I Will Divorce the Female Lead's Siscon Brother - Chapter 1

Where did it go wrong?

I lifted my head and stared at the sight unfolding before the long table.

“Liena, eat your carrots.”

The oldest brother, admonishing his grown-up, picky eater sister.

“It’s not like I’m going to die if I don’t eat some carrots.”

A beautiful girl with chubby cheeks.

“Bunny, why don’t you eat carrots when your nickname is Bunny?”

The second brother, teasing his sister because she’s adorable.

“Stop it, no one can force my daughter to eat something she doesn’t like.”

The father glares at his sons as they try to fix their sister’s diet.

It was a typical day in the life of this family…… so typical that I wondered if it was too much.

“How dare you put carrots on the table, forgetting about Liena’s diet.”

The Duke’s stern voice made the servants’ faces turn pale.

“I command you to discipline and fire every human being who prepared the meal, including the chef.”

“I will take your orders!”

With that, the chef and several servants who had served the Cassius family for over 30 years were about to lose their jobs and be beaten to death.

“Dad, that’s not necessary!”

Liena pleaded with her father.

“I barely got some carrots on the table!”

Fair enough.

“Liena…….”

The three men stare at her as if they’re looking at something dazzling.

“I see. I’ll let them off the hook just this once.”

“As expected, you’re too good.”

“Don’t be too good, you’ll only get yourself into trouble.”

……It’s fucked up, really.

Seeing me unable to control my expression, Leandro, Liena’s oldest brother, asked, “Honey, are you feeling unwell?”

A cold demeanor so different from the one he used to show his sister.

“I just don’t have an appetite…….”

The way you guys are acting, I’ve lost my appetite, but I can’t say that.

Leandro’s eyebrows twitched. “You’re leaving behind food that has been painstakingly cooked for you. I’m sure the people who made it will be heartbroken.”

This asshole?

Where did the man who nodded in agreement with his father’s statement that he’d kill those who made the food go?

Part of me wanted to pick up my fork and throw it at him, but I held it back.

‘Calm down, calm down.’

These are people I won’t see again after a month anyway.

The Cassius has a tradition of having a meal once a month for all the members of the family and their spouses.

Leandro asks no special duties of me as his wife, except to honor that tradition.

In other words, for a few hours a month, I could enjoy a life of luxury as the wife of Little Duke Cassius. [1]

[1] If we follow the author’s setting, Little Duke is the title for the Duke’s eldest son.

It would be foolish to deny myself such a life of play and ease.

I forced a weak smile and replied, “I know, I’m sorry.”

Leandro turned his head away, his brow still furrowed.

Sensing the increasingly cold atmosphere, the Duke’s second son, Leheim, changed the subject.

“Bunny, when you finish your carrots, this brother of yours will give you a gift.”

“A gift? What gift?”

“It’s no fun to tell you in advance, so hurry up and eat.”

“Jeez, fine, I’ll eat it.”

The girl, who was approaching adulthood but still looked like a child, bravely put the carrot in her mouth.

She chewed the food in her mouth. Then she swallowed it.

“Here! I’m done!”

Liena proudly held out her empty plate.

She has pure white silver hair and red eyes. There’s no need to explain why her nickname is Bunny.

The men’s faces lit up at the sight of her adorable face.

Leandro stroked his sister’s hair affectionately, his frown already gone.

“That’s good. I’ll give you a gift as a reward.”

“Did you prepare a gift for me too?”

“I’ll have the servants bring it to you after we finish eating.”

“It’s not even my birthday, why is everyone so eager to give me a gift?”

“It’s a small one, so don’t refuse.”

Apparently, the word “small” is also used to describe the piles of gifts that fill a carriage these days.

I pout unnecessarily.

“Don’t you have anything for your wife? My sister-in-law will be upset.” Lehaim asked his brother bluntly, noticing the look on my face.

Yeah, that’s a good one. Apart from putting up with it, I’ll take what I can get.

“That’s right. Don’t you have a gift for me?”

Reading the sarcasm, Leandro’s face hardened again.

“Do you need a gift from me, honey? It’s not even a special day.”

It’s not a special day for Liena either, is it?

I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to take it personally. It’s nothing new, really.

How many times have I seen Leandro bring gifts to his sister?

Unlike the Duke and Leheim, he left the capital to live in Cassius after he married me. Since he rarely saw his sister, he couldn’t help but feel that he had to do his best for her.

So today’s happenings shouldn’t have offended me.

……This is normal.

“It’s our anniversary.”

I wanted to say it calmly, but for some reason, a weak voice came out.

It is. Exactly two years ago today, Leandro and I tied the knot.

That means it’s been two years since he and the rest of the family have treated me like air.

“Wedding…… anniversary…….”

A shadow fell over Leandro’s face as he mulled over my words.

Judging by the flustered look on his face, he must have forgotten.

“Oh, my God, I just realized that today is my big brother’s wedding anniversary!” Liena exclaimed, clasping her hands over her mouth.

“How could you forget your wedding anniversary? It disqualifies you as a husband.”

“If you have a family, you should care a little.”

Leheim and Duke Cassius each chimed in.

I can’t believe these close-knit Cassius family members would reprimand Leandro.

I haven’t lived that long, but I’ve seen a lot of things.

Leandro was stunned by his family’s stares, especially his sister’s.

“It’s definitely my fault for forgetting our anniversary, but…….”

But?

What else will you say after admitting your mistake?

“Just because it’s a wedding anniversary doesn’t mean that only the husband has to give the wife a gift.”

Oh my, that’s how you put it?

“Marriage is something that both parties should celebrate. My wife hasn’t prepared a gift for me either, so I don’t have to…….”

After that, there was nothing more to hear. I figured it was going to be the same nonsense.

I took a deep breath.

I’d been holding it in.

Others might call me lucky.

I have a handsome, capable, rich husband. He doesn’t interfere in my affairs, so what’s not to like?

Certainly, my life has been good ever since I married him.

A life I never dreamed of before marriage, and even more so before the possession.

If there’s only one problem…… I want his affection.

So I endured. I had no choice but to endure.

When Leandro turned cold to me like the flip of a palm after our marriage.

When he left me alone on our honeymoon because he had an urgent matter to attend to.

When he gave me a one-year anniversary gift through an aide.

And countless other times he made me feel insignificant.

But I can’t take it anymore.

I wonder if the point where you change your mind in a completely different way comes when you least expect it.

A silent explosion of resentment that had been building up for two years exploded inside me.

Maybe if he had celebrated our anniversary like he did a year ago, even if it was through someone else, I would have endured it like I always did.

My hands acted faster than my brain. I threw the object I’d been hiding in my pocket.

-puck!

“Aw.”

It crashed head-on into Leandro’s smug face.

A small, beautifully wrapped gift box clattered across the table.

The anniversary gift I’d bought for him a few days earlier no longer held any meaning.

“Let’s divorce.”

And I said goodbye.