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A few weeks after Duchess Bovary sent a letter to her husband's mistress.
The empire was abuzz with news of the Bovary family's divorce proceedings.
[Exclusive News] The Duchess of Bovary requests a divorce.
Is there a dispute between Zacharias and the Bovary family?
The Duke of Bovary could have divorced if he wished.
But Zacharias would not cooperate in the divorce.
“Elena, you're sure everything is fine, right?”
Duchess Bovary paced anxiously back and forth in the ducal drawing room, clutching a stack of newspapers whose front page covered her divorce proceedings.
Meanwhile, I was sipping my tea with a calm expression.
“Sure.
My law license was issued yesterday, so don’t worry.”
“Haven't you tried that before?”
The woman's face turned pale, as if she was shocked.
I tilted my head in amazement.
"It was in the paper too.
Didn't you see it?
Well, it was just a short story on page seven."
I recently passed the Imperial Bar Examination with flying colors, becoming the first Archduchess in the Empire's history to become a lawyer.
However, Duchess Bovary murmured, lost in thought.
“I assumed you had a law license, because you defended Archduke Richard, and even helped me with my divorce case...”
"It wasn't long.
Now that I have it, it's okay."
“Are you so irresponsible?
My husband happily agreed to the divorce, as if he had been waiting for it...”
Duke Bovary responded positively, as if he had been waiting for the divorce from the beginning.
Since it was the Duchess who demanded the divorce, he threatened to strip her of all her rights to the duchy, and to withhold from giving her a penny of her property.
Naturally, he also refused to return to her the benefits she had gained from her political marriage.
As if the reason she didn't file divorce papers first despite his infidelities was because of their joint business rights.
“I received a very insulting response because of the letters I sent at your request, Elena!”
The Duchess, crying, was violently shaken by her husband's mistress, Stephanie.
I quickly snatched the letter from her hand.
“This is a valuable message from Miss Stephanie.
Handle it with caution.”
The Duchess stared at me with a shocked look and screamed.
“Elena, how could you give me a message like this!
Be honest, you!
You came here at Stephanie’s request to play with me?”
“Ma’am, you must trust me completely.”
I smiled, holding the Duchess's trembling hands tightly.
Everything was going according to plan.
∗ ∗ ∗
Finally, the day of the divorce trial came.
Journalists crowded into the court of the imperial family.
“Has the twenty-year cooperation between the duchies of Bovary and Zacharias ended?”
“Is it true that the Duchess demanded half of the Duke’s estate?”
The Duke of Bovary appeared in court with a frown, and strutted in front of the reporters.
He seemed unconcerned about standing in front of the crowd.
“I sought to maintain peace within my family and both families, but it was Claire who broke that peace first.
Therefore, Claire takes full responsibility for the divorce.”
“Is it true that the reason for the divorce was your complicated relationships with women?”
The Duke raised his eyebrows sharply at the journalist's question, then relaxed.
“Okay, let's say that's true.
But that doesn't mean love is a crime, right?”
The journalists' hands trembled at his answer.
A moment later, in the courtroom.
The Duke of Bovary's lawyer repeated the same impudent judgments as the Duke before the journalists.
The Duke's side could be very confident, because love was not a crime under imperial law.
In other words, there was no such thing as ‘adultery’.
"The plaintiff, Claire Bovary, was not involved in any business with the Duke's family during their marriage.
She simply held lavish dances and tea parties, squandering the family fortune.
But the defendant was a generous husband who allowed all of this with ease."
The Duke's lawyer, speaking confidently, handed the judge a huge packet of documents.
“I hereby provide a detailed list of the luxuries and social expenses purchased by the plaintiff with the Bovary family fortune over a period of twenty years.”
The stern-looking older judge adjusted his glasses and scanned the list of documents.
It was a list of the Duchess's expenses during their marriage, which amounted to billions in gold.
He frowned as he examined it.
“Plaintiff, do you agree to these expenses?”
“Yes, I agree.”
The audience was excited when I immediately agreed.
Duchess Bovary's eyes widened, her face turned pale, and she staggered.
I whispered softly in her ear.
“You must admit what you wrote.”
The Duchess was no business expert.
In fact, her social skills were so exceptional that she became a center in imperial society.
كان ‘حفل الصيف’، الذي كان الدافع والهدف لتمثيلي الدوقة بوفاري في إجراءات طلاقها، حدثًا اجتماعيًا استضافته منذ أن كانت أميرة دوقية، وأصبح حدثًا إمبراطوريًا مميزًا.
“Oh my god...you must be Stephanie's spy after all...”
murmured Madame Bovary, her face buried in her hands, with a confused expression.
She now seemed to have lost all hope.
On the other hand, the smile returned to Duke Bovary's face.
"The plaintiff not only contributed to the increase in the defendant's assets, but also caused them to decrease.
Therefore, I cannot agree to the plaintiff's request for a 50% division of assets.
The defendant asserts that he bears no responsibility for the divorce."
The Duke's lawyer, especially during his final testimony, seemed confident of victory.
“If you have anything else, Prosecutor, please let me know.”
Finally, the judge looked at me.
His expression was full of pity for arguing with me like that.
I ignored him, cleared my throat and stood up.
“My client, Claire Bovary, has spent 6.7 billion gold pieces as mistress of the Duke Bovary’s household over the past 20 years.”
“This has already been recognized.”
“But let me say something that hasn’t been mentioned.”
I pretended to be serious and took out the prepared documents.
“I would like to stress that the Duchess has earned a staggering 78 billion gold coins over the past 20 years.”
There was a commotion in the hall, and the judge's eyes widened.
Then the Duke's lawyer suddenly stood up and objected.
“The plaintiff was not involved in any of the business.
So how can you claim that she won 78 billion gold coins?”
“I will now explain how the relationships the plaintiff has established at social gatherings have positively influenced the Duke’s business.
Shall we begin with the textile import rights for Count Tristan’s family?”
The Duchess of Bovary's social gatherings were not just social events.
It was like a networking meeting with some of the most prominent and influential noble families in the empire.
These were people with close ties to the Duke's business.
The list of business opportunities obtained by the Duke's family through Duchess Bovary's arrangements alone exceeds dozens.
“Over the past twenty years, there have been twelve transactions that would not have been initiated without the plaintiff.
These businesses are now generating huge profits for the Duke.”
“Is there any evidence of that?”
I smiled at the trembling opposing counsel.
“Isn’t this detailed in the documents submitted by the defence?
At what social gatherings, with whom, and how much was spent?
This is clear evidence that the plaintiff invested in creating job opportunities.”
The opposing counsel's face turned pale, astonished by my testimony.
And now the color has returned to Duchess Bovary's face.
“The accumulated wealth now represents more than half of the Duke’s assets.
Demanding a fair division of the half is in fact a compassionate act on the plaintiff’s part.”
The judge narrowed his eyes, evaluating my argument.
Then the Duke suddenly rose and shouted at the Duchess.
“But you were the first to destroy the family’s peace!
So take responsibility for that!”
“Oh, about that part.”
I had a lot to say, so I stopped talking slowly.
“My client, Claire Bovary, will file an additional complaint here.”
"What do you mean?"
The judge, who had assumed I only dealt with divorce cases, looked at me in astonishment.
With calm, but very careful hands, I took out a carefully folded letter.
“Rosaline, Lillian, Mary, Betty, Olivia, Isabel, Mia, Caroline, Elizabeth, Patricia, and finally Stephanie.
I will seek damages from all of the above.”
The Duke's face turned with embarrassment when he heard the eleven names I mentioned.