My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 111

Ever since the day I attended the imperial palace banquet with Ethan, I had been unable to organize my thoughts.

The plan to divorce Ethan and leave the ducal estate had remained unchanged from the moment I first possessed Camille. It was a fundamental premise that I had never questioned.

At that time, it had felt like the most natural course of action. I never imagined that simply avoiding suspicions of infidelity would be enough to change our relationship.

In my past life, I had often found myself frustrated with the female leads in possession-themed romance fantasy novels.

It was always so obvious that the male lead was completely infatuated with the female lead, yet she would stubbornly cling to the original story, refusing to accept reality. I couldn’t understand why.

But when I found myself in the same situation, I realized it wasn’t so simple.

For me, I Became the Daughter of a Distrustful Duke was a story I had reread countless times, memorizing entire passages. It was one of my all-time favorites.

The Camille I knew was nothing more than an object of indifference and disdain to Ethan. That had been a fact. And now, to think that the husband who had consistently ignored his wife had suddenly become obsessed with her—it was only natural for me to find it unbelievable.

To use Candy Candy as an example, it would be like Anthony or Terrius suddenly discarding Candy and falling in love with Eliza instead.

‘That wouldn’t just be out of character—it would shatter the fundamental logic and truth of that world. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to accept it.’

Regardless, that was all in the past now. Ethan’s behavior toward me had become increasingly blatant with each passing day.

I had no choice but to admit it now.

For reasons I couldn’t begin to comprehend… Ethan had completely fallen for me.

From the beginning, I had wanted to leave the ducal estate for two reasons. First, I didn’t want to remain in a loveless marriage. Second, I couldn’t imagine spending my life as the Duchess of Dumont.

The constant presence of maids attending to me, waiting on my every need, had felt suffocating. The idea of navigating endless social engagements and dealing with countless people had been exhausting.

‘But after living this way for over half a year, I’ve grown quite accustomed to having maids around me…’

Even socializing wasn’t as troublesome as I had expected. Apart from my private meetings with Audrey, I only attended one or two banquets a month. That wasn’t too difficult to manage.

‘I thought being the Duchess of Dumont would mean being forced into all sorts of obligations, but… Could it be that being the Duchess of Dumont actually exempts me from those expectations?’

Ethan himself had always kept his distance from high society. Because of that, it seemed that no one had expected me to play that role either.

‘Well, to be precise, no one had expected anything from me at all… at least in the past.’

In any case, before I even realized it, both of the reasons I had for leaving the ducal estate had vanished.

‘How on earth did things turn out like this…?’

I let out a small sigh without realizing it.

“Duchess? Is something wrong?” Elodie tilted her head and asked.

“Oh? No, it’s nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

Smiling, I reached out and patted Elodie’s head.

‘Regardless, I need to make a firm decision about what to do next… and as soon as possible.’

***

After finishing my duties at the orphanage, I headed straight for the cathedral.

I was meeting Arthur.

Today was the day of his monthly report.

Just like last month, Arthur reported that he had yet to find Gabriel Blanchard.

“Still no leads?”

“No. It seems he was always extremely thorough in covering his tracks. At this point, I’m beginning to doubt whether such a man even existed. Dead or alive, there’s not a single trace of him.”

I furrowed my brows slightly and looked at Arthur. “You’re not telling me you’re about to give up, are you?”

Hearing my words, Arthur stroked his mustache with a slightly offended expression.

“Of course not. If I were going to surrender, I wouldn’t have taken the job in the first place.”

“Then, how long do you expect it will take to find Blanchard?”

Arthur hesitated for a moment before answering, “To be frank, I can’t give you a definitive answer. Right now, I’m retracing his past based on his origins and family connections. To find Gabriel Blanchard, we need to uncover every last detail about him. The only fortunate thing is that we at least know his real name.”

“Even from a brief glance, it seems like this will take quite some time.”

“Yes. But didn’t you already anticipate that it would take at least a year or two? Trust me and be patient.”

At the time of making the request, I had indeed been prepared for that. But since then, the situation had changed in many ways.

‘Honestly, I’m not sure if I can afford to wait that long. No matter how I think about it, there’s no way Marlon will stay quiet and do nothing until then.’

Of course, I knew that rushing things wouldn’t solve the problem, so I decided not to press Arthur further.

Arthur, who had been observing me quietly, spoke again.

“I heard the rumors. They say your husband was injured during a duel. I heard it was quite serious.”

“Huh? Oh, yes. But he’s fine now. He’s recovering well, and they say there won’t be any lasting effects.”

“That’s… I don’t know whether to say that’s fortunate or unfortunate. At least from your perspective.”

Come to think of it, Arthur still believed that I wanted to escape from my husband.

And until just recently, that had indeed been the case—not merely a convenient excuse, but the actual truth.

“While we’re on the subject, I should mention that the arrangements for your other request are nearly complete. A new identity, transportation, travel route, and even a settlement location—all prepared.”

At Arthur’s words, I narrowed my eyes slightly. “That was quick. I thought I had told you I wouldn’t leave until we found Blanchard.”

“Yes, but it never hurts to be prepared in advance. There’s always the possibility that you might change your mind.”

“……”

I stared silently at my hands, folded together on my lap.

Arthur cleared his throat lightly. “Anyway, I just wanted you to be aware. If the time comes when you need to leave immediately, let me know. I can have everything ready for you to depart that very night.”

Arthur pulled a small card from his coat and placed it beside me. The letter ‘L’ was engraved in gold.

“There’s a small pub on No. 7 Medicine Street. Show this card to the bartender, and they’ll connect you to me.”

I already knew about the card’s purpose and everything Arthur had just said, thanks to the original story.

In fact, Elodie had personally gone to that pub to meet Arthur.

“I doubt it will come to that, but… thank you. I’ll keep it just in case.”

I took the card and tucked it away. Then, pulling out my pocket watch, I checked the time.

“It’s time. I’ll see you again next month.”

“Yes, Madam.”

***

Even after Camille disappeared into the confessional booth, Arthur did not leave right away. He silently replayed the conversation in his mind.

‘I doubt it will come to that, huh…’

Arthur thought differently. If anything, he believed it was highly likely. And not in the distant future, either.

Arthur picked up his cane and stood up.

***

Clunk. At the sound of the door opening, Nicolas lifted his head. After a long and grueling wait, the door had finally opened.

“The Duke will see you now.”

At the secretary’s words, Nicolas adjusted his clothes and, with a faintly stiff expression, stepped into the room.

Marlon was seated at his desk, reviewing documents. As Nicolas hesitated, unsure whether to greet him or wait for permission to speak, Marlon abruptly spoke.

“So?”

“Excuse me?”

Nicolas reflexively asked back, then stammered, flustered.

“Ah… um, Duke, it’s been a while—”

“I’m busy. Get to the point.”

“…Ah, yes. My apologies.”

Even though he had rehearsed what to say multiple times, standing before Marlon made his mind go completely blank.

Desperately trying to recall his prepared words, Nicolas finally managed to speak.

“I came to report on the Dumont matter.”

At those words, Marlon’s gaze finally shifted toward him.

“I heard you claimed to know nothing during the investigation. Were you lying?”

After Mathieu’s disappearance, a thorough internal investigation had been conducted within the intelligence unit.

Mathieu’s direct subordinates, in particular, had been subjected to rigorous interrogation. Nicolas was no exception. Although he was still a trainee agent, he had received direct training under Mathieu.

Within the intelligence unit, it was believed that Nicolas was given special treatment due to his exceptional talent. However, Nicolas himself knew that wasn’t the whole story.