Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 137

“A favor? You’re asking me for a favor? Wow, what an honor. I’ve finally received a request from the Duchess of Carlisle.”

Lily brightened and brought the water glass on the table to her lips.

“What is it? Tell me. If it’s something I can do, anything at all…”

“I think I need to run away.”

“Pfft!”

Lily spit the water out. Brianna immediately handed her a handkerchief, but Lily didn’t even think to take it and just stared at her.

“…What? What did you just say?”

“But it’s not easy because of the people Lucius assigned to watch me. Could you help me?”

“T-that guy, no way!”

Lily raised her voice without meaning to, then quickly lowered it again after glancing at the guards by the entrance.

“Don’t tell me he’s one of those—jealous husbands who obsessively doubt and spy on their wives? I knew it! There was something intense about his eyes!”

“Lily, that’s not it…”

Brianna briefly pressed her fingers to her forehead, then lowered them. “It’s because I want a divorce. And this is the only way.”

Lily stared at her blankly. “What do you mean? You want a divorce, so you’re running away? Why not just tell the Duke? Ask him for one.”

“…He’ll never agree to a divorce.”

Brianna tightly gripped the handkerchief in her hand.

It was a conclusion she had reached after two months of agonizing thought. She had to divorce Lucius Carlisle.

Their marriage had been formed on a contract from the beginning. Maybe if they’d had a child, it would have been different. But the baby in her belly was already gone. She’d even been told she might not be able to conceive again.

So this marriage held no meaning anymore.

“He married me out of pity and obligation. That’s why he won’t let me go. He’ll try to stay married to me until the end.”

He was the man who had married her at his dead friend’s request. Now that she couldn’t even bear a child, he’d only see her as even more pitiful, and he would never let her go.

“Pity and obligation? What’s he pitying you for, and what’s he taking responsibility for? Why would he…?”

Lily still looked completely lost. Brianna realized she’d have to bring up Florian to make her understand.

“…Before Florian died, he wrote Lucius a letter. If he died, he asked him to marry me and take care of me.”

Lily inhaled sharply. “No matter how close you are, what kind of friend makes a request like that? And wasn’t the Duke seeing Lady Adelheid Kirchner back then?”

“Florian had taken on a dangerous investigation at Lucius’s request. I think he had a premonition he’d die. That’s probably why Lucius couldn’t refuse. Out of guilt, because his friend died because of him.”

“Are you sure about this? Are you absolutely sure Florian actually wrote that letter?”

“I saw it with my own eyes in the study drawer. It was definitely Florian’s handwriting. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it. We exchanged so many letters over the years.”

Brianna also told her the full truth about the much-gossiped incident. That on the day of the previous Duke’s death, nothing had actually happened between her and Lucius, and that he had only proposed to protect her from being branded as a dishonorable woman.

“My God…”

Lily leaned back in her chair and muttered in disbelief. Then she suddenly leaned forward toward Brianna and spoke urgently, like someone grasping at the last bit of hope.

“But Brianna, when I saw you last time, the Duke really seemed to love you. I mean it. He cared for you so much, it actually made me jealous. Whatever the beginning, I’m sure he truly loves you now.”

“When I saw him with Lady Kirchner back then, I thought the same thing. Not just me, even the servants at the Count’s estate were envious of how gentle he was with her. That’s just the kind of man he is.”

He had treated his fiancée Adelheid with heartfelt devotion, and she had been genuinely happy. Everyone believed they would become the most harmonious couple in society.

“Even after seeing Florian’s letter… at first, I thought it would be okay. That even though it wasn’t a marriage based on love, many couples still live happily that way. I thought we could become a respectful, well-matched couple too. But now… even just staying by his side is too painful.”

Day by day, it felt like her blood was drying up. She smiled at him, but deep down, she constantly wanted to cry.

Their excessive consideration for each other was turning into poison. Lucius had hidden the miscarriage out of fear that she would be hurt, and Brianna had pretended not to know because she didn’t want to wound his feelings. Other couples might have shared the grief of losing a child and tried to console one another, to overcome it together. But such a thing was impossible between them.

Because their bond hadn’t started normally. It was forced from the beginning, and that limited the emotional connection they could share. Similar things would likely happen again in the future. And when they did, they would be even more miserable than they were now.

Above all else…

Brianna lowered her eyes in solitude.

She knew well how proud Lucius was of the Carlisle dukedom. And how hard he had worked to protect it after his brother’s sudden death.

Now that he had inherited the ducal title, he had a duty to produce an heir. But if he remained married to her, he would never have one.

If he were the type of man to take a mistress and have a child through her, she might have felt differently. But that wasn’t the kind of man Lucius was. In the end, he would choose to pass the title on to a distant relative, without ever producing an heir himself.

“For me, this really feels like the end…”

Brianna let out a trembling sigh. She told herself she was leaving for Lucius’s sake, but in truth, it was more for herself. She couldn’t bear it any longer. If she stayed by his side, she felt she might eventually lose her mind.

“You… you really mean it…”

Lily swallowed hard. In her turbulent upbringing, she had seen many people driven to their limit. Some were hounded by gambling debts; others had lost all will to live after being betrayed. And that’s why she could immediately recognize that Brianna had been pushed to her psychological brink.

“…What do you want me to do?”

At last, Lily’s voice broke the silence, and Brianna lifted her gaze. Lily was staring at her with a resolute expression.

“Tell me. What should I do? How can I help?”

Brianna gave a faint smile. She knew Lily would offer to help without hesitation. Anyone else would’ve been too afraid of deceiving the Duke of Carlisle to even consider it. They might’ve gone straight to Lucius and told him everything.

“Helping me won’t get you into any trouble. You’ll still receive patronage. Lucius isn’t so petty that he’d mix business with personal matters. Even if he got angry and thought of cutting off your support, he wouldn’t go through with it.”

Over the past two months, Brianna had gradually been wrapping up her responsibilities. One of those was her patronage for female artists. If nothing else, she wanted to see that through to the end.

“Soon, the foundation to support female artists will be officially launched. And I’ve made sure that no single person’s opinion can overturn the foundation’s decisions.”

As soon as Brianna finished, Lily shouted in frustration, “What are you even saying right now? Even if I do get penalized for helping you, I don’t care. I’m going to help you no matter what, so just tell me what you need.”

“Then, first, could you buy a train ticket under your name?”

If she bought it under her own name, she’d be tracked immediately. But if Lily bought it for her, it would buy her some time before Lucius realized she was gone.

Lily nodded. “Got it. Just tell me the time and destination, and I’ll get the ticket. What else do you need?”

Brianna stared off into space for a moment. There was actually something she had to do before running away. It would be her first attempt at a kind of revenge.

“Before that, I’m going to host a large event called the Night of the Patrons. Help me with that.”