Chapter 133: Ch. 132: Divorce
“It is funny how I’m back in the sa place, yet again,” I murmur. It’s amazing how much ti noblewon and royal won have to spend getting fitted for this and that. But one thing has certainly changed. The tape asurer around my bust feels different from the last, there’s a new sensitivity there that I rember all too well from my previous adventures with puberty.
“Life is cyclical,” Lady Arabella murmurs, checking the numbers on her tape asurer before scribbling sothing down. “But we all continue to grow and change.”
“Is sothing the matter, Lady Berr- Lady Arabella?” I curse myself for nearly slipping up and addressing her by the married na that she obviously hates.
Lady Arabella smiles down sadly at her notebook. “Is it so obvious?”
“A little. You know you can confide in . If it is within my abilities, I would be more than happy to help.”
She looks tempted for a second. Lady Arabella is a scant few years younger than my real age, smack dab in the middle of her twenties, but her spirit makes her seem far older. At my words, she perks up and a bit of her youthfulness peeks through her eyes. However, I can see her smother her hope right before my eyes, the light dimming once more.
The young Arabella Westmont whom I saw being bullied at the Spring Ball all those years ago looks even frailer now than she did then as if life has been chipping away at her vitality.
.....
“No, it wouldn’t be proper for to say. You’ve already done so much for ,” she murmurs dully. Today was just a eting for last-minute alterations on my already finished dress, hence the speed of our appointnt.
“I’ll decide if it’s not proper. Go ahead, share,” I urge. Rule #1 of running any sort of network: keep those in your employnt happy. And I’m nowhere near as useless as I was a few years ago.
“A divorce.” It cos out as a whisper, a barely intelligible one.
“Eh?” I ask. Her voice is so quiet I’m not sure if I heard her speak.
“I would like a divorce,” Lady Arabella repeats. Her tone is quiet but firm.
The words themselves are not shocking to , but for this era it is. Unhappy marriages are commonplace amongst the nobility, but many simply seek comfort in soone else’s arms aside from their spouse once they’ve produced an heir or two.
Lady Arabella is a true rarity for opening a couturier and working, sothing considered blasphemous by most noblewon. At most, so esteed noblewon open up a salon in an expensive part of the capital so they can have sowhere else to gossip and gamble outside of their luxurious hos. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s rather surprising to that mbers of the Berrick family she has married into haven’t forced her to shut it down yet.
Taking my silence as a negative, Lady Arabella backpedals imdiately and her tan skin pales. “As I said, it was presumptuous of . Please take it as aningless nonsense brought about by today’s terrible heat.”
“No, don’t be like that,” I cajole, reaching out to take one of her hands. They are freezing cold despite the aforentioned good weather. “I know how others might react but believe , I understand why you may wish for a divorce.”
The mountainous Sir Jasper who’d dragged out from under the hedge had been the source of my nightmares for years after all. Larger than a mountain and with hands the size of catcher’s mitts, seeing the obedient lapdog of Katya would strike fear into the heart of anyone.
“He has returned from the east. With more rits under his belt than he left,” Lady Arabella stamrs out. Patience is key for the entire story to unravel itself and I can tell there is a greater story lurking under her words.
I’ve had enough years of practice to understand the aning laced in between. After all, the entire reason this marriage happened was so that the then small Berrick family, which was tottering on the small title of baron, could obtain more military power and further benefit House Duvernay. The eldest son was already a lock on inheriting the title, driving Jasper Berrick into the royal guard like any other second son seeking to make a na outside his family. But by marrying Arabella, he’s managed to siphon away her late famous father’s supporters in the army, building a bigger na for himself.
Allowing her to run her couturier was a great allowance on the part of the Berrick family, largely due to the fact that they were leeching onto her like a vampire to build up their military power and needed to keep her temporarily happy. But now that Sir Jasper has returned with his own rits, he won’t need to keep Arabella “happy” any longer, not that she was happy to begin with. That beast of a husband doesn’t have a soul and I’ve seen the bruises.
“Coming back with rits ans that you can hold your head higher as his wife,” I say, pretending to be obtuse so I can draw more out of Lady Arabella.
“Hold my head higher?” She laughs but it sounds more like a cry. “I am not respected in the Berrick residence. None of the servants treat kindly except for the scant few I brought with from ho. He fornicates with the maids before my eyes. But do you know that I’m actually happy when he does? I’d prefer he go to another woman other than myself.”
She shivers before realizing she is talking to a young unwed girl and gasps. “I’ve shared too much, your highness. This is not the typical behavior of a husband. I’m sure whover His Majesty will wed you to will respect you very much.”
I wave her concerns away while inwardly cackling because of a certain marriage contract that could potentially ship to a whole other continent. “I’m a princess, I’ve heard of these things before,” I tell her.
“I may not be able to visit you as often from now on,” Lady Arabella sighs bitterly. “Jasper may try to force to close my shop and stay ho now that he has the prestige he wanted and no need for my family na.”
I tap my chin. The military happens to be one of the places in the governnt that I have struggled to gain information about. But from Lady Arabella’s words, I can fathom that the Duvernay family has been seeking to gain more power in an arena that my father has successfully held dominion over for almost 20 years. Being a conqueror emperor does tend to make you quite popular with the military after all.
“We have been successful business partners for the past few years, no?” I ask.
“Yes?”
“Then why would I abandon you so quickly? We may have first made our acquaintance under dishonest circumstances when I went by Pandora, but I would say that we get along very well these days.” Her eyes grow misty as I speak.
“Your highness...” Lady Arabella half-sobs. “I am grateful for your recognition. My only escape and true passion would have never been fulfilled if it weren’t for you.”
Internally, I’m shaking my head because, in the webnovel, Lady Arabella had already found a way to found her successful East Bend shop all on her own.
But I do want to help her. Beyond just the tangible benefits both Augustus and myself would receive if the Duvernay family has one less ace in their corner, she reminds of my mother. And the sa way my mother had the freedom and courage to break off her abusive relationship, I want to help Lady Arabella do the sa, old-fashioned rules and conventions be damned.
“I have faith that even without my aid, you would’ve done it on your own. But I hope you rember, you’re not alone Lady Arabella. I can’t promise that I can find a way to make this divorce happen, but I will do anything in my power to help you. I’ve... seen before that relationships such as your own will only do more harm than good if you try to persevere and stay in it. You are still young and without children so now is the best ti for you-”
I get pulled into a fierce hug, one that surprises so much I hardly rember what I am to say next.
“To leave? Lady Arabella?” I say, my remaining words muffled in the simple fabric of her dress. Despite being having debuted in society and newly minted mber of nobility, the shy Lady Arabella has often dressed more like a commoner than a noblewoman.
“Thank you. Thank you, your highness. Even if nothing happens, not be demonized for my fervent wish pleases beyond words.” In the midst of her passionate words, I finally wrap my arms around her as well. There is a bruise on her ribcage, which I heal in seconds.
Lady Arabella speaks with the sa reverence as if I’ve done far more for her than simply understanding where she’s coming from when she said she wanted a divorce. It’s things like this that make miss my past life, where won were free to pursue a divorce if they wanted one and weren’t seen as blasphemous for it.
“It’s a complex process but I’ve read up on this matter, there are ways to get around it,” I muse, my head already going in circles. I’m grateful for the early days in the palace where I did nothing but read and mope around. The information I’ve obtained in that era, particularly from a heavy to about Erudian law, serves greatly to this day.
“Don’t bother, your highness. I’ve looked into the prerequisite requirents and I know that I will never et them for the divorce to even be heard in a court of law. But I will survive this marriage. If you never hear from again, your highness, take care. I shall still endeavor to get information to you however I can.” Lady Arabella looks like a soldier returning to the battlefield, her weary smile and curtsey at odds with the finery and glamour of my dressing room.
She too sits in a position many would envy as the Berrick family climbs the ranks from a low-tier noble family to a mid-tier one, and yet Lady Arabella would much rather leave. She reminds greatly of myself.
“If you knew so of the things I’ve done in the past, you’d have more faith in ,” I chuckle, her every word only further centing my desire to drag her out of her unhealthy marriage. But when I look up at the door, Lady Arabella is gone as if she were never here.
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