how to divorce the male lead - chapter 9
He was behaving childishly, clinging to her robe's hem and pleading. Pleading for something he shouldn't desire – her love.
The love of a woman who would eventually be his killer.
"Evan, do you need to see me hit rock bottom to give up on me?"
Yuliana murmured gloomily.
Evan Hillchen still didn't know. He didn't know that Yuliana Oben, who remembered her past life, had become someone capable of both wicked and childish deeds.
As she licked the circular scar on her skin, where it had once been bruised, she thought gloomily.
"If I'm going to sever ties, I'll make it clear."
Then, she sat down, gazing at the fallen blue rose.
The damp rose petals, wet from the winter dew, greeted the impending events with solemnity, as if prophesying.
"I didn't intend to use such a typical method..."
She pitifully placed the broken stem of the rose against her chest. Her heart trembled as if it were a young bird testing its wings.
Yuliana then made an effort to raise her head once more to search for Evan's figure.
However, perhaps due to her entering the room, his figure remained unnoticeable.
****
Yuliana Obon, or rather the Obon Marquess family, was wealthy.
The substantial dowry she brought with her was derived from the golden mines on the Marquess estate located in the back mountains.
Furthermore, on the other side of the mine, the remnants of a deceased dragon were scattered like treasures.
Thanks to the Marquess family's astute land ownership, this archaeological heritage had been the property of the Obon family for generations.
Even the dignified archaeologists from the palace would knock on the Obon family's door every summer, claiming they would research dragon bone fragments.
Of course, this included passage fees and research costs.
Thus, the Obon family prospered as one of the empire's few symbols of wealth, and Yuliana Obon, the illegitimate daughter, grew up enjoying that wealth to the fullest.
Even when she married into the Hillchen Marquess family, she insisted on not using a single coin from the "dirty illegitimate Marquess."
As the Marquess's wife, she didn't even bother checking the Hillchen Marquess family's financial status and only stayed at the Marquess's residence like a summer vacation spot.
People marveled that the only good thing she did was not touching the Marquess family's money. However, not long after the Marquess returned, Lady Yuliana Obon began to meddle with the Hillchen Marquess family's fortune.
Of course, it was not a good development, and people started to shake their heads, thinking that Lady Yuliana Obon was embarking on a journey to become a true villainess.
Meanwhile, upon hearing these rumors, someone knocked on the Marquess's gate a month later—none other than Hilden Obon, the second Marquess.
He was quite the opposite of his daughter in terms of appearance.
He was a round-faced, naive man who, unlike his daughter, didn't boast sharp, rose-like beauty. Moreover, as he aged, his belly grew, and once he went bald, he adopted a harmless appearance that wouldn't harm anyone.
He loved his daughter so much that, until she could walk on her own, he carried her around, cherishing her more than a princess.
And he had never regretted it until today, on a day when his daughter was behaving somewhat out of character.
"hm, hm!"
Hilden Obon, not having seen his son-in-law for a while, decided to visit the Hillchen Marquess's residence around the time when Evan would likely be with the palace knights. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he stood firmly in front of his daughter's tightly shut door, waiting for permission to enter.
In his nature, he would have burst open the door and become angry, or cried with tears in his eyes (the Marquis of Auburn usually made his daughter sick in the latter way), but he could not do so to the duchess's hostess.
He stood there as calmly as possible, waiting for permission to enter. It was only after a considerable pause that Yuliana spoke in a slow, deliberate tone.
"Father, it's been a while."
Surprisingly, Yuliana opened the door herself. The daughter revealed before him today was more beautiful than usual. No, she was excessively splendid, so striking that she could steal gazes and snatch away lives like a poisonous rose. Her dazzling attire, adorned with extravagant jewelry, sparkled brilliantly even in the dim winter light.
The deep red lipstick harmonized with her necklace, a ruby. Her ears glittered with white diamond earrings. Her dark red hair, flowing down to her waist, remained radiant like unfading rose petals even in the winter cold.
As she moved, her hair seemed to glisten, and as he observed closely, he noticed that between strands of hair, something resembling a dragon's heart had been intricately embedded in the red diamond-like hair tie at the back of her head.
If Yuliana's temper was any indication, it couldn't be fake. Then, considering the value of everything she was wearing, his head began to spin.
"Huff!"
"Why are you so surprised?"
Yuliana smiled mischievously and, twisting her hair with one hand, said, "You seem to be quite shocked by the sight."
"Y-Yuliana!"
"Why? You do know my name is Yuliana Obon, don't you?"
She spoke with a hint of naivety.
Then, she gently took her bewildered, aging father's hand and led him further into her lavishly decorated room. She made him comfortably sit in a chair she had set up in a corner, even more lavishly decorated.
"What brings you here?"
"Why, why I came here, don't you also know."
Hilden said pitifully.
Then, he looked around nervously.
His daughter was never one to fear people's judgment, but this was taking it too far.
Not only did she openly mock the Marquess while socializing with other men, but she was now squandering Hillchen Marquess's wealth!
The marriage of Yuliana Obon and Evan Hillchen was not just an ordinary marriage. There was no way she didn't know that, and she was crossing the line.
"Yuliana."
"Would you like a cookie? I happened to be eating one."
To divert her father's gaze, she offered him a cookie.
As the Marquess, he didn't decline the food placed in front of him and took a bite of the crispy, crumbly cookie. Some crumbs fell onto his chest.
At the same time, Yuliana used a handkerchief to gently brush the crumbs off his chest. The Marquess, who had approached her with the intention of being stern, found his heart melting at her actions.
Of course, Yuliana knew well in advance that with such a simple gesture, her father's determination would melt away like ice cream on a hot summer day, as if it had been laid out on the asphalt.
"Why did you come out on such a cold day?"
"Cough, cough!"
The Marquess coughed as he struggled to find the right words.
Whether it was because the food had gone down easily or because he found his daughter's cute pout endearing, he couldn't seem to find the words to scold her.
"I heard you've been engaging in excessive behavior lately."
The Marquess, struggling to speak, already had teary eyes, just as Yuliana had expected.
He seemed tense, his chest tightening under the pressure to lecture his daughter, and his eyes were welling up with tears. Yuliana, once again, tried to provoke her father, feigning ignorance.
"Excessive? You mean me?"
"Look at this!"
Lord Obon slammed his sturdy hand on the table, creating an air of authority. He walked over to the luxurious room and pointed to a stack of documents on the desk.
"A Dragon's Heart? How do you expect to obtain this?"
"I just wanted more diamonds with hardened dragon hearts."
"Of course! It's a genuine one, isn't it? I knew it!"
Yuliana stammered, "Well, Evan said we could order as many as we wanted."
A few days ago, she had found Evan and showed him the outrageous request, to which he had simply replied that they could order as many as they pleased.
Even when he heard about her ambitious plan to spend money extravagantly to annoy others, he still had this attitude!
she couldn't stand it without a well-thought-out plan. That's why he casually spent a fortune on the rarest and most difficult-to-obtain items.
Yuliana was not one to be outsmarted easily. That's why she had spent extravagantly on the scarcest and most difficult-to-obtain items.
Yuliana clenched tightly the hairband with closely set diamonds, feeling a pang of guilt.
"I didn't force anyone into this."
She opened her mouth wide, struggling to find the right words to retort to her stunned father.
Thanks to her hesitation, he quickly found an opportunity to admonish her, shaking his head and grumbling.
"Even if you didn't force anyone, this is an absurd demand! Yuliana, isn't it time you let out your anger?"
"Anger?"
Once again pretending to be unaware, Yuliana was confidently holding her ground. Her father reached out and placed a hand on her waist, as if to say that this time he wouldn't let it slide, even though he was as unthreatening as a fluffy marshmallow.
"I know very well that you're trying to distance yourself from the Marquess just because you're considered a bastard. But he's now a hero of the Empire! Can't you be satisfied with that?"
He's the same hero who will eventually kill your daughter, Father! Don't you know that? You should just stay quiet if you don't!
This time, Yuliana's mouth hung wide open, and then she quickly lowered her head as if realizing she was going too far.
She had been contemplating how to get past this predicament, and her eyes sparkled.
Yuliana had always had a habit of using her frailty as an advantage when she was in a difficult situation, given her naturally weak constitution. Now seemed like the perfect time to employ that skill.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Yuliana clutched her forehead with exaggerated distress, as if she were preparing for a speech.
The Marquess, who had been ready to launch into another lecture, was taken aback and hurriedly supported Yuliana.