The Plan of the Terminally-Ill Wife's Divorce

Chapter 15

During the month Darius was in the South negotiating the marriage, all operations in the duchy had come to a halt.

That's probably why, when we entered the main hall to receive petitions from the domain's residents, I saw a mountain of documents piled next to a large chair.

'Wow, look at the height of those petitions. But it's not like I'll be dealing with them anyway.'

"Lady Egrette seems like a nice person. She could leave attending to me to the maids."

"Lady Egrette is a distant aunt by marriage. She married into our family but was left alone after her husband died early."

"Hmm, I see."

Darius was now examining the day's first petition. It was a permit request for the expansion of the blacksmith guild.

"We may be poor, but surely we have enough money to build a blacksmith shop?"

"We have enough to get through this winter."

No, Darius, all the money in this castle is in Lady Egrette's hands.

Even the food and cotton I brought with my dowry are useless; she's taken all the cash!

That's why I was wary of Lady Egrette. When Darius became the duke and knew nothing, Lady Egrette took control of the ducal finances and disappeared.

This left Darius without money, forcing him to lead his knights into war in other territories to earn it. He was practically a mercenary.

"Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you weren't born a duke? Maybe as a wandering mercenary, living freely?"

"Knight, merchant, scholar. Of all the professions, why choose a mercenary?"

"Just a thought."

Because you were so good at being a mercenary in the original story. The novel said any war Darius participated in was as good as won.

"It's true that mercenaries from the North are famous. But I have no intention of risking the lives of our precious domain residents for money-making. We are not that desperate for funds."

Darius stated firmly. He must have thought my question suggested using the mercenary industry to revive the domain.

"Of course."

Not wanting to use the lives of domain residents for profit even in this challenging situation.

His true intentions aside, the original novel 'The Abandoned Saintess Goes to the Northern Duke' put the male lead through a lot.

Whenever things got slightly better, famine, epidemics, or magical beasts attacked the North. Other regions ignored the North and offered no help.

In response, the North, which defended against magical beasts, could have revolted, but Darius steadfastly protected his people in the despised North.

Finally, with the arrival of the saintess protagonist, the North began to develop, and together they defeated the demon king – that was the original story.

It was fortunate the story was from the female protagonist's perspective; Darius's life was like a series of hardships.

'Darius became darker because he was betrayed even by a trusted relative.'

He was initially reluctant to trust the protagonist, who was expelled from the temple.

Lady Egrette's name wasn't mentioned in the original, so I initially didn't realize it.

'Lady Egrette must have found it easy to embezzle funds while Darius was just settling into his role after the previous duke's death. But Darius won't always trust her, so she must have decided it was time to pull out.'