Chapter 76: CH 76

Author: Byuon

Gabriel’s attitude of explaining to me was completely nonchalant. For a moment, my head went cold. The anger, which had subsided for a moment, rose again.

“Gabriel. Are you kidding me now?”

Every morning I looked forward to it.

Gabriel might change his mind today, release me and get Cesare out too.

Maybe I was holding in his heart the kindness that Gabriel had shown me in the past.

However, Gabriel did not release me, and as time passed, only disappointment toward Gabriel was accumulating.

And even now.

I glared at him in anger.

Gabriel didn’t look away from me and said in command line.

“Divorce the Duke, Daphne.”

“I’ll pretend I just didn’t hear anything. Get out of my room right now, Gabriel.”

Daphne turned to Gabrielle and got up from her seat. But Gabriel’s words that followed soon caught my guard.

“I will release the Duke.”

I turned around and looked at Gabriel.

Gabriel smiled bitterly and continued.

“If you promise to divorce Cesare Burstoad.”

“Gabriel.”

“There is no other way. Divorce the duke. Then I will give you what you want.”

I was out of breath. Why do I remember the dream I had last night? It feels like a sharp knife is pointing at me.

“Gabriel, just let me go…”

I barely uttered a single word of sincerity.

“I love Cesare and Cesare loves me too. Gabriel says you like me….”

Can you do this to someone you really like?

Gabriel’s behavior was nothing more than an obsession with what he didn’t have, and it didn’t feel like love at all.

I had to swallow one gulp to keep the emotions from coming out.

“… Thank you. For liking me, who has nothing. But this isn’t it. I am a woman who already has a husband and there has been no quarrel between us. And if Gabriel really likes me, I think it’s right for you to let me go and wish me happiness.”

Gabriel stubbornly shuts his mouth.

Gabriel’s attitude was like a child’s. A child who throws a tantrum because he can’t have his favorite toy.

And now what he wanted was not a toy or a doll, but a person named Daphne.

“What does Gabriel get from this?”

Frustration strung Gabriel.

“You will end up hurting everyone in the end.”

“No, Daphne.”

Gabriel’s blue eyes looked straight at me. It was the color of an ocean with some water.

“I am satisfied that Daphne is with me.”

“Gabriel.”

“You can do whatever you want. If you want to go on a trip, you can go on a trip, or if you want to try a business, you can open a shop. But let me, not Cesare, to be where Daphne returns.”

It was a parallel line. No matter how much we talked, it didn’t seem to work.

As long as Gabriel was stubborn, there was no crossroads where everyone could be happy.

Gabriel’s promise to let him go if I divorced Cesare was probably the most conceivable from Gabriel’s point of view.

He said he was jealous of Cesare.

I bit my lower lip.

“Let me meet Cesare first. Then I will decide.”

Fortunately, Gabriel nodded.

So I was able to go see Cesare.

*****

That afternoon, Gabriel took me to the dungeons of the Imperial Palace.

It was my first outing after being imprisoned in Gabriel’s mansion.

As soon as I entered the prison entrance, a cool atmosphere surrounded me. It was so cold that my teeth were trembling.

I was shivering in the cold, and Gabriel handed me a cotton cloth. I ignored it and turned my head away.

“Please guide me to Cesare quickly.”

“… Okay, Daphne.”

Gabriel looked hurt, but I tried to ignore it.

The room where Cesare was imprisoned was located in the deepest part of the prison.

Every time me, Gabriel, and the prison guard passed by, the prisoners in the cell made a loud commotion.

It was a really creepy and eerie place.

How could you keep Cesare in a place like this?

In the original story, you two were in love with each other!

Although the original has already changed, I had no choice but to resent it.

To that extent, Cesare’s current situation was totally unfair and made me angry.

And finally, I reached Cesare.

“Cesare!”

Cesare, who had his head bowed with his back against the cell wall, quickly lifted his head.

His red eyes peeking through his mess were astonishing.

I shake off Gabriel holding me and run to Cesare.

“Oh my gosh. Cesare, what should I do… Are you okay?”

You’ve been through so much pain that his face is so messed up!

Cesare rushed to me.

Bang, his forehead hit the grate.

Cesare asked, stroking my face through the grate.

“Daphne?”

“Yes, Cesare. It’s me.”

“Are you really Daphne?”

I nodded, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over.

I knew he’d be worried, so I promised myself that I would never cry in front of Cesare, but when I saw the face I missed, it felt like tears were about to burst out.

His rough, calloused hands caressed my eyes and cheeks. The gesture of affection made me both relieved and heartbroken.

Cesare’s face, which I had not seen in a long time, was very emaciated.

His handsome face, like a man, had lost weight and became sharper than before. Even that felt perfect to me.

Rubbing the cheeks with Cesare’s large hands, I smiled.

“I missed you.”

His fierce red eyes opened wide, then melted back.

“Me too.”

We were having the same mind.

The sound of footsteps was heard and Gabriel drew closer to us.

Cesare’s expression, which had softened, perhaps recognizing Gabriel’s presence at that time, changed to ferocious again.

“Why did you bring Daphne here?”

Cesare growled. Gabriel, who was standing a step away, looked down at him with an expressionless face.

“Daphne asked.”

“Daphne…?”

Cesare looked at me in surprise.

I said looking straight at Gabriel.

“Gabriel. Please step aside for a moment.”

“Daphne.”

“If you don’t do what I ask, I won’t do anything either.”

After hesitating for a moment, Gabriel reluctantly stepped aside.

He left after saying that he would only give me five minutes, just five minutes.

Gabriel disappeared with the guard, and I turned to Cesare.

“Cesare. Listen to me.”

Gabriel won’t break his stubbornness until the end if I don’t give him what he wants.

Then Cesare would have to continue to be locked up in this dungeon, and there was a high probability that I too would be imprisoned in his mansion.

The Duchy of Burstoad will lose its owner and stumble, and many more will suffer than it is now.

But that’s not the ending I want.

The reason Gabriel had such an obsession with me was probably because the original was twisted.

In the original, Cesare was always by Gabriel’s side. no matter what he does

But now, no one was by Gabriel’s side.

I still hated Gabriel for pushing me, Cesare, and Burstoad servants in such a predicament. I don’t forgive Gabriel either.

But I wanted to be happy with Cesare. And I hope that Gabriel, who was punished, will also be happy in the end.

“I think we will have a happy ending.”

“Daphne?”

“Because I will make it that way. Cesare, hold this.”

What I gave Cesare was the necklace he gave me on the day of the festival.

Since Cesare gave it to me, I have been wearing this necklace around my neck every single day.

When I was stuck in Gabriel’s mansion and had a hard time, Cesare’s necklace gave me a lot of comfort.

Cesare, with the necklace in his hand, looked confused.

He didn’t seem to understand why I was returning the necklace to himself.

“Daphne.”

I heard Gabriel’s voice urging me.

“Let’s go now”

I felt like crying

There was no time.

But for now, I couldn’t say much.

“Daphne, let’s leave now.”

Gabriel’s cold voice was coming closer from behind.

“Trust me, Cesare.”

Please.

Because these were the things I needed to get Cesare out of this place and get me back to his side again.

I could at least give him this.

Kiss-

I kissed Cesare’s lips. I smiled faintly at him, who had a slightly startled expression on his face.

I love you. So wait a little bit.

*****

Two days later.

Cesare, who was imprisoned in a cell, received a document stamped with the court’s seal.

[I demand an official divorce from my husband Cesare Burstoad, who has been dishonored as a nobleman and failed to fulfill his duties.]

It was a divorce letter from Daphne Burstoad.