Chapter 5

**Smack!** 

Antra threw her fox fur stole and fan onto the couch in frustration, glaring at the innocent objects as she gritted her teeth. 

“Arghhh!” 

Suddenly, Antra let out a scream and swept everything off the console table, but even that didn’t ease her anger. 

Leaning on the console, she recalled what had just happened, her face twisting in frustration. 

Even thinking about it again left her speechless. 

Etricia, who had always flinched at her words for the past four years, had changed overnight. She looked the same, but everything else about her was completely different. 

The way she argued logically, the way she countered with confidence, the way she skillfully took control of the conversation with a single sentence… 

**”She almost looked like a real noblewoman.”** 

Her poised posture and steady gaze even made her seem elegant and dignified. 

No, that’s impossible. Antra immediately shook her head. 

“That can’t be.” 

She was just caught off guard by the unexpected resistance. 

Antra was certain. 

**”Lady Antra Dien, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard about you from Devon, but I never imagined you would be this beautiful.”** 

She was the one who had turned that once-sparkling Etricia into the broken woman she was now. 

Etricia barely spoke during the day—just a few words, and even those were childishly simple, directed at the servants. 

She rarely laughed, barely ate, and only went outside when taking brief walks in the garden. 

For the past four years, Antra had deliberately kept her isolated from social circles to prevent any of her cruelty from being exposed, earning Etricia the nickname “The Reclusive Countess.” 

Cut off from social interactions, Etricia had become timid and gloomy, even stuttering when she spoke. 

There was no way she could transform so drastically in just one day. 

If anything, this sudden change should have felt more unsettling—but Antra, too absorbed in her anger, didn’t think that far. 

She hastily concluded that Etricia was simply rebelling. 

**”After four years, you’ve finally had enough, is that it, Etricia?”** 

She had always suspected that Etricia would eventually fight back. She just hadn’t expected it to be today. 

Antra narrowed her eyes and smirked wickedly. 

**”You must have been drenched in sweat, trying to act so bold. But it’s pointless. You’ll be crawling back to me in no time.”** 

Antra walked over to the bed and shook the servant’s bell. 

A maid knocked, asked for permission, and then entered. Antra curled a finger, beckoning her closer. 

Her red lips whispered something into the maid’s ear, her voice as sly as a serpent’s tongue. 

After dismissing the maid, Antra picked up the fox fur stole from the sofa, her mood instantly improving. 

**”Hmm-hmm~”** 

She hummed to herself, rubbing the soft fur against her cheek with a satisfied smile. 

If you want to break someone’s spirit, you must strike with a terror they can’t even imagine. 

**”I warned you, Etricia. You’ll regret this.”** 

Her eerie humming seeped through the bedroom door and echoed down the cold hallway.

— 

I tapped my chest with my fist. 

**”Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that madeleine.”** 

It seemed to be sitting heavily in my stomach. Perhaps I had been too shaken after witnessing someone lose both their lover and friend in front of me, leading me to offer awkward, impulsive comfort. 

**”Well, at least I survived.”** 

A relieved smile spread across my face. 

The rickety carriage I had rented in the city jolted and swayed, making my head bump against the side occasionally, but I didn’t mind. 

Now, my only goal was divorce. First, divorce. Second, divorce. Third, divorce. 

I would part ways with that wretched family and enjoy a glorious single life. 

Of course, I wasn’t going to make the divorce easy. 

I planned to expose the truth behind the forged will, send Devon to prison, and isolate Antra from high society. 

However, for now, all the family wealth and titles were in Devon’s hands. 

I only had one thing on my side. 

The Emperor—who had adored me like his own daughter. 

The Emperor had always been particularly fond of Etricia. 

There were even official records stating that, during audiences with my father, the Emperor would let young Etricia sit on his lap. 

**”Well, it makes sense.”** 

After the previous Emperor passed away, the current Emperor, then Crown Prince, had secured the throne by winning a brutal power struggle against his grandfather. 

And the one who had sided with him, selling magic stones at an absurdly low price, was none other than Count Buell. 

**”That mineral is what elevated the Buell family from minor nobility to wealthy aristocrats.”** 

**Lebron.** 

A magic stone that could damage monsters within range through resonance, hallucination, and burns—a shield and sword for its wielder. 

Scattered across the world, monsters—one of the ancient races that had existed alongside the first humans—hunted people indiscriminately. 

And humans fought back desperately. 

But over time, as monsters learned and adapted, they became harder to defeat. 

To make matters worse, saintly bloodlines had died out decades ago, and even with the aid of the Mage Tower, warriors were left to fight physically. 

Then, a divine revelation was given. 

 **”[I bestow my grace upon the house that never doubted nor tested my word. You must neither condemn them nor covet what is theirs.]”** 

That grace was the Lebron mine, granted to the Buell family after they rescued a saintess from a monster attack. 

Before then, the mine had only produced dull, translucent stones, deemed worthless on the market. 

Worse, merely owning it incurred massive property taxes. 

But the family’s upright ancestors had kept it, believing it was a sacred gift. 

And heaven had answered their faith. 

After the divine decree, the worthless stones revealed their true power. 

Within a month, Lebron had taken over the magic stone market, making the family immensely rich. 

Etricia’s father leveraged its rarity to do business with the imperial court, nobles with private armies, and the state religion. 

Naturally, when Etricia chose a husband from a family the Emperor despised, he was not pleased. 

Before the marriage, he even tried persuading her to investigate the will that transferred all of Count Buell’s assets to Devon. 

Even as Emperor, he couldn’t interfere without just cause. 

Feeling betrayed, Etricia cut ties with him after her wedding, and without the family’s cooperation, the investigation went nowhere.

But recently, Devon had enraged the Emperor. 

It happened during a royal audience regarding the annual renewal of the Lebron trade agreement. 

**”After all these decades, you still refuse to raise the price? Surely, Your Majesty, you don’t intend to defy the divine decree.”** 

In other words, he was accusing the Emperor of being a thief. 

Devon dared to use the divine will as leverage for a price hike. 

**”He’s gotten far too arrogant just because he controls Lebron.”** 

Tsk. I clicked my tongue. 

That incident might have made the Emperor turn against me as well. 

But even so, he wouldn’t completely ignore a letter from the child he once cherished.  

**”As soon as I get home, I need to send a letter.”** 

I would fill it with my tragic life story—my mistreatment, Devon’s infidelity, and how my in-laws had forced me to sever ties with him. 

**”And if that doesn’t work, I’ll beg on my knees until they break.”** 

Once I got the Emperor’s support and obtained the proof of the will’s forgery, I would use it to blackmail Devon into an amicable divorce. 

Lawsuits were ugly, drawn-out battles that could take months, even years. 

I wanted freedom as soon as possible. 

**”What should I do first after my divorce?”** 

Just imagining my escape from that hellish household filled me with joy. 

But as I laughed, twisting a strand of my hair, the carriage pulled into an alley near my estate. 

Then I smelled something burning. 

I turned toward my mansion—and saw black smoke rising into the sky. 

**”Wait… no way.”** 

I ran. 

And when I finally arrived— 

Count Buell’s grand estate was engulfed in flames. 

And standing in front of the gate, watching me with a smirk— 

Was Antra. 

**”So this is what you meant by ‘just wait and see’?”** 

A spark of fury ignited in my emerald eyes.