I’m Done Being Your Best Friend

How did I end up like this?

“Madame!”

“Madame, wake up!”

I think the time has come to end my four-year struggle against this illness.

As I opened my heavy, sunken eyes and looked at the ceiling, I saw a decrepit old manor.

So I'm dying here after all.

It was five years ago that my husband's business declined.
He moved to this shabby place, disposing of his estate and reducing the number of servants hired.
I couldn't even eat a mouthful because I was so sick to the stomach.

That must have been why.
I had a mysterious cold at first and stabbing pain in my chest, and then it turned out like this.
This is what I get after neglecting the symptoms.

I didn't try to save money for my medical care.

It was my foolish mistake, but I couldn't help it.
What do I do when I don't have any money left? How am I supposed to pay for my medical expenses when I required food right now?

Still, it was unfair.
I'm only 30, and I'm not old enough to die yet! How can I not feel wronged that I have to die even after miserably spending half of my life?

“Madame…
Please.
You can't go like this!”

I could hear Nancy crying.
My maid, Nancy, whom I brought to my wedding.
She, who was always bright, was having a hard time because of me.

I managed to open the heavy lids of my eyes and look at the direction of the voices calling for me.
It was the butler and the two maids.
I guess these are the only people who will stay by my side till the end.

What a shame for the Count's wife's death.
I breathed a small sigh.

“The Count…Cough, not yet?”

“I've sent a messenger, so he'll be right back.”

“Good…….”

I was not used to hearing his voice grumbling so many times.
Will he come on time? I'm sure he's with another woman.

His wife was in critical condition, but he was far away.
My husband didn't have any affection for me.

He met other women openly.
The reason why I can't say anything, even though I know of his sordid affairs was because my children aren't here.

I had no children.

A ruined family is also a family, so my husband said he needed a successor, but I couldn't have a baby.
Three years after I got married, my husband treated me like a sinner.

It's sad.
No, if that's why you rationalized the affair, why don't you have an extramarital child? Is this really my problem?

He only insisted that it was all my fault, anyway.
He secretly looks at me while saying, “Because of you, my family's lineage had cut off,” but there was one reason why we lived together for more than ten years without getting a divorce.

You're giving me dignity by not being branded as a divorcee?

That's absurd!

It was because I could get money from my wife while I'm still married to her.

How can someone divorce a Nelson wife that sends money to her husband, who has lost his business?

When I got married, my husband, Count Page, was a promising businessman.
However, he, who was affluent in business, was utterly ruined.

At one point, he was conned, and the husband poured all his wealth into the land of the neighboring country, saying he would dig up diamonds.
However, when we looked into it, there weren't any diamonds but a bunch of stones that we couldn't use.

That's why I'm living in this shabby manor with too few residents.

A sudden knock was heard as I sighed weakly.

Knock knock—

“The Duchess of Grint is here.”