HOFRS 02

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Chapter 2 Divorce Complete. F*ck.

“Haha… what a life…”

Vendia’s body slipped helplessly down the side of the carriage window with a sigh.

Thud.

Slumped halfway across the seat, her empty eyes landed on the luggage piled across from her.
This was really happening—she had divorced him. She was leaving the ducal household and returning to her family’s estate, the Count’s residence. And yet, none of it felt real.

“Does this make sense? Is divorce supposed to be that easy?!”

Yeah. It was.

In other novels, it always took months just to finalize a divorce. Even in the democratic country she’d lived in before, there was a mandatory one-month reflection period for mutual divorces.

But here? Here…

“A divorce in just three weeks? Ha… This world runs on a strictly conservative, hierarchical system but is strangely progressive when it comes to divorce?”

She let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh.

From what she had heard, even in this world, divorce was supposed to be a lengthy and complicated process.
Even if both parties agreed, once a divorce request was submitted to the temple, it would take at least two weeks just for the initial review.

After that, the couple would be summoned again to confirm their intentions. If they hadn’t changed their minds, divine approval would be granted to nullify the vows they made before the gods.
The couple then had to appear before the divine altar once more to confess and repent for breaking those vows.

Next, the paperwork would be sent to the legal court, where it would undergo another review period of two to four weeks.
Then the couple would appear in court, and if no issues were found, the divorce would be legally finalized.

And finally, once the divorce was officially registered, they had to participate in one last ritual before the gods to completely sever the marital bond.

Just hearing about the process was exhausting—and yet, she had completed all of it within three weeks.

“Why though? It was clearly a regret-novel setup.”

Vendia clutched her head in confusion.

It had been just over two weeks since she possessed this body—three weeks, to be precise.

When she had opened her eyes in a feverish haze, she found herself in this new body.

Honestly, she wasn’t even sure what story this world belonged to.
She had read too many novels, and all the protagonists had such similar names, it was hard to remember any of them clearly.

Actually, was this even a novel world?

She had many questions, but judging from the memories of this body’s original owner, she concluded it was a regret-type plot.

‘Vendia, forced into a marriage she didn’t want with an older Marquess, saw Denros being pressured by the Emperor and his parents to marry a princess. So she made him a proposal instead.’

Vendia offered to marry him—not out of love, but as a quiet, unassuming duchess who would never interfere in his life.
Denros accepted the offer.

Of course, the previous Duke and Duchess Kalbermer didn’t approve of their son marrying the penniless daughter of a ruined Count’s family.

But Denros pushed forward with the marriage, and the two became husband and wife.

“He really made me suffer, though.”

Vendia never showed it in front of Denros, but his mother—the former Duchess—used any excuse, like social gatherings, to drag her outside and humiliate her.

She would hurl every insult in public, in front of her peers and servants.

‘All you brought from that broke-down Rose County was your pitiful body. What exactly made you think you belonged in our family?’

Her mother-in-law constantly insulted her background and threw cruel words at her.

The Kalbermer family was so rich that no one cared about dowries.
But her own family, the Rose Count’s estate, was buried in debt. That was enough to make her mother-in-law despise her.

‘Don’t even dream of bearing my son’s child. I can’t believe someone like you entered our family. Tsk tsk.’

Then there was her father-in-law, who looked at her like she was an insect every time they met.

‘Do as you please.’

And the husband?

Cold, indifferent, and utterly unreliable.
He was never home, too busy with work—so even though she was the Duchess, Vendia had no power.

She had no love from her husband, no support from her family, no strength of her own.
Everything tilted in favor of her mother-in-law.

She had no allies in House Kalbermer.

Not even herself.

“I thought I had to endure it since I was the one who proposed the marriage.”

Vendia sat up from her slouched position and gazed out the window.
Though it was a landscape she’d never seen before, the passing conifer forest felt strangely familiar as it flew past the carriage window.

It had been some time since they left the capital’s central 1st District where the ducal estate was located.
They were likely nearing the Count’s estate now.

“If I only count the hellish in-laws and that bastard of a husband, this really was a regret story… But does the regret only kick in after the divorce?”

Just as she was still clinging to the idea of this being a regret plot, the carriage gradually slowed and then came to a stop.

She stretched her stiff body and stepped out, where a two-story manor with a striking red roof greeted her.

It wasn’t as grand as the ducal mansion, but still, it was a noble estate. It looked decent enough for a Count’s residence.

‘Strange… no one’s come out to greet me.’

Not even a single servant showed up.
Not that she had expected much anyway.

She reached for the doorknob, ready to carry her own luggage, when—

Thud thud thud!

The door suddenly burst open, and a man charged out, his nostrils flaring like an enraged bull.

“You idiot! What the hell are you doing here?!”

Vendia instantly recognized that face—her memories remained intact.

It was her older brother, Kalbasa Rose.

“If you got married into that house, you should’ve clung to them like a leech! Divorce? Divorce?! Are you insane?!”

Plump, round-bellied, and about her height, her brother looked like a human sausage—and somehow, he was angrier about her divorce than she was.

“What kind of behavior would get you divorced, huh?!”

Then came another voice—a middle-aged woman’s—chiming in with sharp criticism.

It was the Countess, her mother, standing behind Kalbasa in an outrageously flashy outfit.

‘Didn’t she say the family was drowning in debt?’

Why is she dressed like that?

The Countess had jewelry hanging from every visible part of her body.
Ears, neck, wrists—you name it, it glittered.

Each piece looked expensive.

“Sigh… What now?! Your father’s business is about to collapse again!”

“……”

Vendia bit her lip and looked at the two people in front of her.

Her brother’s eyes blazed with fury, ready to devour her.
Her mother looked at her with pure disgust.

“Vendia Rose!”

And now, a booming voice that echoed through the manor—her father, storming toward her like a bear on a rampage.

They wouldn’t even let their divorced daughter and sister enter the house first. This was how they greeted her.

Of course.
They’d wanted to marry her off to some rich old Marquess in the first place, hadn’t they?

In that moment, she understood.

She had no place—not just in the ducal family, but here, in the Count’s household either.

Maybe that’s why—

That emotion she had felt ever since she first possessed this body… came flooding back.

Crushing loneliness.

So then… is this—

“A family regret story?”

Or maybe a revenge story where she cuts them all off?

With trash like this for a family, a revenge arc almost seemed overdue!
God, she was brilliant.

“What are you muttering about?! Go back to the Duke’s estate and beg! I don’t care how you do it—get on your knees and apologize if you must! Just cling to that house!”

Lost in her moment of self-praise, Vendia turned at the Countess’s sharp voice.

This woman was getting on her nerves. She was the one who got divorced and was still reeling, but they were yelling at her?

“I didn’t do anything wrong. If someone needs to beg, you go and do it.”

She replied dryly.

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“No, you have. Sausage.”

She brushed off Kalbasa’s hand as he shoved her shoulder and raised his voice.
What was he gonna do? Punch her with his little Vienna sausage fists?

“You—you’ve gone insane! You’ve completely lost it!”

“Vendia! How dare you bring ruin to this family?!”

Her father’s voice rang out along with Kalbasa’s, and a large hand suddenly came flying toward her.

It was laughably slow.

Vendia took a simple step back.