Melody of Strength novel

Chapter 32

In the evening, Aurora had someone tell Barrett to meet her by the lake. As they walked, Barrett remained

silent.

Aurora was still unaware of the situation. She had expected him to explain the divorce voluntarily when they met up. But to her surprise, he didn’t say a single word. Also, there were scratches on his face, as if a

cat had clawed him.

you take half

After walking for a while, she stopped and couldn’t help but ask, “Did you divorce her? Did you her dowry?”

As the dusk gently illuminated Aurora’s somewhat tanned face, Barrett suddenly thought of Carissa’s bright and beautiful face. His heart twinged with pain.

Seeing how Barrett remained silent with a pained look, Aurora couldn’t help but get angry.

“You didn’t deduct it? Didn’t I ask someone to send you a letter, telling you to deduct half of her dowry? The Warren family has minimal funds left. If you didn’t keep some of her dowry, how are we supposed to

live in the future?”

Barrett looked at her and replied, “But that was her dowry. It didn’t belong to me, and it wasn’t something i earned. Aurora, are you marrying me just to avoid the hardships of life?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Aurora turned away, not wanting him to see the calculating glint in her eyes. “I was only hoping that we could focus on making military achievements together rather than worrying

about money.”

“If we live frugally, we’ll get by. It’s not like my family is destitute,” Barrett said.

Aurora turned back to him and asked, “So, you really didn’t deduct it? She took all of her dowry?”

Seeing the disappointment and anger in Aurora’s eyes, Barrett suddenly felt a chill in his heart, as well as a sense of bleakness.

“When it came time to sign the divorce papers, a royal edict arrived. It turns out Carissa had already gone to the palace earlier to seek an edict for divorce. From the beginning, she planned to get a divorce and had no intention of sharing her position as my wife with you,” Barrett explained.

“What?”

“She said it wasn’t something worth doing.”

Aurora scoffed. “Not worth doing? Did she really say that? I didn’t even mind it, but she actually said it wasn’t worth sharing the position with me? Hah! That’s utterly ridiculous. Who does she think she is?”

Barrett flatly added, “Today, His Majesty’s edict posthumously elevated the Marquis of Northwatch to the Duke of Northwatch, and the title is hereditary for three generations. She is now the daughter of a duke. Her future husband can inherit the title, or she can adopt and nurture an heir from a collateral branch of the Sinclair family to inherit the title.”

Aurora was dumbfounded. “What? How could His Majesty issue such an edict? Her future husband can inherit the title? How is that possible? Doesn’t this mean…”

Didn’t that mean Carissa was now highly desirable?

+15 BONUS

Initially, it didn’t matter whether Barrett unilaterally divorced Carissa or if they mutually agreed to a divorce. Either way, Carissa would still have been an abandoned woman. Even if someone did want to marry her in the future, it wouldn’t be anyone from a respectable family.

But now, things were different. The king had given Carissa a great way out.

Marrying her meant inheriting the title of a duke and everything that came with it, so it was likely that noble families in the capital would flock to her.

But why? Something like this had never happened before. Why would the king set such a precedent for

her?

“Aurora, she knows how to fight!” Barrett exclaimed.

As he looked at the leaves falling by the lake, he remembered how Carissa had used leaves to harm him. He probably wouldn’t be able to achieve that level of skill in his lifetime.

“Fight? As in the kind of sword dance that women do? Why does that matter?” Aurora sneered.

Barrett continued dully, “She might know sword–dancing too, but I’m talking about her combat skills. When I fought her today, she used leaves to injure my face.”

Aurora shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it. How is that possible? You exaggerated by saying she knows how to fight, and now you’re saying she can pick up leaves and use them to hurt people? Impossible. I’ve never heard of anyone who can do that.”

“She didn’t pick up the leaves. She propelled them with her inner force. There was no need to pick them, up,” Barrett explained.

Aurora looked at him skeptically. “Are you lying to me? I don’t believe it. You’re exaggerating too much

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