Chapter 8

"Why did someone like Cleverna end up being divorced?"

"There are various reasons, I suppose, but it's probably because I wasn't good enough. It's simply that I couldn't win the trust of my husband and those around him."

One day, Russo invited me for a drink.

I had never gone out at night before, so I declined at first. But when I said I had never gone out at night, she said, "I'll teach you the fun of night life," and I ended up nodding.

"Any man who couldn't see Cleverna's good points must have been a boring guy!"

Russo, who was drinking, had become a bit more outspoken.

"I think he was a good man in general."

"…Does that mean Cleverna didn't like her ex-husband?"

"Yes. It was an arranged marriage by my parents. My ex-husband didn't have any feelings for me either."

Neither my husband nor I had married of our own free will. If it hadn't been a political marriage, he probably wouldn't have wanted to marry someone like me.

"Even though it was an arranged marriage, it was a waste to have married Cleverna and then divorce her. And for you to come to a neighboring country right after being divorced, there must be a good reason."

Russo's face was red, and it was clear she had drunk a considerable amount.

"…My reputation in my hometown was terrible."

I let that slip because I had been drinking. Russo continued to ask about the words that slipped out.

"Why? Cleverna isn't the type to deserve such a bad reputation."

"My family's bad reputation was something I had to bear, regardless of my own will."

"Why…? That's terrible, even among family."

Hearing Russo say that, I thought her family must be very close.

"There was one important thing for my family to recognize me as a member. I didn't have it. So… to my parents, I wasn't recognized as a family member."

Whether or not I could use magic.

That was everything to my family. Even if I had a small amount of magical power, if I could use magic, I might have been treated as a failure, but I might have been recognized as a family member.

"…So, you were married by the order of people who didn't recognize you as a family member, and at your new home, you had a terrible reputation because of your family, which made things difficult?"

"Yes."

When I answered lightly, Russo's eyes widened.

"Don't be so calm. It's okay to be angry! I'm more angry just hearing about it!"

"Be angry?"

"Yes. If you were treated like that, you should have been angry. You even had a child, and they believed rumors without verifying them and treated you with contempt. Such a scumbag, it was right to break up with him."

I was surprised to hear my ex-husband called a scumbag. Until now, everyone had spoken positively about my husband.

"Cleverna, why are you smiling?"

"Because no one has ever called my husband a scumbag… And I've never even considered being angry."

My parents and siblings occasionally lashed out at me. They said it was embarrassing to be related to someone who couldn't use magic.

At my new home, my husband's subordinates often glared at me, showing that they didn't recognize me.

—I had never even considered being angry. Maybe I thought it wouldn't make a difference.

"Russo, I've never even thought about being angry at someone."

"Is that so? If you have to deal with problematic family members or scumbags, I think it's good to be angry. Everyone has the right to be angry when they are treated unjustly."

Russo laughed as she said this.

…If you are treated unjustly, you have the right to be angry.

I, who couldn't use magic and was considered a disgrace to the family, had always been told that.

"Yes… I've never been angry at anyone, so I'll try to do it if I can."

"Oh, being angry isn't something you decide to do."

Hearing my determined words, Russo chuckled.

You can't decide to be angry. But what does it feel like to be angry?

In the novels I read, the characters would raise their voices in anger when something went wrong. They would cry loudly and show their emotions.

—I never had a governess, so as a "duchess's daughter," I had been imitating what I learned from my family and books. The books said that a "duchess's daughter" or "duchess" should not show their emotions, so I imitated that. The nobles in the novels were emotional, but they were generally depicted that way. And I knew that even if I became emotional, no one would listen.

After talking with Russo, I decided to try being angry again.