Chapter 32

In the evening, Aurora had someone tell Barrett to meet her by the lake. As they walked, Barrett remained silent. Aurora, still unaware of the situation, had expected him to volunteer an explanation of the divorce. To her surprise, he said nothing. Furthermore, his face was scratched, as if clawed by a cat.

After walking for a while, she stopped and asked, “Did you divorce her? Did you take half her dowry?”

As the dusk gently illuminated Aurora’s somewhat tanned face, Barrett suddenly thought of Carissa’s bright, beautiful face. His heart ached.

Seeing Barrett’s pained silence, Aurora became angry. “You didn’t deduct it? Didn’t I have someone send you a letter instructing you to deduct half her dowry? The Warren family has minimal funds remaining. If you didn’t keep some of her dowry, how are we supposed to live in the future?”

Barrett looked at her and replied, “But that was her dowry. It didn’t belong to me, and it wasn’t something I earned. Aurora, are you marrying me simply to avoid hardship?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Aurora said, turning away to hide the calculating glint in her eyes. “I was only hoping we could focus on military achievements instead of worrying about money.”

“If we live frugally, we’ll manage. It’s not like my family is destitute,” Barrett said.

Aurora turned back to him. “So, you really didn’t deduct it? She took all of her dowry?”

Seeing the disappointment and anger in Aurora’s eyes, Barrett felt a chill and a sense of bleakness.

“When it came time to sign the divorce papers, a royal edict arrived. It turns out Carissa had gone to the palace earlier to seek a divorce. From the beginning, she planned to divorce me and had no intention of sharing her position as my wife with you,” Barrett explained.

“What?”

“She said it wasn’t worth doing.”

Aurora scoffed. “Not worth doing? Did she really say that? I didn’t even mind, but she said it wasn’t worth sharing the position with me? Hah! That’s utterly ridiculous. Who does she think she is?”

Barrett added flatly, “Today, His Majesty’s edict posthumously elevated the Marquis of Northwatch to the Duke of Northwatch, the title hereditary for three generations. She is now a duke’s daughter. Her future husband can inherit the title, or she can adopt and nurture an heir from a collateral branch of the Sinclair family to inherit it.”

Aurora was dumbfounded. “What? How could His Majesty issue such an edict? Her future husband can inherit the title? How is that possible? Doesn’t this mean…”

Didn’t that mean Carissa was now highly desirable?

Bonus:

Initially, it didn’t matter whether Barrett unilaterally divorced Carissa or if they mutually agreed. Either way, Carissa would have been an abandoned woman. Even if someone wanted to marry her in the future, it wouldn’t be anyone from a respectable family.

But now, things were different. The king had given Carissa a great advantage.

Marrying her meant inheriting the title of a duke and everything that came with it, so noble families in the capital would likely flock to her.

But why? Something like this had never happened before. Why would the king set such a precedent for her?

“Aurora, she knows how to fight!” Barrett exclaimed.

Looking at the falling leaves by the lake, he remembered how Carissa had used leaves to injure him. He probably wouldn’t achieve that level of skill in his lifetime.

“Fight? As in the kind of sword dance women do? Why does that matter?” Aurora sneered.

Barrett continued dully, “She might know sword-dancing, but I’m talking about her combat skills. When I fought her today, she used leaves to injure my face.”

Aurora shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it. How is that possible? You exaggerated by saying she knows how to fight, and now you’re saying she can pick up leaves and use them to hurt people? Impossible. I’ve never heard of anyone who can do that.”

“She didn’t pick up the leaves. She propelled them with her inner force. There was no need to pick them up,” Barrett explained.

Aurora looked at him skeptically. “Are you lying to me? I don’t believe it. You’re exaggerating too much.”