Tale 3
Divorce

It's been days.

The Duchess and the Duke didn't spoke with each other for several days after their argument.

The servants secretly gossiped about this, worried that the two won't be able to fix their relationship at these rate.

The Duke left to work and inspect his territory.

Since the duke will be away from home because of his work, Adelina took this opportunity to escape.

She wore some commoner clothes and left a clone of herself in the mansion to not cause a commotion.

Adelina's Legacy is Cloning.

She can create clones of not just her self but also of other people.

She can clone them perfectly including their Legacy.

Once she reabsorbs the clone back to her body, she can also absorb the Legacy of the clone.

If Mirroring Legacy works by temporarily borrowing other people's powers. Then Cloning Legacy allows her to copy other people's Legacy and makes it her own.

Using Sabrina's [Invisibility Legacy] that she copied years ago, Adelina was able to left unhindered.

She happily strolled through the town.

She felt like a tourist visiting a foreign land. She really wish she have a camera so she can take pictures around the town.

She suddenly saw a crowd at the centre of the town.

Is there a celebration? A festival?

"What's happening here, Sir?" she asked an old man

"The monthly brawl. The men here fights in public. And people can place bets." the old man answered

"A brawl? Sounds interesting!" Adelina

She cannot believe that the Duke who looks so well mannered would allow this barbaric kind of events in his land. But she likes this kind of stuffs. She's a fan of boxing and wrestling in her past life afterall!

But placing bets? Is that even legal? The Duke allow such things?

"Do you want to place a bet pretty lady?"

"Can I really bet?" Adelina

"Of course!"

Adelina secretly activated the [Legacy of Luck] and randomly bet some silver coins on a fighter.

We already know what happened next.

Adelina earned so much money that people stared at her in shock.

"How? Just who is that lady?"

Of course, no one knows her.

The Duchess never really went out on official business so the common people doesn't know her face.

A lizard-looking man smirked secretly. Seeing the weak-looking woman, she made up his mind to follow her and snatch her money. If she fights back, well, even he is not sure what he might do.

"Hey! There must be foul play here! How did she won so much money?!" another man in the crowd ranted

"She bet silver coins, so of course she earn big." A woman defended

"Shut up!" the man shouted

Adelina is a natural rascal, upon seeing the rude attitude of the man, she stepped forward and taunted, "You're not satisfied with my winnings? What a sour loser! Why don't you come forward and fight me then? If you win, you can have all this money."

The crowd instantly went in an uproar.

"Is she crazy?"

"She looks so fragile! Does she want to die?"

"She must be out of her mind!"

The man chuckled, "You're brave! But you're stupid. I shall teach you a lesson so you won't be this reckless ever again!" The money is what he's really after.

"Stop spouting bullsh!ts and just fight." Adelina

"People might think that I'm bullying a weak girl, why don't you pick a weapon? You might stand a chance that way." The man said mockingly

Adelina smirked, "People might think that I'm bullying a brainless man, why don't you pick a weapon too? You might last a few seconds more that way."

Those words earned a few giggles from the women and a ruckus of laughter from the men.

The man picked a dagger and roared angrily, "You brought this upon yourself!"

Adelina picked up a chair from the side.

"That's your chosen weapon?" her opponent asked in disbelief.

"Yes, this is enough to deal with someone like you." Adelina responded with a shrug.

"Are you fnckin kidding me?" he roared in anger. Adelina is obviously belittling him by choosing a worthless weapon like that! She's not taking him seriously at all!

Adelina frowned. Is this guy on crack? Why is he mad? She simply chose a chair because she honestly believe that anything can be a weapon in her hands.

The referee asked her a few times if she's really sure about using the chair as her weapon.

Some people even offered swords, daggers and shields but she refused.

At the end, she really settled with the chair as her weapon.

"Okay, ready? Fight!" the referee felt sorry for the woman, but he's in no position to stop her.

"You'll regret this!" the man shouted

"You talk too much." Adelina activated the Legacy of Strength and smack the man on the face, sending him flying a few distance away.

The crowd was stunned silent.

"Opppss.. I accidentally used too much strength. I hope he didn't die." Adelina said awkwardly

The lizard-looking man who was planning to ambush her to snatch her money, peed on his pants out of immense fear upon seeing her opponent flying away. He almost died just now. Why did he even think about targeting this monstrous woman?

"I suggest for his friends or relatives to send him to the hospital. He might die." Adelina suggested before leaving.

"....." Everyone was speechless.

Just who was that woman?

Adelina on the other hand kept on sight-seeing.

When she grew tired, she went to a cafe and ordered a slice of strawberry shortcake and a cup of hot chocolate.

Her body swayed left and right after she took the first bite.

The cake is just too heavenly. And it was paired with a cup of hot chocolate that warms her after her long exposure to the cold outside.

She ate blissfully, alone and happy in her own world.

Sweets is really the best!

She was half-finished on eating the cake when she felt a pair of eyes watching her.

She subconsciously look outside the window.

Across the street is another cafe, there is a man sipping a cup of coffee over there. He was staring at her.

*clack*

The fork fell from her hands.

Her heart almost skipped a beat.

She immediately break the eye contact between them, hoping that the man didn't recognized her!

Holy fnckn sh!t.

That's Duke Niklaus!

What the fnck is he doing here?

Isn't he on a business trip somewhere?

Adelina fled, and using the legacy of the Salvatore Family, she teleported back to the duke's mansion.

***

"Are you okay Duchess? Why do you look so pale?" Sabrina asked that night, she's worried because the Duchess didn't leave her room all day today. Well, she was just unaware that Adelina sneak out earlier that day.

"I-I'm alright." Adelina

"You don't look alright though." Sabrina

"Is the Duke back?" Adelina asked nervously

"He is. It seems that the road was blocked because of the heavy snow from yesterday so his trip was postponed." Sabrina

Oh fnck.

So he's really the man she saw earlier that day.

"Should I prepare your dress so you can get ready for dinner?" Sabrina

Adelina wants to cry.

She don't want to see him!

***

The Duke watch as Adelina awkwardly entered the dinning room.

"Take a seat Duchess." Niklaus motioned for her to sit down

Adelina sat down without a word.

"I want to apologize, I overreacted last time we had dinner together." Niklaus

Adelina was taken aback.

Did he just took the initiative to apologize?

What more can she say except, "I also apologize for my harsh words, Duke."

"You're not calling me 'bastard' today, Duchess?" Niklaus

Is he holding a grudge? She faintly recalls calling him a bastard at the heat of the moment. Does he really need to bring it up now?

Adelina smiled, "I don't feel like it, but if you insist-"

"Keep the act." Niklaus

"As you wish, Duke." Adelina answered with a sweet smile

"So can I assume that this is your true nature? The soft-spoken, elegant and graceful girl is just a facade?" Niklaus asked, amused.

Adelina cleared her throat, "Yes, I hope you don't mind."

"No, I find this rather... interesting." He wanted to say 'amusing' but she might feel offended and flip the table so he held back his word.

Adelina didn't respond, she tried to act busy by focusing on her food. She's secretly praying that he already forgotten their accidental meeting earlier that day.

"Did you enjoy your little outing today?" Niklaus asked calmly as he eat.

Adelina almost choke on her food.

"Since you like their food so much, I hired the owner of that cafe to be our pastry chef." Niklaus

"...."

Is he teasing her right now?

He definitely saw her eating blissfully today!

Earth, open up and just swallow me!

Seeing her embarrassed and blushing face,, Niklaus smiled.

"Ehem, by the way, I decided that we should be more open with each other. I won't mind if you speak more freely with me." Niklaus

"Are you sure? I'm good at aggro." Adelina

"Aggro?"

Hmm? Is that only a term used by gamers on Earth?

"I mean, I'm vexing. People gets irritated even without me doing anything at all." Adelina

"I actually like that side of you.. It's interesting." Niklaus

"Then you can't take it back. I will speak more comfortably with you from now on." Adelina

Niklaus smiled approvingly, he's satisfied with their agreement.

"I have a request Duke." Adelina

"Speak freely." Niklaus

"Please promise that you won't get mad." Adelina

Niklaus raised an eyebrow, "I can't promise unless I know what it's about."

"Well, this is something related to our marriage. I believe you will be benefitting greatly from this."

"Hmm? Now I'm curious." Niklaus

"Duke, if I'm not mistaken, you still have feelings for her." she said as she stare seriously in his eyes.

The duke raised one of his eyebrow, "Hmm?"

"I'm talking about her. You might get mad if I mention her name again." Adelina

"I won't this time." Niklaus promised

"Lady Lilianna Heronia, you still love her right?" Adelina

"What are you implying by asking, Duchess?" he asked

"Let's end this shitty marriage." Adelina

He stared at Adelina with interest upon hearing her vulgar words, but after a while, his face darken. Did she just said 'end'? Is she unhappy about this marriage? Or perhaps she's misunderstanding something?

Adelina kept a straight face. Waiting for him to have any reaction.

Duke, if there would come a time when you will have to choose between me and her, you would choose her, wouldn't you?

So you'd understand if I throw you under the bus to save myself, right?

"I want divorce, Duke." Adelina

The duke suddenly frown. "Are you not happy with this marriage?"

"It's not that. You have everything here. But we both know that this marriage won't work." Adelina

The Duke went silent.

"If you're worried about your reputation, then let's get divorce one year after our marriage-"

"No."

"What? Think about this more-"

"No, divorced is something I cannot allow." Niklaus

"But-"

"Duchess, you're my wife. And nothing can change that. Not now, not ever." He said firmly

Her plan for divorce failed just like that.

~~~~~~~~