divorce chapter 2

In that novel, my fiancé, Lennard Verhagen, was one of the male leads. And I, Estelle, was his first companion. Despite being his first companion, Lennard never laid a hand on Estelle. Crippled by his mysophobia, he wouldn’t touch a woman, and this didn’t change after their marriage. Forced to endure this, he eventually lost control, and Estelle, trying to stop him, died from his power, her body never recovered. It was a catastrophe brought on by his mysophobia and arrogance.

I didn’t want to die like that. So, what to do? Destroy the original story, of course. Remembering the original story, I immediately went to my father.

“Father, I want to break off the engagement.”

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, go back and help your mother.” Count Schneider completely ignored me. Kicked out of his study, I was reminded of my situation. Until recently, I had been so thrilled about this engagement, believing it would pave my way to becoming a duchess and a life of bliss. My future unhappiness wasn’t a priority for my parents. All they cared about was the hefty dowry they’d receive from the Verhagen dukedom. The allowance the dukedom would pay to the Schneider county for my upkeep was enormous.

And my brother just got engaged recently, too.

There was no way my family, with only expenses on the horizon, would agree to break off my engagement. To them, I was nothing more than a means to obtain money from the Verhagen dukedom. In the original story, there was one reason why Estelle couldn’t return to her family, the Schneider county: they were poor. Even now, they were living off the money from the dukedom, using my status as a companion as leverage. If I broke off the engagement or divorced and returned to the county, they would have to repay all that money. With interest. To break off the engagement, I needed enough money to pay off their debts and get the county back on its feet.

It was fortunate that I had only recently read the novel. Knowing the future, I planned to use that knowledge to make money. 

This time, I’m going to live as long as possible.

In my past life, I died at twenty, having worked myself to death without even experiencing romance. I wasn’t going to make the foolish mistake of sacrificing my life for a male lead I’d never even met.

***

My first task was to secure funds. 

Where does all that allowance money go?

It was clearly money meant for me, yet the amount that actually reached my hands was ridiculously small. Come to think of it, buying new dresses and jewelry every year had always been the norm. But since I was engaged, most of my allowance went to my brother. I hadn’t thought much of it before, but now it seemed strange.

“Even if I ask for it now, they won’t give it to me.” The most unfortunate thing about being transported here was that things I hadn’t cared about before now bothered me. My father, who saw his daughter as a commodity. My family, who discriminated against me in favor of their son, the future head of the family. The servants within the family, who subtly disregarded me, knowing my position.

“What’s the point of being a duchess if she’s not going to live long anyway?”

“If it were me, I would have run away already.” I never realized they were talking about me when they whispered behind my back. Past me was so foolish. But there was an upside. I could identify who I could trust, and more importantly, no one paid attention to what I did.

I selected the most expensive and valuable pieces from my jewelry collection. Then, I called Nina and entrusted her with selling them. Nina had been the one person who stayed by my side even when I was foolish, so I could trust her. Without questioning my instructions, she handled the task efficiently. Since I would eventually have to return the jewelry, she pawned them instead of selling them outright.

“They were in such good condition that I got a higher price for them.” They must have been more valuable than I thought. ‘I’ll use this wisely and return them safely.’ I thanked her, picturing the young male lead in the portrait.

I rented an office in a building on Main Road, lined with boutiques frequented by the nobility. I needed a prestigious location; if I chose a cheaper, less impressive office, the nobles might turn away. I named it Magnolia Trading Company and completed the setup with a beautiful sign and luxurious interior. 

Then, I invested half of the remaining money in a flower farm on the outskirts of the capital. The Crown Prince’s wedding was scheduled for within a year, and the callas the Crown Princess would choose for her bouquet were set to become a huge trend. 

Until the female lead carries a lily-of-the-valley bouquet at her own wedding, these will be the most popular.

The female lead always had to be unique, so she would set a new trend with her lily-of-the-valley bouquet. Fortunately, the Crown Princess hadn’t chosen her flowers yet. The problem was that the boutique was a relatively unknown newcomer among florists.