Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 145

Brianna looked in the mirror and brushed her hair with a comb. Normally, the maids would have brushed her hair after the bath, but today she sent them off early, telling them to rest since they must have been exhausted from preparing for the banquet. It felt a little awkward to brush her hair alone after so long. She had apparently grown accustomed to being waited on.

After finishing brushing her hair, Brianna placed the comb she had been holding onto the vanity. Then she opened a drawer and took out the items stored there.

Money and jewelry, a train ticket, and divorce papers.

“Brianna, I brought everything you asked for. But what’s with all that money in the bank? Were you rich or something?”

Before the banquet ended, Lily had handed Brianna everything she had asked for in advance. One of them was to go to the bank on Brianna’s behalf and withdraw a portion of Leona’s inheritance. Lily was utterly shocked to discover that a tremendous sum of money had been kept untouched in the bank.

“It’s not like I meant to look. The numbers just popped out at me! But why were you working as a governess when you had that much money?”

Brianna ended the explanation briefly by saying that she had inherited the money but hadn’t been able to use it at the time, and now she could. Fortunately, Lily didn’t ask further despite her curiosity.

“This should last you for years.”

If she were to live alone for the time being, the first thing she needed was money. That was something Lucius could easily guess as well. If she retrieved the money from the bank after running away, there was a high chance Lucius would track her down immediately. So Brianna decided to withdraw enough to last for several years.

Half of the money was exchanged for jewels sold on the open market. She planned to use the cash first, then sell the jewels one by one whenever she needed more money.

Of course, there were plenty of jewels at the ducal residence that belonged to her. But those weren’t really hers anyway. More importantly, jewels owned by the ducal family carried a high risk of being traced. They weren’t common jewels one could find in the market, and since they were expensive, someone would surely question their origin.

“And this is the train ticket.”

Lily handed over the ticket, adding a worried remark.

“But the departure date is just three days from now. Trains to the region you mentioned only run once a week. If you miss this one, you’ll have to wait another ten days for the next. And this is the only one that doesn’t overlap with our theater performance schedule…”

The mention of three days from now made Brianna’s eyes flicker. She had asked Lily to book the earliest ticket available after the Night of Patrons. But even Brianna hadn’t expected the departure to be this soon.

As Brianna hesitated slightly, Lily quickly tried to put the ticket away.

“Right? This is too soon, isn’t it? I thought so. Then I’ll book another train instead. That’ll give you more time to think too…”

“No, it’s fine. Just give it to me. I’ll take that one.”

Brianna reached out her hand. Lily stared at her hand disapprovingly for a long while, then eventually handed over the ticket with a deep sigh.

“Still, think it over again. Are you really okay with leaving like this?”

“I’ve already made up my mind. I’ve finished everything I needed to do here. I could leave as soon as tomorrow.”

Brianna smiled as she held the train ticket in her hand. The foundation for supporting female artists had been fully established, so Lily would continue to receive ample sponsorship. Moreover, she had secured evidence that the Crown Prince had colluded with the Kazak Empire, and his downfall was only a matter of time. Lucius would be too busy dealing with that problem to pay attention to anything else for a while.

She concluded that it was better to take this opportunity to leave quickly.

“You’ll send a letter once you arrive, right?”

To Lily’s following question, Brianna shook her head.

“Lily, once I disappear, he’ll probably start monitoring your mailbox right away. So even if I arrive, I won’t contact you. Not until Lucius marries another woman.”

“What? Who knows when that’ll be? What if it’s ten years later—or what if he never remarries? Then what? Are you saying we’ll never contact each other again?”

“If he can’t find me after a few years, he’ll eventually give up. Then he’ll marry a nice young lady from a good family. He’s a responsible man. For the continuation of House Carlisle, he’ll have to have an heir.”

Eventually, Lily returned home with slumped shoulders. But since there was still one more chance to meet her, the farewell could be postponed.

On the day she would leave this place, Brianna planned to attend the opera with Lily. Not long after the performance began, she would switch clothes with Lily and slip out of the theater. Lucius wouldn’t find out until long after the performance ended that she had taken the train hours ago.

Carriages were slower than trains, and there was no way to catch one that had departed hours earlier. If she got into a carriage immediately after getting off the train and headed to another region, she could disappear without a trace.

Brianna looked at the divorce papers following the train ticket. Then she picked up a pen and began filling out the required form.

Her hand paused just before signing at the bottom of the document. Brianna bit her lip and set the pen down.

Yes, the signature could be added at the end. There was no need to get divorced in advance.

For now, she would remain his wife in full. After all, she would be leaving him soon. And soon another woman would take her place.

Brianna raised her head and looked around the space she had stayed in for about six months. It was a short time if short, and long if long.

Suddenly, a dazed thought surfaced.

Perhaps, talks of marrying Adelheid would come up again…

Adelheid was still refusing all proposals. And she wasn’t actively participating in society to search for another suitor either.

It was clear she hadn’t been able to forget Lucius. Though the situation might seem a bit ridiculous now, if Lucius expressed an intention to marry, Count Kirchner’s side would secretly be delighted and pretend to reluctantly accept. Given the family’s influence, the Kirchner family still held high value in a political marriage.

Brianna imagined Adelheid in a thin gown, sitting at this very vanity, adorning herself beautifully. Soon, Lucius would open the middle door that had been closed and embrace Adelheid from behind.

Just as he had done to her, Lucius would bury his face in Adelheid’s nape and leave a deep kiss on her soft skin. Adelheid would twitch slightly as if tickled, then burst into a bright smile and turn around to hug him. Their tongues became deeply entangled.

The moment she imagined the two naked bodies collapsing onto the bed in front of her, Brianna jumped up from her chair.

She hated it so much it gave her goosebumps. More than any other woman, she wanted to shout that Adelheid was absolutely not allowed.

No, was it really okay with other women? Could she truly remain unaffected seeing Lucius kiss someone else and bury himself in another woman’s body?

Overwhelmed by a maddening disgust, Brianna trembled. Even her fingers on the vanity were shaking, and she closed her eyes tightly. She already felt like she had hit rock bottom. She hated how increasingly pitiful she was becoming.

After a moment, Brianna opened her eyes again and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Staring at her bare face with no makeup, she opened a cosmetic, dabbed a red tint on her finger, and gently applied it to her lips. She patted her cheeks lightly to add a flush to her pale complexion.

Better to leave behind an unforgettable night today. So that even after a very long time, she could forever remember this moment spent with him.

Let this be the end of this foolish love.

Brianna smiled at the mirror. Thankfully, the woman reflected there looked much livelier than before.

She put the documents and money back into the drawer and locked it with a key. She had already instructed the maids not to enter this room before being called, except for the minimum number needed for cleaning. Until she left, Lucius would have no reason to enter this room either. For the time being, their nights would be spent in his room.

Brianna walked to the door. And the door that had always been opened by Lucius—this time, she opened it herself.