Contract Marriage: Rewritten - Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Translator: Yonnee
—
[ Divorce? Why? ]
Mole tilted his head in confusion, as if he didn’t understand.
Thanks to the time spent with Laniakea, Mole had become quite familiar with human customs.
It knew that marriage was a promise between a human man and woman to live together.
Although it seemed that, due to complicated human circumstances, the man named Hyperion didn’t live with Laniakea, Mole had managed to grasp the gist of the situation without needing a detailed explanation.
Human life was always complicated, after all. Besides, Mole didn’t mind that Hyperion was absent—it meant Laniakea could summon him more frequently.
[ Isn’t marriage a promise to stay together until death? ]
“Well… not necessarily. There are plenty of cases where the promise ends, and they part ways for various reasons. Either way, His Highness the Prince will soon ask me for a divorce.”
After returning to the detached palace and regaining her composure, Laniakea immediately had a gut feeling.
‘Ah, His Highness the First Prince is going to ask for a divorce.’
The image of him at the funeral came vividly to mind.
Even as the funeral for the princes was being held, people hadn’t thought much of Hyperion.
Despite the fact that he was now the emperor’s only surviving child, no one paid him much attention.
But after seeing him in person, people’s expressions changed as though they had realized something.
It became clear that Hyperion was the inevitable choice for the next emperor.
Not just because he was the only remaining child.
Hyperion, standing at the funeral, commanded the attention of everyone present.
It wasn’t just because he was tall and physically imposing. The aura of intimidation Laniakea had felt when she first met him had grown even stronger over the past three years.
Laniakea could sense it too—he exuded the presence of someone born to rule.
It was only a matter of time before the empress’s faction in the imperial palace bowed their heads to him.
‘But that won’t be enough.’
The first prince had no established power base within the palace.
Even if he became emperor, it would be difficult for him to govern as he pleased without a foundation of support.
Thus, he would need to quickly build his own allies within the palace.
‘And marriage is the best way to do that.’
Even though the current empress had seized control of the palace, there were still factions that opposed her.
Institutions with long histories, like the imperial academy and the temple, had voiced their opinions in favor of appointing Hyperion, the first prince, as the crown prince according to imperial law.
The empress had wanted to eliminate all of them, but the aging emperor had been reluctant to interfere with the old vassals, so they had been left alone.
And luckily, those groups had managed to maintain decent positions within the imperial court up until now.
‘He’ll surely try to strengthen his ties with them.’
However, shaking hands and sharing meals wouldn’t be enough to establish true trust.
Historically, there had always been a reliable way to solidify alliances in situations like this—marriage.
Laniakea didn’t know how many eligible daughters there were in the families supporting Hyperion, but surely there would be someone suitable to become empress.
‘And that person will be the next empress.’
With that thought, Laniakea let out a short sigh.
“I should head back. In any case, you must absolutely not come out unless I summon you. Got it?”
[ Tsk. ]
Mole’s whiskers drooped in disappointment, but Laniakea had no intention of consoling him.
If he had been discovered, things could have turned out disastrously.
“Go on.”
At her command, Mole waved his tiny front paw in understanding before burrowing back into the ground and disappearing.
Laniakea flattened the soil where Mole had vanished and headed straight back to her room.
Once there, she opened her desk drawer.
Reaching inside, she pulled out what she was looking for.
It was a thick document that clearly bore the title ‘Marriage Contract’ on its cover.
“It’s been a while.”
Since moving to the detached palace, she had rarely opened it.
There hadn’t been much reason to look at a marriage contract when her husband wasn’t around.
Flipping through the pages, Laniakea traced her memory until she found the section she was looking for midway through the document.
“Division of property and other details upon divorce…”
It was said that for royal or noble marriage contracts, this section was usually the most detailed.
But the section in Laniakea’s contract was surprisingly brief.
“There’s almost nothing here.”
Quite literally so.
The section regarding division of property upon divorce was exceptionally short in this contract.
“In the event of a divorce, all items bestowed by the imperial family must be relinquished. Neither titles nor lands shall be retained, however the imperial family shall ensure safe passage back to one’s homeland…”
At least they wouldn’t take back the stipends she had been receiving to maintain her status, but that was all.
It wasn’t as though she hadn’t tried to build up her modest wealth.
But with the empress’s eyes everywhere in the detached palace, doing so had been no easy task.
After reading the contract multiple times, Laniakea sighed and closed it.
Then, as if steeling herself, she clenched her fist.
“I’ll negotiate.”
Returning to Priatra as things stood was out of the question.
No—she refused to go back.
Want to read more? Advanced chapters are available on Patreon! (for selected novels only)
≪ Discord ≫
≪ Novel Updates ≫
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
