“Is this all… W-what is this? Darling, isn’t this is too big a prank?”

Ivan asked, denying reality.

“Normally, one would only be judged in a court of law, but Hersen’s territory is vast, and there are many people here, right?”

Currently, the courthouses spread across the province could not accommodate all the people and the judges were frustrated by the lack of accessibility.

The idea was to allow people to be tried outside the courts in the future.

“If this trial succeeds as a pilot case, it will be established as a national law and officially enforced. So, please do your best today, Iblan.”

“S-so you mean this is a trial for marriage fraud?”

“And you just admitted it with your own mouth. You falsely filed a lawsuit.”

“Don’t joke around!”

Ivan shouted, his temper rising.

“It’s too late, we took our marriage vows in front of a priest, and we can’t go back on them now, trial or no trial! You know you can’t divorce without your husband’s consent. Do you think I’m going to divorce you just like that?”

“Um……. I’m sorry to interrupt, but the fact is that this marriage is not valid.”

The priest, silently raising his hand, answered on Katya’s behalf.

When Ivan turned to him, he shrugged and scratched his cheek.

“I’m not a priest.”

“What are you talking about? I’m pretty sure I came to the priest’s office yesterday, begged, and even gave some money!”

“Oh, that? While the priests were briefly having lunch, I was the only one who stayed inside, and they assigned me the task. My original position was…”

“This is Boris Tranov, my aide.”

Nikolai, who was sitting in the front seat, took over the sentence.

Boris nodded, pleased that he had fulfilled his assignment.

“That’s right, sir. It is my duty to assist the Grand Duke, and although I am not ordained a priest, I am a devout and faithful follower of the Church.”

He was thrilled to be asked to participate in this play.

Especially since the role of the priest is actually the most important one at the end of the play.

Originally, his dream was to become a priest.

But after failing the priesthood exam, he became a vassal of the Grand Duke’s family in order to maintain the family name.

Just standing in front of the altar in his priestly robes was enough for him that he could die now.

“Th-then, those people who were looking for you earlier…”

“They were all blowing smoke, but I’m glad they were able to fool you.”

Katya said, remembering her nervousness earlier.

The first time she had selected the people for the play and handed them the script, Alyona had been overwhelmed with emotion.

“Princess, how do you know that I once dreamed of being an opera singer? Shall we pick a song? Hmmmmmm. Aaah–”

There was a popping sound in her throat as she eagerly cleared her throat.

“No, never mind. This is a play, not an opera. You just have to get the lines right. Can you do that?”

“Of course. I’m also quite confident in my acting skills!”

She stayed up all night after that and memorized the script.

It was only a few lines, but she felt like a prima donna.

Despite practicing so hard, she was so nervous about getting it right that she stumbled over her lines at a crucial moment.

“She’s supposed to be in bed right now, and when I went in to change the flower pot in the vase, I found her bed empty!”

How in the world do you change the flower pot in a vase? She had unknowingly misspoken the line, which should have read ‘change the water in a vase.’

Realizing that she had made a mistake in her debut performance, poor Alyona immediately dropped to the floor, buried her face in her hands, and started crying.

She realized that she had to hit the next line, but she had forgotten it.

Flustered by her outburst, the knights forgot their lines and began awkwardly blurting out unscripted words.

“No, I can’t believe this, what the hell is going on?”

“Oh, yes, I’m in the mood for a good kicking.”

“Yeah, I’m even thinking it wouldn’t be strange if the Grand Duke fainted right now.”

There was a tearful struggle to keep the play going, but the result was a bunch of wooden puppets floundering in a pool of smoke.

When the only acting talent was removed, the play fell apart as the actors read from a book.

Nikolai, who could see all this chaos from the first row, slapped his forehead in frustration.

Katya, who was with Ivan on the other side of the fence, felt like crying.

‘No, what’s wrong with you all? Are you just amateur actors? After staying up all night writing the script in blood and pus, you’re going to act with such insincerity?’

Her work’s title is The Little Mermaid– no, wait, The Little Merman.

It was about Ivan’s dreams disappearing into thin air like the mermaid.

Realizing that he had been played for a fool, Ivan kicked the altar in a frenzy.

“Aaaahhhh!”

Nikolai stopped him as he lunged like a madman for Katya’s throat.

The Grand Duke restrained Ivan with a gentle shove, and he crumpled to the floor like a paper doll.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as the difference in size and strength made him even more embarrassed.

“Grand Duke, do you have any idea what that abomination is hiding from you?”

Ivan shouted through his tears.

‘This was the way it had to be.’

It was better to take down what you can’t have so that no one else can.

As Nikolai stared down at him, unresponsive, Ivan looked to his left and spoke.

“Dear honorable judge, and fellow citizens of Padovangrad, please listen to me! She promised marriage to me but then abandoned me and went to the Grand Duke. She’s a woman of loose morals and a lowly character, that woman!”

Duke Smirnov was about to rise, angry at the insult to his daughter, when Bianca, who was beside him, grabbed him and sat him back down.

She didn’t know what her sister’s plans were, but now was not the time to get involved.

Ivan began to appeal to his emotions like a theater actor on stage.

“I’m saying this. I sincerely loved that woman with her flaws. As a woman with fatal flaws! Grand Duke, don’t be surprised when you hear this!”

Katya didn’t even bother to stop Ivan, just let him do his thing.

Maybe she’s completely lost it now, what do I know?

Ivan thought that was odd, but then he spoke again.

“That woman cannot bear children! She received an infertility diagnosis from a doctor. I have the medical confirmation with me.”

He pulled out the document from the inside pocket of his top and held it out in front of them.

Even after he had promised to marry Katya, he had always carried it with him, just in case.

When they saw the crisp paper, they quickly became agitated and began to gossip.

It was the duty of a woman in this era to marry when she was old enough to continue the lineage of her husband’s family.

A married woman’s inability to bear children was a clear sign of divorce.

For an unmarried woman to be infertile was an Achilles heel, a family disgrace that must never be revealed.

“That wicked woman tried to deceive even the Grand Duke into marrying her! Imagine such a woman who doesn’t know how to establish her husband’s authority and acts recklessly becoming a Grand Duchess! What would become of this country? Moreover, won’t this lead to the worst situation where the Grand Duke’s lineage is cut off here?”

Ivan exclaimed in a hoarse voice, as if his throat had become hoarse from all the shouting he had been doing.

Katya, who had been watching him pathetically, turned to him.

“Are you done?”

“What?”

“Are you done? That’s the only card you have left, isn’t it?”

Katya didn’t seem to be affected by the revelation of the secret she’d wanted to hide so badly.

“Isn’t your head spinning out of shame? Why are you so proud of not being able to have children?”

“Are you sure you don’t regret saying that?”

“No regrets!”

Ivan snorted.

“If what you’re saying isn’t true, then you’ve defamed me. And you’ll be punished for it.”

“Don’t play games with me, I’ve got the evidence right here.”

“If it’s evidence, I have it.”

Katya pulled two pieces of paper out of her bosom and handed them to Boris.

He took them and walked over to the judge.

The older judge’s eyes widened as he read the documents, and he pushed his glasses over the bridge of his nose to check them with his naked eyes.

“It’s a certificate issued by the Archbishop of the Southern Province. According to this, there are no disqualifications for Katarina Smirnov to become a Grand Duchess.”

Noble marriages were not just a matter between the individuals involved, but also a matter between families.

Long ago, among the cautious parents of the Boyanin class, there emerged a peculiar cultural practice known as the ‘Ideal Spouse Qualification Certificate.’

Men were checked for a number of things, including their ability to provide for a family, their finances, and whether they had any violent tendencies, criminal records, or alcoholism.

Women were judged by the priests’ powers of divination and medicine, which included a comprehensive examination of their genetic background, family history, and overall health to determine if they were capable of bearing children

Both men and women received scores and had to pass multiple criteria to obtain the certificate.

Only two archbishops, one in the north and one in the south, could issue them, so they were authoritative.

“In other words, Miss Katarina Smirnov is not barren.”

As Ivan stood there wondering what the hell was going on, his confusion was only deepened by the shouting crowd.

It was then that the judge noticed the paper behind him and spoke again.

“Ah, I see I have made a mistake in addressing you, please forgive my rudeness. Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

The crowd, stirred by the surprise remark, followed the judge and bowed toward Katya.

Behind her was the document that had been served last night, a freshly issued family lineage certificate.

Katarina was no longer Smirnov.

As of yesterday, she had become Katarina de Vesily, the Grand Duchess of Hersen.