Home/I Am Trying to End This Wrong Marriage/ch 10

Episode 10

Saving her from the river had been no great feat. As Dylan had already explained to Penelope, he would have rescued anyone who had fallen into the water, regardless of who they were.

He had been trying to keep his distance since then, but...

Penelope had been crying at Angela's funeral.

He had gone to a quiet, empty place to get some air and calm his tangled thoughts. But in that place where no sound should have been heard, he caught the muffled sobs of a woman.

'What's this?'

The sound came from nearby, as if she were just around the corner. When he turned, there she was—Penelope.

'Why is Lady Kruger here?'

She had no particular connection to Angela, so why was she weeping at her funeral?

Dylan's confusion was only natural. Penelope was not the sort of person who cried easily. Even if Marquess Kruger chose Ralph as his successor, she would have shown anger, perhaps, but never tears.

"Because I'm sad... It's a funeral, after all."

Her answer that day had been clumsy. The way she had huddled pathetically while crying, her tone of voice—none of it was like her.

Even during that brief exchange with Penelope, Dylan had thought her strange.

And then came the news that she had given up her claim as successor.

'What on earth are you thinking, Penelope Kruger?'

Ever since she had fallen into the river, it was as if she had become someone else entirely.

The image of her hastily wiping away her tears, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes, remained vivid in his mind even now.

Who would believe that the proud, haughty woman had looked pitiable in that moment?

'Is there something else she's after, besides the position of successor?'

For the first time, he found himself curious about her intentions—something he had never cared to know before.

---

She received astonished looks from both within and outside the family for giving up the succession race, but Angela paid them no mind. For her, what mattered far more was safely adapting to her new life while playing the role of Penelope, the body's owner.

"Senior? I have a question..."

A young man who felt familiar approached Angela hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"In the report you just handed me..."

Penelope was an official in the Imperial Administration, where the empire's elite gathered. Even among them, she had been making her mark in the Finance Department—the core division responsible for policy and budgeting.

Angela had returned to work immediately after her leave and was handling matters using Penelope's memories.

It had been a long time since she'd last worked. In the early days of her marriage, Angela had carried out official duties as the Crown Princess. After they moved to the Ducal residence, Edward had taken over everything on her behalf.

At the time, Angela had been emotionally exhausted, so she'd thought it was consideration for her. But Edward had truly given her no work at all.

"Don't feel pressured. You just need to rest here comfortably."

Even later, when Angela expressed a desire to work, Edward would only say the same thing.

And so, her authority as the Duchess was cut off, as was any information about how the world operated.

That was why working while pretending to be Penelope was such a meaningful experience for Angela.

"Lady Kruger, you're working hard as always. Take it easy."

Count Hoffman, her superior, approached her desk and said lightly.

'What would Penelope say in a situation like this?'

Since she had always admired Penelope and wanted to be like her, imitating her wasn't difficult.

"I'm fine. I should finish everything I can."

"Just like Lady Kruger."

She worked diligently like Penelope, and when she returned to the Marquess's residence, she was tired but fulfilled.

'How long has it been since I was able to immerse myself in something like this...?'

It was incomparably more valuable than those days when she couldn't even go out without her husband and lived as if trapped inside the Ducal residence.

"Lady Kruger, you should stop for a moment. I have something important to discuss with you."

"Understood, Count. Mr. Beringer, shall we continue this after I return?"

"Yes. Go ahead, Senior!"

It seemed her superior had separate business with her, so she dismissed her junior and followed the Count.

But the Count's destination was neither his office nor the conference room—it was outside the department.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, it won't take long. We'll be there soon."

She asked with puzzlement, but he gave no clear answer, which only made her more suspicious.

When she followed the Count into a certain room and saw the Dowager Empress seated there, Angela's body froze.

Startled, she looked at the Count, who spoke as if making an excuse.

"Her Majesty the Dowager Empress wished to see Lady Kruger privately."

Though the sudden shock didn't fade, Angela quickly composed herself and greeted her.

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Dowager Empress."

"Yes, come and sit."

The Dowager Empress, who had been waiting, gestured to the seat across from her.

"Then I'll leave you to talk."

Angela watched desperately as Count Hoffman bowed to the Dowager Empress and left.

'You're leaving me here...!'

Just being in front of the Dowager Empress made her feel as though her breath was being choked off.

"Why so tense, Lady Kruger?"

But seeing the Empress looking at her with eyes that weren't hostile, Angela tried to steady her anxious heart.

'It's alright. I am Lady Kruger now. She doesn't know I'm Angela...'

The Dowager Empress, always so strict, now had a hint of warmth in her eyes. It was an expression Angela had never once seen when she met the Empress in the past.

"I'm curious why you called for me separately."

"I wish to revisit the conversation we had before."

In Penelope's memories, the last encounter with the Dowager Empress had been just that—a discussion about marriage talks between the Imperial House and the Marquess's family.

"Now that the Duke of Devonshire is alone, shouldn't he take a new partner?"

When the Dowager Empress brought up the main point so directly, Angela nearly winced.

'Again? You want me to be your daughter-in-law again?'

Those memories were still vivid for Angela. The most terrible period of her life had begun right after her marriage.

---

Angela's marriage, once filled with excitement, proved more difficult than she had anticipated.

"With that frail body, I wonder if she can even bear a child properly."

The Empress—now the Dowager—had looked at her with cold eyes.

'Had she never truly approved of me...?'

Angela thought in dismay, but she never learned the Empress's true feelings.

"Come pay your respects twice a day—at seven in the morning and nine in the evening."

The Empress had instructed so, but visiting her didn't end there. She was a devout believer, so Angela had to join her in prayer three times a day.

Angela tried to treat her with warmth and respect, but the Empress's attitude remained icy.

"I suggested the three of us have tea together, yet the most junior among us arrives last."

"I apologize, Mother. I didn't expect the Crown Princess to be here so early when it's still—"

"Where are your excuses? I didn't ask for your circumstances."

If the Crown Princess hadn't intervened, the Empress would have continued scolding Angela.

Angela knew that the Empress's gaze toward the Crown Princess was different from how she looked at her. Still, wanting to win the Empress's favor, she never complained about her to Edward and continued to try.

But even in moments of crisis, the Empress was cold to her.

"Mother. Father is gravely ill. May I please visit Viscount Panning's residence for a while...?"

That day, she had received word from her family and gone to ask the Empress for permission to leave. Angela had secretly worried she might be refused.

The Empress, greeting her second daughter-in-law with an impassive face, replied to her cautious request.

"Viscount Panning will be fine. A woman of the Imperial Palace cannot leave the palace so easily. Return to your quarters and stay there."

"Mother, but..."

It was a message from the Viscountess, who rarely made such requests for fear of putting her daughter in an awkward position. Worried, Angela pleaded with the Empress again, but only received a reprimand in return.

"How dare you talk back. Did you think being a Princess Consort was a position you could do as you pleased?"

"...!"

"If that's how it is, you should never have married the Second Prince!"

"...I apologize."

In the end, Angela could not visit the estate and returned to her chambers with an anxious heart.

And that very night, she received word that her father had passed away.

---

Angela's palms had grown damp with tension. She nearly let her expression crumble, but managed to feign composure.

'I expected he would remarry.'

Angela could well anticipate that the Dowager Empress would want Edward to remarry.

But she had never imagined that the Empress would approach her—of all people—so quickly for a marriage proposal.

'They already had one failed marriage talk with House Kruger, so why...'

Why did it have to be Kruger?

Being summoned before the Dowager Empress, who had tormented her with the very news of her former husband's remarriage—it all felt surreal to Angela.

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