An Incomplete Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Good heavens!
“June 16th. Arrived in Pateks.”
The wristwatch, Lady’s final gift, was scheduled to arrive precisely on the Duke’s birthday.
Anne stared at Olivia, who sat still as Maid Marie tended to her hair. She hesitated over whether to mention it, but Madame Marie spoke first.
“I know a designer renowned for swift work.”
Olivia had clarified the misunderstanding with Madame Marie and agreed to keep her close, on the sole condition that she assist only when requested.
“Could I meet them?”
“Of course. I’ll send someone at first light.”
“But even if we act quickly, tomorrow is Thursday and the day after is the ball—won’t that be too tight?”
Anne asked, concerned.
“If it’s them, it’s possible.”
Madame Marie replied with unwavering certainty.
And the next day, the designer—held in absolute trust by Maid Madame Marie—burst in as if leading a charge straight into enemy lines.
“Hello, Miss Blanchet. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
A woman wearing a tilted hat adorned with a vivid blue ducal feather offered a greeting.
Her eyes swept Olivia from head to toe in one swift glance, lingering down to the slender ankle bones before rapidly lifting again to meet Olivia’s gaze.
“Perfect.”
The woman, who introduced herself as Madame Lauren, flashed a dazzling smile with her crimson-painted lips.
“Now then. Shall we start by taking it off?”
[This is the timeline separator]The sky, which had grumbled since morning, finally began to rain by afternoon.
A black four-wheeled carriage rolled through the rain along the avenue lined with fir trees bearing deep violet male blossoms.
It was returning from the Laiden Palace, summoned by the Crown Prince.
Maurice, who had been pacing anxiously by the window, hurried downstairs.
On a day when he had to deliver such news, even the weather refused to favor him.
Johann Leopold especially despised rainy days, and on such days he was invariably in a foul mood.
In other words, Maurice was about to pour oil onto a blazing fire.
Heaving a long sigh, Maurice stepped out onto the porch with the butler as the carriage passed through the main gate.
“Welcome back, Your Grace.”
Johann stepped down from the carriage, gave a brief nod, and strode inside. Maurice walked beside him across the central hall, carefully observing his demeanor. Every step radiated simmering anger.
Whatever had transpired during his audience with the Crown Prince was clearly unpleasant.
Maurice weighed a better moment to deliver his report—perhaps after the downpour passed.
“Speak.”
But Johann was too sharp for such delays. There was only now or never.
And as the saying went, better to take the blow early. Maurice summarized it in one concise sentence.
“The Pritten City Hall has issued a notice of denial.”
The echoing clack of boots across the high-ceilinged hall came to an abrupt halt. Johann Leopold’s already grim expression twisted further into something menacing.
“Reason.”
His low voice spread through the air, mingling with the sound of rain.
“Well… the situation has become rather thorny.”
“Did the Lancelot family interfere?”
“Yesterday, he met with the Mayor of Pritten. I’ll provide the full details in your study.”
Edgar would never stand idly by while a Leopold hotel rose in the heart of Pritten—not when Johann himself wouldn’t have.
Johann lifted his head.
His eyes slowly scanned the magnificent frescoes on the lofty ceiling, the grand chandelier hanging at its center, and the glittering crystals refracting its light—his gaze heavy with irritation.
‘I’ve already informed them that you’ll be receiving Princess Krantz. Don’t keep a lady waiting, Johann.’
The smug face of Christian in the Crown Prince’s audience chamber that afternoon flashed in his mind, doubling his aggravation.
‘Johann! Help me! If my engagement to the agent falls through, I’ll end up buried beside Father’s coffin! Johann, we’re brothers—please help me!’
Bastard.
It had been merely three years since Olivia Blanchet’s scandal erupted and he crawled on all fours begging for mercy.
Back then, he’d accepted that sordid proposal only because he needed the title—but now, it was hardly necessary.
Christian’s unreasonable demands were tiresome; Johann couldn’t possibly be sold off like breeding stock into some forced marriage.
He really should have made the divorce harder.
Beyond the terrace window, the slate-gray sky reminded him of his former wife’s desperate eyes—always yearning, pitifully devoted, and pathetically lowborn.
His gaze, which had drifted meaninglessly across the Great Hill Ducal Manor—a prize gained from indulging the Crown Prince’s farce—lowered as he stepped onto the central staircase adorned with red carpet.
Johann halted once more.
“What is that.”
At the cold tone, Maurice followed Johann’s gaze upward to the gallery stage—the very spot where the Duke and Duchess of Leopold’s portraits once hung.
Now, two strikingly handsome men with noble, neatly combed golden hair looked down with dignified authority.
Johann’s eyes narrowed as he beheld the portrait of his late father, the former Duke of Edinburgh.
“That is…”
Just as the trailing butler began to speak, the sharp click of heels approached rapidly—Diane came hurrying toward them with brisk, cheerful steps.
“Come now.”
Her flushed cheeks bloomed with a smile fitting for the lady of the house.
[This is the timeline separator]It had been over a month since the divorce.
Olivia Blanchet’s portrait, boldly displayed on the central staircase, was clearly inappropriate—no matter how uniquely beautiful it was, she no longer had any right to hang beside Johann Leopold.
“Replace that painting with this one.”
Diane straightened her spine and issued elegant instructions to the servants. She looked every bit the mistress of the manor, yet no one dared object.
Johann was too occupied a man to concern himself with household affairs, so Diane had naturally taken over management of Great Hill. Thus, nothing about her authority seemed odd.
The former Duchess had been inept, and later lost her sanity—making Diane, for all practical purposes, the true lady of the house.
Olivia knew nothing. She’d entered the Count’s household at six, receiving no proper education until she turned seventeen.
How thoroughly could lessons hastily crammed into her when the Blanchet family collapsed have truly taken root in her mind or bearing? Naturally, she was ignorant and clumsy.
Diane found her laughable.
Occasionally, when Olivia was sober and clear-headed—free from drugs or drink—she would attempt to fulfill her duties as Duchess.
Whenever Olivia overstepped her station like that, Diane made sure she painfully understood her place. And no one was better suited for that task than the Oscar siblings.
They were Olivia Blanchet’s greatest haters in this world—her own half-siblings.
Their father had cheated with their mother’s friend. Their mother, before their very eyes, shot him dead with a pistol. Ever since, their mother would mutter habitually,
“This is all your fault.”
It was only natural that their twisted resentment fixated on Olivia.
The results were certain. After their visits, Olivia would retreat into her room like a corpse—hair torn out, face bruised—remaining silent until her wounds healed.
On those days, even when Johann desperately sought her in her bedroom, she never once unlocked the stubbornly bolted door.
Poor thing.
Diane thrilled at the sight of Olivia—dressed exquisitely, wearing a shy smile—being dragged out by rough-handed servants. It felt like having a rotten tooth pulled.
Watching the former Duke of Edinburgh’s portrait being hung, Diane recalled the debutante ball where she first met Johann.
She’d fallen for him instantly when he entered escorting Princess Catherine.
But since his companion was the Princess of Rhondos, Diane—a mere baron’s daughter—had resigned herself. Never could she have imagined that a worthless bastard like Olivia would become Duchess Leopold…
If you could, then so can I, Olivia.
After savoring the satisfying sight of the newly hung painting for a moment, Diane gathered her maids and headed toward the kitchen.
Johann would return from court soon—it was nearly dinner time. She checked the venison being prepared for him and gave instructions for table arrangements.
She took pleasure in this life governed by her orders, considering it her vital duty.
Yet she always remained mindful of the servants’ gazes, carefully walking the fine line—after all, she wasn’t Duchess yet.
The bell signaling the servants’ formal assembly rang just then. He had arrived.
[This is the timeline separator]“Come now.”
At this hour, when welcoming Johann, Diane felt as if she’d already become his wife.
She was the only woman in Great Hill who didn’t wear the standard black maid uniform—making her stand out effortlessly, especially with servants lined up like folding screens.
Still, today Diane had dressed more daringly—her corset tightly laced, her modest bosom lifted into a tempting swell.
Johann’s gaze remained fixed entirely on his late father’s portrait from start to finish. Though slightly disappointing, his cold, sardonic eyes only made him more attractive—which only made her more eager.
Diane clasped her hands neatly together, admiring Johann’s profile as she awaited his reaction.
“I asked why this is hanging here.”
His low, graveled voice left Diane flustered.
“Miss Brook arranged the replacement.”
The butler explained.
“Put it back.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Is there… a particular reason?”
Only then did Johann’s eyes turn to Diane. She couldn’t comprehend the cold displeasure in his gaze—why stubbornly cling to the portrait of an ex-wife he’d divorced?
“Your Grace’s birthday is approaching soon. Wouldn’t it be unpleasant for guests at the banquet to see it? Must it truly stay?”
Knowing she’d overstepped, Diane held her breath.
“Do I need permission from the servants to hang a single painting in my own house?”
It was a frosty rebuke.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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This story deserves more hype. People should know more about this.
Sounds like someone is planning to make a misunderstanding between our couple
Here we go again, poor Olivia always getting hurt by men