Chapter 2
It wasn’t as if she had been running this “divorce business” from the start. Iris, her second name.
Inside the rattling carriage, she mulled over how she ended up living like this.
She was originally “Seoshina,” living in modern South Korea.
Feeling stifled by the tightly shut carriage windows, Iris opened one and pushed aside the small curtain.
The breeze blowing in as the carriage moved gently fluttered her thin hair.
“What a shitty life…”
She muttered, leaning her head against the carriage window. Seoshina had gotten married at the age of 28. Or rather, she had ‘ almost’ gotten married.
‘I thought the groom running off with his first love on the wedding day was something that only happened in dramas.’
The murmuring guests, her face burning red, the overwhelming despair.
‘Still, fine, I dodged a bullet. I passed off the cancellation fees and went on a trip to start anew—who could’ve known I’d die there?’
And so, when she died and opened her eyes again, she found herself inhabiting the body of a commoner named Iris.
All she had was a pretty face, but thanks to a father addicted to alcohol and gambling, her debts kept piling up in this hopeless commoner girl’s body.
*‘Damn it, life…’*
Her mother had passed away long ago from illness, and the debt was so massive that even a noble couldn’t pay it off in one go.
No, really, who were these loan sharks lending money to a gambling addict like that?
Were they digging up the ground to do business or what?
She seriously wondered if she’d end up being sold off somewhere because of her father’s debts, but there was someone who reached out to her.
“Gertz Heinri.”
Her first husband, that is.
Thanks to her pretty face, she could get a job anywhere and managed to work as a well-paid employee at a hotel.
That’s where Gertz Heinri came as a guest.
A marquis from a foreign kingdom, he was slightly older than her but looked younger than his age, with good manners—a true upper-class gentleman.
*<3 o’clock, I’ll be waiting in the hotel’s rose garden. I’d be truly grateful if you could make time.>*
It would be a lie to say her heart didn’t flutter when she received that note written on a napkin from him.
Money issues aside, he was undeniably a charming man to anyone who saw him.
With a racing heart, she went to the rose garden at 3 p.m., and after several meetings, they developed into lovers.
‘But I couldn’t ask him to pay off my debts.’
Wouldn’t that make it seem like she became his lover for the money?
But pretending she didn’t have debts was impossible when the loan sharks knew her face and name.
In the end, she lived a life of working hard to pay off just the interest day by day while hiding her debts, but the time she spent with him was, in its own way, happy.
Then one day.
[I no longer want to be just your lover but your husband.]
When he presented a diamond ring along with a hundred irises, she forgot her circumstances and, intoxicated by happiness, accepted.
Their one-year marriage wasn’t bad. Thanks to his name, she even entered high society.
She was no longer the debtor Iris but the wife of a kingdom’s marquis, Madame Iris.
Living with her husband in the townhouse he bought in the imperial capital, she scrimped and saved the money allocated to her to slowly pay off her debts.
Even then, the guilt of keeping such a secret was indescribable, but she couldn’t muster the courage to tell him.
‘What if this happiness shatters if I do?’
But such futile worries lasted exactly one year.
On their wedding anniversary, their marriage came to a spectacular end.
She had made countless preparations to make their anniversary special, but her husband was preparing to leave somewhere early in the morning.
[Darling, where are you going?]
[Oh, you’re awake, Iris.]
He smiled gently and kissed her forehead. The strange unease she felt seemed to ease a little.
[If you were going somewhere, you could’ve told me in advance.]
[You’re right, it’s a bit sudden, isn’t it?]
He smiled softly and handed her an envelope.
Since he presented it with such a radiant face, as if it were an anniversary gift, she opened it with a pounding heart.
But the first words she saw when she opened the envelope were:
<Divorce Papers>
[This is…?]
Iris asked with trembling eyes, and her husband, with that same gentle smile, said,
[It’s about time I end this child’s play and return to my homeland. My wife is waiting, after all.]
[Your wife?]
[Oh.]
As he opened the door to leave, his face shining brightly in the morning sunlight, he answered cruelly.
[My ‘real’ wife. Not a commoner like you, but my true wife, a noble by birth.]
Beep—
A ringing filled her ears.
The shock was so great that she froze in place with an awkward smile, and the man ordered the servants to pack his belongings.
[I’ve included enough to keep you satisfied, so let’s not hold grudges. After all, you were hiding plenty from me too, weren’t you?]
[…]
She had so much to say, but her lips only trembled, unable to produce a sound. Because what he said was true.
In the end, she was just debtor Iris.
Creak, thud.
And so, he left the mansion.
What remained in her hands were the divorce papers, the deed to the mansion, and a check deposited in the bank—her settlement.
With trembling hands, she looked down at the envelope. Soon, tears fell, *plop, plop*, onto the brown envelope.
The empty mansion filled with her anguished screams.
At that moment, someone interrupted her reverie.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
A handsome face, but one that looked dangerous due to a large scar.
“Annoying old memories.”
“Why think about that stuff?”
“Just… feeling nostalgic. It’s almost over, isn’t it?”
Back then, all she had left was resentment. She vowed never to trust men or love again.
It took being betrayed twice to realize that. Twice.
It was around then that she received news of her father’s death—apparently, he’d died in some corner, drinking and gambling as always.
The debts were passed entirely to her, but since she was already paying them off, there was nothing more to add except the interest, which was somewhat reassuring.
She hadn’t even thought of him as a father anyway, so whatever.
With the settlement he gave her, she paid off a significant portion of the endless debts.
After that, she opened her eyes to a new realization.
The fastest way to pay off her debts wasn’t through hard work or living diligently. It was divorce—or more precisely, the settlement she could receive as the wronged spouse.
“Now, all I’ve got left is money.”
“You mean all you’ve got left is debt.”
“It’s almost over, isn’t it?”
She muttered.
“Just one more marriage.”
At those words, the red-haired young man fell silent.
“Why that look? I’m finally about to clear this damn debt.”
“Shut up.”
“Jack, I still don’t get you.”
She laughed as if she couldn’t believe it. The red-haired young man with her, Jack, was a debt collector who showed up suddenly after her first divorce.
Or rather, the son of a debt collector, wasn’t it?
‘I never thought our guild’s biggest debtor would be a young lady like this.’
This man, who looked about her age, said he’d inherited his father’s business and came to personally manage her, the biggest debtor.
‘Does a boss really go around collecting debts himself, no matter how big they are?’
Well, a boss in this case was just a back-alley loan shark, so whatever.
“So, you’re going to take a break now?”
“No, I’ve already scouted out the next target.”
Jack squinted one eye and asked,
“Already? Don’t you usually take some time between?”
“It’s a big fish. The last big hit.”
“A big fish?”
“Yeah, after this one, I’ll take a hefty settlement, pay off the debt, and head overseas.”
“Overseas?”
He said, sounding taken aback. He paused, as if thinking something over, then ran a hand through his hair and asked,
“Who’s the target?”
Iris smiled, her eyes crinkling mischievously.
“Cliff von Parsedes.”
Cough…!
He started choking, as if he’d swallowed wrong. Naturally, because that name was—
“The Crown Prince of this empire.”
—And the male protagonist of the romance fantasy novel she’d transmigrated into.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
