The Plan of the Terminally-Ill Wife's Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
“Hmm, it’s boring just sitting here. I’ll take a short stroll right ahead and come back.”
After finishing my audience with the gnome Gilbert, I quickly excused myself from my seat.
I could feel Darius staring at me with a look that clearly said, “Wasn’t this the same person who, just moments ago, passionately argued that we needed to build at least ten more smithies? And now you’re saying the meeting was boring?” But I deliberately pretended not to notice.
Stepping outside the audience chamber, I spotted the gnome nearby—he hadn’t gone far, as expected.
“Oh! Your Grace, the Grand Duchess!”
His eyes were brimming with trust, likely because of the earlier matter regarding the expansion permit.
“I’m astonished! I never expected someone so young as Your Grace to understand the importance of this industry so well!”
“Age matters little in business. I’m glad things worked out well earlier. Actually, I have a question for you.”
“Yes, yes! Ask me anything! Anything at all!”
“Is there perhaps some other factor hindering your business? If there was something you couldn’t bring yourself to mention before His Grace, tell me now. I’ll make sure to convey it properly for you.”
Truthfully, I had no real power to do so. Oh no—I’d really gone and done it. Guess showing off like that comes naturally to someone born for high status.
Just then, the middle-aged man’s previously cheerful expression darkened. So there really was something!
“Oh, I don’t know where you heard this, but my elder brother will soon pull himself together. How could he be at peace when his daughter has gone missing?”
“His daughter has gone missing?”
My eyes widened in surprise, and the gnome Gilbert seemed to realize he’d let something slip.
“Oh dear! I assumed you already knew!”
He slapped his own mouth belatedly, but the words were already out.
“Normally, it should have been the Guildmaster of the Smiths’ Guild coming here today, not me—but he’s been drinking constantly lately.”
So the person whose daughter had vanished was the highest-ranking figure in the smithing guild.
“It’s not something I should say before Your Grace, but young people naturally gravitate toward glamorous and comfortable things, don’t they? A few months ago, when a traveling troupe came through here, Ann argued fiercely with my father, insisting she wanted to leave the North and go to the capital. And right after that, Ann disappeared.”
The missing daughter of the Smiths’ Guildmaster was named Ann. Because the guild’s most skilled blacksmith was too worried about his daughter to lead properly, iron ore smelting output had declined over the past few months.
The gnome thought that was why I’d followed him out.
“That wasn’t exactly what I meant to ask… but people come first, after all. Of course you couldn’t focus with your daughter missing. Is there any chance she was kidnapped?”
“Oh, heavens no! Kidnapping? Not here in the North, where everyone knows each other. Young folks naturally prefer the capital over our cold North. When I was young, I myself wanted desperately to leave this town. Once Ann settles in the city, she’ll surely send a letter.”
Hmm. It was strange—he was so worried he couldn’t concentrate on work, yet he wasn’t actively searching for her.
‘Well, it’s not my place to meddle in someone else’s family affairs. Besides, I don’t even have a way to help solve it.’
“If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“Your words alone mean a great deal to me.”
I parted ways with him and turned back toward the audience chamber.
“Be careful with Anette. Unnecessary kindness is forbidden.”
Just before opening the chamber door, a familiar voice reached my ears.
…Darius?
[This is the timeline separator]Aside from the blacksmith gnome Gilbert, many other villagers were waiting to meet Darius.
“…And so, I wished to inform His Grace of these facts and request his assistance…”
Heh. An uncharacteristic chuckle escaped Darius’s lips.
“Go on.”
The petitioners, who had been looking at the Grand Duke with serious expressions, blinked in confusion, wondering if they’d misheard, and continued their story.
〈That silly armrest.〉
He suddenly recalled Anette rolling her eyes.
Before entering the office, Anette had grabbed Darius’s arm in protest.
〈Don’t misunderstand—I didn’t cling to your arm!〉
Her face had been flushed bright red, as if deeply wronged.
“…Hah.”
Darius turned his head and snorted.
‘So he really was smiling, wasn’t he?’
“Your Grace?”
“I understand. Proceed as planned.”
The momentary lapse was over. Darius returned to his usual icy demeanor.
〈We may be married, but I know our hearts haven’t truly connected yet.〉
Last night, Anette had spoken resolutely.
〈Until we achieve complete trust in each other, sharing a bed will likely remain difficult.〉
She meant it felt awkward to suddenly share a bed with a man just because they were married.
〈You don’t need to force yourself to hold me. I’m content just knowing you’re here with me.〉
Though they hadn’t spent much time together, the more he spoke with Anette and got to know her, the more he felt their minds aligned.
Since he’d finally welcomed a bride, perhaps he should give her a gift.
But what kind of gifts do women usually like?
Tap, tap, tap. Lost in thought over their growing intimacy, Darius absentmindedly tapped the armrest of his chair. To outsiders, his profile appeared utterly absorbed in official duties.
As he mechanically stamped documents, his eyes fell on Sir Daniel standing beside him.
With his gentle features and mild temperament—plus his status as a knight—the maids adored Daniel.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“What do women usually…”
Suddenly, he remembered overhearing maids comparing the two of them.
〈His Grace is handsome, but so what? He’s so cold-hearted. Thank goodness we have the kind Sir Daniel!〉
“Your Grace?”
His urge to ask vanished instantly.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“Weren’t you calling me for a reason?”
“I thought I had something, but it’s gone now. You may leave.”
It wasn’t that Daniel’s gentle, docile eyes suddenly seemed spineless or unpleasant—it was simply absurd to buy his wife a gift based on another man’s advice.
‘Oh my! Did Sir Daniel choose this gift for me? Of course, His Grace paid for it, but Sir Daniel picked it out especially for me! That’s unbelievable—I’m so happy!’
Anette wasn’t the type to say something like that… was she?
Yet even the mere thought of such a scenario irritated him.
Come to think of it, Daniel had always accompanied him in the South as well.
〈Lady Anette seems truly kind.〉
Moreover, back when he’d been most wary of Anette, it was Daniel who’d first opened his heart to her.
‘Ah, the first time I saw His Grace, he wore a mask—couldn’t see his face or hear his voice clearly. But that knight from the North was so kind! I wish that knight, not the Duke, had been my husband.’
If Anette had ever once thought that…
“Come to think of it, I’ve always found Lady Anette forward-thinking since our first meeting, and today proved it again. The way she confidently voiced her opinions beside Your Grace was remarkably bold.”
Unaware he was fanning the flames himself, Daniel praised Anette.
“Daniel, now that I think about it, you seem to observe the Grand Duchess quite closely.”
“Well, she is the Grand Duchess?”
“How long have you even known her? Why do you keep reporting to me every little thing—how she did this well, what she did today?”
Darius’s voice was laced with displeasure.
“My apologies.”
Not knowing what he’d done wrong, Daniel apologized anyway—it was the sad habit of a subordinate.
“Don’t let her occupy your thoughts too much. She is…”
You’re my knight, and she’s my wife. The words stuck in his throat, so Darius phrased it indirectly.
“As you yourself said, she’s a woman of House Fosse. If you’ve sworn loyalty to me as my knight, don’t let your guard down. What if you lower your defenses before I do?”
He had no intention whatsoever of tolerating the so-called “chivalrous” gestures of offering flowers or honor to noblewomen. Let Daniel save those for the ladies who admired him.
‘Right, my foul mood stems from Daniel warning me to be cautious of the South before our marriage, only to now contradict himself.’
Darius nodded to himself, rationalizing his irritation. No wonder Daniel’s lingering presence around Anette had been grating on him.
Having finally pinpointed the source of his unease, Darius’s expression visibly brightened.
Just as Darius was soothing himself back to calm—
Sssk.
A trembling hand, barely visible, quietly closed the slightly opened door again—carefully, without anyone noticing.
‘What… what was that about?’
By divine timing, it was Anette, who had just returned precisely when Darius was badmouthing her.
[This is the timeline separator]
“My walk took longer than expected. Nothing happened, I hope?”
“Nothing at all. Just that if you’d been gone much longer, I was about to send knights to search the entire estate.”
“An amusing joke.”
Pretending I’d heard nothing, I smiled at both Darius and Sir Daniel. Unlike before, Sir Daniel couldn’t quite meet my eyes.
“Heh heh heh.”
You rotten bastard.
I saw right through you from the moment you acted uncomfortable about sharing a bed with me.
Parading me around your workplace since morning, pretending to uphold the Grand Duchess’s authority.
What? Don’t be fooled by appearances—be suspicious of Anette?
I never trusted you anyway. After all, in these novels, the male lead is always like this!
Indeed, straying slightly from the original plot hasn’t changed my fate as an extra who gets treated poorly.
If I were to draw this novel’s relationship chart, Darius and I might still have opposing arrows between us.
‘Hmph, hmph. You don’t need to talk behind my back so pettily—I’ll leave on my own when the time comes!’
With no one to trust, I’d better start preparing for divorce all by myself.
“Anette, your hands look cold.”
Darius glanced briefly at Sir Daniel, then suddenly reached out his hand toward me. Was he offering gloves or something?
“No? I’m not cold at all! I’m perfectly fine!”
‘Just trying to be nice out of guilt for badmouthing me behind my back.’
I yanked my hand away sharply, thoroughly annoyed.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (97)
Poor hero, the north is so barren, and they even steal from them.
Hahaha, it’s great to see Annette teaching that rude Lucien a lesson! Well done, Annette! Make the North rich!
Wow, our Annette is truly amazing! Rose is so young, I hope her personality improves.
Inline Comments (2)
‘Remember the original story. Darius belongs to Evangeline Stockwork.’
Why does she insist that Darius would never like her? Isn’t she already defying the original work by changing the events?
‘In the original story, Anette was assassinated in the annex by Darius’s unknown
Who really could that be? If she was just the arranged wife and an enemy daughter at that, who could possibly plan on killing her?
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Miioo
Oh my God, I hate misunderstandings! Poor hero, you misunderstood Annette!