A Change of Husband - Chapter 96

“How, how dare you!”

The Countess Bonaparte shrieked, clutching the back of her neck.

She simply couldn’t believe that Asilie—whom she had always looked down on, thinking she was beneath them—had committed the outrageous act of slapping Joseph.

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“I suggest you watch your words, Madam. Since I’ve already expressed my intention to divorce, I’m no longer part of this family.”

It was outrageous, but Asilie was right. Once she’d declared she wanted a divorce—even though the official process hadn’t begun—she couldn’t be treated the same as before.

Besides, now that the maid’s button had been found, it was awkward for them to continue accusing Asilie. Even worse, Duke and Duchess Grandier—her guardians in a way—were both present, watching closely.

“Since I’m no longer considered family, slapping Count Bonaparte’s son for insulting and disrespecting me counts as self-defense, doesn’t it? If you want to lodge a complaint, feel free to go through the Noble Ethics Committee. I’ll reveal every single detail about how I was treated in this house.”

“This kind of behavior will only harm you in the end.”

Monica, who had been quietly watching, spoke with a cold smile.

“Do you really think it makes sense to request a divorce over something like this? In fact, based on your past behavior, it’s our family who should be filing for divorce.”

“And why do you think that, Madam?”

At Asilie’s changed tone of address, Monica’s expression briefly hardened. But she quickly relaxed and responded with ease.

“The Bonaparte family accepted you despite knowing the shameful origins of your birth. And during your disappearance, there was a long period of absence. While the Grandier family claimed to have found you…”

“……”

“How can anyone be sure what you were doing during that time—or whether you upheld your duties as a married woman?”

It was a severe insult.

Monica had just publicly questioned Asilie’s chastity during the time she was missing.

Even Asilie—accustomed to enduring harsh words—was momentarily speechless. She hadn’t expected such a vile kind of slander.

As silence filled the room, Monica smirked, as though satisfied she’d finally landed a blow.

“Are you serious?”

“Would I say it if I weren’t?”

“I’m shocked. So vulgar. You must be saying this because you’ve never upheld those duties yourself.”

“…What did you say?”

Asilie felt that Monica’s insults were far more disrespectful than anything she had said. But Monica didn’t seem to think so. She glared at Asilie with venom, shaking with outrage as if she were the one being wronged.

“I’ve seen that man coming in and out of your room every time Prince Geoffrey went down to his territory. Are you going to tell me you two just had pleasant conversations in the middle of the night for hours on end?”

“What… what are you saying?! Are you trying to frame me?!”

“I even saw maids entering your room early in the morning to tidy up the bedding. If you don’t believe me, just ask the maids directly assigned to Lady Monica. I’m sure the Countess wouldn’t want any confusion about bloodlines.”

Monica, now pale as a sheet, opened her mouth to protest—but Asilie spoke first.

“Well then, I guess there’s nothing more to say. I’d better leave this horrible place. I’ll file for divorce officially through the Noble Ethics Committee, so just wait. And if you want to drag this into a dirty fight, feel free to prepare for that too.”

Perhaps because she had waited so long for this moment, declaring her divorce to them felt incredibly satisfying.

After making eye contact with each member of the Bonaparte family, Asilie left the estate with Duke and Duchess Grandier.

From this moment forward, she had regained her life—this was true, complete freedom.

Count Proud, who had gone to the Kingdom of Austin, returned two weeks earlier than expected.

If his efforts had failed, he would have gone home to mentally prepare before heading to the palace. But the news was too good to wait, so the moment he arrived in the capital, he rushed straight to the royal palace.

Even though it was nearly dawn, Esperad welcomed him in simple robes, having heard of his return.

“There was no need to come this early. You’re pushing yourself too hard.”

“This is for the sake of the kingdom, Your Majesty. If I were concerned about my own well-being, I wouldn’t be a true patriot.”

“Your loyalty never ceases to impress. You’ve done well. I’ve instructed the attendants to prepare a room and a meal for you. Rest up after this audience before heading home.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.”

Count Proud gave a deep bow, then pulled out a thick envelope he’d kept hidden close to his chest, as if afraid someone might steal it.

“What’s this?”

“To get straight to the point—they accepted our proposal. They even agreed to sell at twice the domestic price.”

“Amazing.”

“They must have been desperate. And this includes a summary of the preliminary agreement before the prince of Austin visits to finalize it, as well as a letter from the King of Austin himself.”

Esperad opened the envelope and read through it carefully.

According to Count Proud’s notes, all of Astel’s conditions had been accepted. While Austin had added a few terms of their own, they didn’t seem unreasonable.

“It seems Austin also wants us as an ally.”

“That’s how it looked. For years now, their royal authority has been practically nonexistent, with conservative nobles steering the country. That’s probably why they couldn’t approach us directly until now.”

“Makes sense.”

Esperad nodded calmly. He already understood the difficulties Austin faced—thanks to the knowledge he brought from the other world.

There was a lot to consider, but Esperad didn’t forget that Count Proud looked exhausted.

“You should rest now. Your achievements will be formally recognized at the next council meeting.”

“I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty.”

Count Proud was indeed tired, so he bowed once more and left.

As the door closed behind him, Esperad leaned back into the sofa, lost in thought.

Before finalizing the arms deal with Austin, he had planned to meet with Jonathan.

But no matter how hard he searched, Jonathan had vanished without a trace. That had been unexpected.

Even stranger, unlike in the previous world, the invention of the gun had been credited to someone else—or maybe the inventor had truly changed.

‘Come to think of it, Jonathan was only able to invent the gun because Asilie found him and brought him. So if she never found him, would he have never made it at all?’

His mind was spinning.

The truth was, he didn’t yet understand why this world and the previous one differed—what the decisive change was, or what the essence of these worlds truly meant.

Though he was doing his best to deal with the many crises before him, these questions often gave him a headache.

‘Even if this deal makes the conservative nobles richer, the taxes it brings in will more than cover it. So it’s not a complete loss.’

Esperad pressed his temples, trying to soothe the throbbing pain in his head. Just then—

Bang!

“Esperad!”

Without even knocking, Edgar burst into the room.

His disheveled appearance made Esperad frown.

“What’s going on at this hour? Did something happen to the mage?”

“I finished my night shift and went home for the first time in a while. And this was waiting for me—it arrived two days ago.”

Edgar handed over a heavy bundle.

Thinking he was receiving a lot of unexpected deliveries today, Esperad opened it to check its contents.

Inside was a thick stack of documents and a neatly folded note.

“I’m sorry for opening it first, but I couldn’t give it to you without checking what it was. It’s from the Countess Bonaparte.”

“Countess Bonaparte?”

“You know, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte—the woman who went missing. When did you get involved with her?”

But Esperad wasn’t listening anymore.

He was too busy reading the letter Asilie had written.

Thank you for protecting me from a difficult situation.
Although you told me not to take risks, I believed it was wise to turn the crisis into an opportunity.
This item is a ledger recording the expenditures Count Bonaparte made in connection with Count Mirk, complete with his seal.
It should help you uncover the truth behind the many suspicious events.
I hope this proves my loyalty. This concludes my brief report.
—Asilie Grandier

After reading the letter, Esperad immediately opened the ledger.

Even at a glance, the records clearly detailed how Count Bonaparte laundered funds to support Count Mirk and purchased phenom from Count Bellucci.

Just as Asilie said, this ledger would be a crucial piece of evidence to expose the truth and bring down both the Bonaparte and Mirk families.

But that wasn’t what concerned him most.

“Where is she?”

“Huh?”

“If they find out this is missing, there’s no way the Bonaparte family will stay quiet.”

It must have taken at least several days for this to reach him. So maybe she…

Esperad’s heart sank at the thought that Asilie might be in danger.

He jumped to his feet.

There was no time to sit around like this. He had to check right now.

That she was safe. That nothing had happened.

The Bonaparte household was thrown into chaos the very next day after Asilie announced her divorce and left with the Duke and Duchess of Grandier.

“What on earth did you do with that ledger?!”

At the Count of Bonaparte’s roar, the Countess turned pale and shook her head.

“I didn’t touch it! I told them to take the ledger and store it in the secret archive. I never said to mess with anything that was already in there!”

“Then where did the perfectly safe ledger go?!”

“I-I don’t know either.”

“Are you joking right now?!”

The Count slammed his fist on the desk and shouted.

Of all things to go missing, it had to be the most dangerous ledger.

That ledger contained records of him laundering money for conservative nobles and taking fees, giving bribes to Count Mirk, secretly buying firearms, and arming knights—all stamped with the official seal.

“…I suspect that woman might have taken it.”

Geoffrey, who had been silently watching the argument between the Count and Countess, finally spoke with a meaningful tone.

No matter how he thought about it, the only suspicious person was Asilie.

“Isn’t it strange how she put up with so much humiliation until now, only to suddenly demand a divorce and leave that day?”

“That’s…”

“Then are you saying you let that lowly woman into the archive and now this happened because of that?!”

“Y-You gave permission too!”

“Well, that’s—!”

Just as he was about to shout again, the Count let out a deep sigh of frustration.

He had no idea how to fix this mess.

At that moment, Monica, who had been missing for a while, burst through the door.

Normally, the Countess would have thought anything Monica did was lovely, but right now, she needed someone to take her anger out on.

To be honest, ever since she heard rumors that Joseph had been visiting Monica’s bedroom, Monica hadn’t looked the same to her.

“Why are you so late? At a time like this!”

Startled by the Countess’s sudden yelling, Monica, who had never been treated like this before, couldn’t hide her shock and stepped back.

“It’s because I heard something strange…”

“Something strange? What?! Is that filthy woman throwing our family’s ledger out on the streets or something?!”

“…The ledger is missing?”

“Yes! That woman definitely stole it on purpose! Ha…”

The Countess held her forehead and sighed.

The Count also let out a heavy sigh, as if the ground might collapse beneath him, and spoke in a calming tone.

“At least the one good thing is, even if she stole the ledger, the Duke of Grandier wouldn’t risk getting involved. As long as we pay the right price, they’ll want to avoid making a big deal of it. There’s still a way to handle this.”

“…I don’t think that’ll be possible, Father.”

“What do you mean, not possible?”

The Count looked at her, puzzled by her words.

“Well…”

Monica hesitated to speak.

After Asilie revealed her secret and left the Bonaparte household, Monica, who had been in trouble because of her, investigated Asilie’s movements through the Bellucci family in order to get revenge.

And she had just returned with the results.

“Why aren’t you speaking? What is it?”

“That woman met the King at a restaurant in the capital. Based on his appearance… it was definitely the King. So the ledger… it might have ended up with him…”

Monica couldn’t even finish her sentence.

“Then you’re saying we’ve been completely played by that woman?”

Joseph, who had been silent all this time, finally opened his mouth.

“Maybe she remembered that we tried to kill her and came back with a plan. Her behavior was strange ever since she returned.”

“How dare that wretched woman deceive me—deceive us!”

Joseph’s face twisted in rage.

He couldn’t believe he had been played by such a lowly woman. And the fact that he had fallen for it made his blood boil.

Clenching his fists and shaking with anger, Joseph finally muttered darkly.

“This time, I’ll end it. I’ll kill that disgusting woman with my own hands.”

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