understand much.

Just before Anna had spoken her reasonable doubts, Juliana said with her eyes wide open.

“So to sum up, I’m in a lonely situation!”

“The Duchess is lonely?”

“That’s right. My one and only father is in that far-off manor-.”

“It’s 30 minutes by carriage.”

Juliana ignored Anna’s words and said bitterly.

“The Duke I always encounter is so cold-hearted-.”

“The Duke always visits the Duchess. The Duchess-.”

“Oh, my God! I’m talking! Anna, you’re my limbs and you don’t have the habit of listening.”

“Me, me?!”

Anna, surprised to hear, ‘You’re already my limbs!’ opened her eyes wide.

Juliana regained her senses while trying to hold back her past personality and spoke softly again.

“Uh, um, I’m just saying, ‘How nice would it be if Anna would be my limbs?’ Because I have nothing.”

She had too much to say that she had nothing.

However, Anna, who will turn 18 this year, was too young to see through her acting skills, so at first, she felt sorry for her.

Juliana, who was quite sniffling, lifted her head over her handkerchief.

“Do you know I’m refusing the Duke’s visit?”

“Yes, he came to see the Duchess yesterday.”

“I’m still afraid of the Duke. Actually, we only lived together for a year. The following year, he went straight to the barbarian subjugation. I find him a little difficult.”

However, it was often said that Juliana Auburn treated the Duke too harshly.

The maids and other servants who worked for the Duchess obviously had to listen to everything she said but it went in one ear and out the other. However, Anna was different.

She really was a rookie. The child’s mouth was distorted as she couldn’t help but accept her bid.

Juliana said to Anna, whose embarrassment was evident.

“It’s not difficult. I’d appreciate it if you could just make one excuse or another and properly tell him that I’m refusing his visits.”

“Oh, can’t the Duchess refuse herself?”

“I’m afraid of him. If I refuse to see him every time, he’ll get even angrier and treat me coldly. Then I have nowhere to go.”

“Can’t the Duchess use her father’s posthumous title?”

“…..well, you really don’t lose a single thing…..”

“What?”

Anna tilted her head again.

Juliana came to her senses and buried her face in her handkerchief. Then she waved a handkerchief with no tears in it and said it pleadingly.

“I’m short of imagination, you know. I want you to give me the imagination to make a good excuse. Why aren’t the romance novels famous among maids?”

Juliana pulled out a copy of the romance novel, which had been tucked under her pillow.

All items purchased by the Duchess come through strict supervision of the head maid or butler. In other words, good things that are harmless and proper-. It meant that only boring items would come in.

For Juliana, who was now bedridden, it was a very difficult situation.

Originally, she would have ignored the servants of the Duke and collected all the necessary things to suit her taste, but she was willing to erase her prodigal image and make a new appearance.

Anna clapped her hands as she spoke brightly to see if she had finally understood what Juliana spoke insidiously.

“Ah! Can I get you a romance novel?”

“Yes. I’d appreciate it if you could get me a humanities book called ‘Divorce of the nobility.’”

“What? It’s not a humanities book…..”

“Oh my. Wasn’t it? There’s one more excuse to read it then.”

Ignoring the smart Anna’s murmurs saying “It’s really not.….“, Juliana turned her attention by repeatedly coughing.

Anna, who had become Juliana’s personal representative, hurriedly opened the window with a clink of the necklace in her pocket.

At the same time as the air filling the room was escaping in a single stroke, Juliana took a deep breath.

* * *

Translator – DrMementoTiramisu