Divorce Manual

Chapter 109

"Pope, get up."

"Abella!"

"..."

Lily, who slows down her act after seeing the sharpness in Abella's gaze, lifts her chin as she watches Pope getting up.

It seems that her pride has been hurt temporarily from the way Abella stares.

Abella's eyes, along with her narrowed brows, look like they're asking her, 'How dare you?'

"Do you have anything to say?"

I can clearly see Lily's eyes trembling at my brief question, which lacks the usual respect Abella has toward them.

However—

"If you have something to say, go ahead."

Before the parent-child relationship, I'm the only duchess in the empire, and she is just the wife of a chubby baron who's full of scandals.

You should know that I'm only respecting you because you're Abella's parents.

"I'm a little busy."

"You have educated the maids incorrectly."

Looking at the way things are now, I don't think they'll ever know.

"Seeing your attitude toward your own parents, she can't learn anything."

"Is that so? But what should I do since I don't think that's the reason?"

As a courtesy, I feign a smile, then cut off her words, and turn away from her.

Lily's face turns stiff, as if she can't believe my attitude, as her lips tremble.

"Bella, how can you do that to me?"

"Oh, while I don't want you to call me Duchess, could you call me Abella rather than Bella?"

"...What?"

As soon as I finish speaking, I respectfully hold her hands together and watch Lily's shocked face.

"It's kind of awkward to be called a nickname by someone who isn't even my mother."

"Ya!"

I can see Phillip watching out for Lily's reaction as everyone around us reacts in surprise.

There's even a man who is believed to be their son standing behind them.

But I can't afford to even look at him, so I look at Lily and smile, pulling the corner of my lips slightly upward.

"Everyone here knows, so don't worry."

"......"

"Aside from that reason, it seems that the difference in status and class between us is too large for us to act recklessly by calling each other by our old nicknames just because we are a family. Isn't that right, Father?"

"What, what? Oh my god. Phillip, look what she's saying!"

Lily is on the verge of falling backward, but no one in the room cares about her.

When my gaze turns to him, Phillip coughs as if he's swallowing dry saliva and looks away without saying a word.

What can he really say?

If he says, 'Yes,' Lily will kill him, and if he says, 'That's not right,' I won't stay still.

You've thought it out well

In the current situation, it's best to stay still.

"Pope."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Looks like you need to get the carriage ready again."

"Yes."

After saying so, they sit back down in their spots.

"Sit down."

Then when I saw him reaching out for my hand, asking me to sit down, as if the spot I'm at is where I originally was sitting.

"Your Grace."

Hon Farhan, who has been standing behind Lily and Phillip, bows his head.

I've already heard information about him from Pope and have seen him sitting at the same table with the baron couple, so of course, I know he's their son.

"Who are you?"

I narrow my eyes, pretending not to know.

I can feel Lily's twitching immediately at my words, but he keeps his head bowed, not looking at his mother for a moment.

"My name is Cadrick Farhan, Your Grace."

"Oh, you're going to be my brother."

"Yes."

Seeing him nodding, Lily opens her mouth.

"We talked often. Count Bonu of Alain—"

"Yes. I know."

I cut off her words and give my attention to Cadrick.

"That's why you wanted to meet me."

"We're just here because we're worried about you."

"Aren't you here because of the illegitimate child commotion in the territory?"

I say with a smile.

"You say that so easily."

Unlike Phillip, whose face is flushed red, Lily has a cold expression on her face as she bites down her molars.

Seeing Lily gasping for breath as if she is so angry that she doesn't know what to do with it, I chuckle, ignoring her.

"Is there anything hard about it?"

"What?"

"I've been caught."

"You should have stopped it!"

"... ..."

"No, it's all lies! You should have to use all of your husband's wealth or power to stop it!"

Lilly, who starts squealing hysterically, then slumps her shoulders.

"Why me?"

"What?"

"Why should I have to do that?"

"......"

"If the duke finds out that you are an illegitimate child—"

"He already knew everything when he chose to marry me, didn't he?"

"What?"

"The first day we met, he had already known everything."

I sigh deeply at the sight of the two of them, who stare blankly and speechless, as if they're shocked by the news.

"You didn't know."

"......"

"Have you ever heard of such a thing? Even the Diago knows what the emperor doesn't even know."

I speak curtly, staring at Lily and Phillip.

"I found out a little bit about what you were trying to do by secretly putting the Diago's name out there."

"W-What?"

"Well, there are more than a dozen things I have seen and heard about very briefly, so I plan to take a closer look when I return to the territory soon—"

"Those are things that the duke has allowed us to do."

Moving his body slightly, Cadrick interrupts and talks on behalf of the parents, who are mumbling with embarrassment.

It is a confident gesture, as if he wants to make sure that I know he would be the one inheriting Baron Farhan's fortune.

"It seems that you are not familiar with social etiquette yet."

"......"

"Didn't Count Bonu tell you not to intervene in the middle of a conversation of someone with a higher status than yours?"

He doesn't seem to be good at arguing because he looks very angry right now.

He just has diarrhea of the mouth because his words pour out one after another without thinking.

Besides, he's the one who was born and raised in Korea, but instead, he received nobility education.
I think he's not used to speaking sharply like this to someone of higher status.

No.

As of today, it seems that I can completely abandon that thought.

"Even if the baron intervenes in the middle of the conversation, he would still be at fault, but you're not a baron. Even in the realm of family, you're very rude. Besides, how dare you not treat me as a duchess?"

"......"

"It seems that you have made a mistake in educating your child."

With a smile on my face, I shift my attention from Cadrick to Phillip, and return to him what Lily had previously said when she was scolding Pope.

"Ha! What did you say now?! Aren't you ashamed to be doing this to me?!"

Lily angrily grits her teeth, as if she hasn't understood the situation yet. She can't help but show her flushed face.

"Rather, should your wife act like this in front of me? If you have any shame—"

I look back at Lily with a smirk.

It feels like her hand is about to fly toward me, so I stare intently at her contorted expression as her hands repeatedly clench and unclench.

Calm down, Abella.

Cold sweat is running down my back as her body is shaking with fear.

(T/N: please note that this isn't a mistake. MC still thinks that Abella has control over body so she'll refer to it as Abella's body sometimes even though she has transmigrated into it.)

In fact, Abella grew up being hit by Lily's hands a lot.

You must know Lily's character more sensibly than anyone else.

But, this is my space.

"If you don't want to lose everything you have in your hand, you'd better stay quiet."

"Abella Farhan!"

Lily jumps up from her seat due to a sudden burst of anger.

"Abella Diago."

Shaking my head, I calmly correct her.

Lily squeezes her fists tightly to the point where her whole body trembles with rage.

Abella never had the guts to go this far, and neither have I ever done something like this when I was young.

Before she married Charles, Abella was afraid of Lily's anger and used to pray so hard to the point even as her hands were stepped on.

Abella, who had always been obedient by lying flat on the floor, is now arguing with her.

How angry she must be.

It's the first time she's seen it, so I'm even more excited.

However, I have no intention of responding to her or let Baron Farhan act as he did before.

"Cadrick Farhan."

"...Yes, Your Grace."

I look at his face as he responds through gritted teeth.

Even if it's unfair, what can you even do?

This is the difference in our status.

I'm the duke's only wife, and he's the son of a baron and hasn't even received his title yet.

He's also like a baron, a parasite that lives preying on other people.

What I should do in this situation is—

"I hope you understand where you are, how far you can go, and the subject at hand."

"..."

"Even though you are my brother, you should not presumptuously act like you have the backing of the duke."

"...Yes."

"Because I have no intention of helping like I used to. If you're going to get anything from His Excellency, it will depend on your ability."

"How dare you! Now, you are admonishing my son!"

I pull back, avoiding Lily, who's moving as if she is going to hit my cheek with her raised hand.

"Eek!"

I can't tell if I'm annoyed by the situation or by Lily's stomping and running around as if she's going to grab my hair.

Just like yesterday, it seems I'll be having a bad day.

I stand up and turn around.

"Where are you going?"

Hearing the sound of a wildcat coming from behind my back, I raise my hand with a stoic expression.

Then, I slap Cadrick on the cheek.

Slap!

One.

Slap! Slap!

Two, then three times.

I slap with all my might to the point where his skin turns red and becomes swollen.

.

.

.

.

T/N: I'm so proud of Abella ya'll. Look how much she's grown. She just doesn't let herself get stepped on anymore. The best thing Charles has done for Abella, more than money and anything, was giving her confidence and his trust because she's just like... I'm the duchess and my husband is on my side y'all~~~