A Divorced Evil Lady Bakes Cakes

Mrs.
Brennan stared at Erin with a dumbfounded expression, then snorted.

“Dismissed? What power do you have, Lady Erin, you’re not even a Duchess anymore.”

‘Yes.
I’m not a duchess anymore, but I haven’t lost everything yet.’

Erin opened a drawer and pulled out a small, silvery-blue box.

“I’m not a duchess, but I still have this in my hand.”

It was a square box the size of my palm, inlaid with silver-blue jewels.

A stalk of white flowers wrapped around the bluish box.

The leaves of the divine tree, intricately embossed with white jade, glistened in the morning light.

Mrs.
Brennan was stunned.

Having worked as a head maid inside the palace for a long time, she certainly knew what it was.

It was a storage box containing the Empress’s seal.

Just as the emperor used the imperial seal to seal documents of important state affairs, the empress’s seal was used for all affairs of the Imperial Palace.

“It’s probably the last thing I’m going to do as a duchess, firing you from your position.”

Erin said casually, as if it were a given.

“But that’s because you’re a duchess! You’re not a duchess anymore……!”

“This was entrusted to me by the Emperor himself, regardless of whether I’m a duchess or not.
By definition, this isn’t something a duchess would have, it’s the Empress’s seal.”

Erin leisurely responded, while placing the storage box containing the Empress’s seal down on the table.

“But when the Emperor entrusted me with this Empress’s Seal, he ordered me to manage the affairs of the Imperial Palace, and since he is not currently in the capital, that order still stands.”

The Empress is long dead, and Raymond’s mother, the Crown Princess, died during labor.

This made Erin officially the highest-ranking woman in the palace.

The emperor entrusted Erin with the empress’s seal and gave her control over the entire Imperial palace.

While she was in charge of running the palace, she never got to do what she wanted to do because she was always being watched.

‘But not anymore.’

“So as of this moment, you’re fired, and I want you to leave the palace immediately.”

Shock flashed across Mrs.
Brennan’s face, but the surprise quickly turned into a shameless sneer.

“So you’re going to fire me? Do you really think you, a powerless woman, can get away with what you did? When the new Duchess comes I’ll be reinstated anyway.”

“Yes, you may be reinstated once the new Duchess comes in, but when will that be? Three months, four months?”

‘Maybe the new duchess won’t even come in after a few years.’

It was also unclear how the Emperor, who hadn’t yet heard of the Duchess’s divorce, would react to the situation.

“It will be a while before they can get the Emperor’s permission to hold a National Marriage, and unfortunately you won’t be able to come to the palace until then.”

‘Then you’ll be unemployed for years.’

Erin’s grave reply held such sarcasm.
Mrs.
Brennan, who finally grasped the situation, gave her a look of horror.

“Hey, look, Lady Erin…!”

“Mrs.
Brennan.”

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The stern voice that cut off her words startled Mrs.
Brennan again.

Erin had a pale complexion and a thin body, but every inch of that frail-looking body exuded an air of poise and intense command.

As far as Mrs.
Brennan knew, Erin had been the palace’s hostess for nine years, but she had always been quiet and timid.

Never before had she displayed such resolute dignity.

Erin spoke with an air of authority.

“And now that I am divorced from the Duke, I am no longer your ‘Lady Erin,’ but the ‘Heiress to the Marquis of Briscia,’ and on what grounds do you, a mere wife of a knight, speak to me with that tone?”

She was irrefutably right.

The Empire did not recognize female succession to titles, so Erin could not become a real Marchioness when her father died.
But that doesn’t change the fact that she is the heiress to the Marquis and the Marchioness.

She’s a Young Marchioness, even if her family is in ruins.
It’s a different status than a knight’s wife.

“This, this……!”

With no words to retort, Mrs.
Brennan shook with anger.
She couldn’t do anything about it anymore, but she looked like she wanted to strangle Erin.

Of course, she couldn’t be angry with her nor lunge at her.
After all, as Erin had said, she was an heiress to a Marquisate and she was only a Madame.

Since Mrs.
Brennan was unable to take her anger out on Erin, she turned her hateful eyes on an easier target instead.
Melly.
Who was watching all this from one side.

“You, I’ll see you when I get back!”

“You won’t have to wait, Melly’s coming with me.”

“Ah, Yes?”

Melly, who had a blank look on her face, was stunned at her words.

“Melly, come with me.
I’m thinking of opening a dessert cafe, and I want you to work with me.”

She couldn’t help but remember that stupid expression that her Husband, Raymond, the dignified duke had made when she said those words.

The expressions of the two people here now were no different from him.

Erin smiled at them.

“You’ll be in charge of the coffee and tea and doing odd jobs, so it’ll be harder than your job here, but I’ll pay you twice as much as you get here instead.”

Originally, Erin had planned to learn more about brewing her own coffee and making her own tea to save money.

‘But it wouldn’t hurt to hire an employee.’ she thought.

Melly was really good at brewing coffee and tea.
Not to mention she’s skilled enough to work in the imperial palace.

“What do you think?”

Melly’s cute face widened.

“Yes, Ms.
Erin, I’ll work hard!”

Anyway, Melly had unnecessarily drawn Mrs.
Brennan’s attention because of Erin.
If she leaves her here, that woman might retaliate against her later.

And since she’s going to need an employee anyway, she might as well have someone she knows.

It’s probably for the best that she didn’t say no when Melly asked to take her earlier.

“I’ll leave you to it, then, Mrs.
Brennan.”

Erin pushed past the distant Mrs.
Brennan and walked out the door.
Melly followed after her with a smile.

Just before the door closed, she heard Mrs.
Brennan curse in her direction.

“Ha! You’ll never come back here again…!”

This time it was Erin’s turn to laugh.

“Even if you beg me to come back, I will never come back.”

 

⚘

Sitting in his office, Raymond stared out the window, and was lost in thought.

He’d been working furiously for hours, and the sun was already setting.
The afternoon sky through the glass was tinted a light ash color.

He stared at the hazy sky and remembered his first meeting with Erin.

It was the day they had formally met in the gardens of the Imperial Palace.

Erin, with her light platinum hair and green eyes, was embarrassed as she blushed in a colorful pink dress that didn’t even match.

‘I…… Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.
I’m Erin.’

In truth, Erin hadn’t done too much wrong or anything that’s to be hated for.

From the moment they met, Erin had looked up to Raymond as if she couldn’t believe her good fortune.

Although she quickly came to her senses and acted with the dignity of her education, she was still, in Raymond’s eyes, an innocent girl who had no idea what was going on in the world.

Despite his hostility to her unknown fiancé, his first impression of her was that she was “Cute“.

Looking back, he felt a bit regretful.

‘……I could have treated you kindly if the emperor hadn’t forced me…’

The emperor ignored Raymond’s opinion and brought Erin to the palace as his fiancé.

‘Not the daughter of an upstart nobleman with a fortune.
You have to marry the daughter of an established marquis.’

That was the emperor’s order.

When Raymond came of age, he felt angry and insulted by his grandfather’s behavior.

But he was only 19 years old.
He could not defeat his grandfather, who was the owner of the empire.

After several clashes, Raymond eventually agreed to obey his orders.
Playing the affectionate fiancé as the Emperor wanted, he married Erin a year later.
But he only kept his promise to ‘Marry‘ her.

Raymond walked out on Erin on the first night of their wedding without hesitation.

After that, he never visited the Duchess’s bedroom ever again, but Erin didn’t complain and kept everything to herself.

However, after nine years of being ignored and bullied, the woman who had endured it all suddenly changed after Raymond pushed in the divorce papers.