The Answer to a Cheating (Ex)Husband is Remarriage - Chapter 5
Sylaria’s legs gave out from the shock. She glared at her friend, struggling with all her might not to collapse. The hand gripping the bedside table had turned white.
“What’s wrong, Sellie?”
Grizelle tilted her head gently as she asked with a kind voice.
On the hand she was stroking her belly with, there was a diamond ring as big as an eyeball.
Seeing where Sylaria’s gaze landed, Grizelle smiled shyly.
“Oh. This ring, isn’t it pretty? Arendt gave it to me for our three-year anniversary. I told him it was too much, but still.”
Three years.
Sylaria clenched her teeth as she listened to Grizelle’s explanation.
Three years—the exact length of Sylaria’s own marriage. That meant from the moment Sylaria brought Grizelle to the palace as her personal lady-in-waiting, the two of them had been together all along.
Outwardly, they acted as if they cared about Sylaria, but all the while, they were betraying her behind her back. Sylaria clutched her trembling arms, shuddering with betrayal.
“…Why didn’t you just keep hiding it?”
“We can’t raise our child as a bastard. And now, Arendt has finally become the Crown Prince.”
Grizelle spoke with a gentle smile. As she said, just a few days prior, the noble council had recognized Arendtert as the Crown Prince.
Unlike the still-unmarried First Imperial Prince, Second Prince Arendtert had maintained a stable married life for three years.
Whatever the reality, Purifier Sylaria and Holy Knight Arendtert were a married couple, and they had lived an outwardly exemplary and scandal-free life.
The Emperor and the noble council valued this and decided that Arendtert was worthy of holding the Empire’s future.
And yet, the Crown Prince was now shattering his marriage with his own hands the moment he obtained the right of succession.
It was arrogance, betrayal, and tyranny.
Arendtert slipped his hand around Grizelle’s waist and raised one corner of his mouth.
“My love, I’m grateful to you, you know. Because of you, I became Crown Prince, and we met.”
“Oh, Arendt! What are you saying? It’s Sellie who should be thanking me.”
Grizelle lightly tapped the back of Arendtert’s hand with her lips pursed, as if sulking.
Sylaria’s eyebrows twisted at her friend’s brazen words and flirtatious attitude toward her own husband.
“Why should I be grateful to you?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Grizelle’s eyes widened at Sylaria’s question, her expression as if she truly didn’t understand.
“Well, I went through all the trouble of purifying Arendt for you, since you couldn’t manage it.”
“Did you ever think it was because of you that our marital compatibility rate dropped?”
“How is that my fault? You’re just incompetent. Really, you are.”
Grizelle clicked her tongue. She thrust her stomach out as she spoke.
“No matter what you say, the compatibility rate between me and Arendt is a full 74 percent. Do you think you could ever achieve that kind of match? If you have any conscience, you should just step aside.”
“Grizelle, how could you…”
Sylaria was so overcome with rising anger that she couldn’t finish her sentence.
She and Grizelle had grown up in the same neighborhood. Sylaria, Elenia, and Grizelle had been like sisters.
Even though she brought Grizelle to the palace under the pretense of being her personal lady-in-waiting, Sylaria always treated her like a distinguished guest.
Of the silk and jewels she received as gifts, she sent the best ones to Grizelle.
She even made sure the other attendants never treated Grizelle poorly or left her wanting.
Because of that, the head lady-in-waiting would sometimes complain that Grizelle was getting above herself.
Each time, Sylaria would smooth things over, because she wanted Grizelle to live comfortably in the palace.
When the time was right, she had planned to arrange a good marriage between Grizelle and an upstanding Holy Knight.
Just like Elenia, Grizelle was a precious younger sister to her.
But Grizelle had gotten pregnant with her husband’s child. And now she wanted to take Sylaria’s place. Sylaria’s heart tightened painfully with betrayal.
“How could you do this to me?”
“Well, maybe you should have treated me better.”
“I did my best for you!”
“Your best?”
Grizelle snorted.
“So what, am I supposed to fall at your feet in gratitude? Thank you for giving me your hand-me-down dresses, thank you for sending me those tacky jewels?”
“Grizelle!”
“Shh, enough.”
When Sylaria’s voice rose in frustration, Arendtert held up a hand to stop her.
He began combing his fingers through Grizelle’s bright blond hair as he spoke.
“Sellie, Grizelle is pregnant. Should you really be screaming at someone who needs to rest, without any decorum?”
“I won’t divorce you.”
“What?”
“If I divorce you, the two of you will be free to have your wedding without a care. Why would I do something like that for you?”
