Chapter 1
“I, Vainas Roche Dirhan, declare my divorce to you.”
King of Dirhan, Vainas III, uttered.
The queen sat on her knees under the king’s feet and quietly listened to the declaration.
His eyes that gazed at her were cold to the bone.
“Arnoah Salied Caision, you are no longer the queen of Dirhan as of today. There is no more place for you in the palace.”
Vainas let go of the divorce letter he had written himself.
Slam!
The golden scroll hit the top of Arnoah’s head and shook her long, silver hair before falling on the floor.
She frowned but made no noise.
There was no trace of sorry on Vainas’ face.
If she looks into his cold eyes, it would feel like slight arsenic was embedded towards her.
“You are from the empire, so go back home.”
He said.
“I won’t give you an old carriage. If you beg the emperor, you’ll be able to stay in the palace, because he is your bloody brother.”
He no longer hid his twisted satisfaction.
The shallow pride that he had upon declaring their breakup to the queen seemed to entertain him.
“I can’t believe Larisa went all the way to the empire in a small, old carriage. I think riding that will make her sick.”
Larisa, Vainas’s concubine, who arrived before Arnoah knew it, clung to his arms affectionately.
Vainas wrapped his arms around her as if he found her lovely and kissed her forehead.
On her head was Arnoah’s tiara, a silver tiara presented by Vainas.
In the center of the building was a black diamond thicker than the deep sea and brighter than the starlight.
A pair of jewels is embedded on Vainas’s crown and it was an item that Arnoah brought as part of her dowry at the time of her marriage.
Arnoah bowed her head and did not answer.
Only her shoulders were slightly twitching. It must be because they have been in the same position for a long time.
A woman with one knee raised, head lowered, and a man and woman looking down at her while exchanging smiles.
Someone would think they are a couple and the maid.
The maids and the servants that stood on both sides of the hall glanced at the king and the two women while whispering among themselves.
“In the end, they divorced.”
“What a pity. The queen was nobler than His Majesty.”
“The great royal family looks down in front of the king, and she’s just a divorced woman. Rather, Larisa is more like a queen.”
“When she gets back, I think she’ll be stuck in a tower for about a year. This divorce is shameful for the Imperial Household.”
Some people sympathized with the queen’s life, and some explicitly expressed sympathy for her due to this situation.
Some people were happy.
No one predicted it. The fact that Arnoah Sarie de Caision, the most noble-named woman in the kingdom, is being divorced in such an insulting way.
“You are only an acquaintance.”
Vainas looked down at his ex-wife, Arnoah.
“Other than that, I don’t know you.”
The king did not love the queen. It was an open fact, but most people thought he would avoid divorce for the benefit of the royal family.
She was the half-sister of Emperor Luciano, the conqueror of the continent, and the niece of the viscount, also known as the loser of the southern part of the continent.
Having her as his wife was quite shameful for the King of Dirhan, the king of a small country.
So Vainas maintained a loveless political marriage for two years, but in the end, his mind has completely tilted towards his concubine, Larisa.
Larisa was no longer satisfied with her position as the concubine, and Vainas decided to crown her as her longtime lover.
He’s glad he realized she was a crazy woman.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy decision. Several factors played a role in making the resolution firm.
The circumstances that Larisa is pregnant, the recently begun eccentricity of the queen, or evil deeds.
And…
The last thing that prompted Vainas’ decision was the conviction that his relationship with the emperor would be maintained even if he broke up his marriage.
Emperor Luciano had no affection for his sibling.
Vainas smiled a little while ago, recalling what the empire’s messenger said to him.
“The emperor will not oppose the divorce of the king and his wife.”
He appeared in front of Vainas in the middle of the night and said,
‘Isn’t the kingdom’s achievements fully proven by your actions?’
The messenger, who resembled a cold and beautiful statue more than a human being, was a wizard.
The wizards, who usually remained quiet on their land, functioned as messengers of the empire at the moment of important changes in the status of the imperial family.
This was the most important and only thing they did for the empire. The imperial family gave the wizards independent lands in return.
‘I’m here for the queen’s divorce.’
Vainas’s sleepiness escaped and his mind moved fast.
“The dowry she took is also insignificant compared to the wealth of the imperial family, but he would be foolish to be bound by wealth and ruin the relationship between the two countries.”
He finished talking and disappeared without a sound.
Without seeing the slow movement of Vainas’s mouth…
‘…That’s it.’
Vainas muttered to himself in the dark.
In other words, even if he gets divorced, the emperor will not insist on returning the dowry of Arnoah. Isn’t this good?
‘I’m getting divorced. I’m breaking up with her.’
For a moment, something like a regret flashed through him, but it was buried in relief now that the complicated matter had been resolved.
‘Now… it’s time to end this.’
He had been forced to take an oath of love for the prosperity of the kingdom and received Arnoah.
He can finally put his beloved Larisa next to him.
Vainas thought it would be the last time he would see the queen.
“If I had been sensible, it wouldn’t have ended like this.”
She didn’t mean to do this from the beginning.
If only Arnoah had broken that damn marriage all at once.
On the first night of their honeymoon, Vainas looked for Larisa on purpose because he wanted to see Arnoah abandon her pride.
He wanted Arnoah to beg for love at least once.
If only she did as Larisa would, waiting in his bedroom coquettishly, the two might have become a true couple.
But the sickeningly cold woman did not serve Vainas.
He would never hang on to a woman other than his concubine.
Perhaps she was secretly ignoring Vainas, the king of a small country.
“I hope I don’t see you again. Live well on your own.”
Vainas looked down at Arnoah with a satisfied look.
Seeing the divorce letter must’ve shocked her to the point that she was frozen.
Arnoah must be extremely regretful of her arrogant words and actions at this moment.
Of course, it’s already too late.
“You’re not deaf, are you?”
Vainas pouted mockingly at the motionless Arnoah.
He didn’t want to drag on any longer.
“Go back to the empire. I’ll lend you a knight.”
She can reflect on her mistakes after a long and arduous journey.
Arnoah, who had not moved for a long time with her head bowed down, breathed deeply.
She reached out her trembling hand and picked up the divorce letter that Vainas had thrown away.
She slowly spread out the scroll and read the words written on it, her small lips firmly closed.
Although Vainas could not see her face clearly, the pair of blue eyes that he loathed so much must be checking his seal.
“You look like a woman who’s been honest to the end.”
He uttered a low curse.
Perhaps she heard his cuss as Arnoah’s shoulders trembled once again.
‘Oh, don’t you start crying now. What a foolish woman you are.’
It was the moment when Vainas was about to say something.
“…You are being too obvious. This is divorce.”
Arnoah’s lips, which had been firmly closed, parted and a quiet voice was heard.
“……Of course not.”
Vainas answered coldly. Somehow, she seemed to have spoken to him informally, but perhaps he misheard it.
Would it make sense that his wife, who is being divorced on her knees, is speaking informally to the king?
He started to lower his head to check for Arnoah’s tears that were probably streaming down her cheeks.
“Then I won’t have to sit any longer.”
But Arnoah was faster. She stretched her left knee and stood up coolly.
“……Eh?”
“You’re not my husband anymore.”
Arnoah said with a shrug and raised her head.
“W-What the heck…”
Vainas’ eyes widened. So did Larissa’s, who was sitting next to him.
“What about me?”
Vainas could not hide his stony expression.
Arnoah’s face, which he thought would be full of tears, was clean. No…
“Thanks for ending it now. I’ve been patiently waiting for two years.”
She was smiling.
Or rather, she was sneering.
“Right now… you don’t seem to understand the situation.”
“It’s you, King Vainas, who can’t figure things out.”
Arnoah said, rolling the divorce papers back and putting them back in her sleeves.
Her blue eyes flickered with satisfaction.
His wife or rather, ex-wife, whom he had been with for two years, looked like she had made it until the end.
“Bell, come out and tell the King of Dirhan about the obituary.”
Arnoah turned her head and looked at the door as she said this.
Most of the worries and depression that covered her face during the marriage were instantly lifted, and her original cool features that had been covered were revealed.
Has she gone mad?
Vainas’s knights, maids, and servants are the only ones who witnessed this humiliating divorce.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
But before Vainas could finish speaking, a familiar face appeared with a loud explosion.
“…The messenger?”
Skin as white as snow, pitch-black hair, silver eyes that seem to suck in whoever looked into it, and a perfect face as if God had personally carved it.
It was the wizard he met last night.