Richard went straight to the Marquis of Westin after seeing the divorce notice.

When Richard arrived, Sophia Westin greeted him with a big smile.

"What's going on, Richard?"

Instead of answering her, Richard handed her the divorce notice that he received from Marquis Westin.

"What is this?"

"It's a notice of divorce."

"Y-you're breaking up with me?"

Richard's expression crumpled.

The seal on the envelope was stamped with the Westin family's insignia.

No matter how one looked at it, it was the Marquis Westin who sent the notice of divorce and Richard had come over to protest it. But Sophia cluelessly misunderstood the situation.

What a stupid woman.

Richard's half brother Frank was unhappy with the appearance of his fiancee, Sophia.

There were many times when he'd mocked her face, laughing at her black hair and freckles.

Richard also did not think Sophia was a beauty. However, he was more irritated by her foolish personality.

'There's never a time when I'm not frustrated at her.'

Still, looking at Sophia's reaction, she seemed to have no idea about the divorce.

"Read it for now."

"Okay..."

Only then did Sophia read the form inside the envelope.

"Oh, no! I never sent such a thing."

Sophia's face turned pale when she finally figured out the situation.

As Richard had guessed, the Marquis Westin had decided it on his own.

That's right. He had put in a lot of effort for this girl.

She couldn't have betrayed him like that.

Richard had tolerated a lot so he could regain the life he originally had.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't regain his original identity.

In some cases, people could pay to receive a title, but that was impossible for a nameless commoner.

Tenstheon placed more emphasis on individual ability than titles, and he was one of the most prominent Emperors of the Asteric Empire.

Some nobles also complained that this made their titles less valuable, but this did not apply to Richard.

Tenstheon didn't trust Richard and was watching his every move. Even if Richard accomplished something great, Tenstheon wouldn't give him a title.

Richard finally found a way after much consideration. It was through marriage.

When he married one of the noble's daughters, he would be able to regain his title and return to the aristocratic society.

In addition, there was a hierarchy among the nobles.

If he escaped the status of a commoner by buying a title or receiving it from the Emperor, he would be at the bottom of the hierarchy among nobles.

However, if he became the son-in-law of a powerful family, he could at least rank higher in the hierarchy.

Richard looked for a candidate, and among them, he chose Sophia Westin.

The Marquis of Westin's family had been on the decline ever since the fall of the Cassil family. However, they were still a noble family and had a lot of wealth. In addition, Marquis Westin had only one daughter, so it would be easy for Richard to become his son-in-law.

Sophia had been confined to her home after her engagement with Frank was broken and she suffered from severe depression.

Marquis Westin tried to find a good match for her, but it wasn't easy.

Although a marriage was nearly finalized for Sophia, she rejected the idea, saying she no longer wanted a political marriage.

Was there anything easier than seducing a wounded woman?

Richard used Sophia's maid to get her to come to his orphanage.

Sophia visited the orphanage as planned and cried as she watched the children who had been abandoned by their parents.

Richard approached the crying girl and handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank—...you!"

Sophia's eyes opened wide when she saw Richard.

"Lady Sophia, long time no see."

"How did you get here..."

"This is an orphanage that I run."

"Yes, I had no idea. Well, I'll be on my way."

Sophia had run into her ex-fiance's brother, so she turned away in a hurry.

Richard had expected her reaction. He winked at Karuo, a boy at the orphanage.

Karuo quickly latched onto Sofia.

"Sister, don't go. Play with me."

When the child hung onto her, Sophia stood there helplessly.

"Karuo, don't make it hard for the lady."

"Sister!"

Karuo was a brilliant child. He understood Richard's signal and sat down before he began to cry.

"S-so-sorry. Child, don't cry."

Sophia forgot that she was trying to avoid Richard and began appeasing the child.

Karuo became tired of crying and fell asleep (he was only pretending to be asleep), as Sophia looked at the boy sadly.

Richard naturally approached her and began to talk to her.

"Thank you for taking care of Karuo today."

"No, it's alright."

Sophia shook her head. Perhaps because she had spent time appeasing Karuo with Richard, but she didn't avoid him like when she first met him.

"By the way, where did his sister go?"

"She has passed away."

"What? How did that happen...?"

"As you may have guessed from his name, Karuo is a Roum. His sister took her own life after being given a tough job because she was a Roum. So only Karuo came to our orphanage."

In fact, his sister Karan was still alive, but Richard lied without any hesitation.

"Did the criminal get caught?"

"No, the Roum don't get treated like humans. There's no way to investigate the case."

"I can't believe it. That's too much."

"If I had strength, I would have helped this child...I felt sorry for him."

"No, you taking care of him like this is already a lot."

Sophia seemed to be moved by Richard's good deeds.

"I've heard that private orphanages usually refuse Roums, so you're really amazing."

"After all, I'm also a Roum."

Richard frankly told her about his weakness.

It was already revealed that he was a Roum during the Cassil family's trial anyway.

"Oh, yes..."

Although Sophia felt sympathy for the tragedy of the siblings, she quickly froze awkwardly when she recalled the fact that Richard was a Roum as well.

Richard gritted his teeth inwardly.

Did he make a mistake?

Her response was not unexpected.

There was a deep-rooted hatred towards the Roums in the Asteric Empire.

Even among those who pretended to be kind because they felt sorry for the Roums, it was not uncommon to see people who avoided and swore at them when they actually met a Roum.

"I'm sorry about what happened before."

"Huh?"

"I should've stopped them..."

Sophia shook her head in dismay as Richard brought up the topic of Frank.

"Oh, no. I know you had a hard time because of it."

"No. I should've helped you. Actually, it's my fault that he hated you. He hated me too. That's why he hated you. It was because the color of your hair is the same as mine."

"That's not true. It's just that I'm ugly..."

Sophia lowered her head, while hiding her face behind her black hair.

Frank didn't like being engaged to Sophia and spoke to her harshly.

Sophia was distressed, but her father only told her to put up with it.

She decided to put up with it as her father told her to.

But that wasn't all.

"How dare you touch me? You're so ugly! If it wasn't for the Marquis, who would've looked out for you?"

Frank insulted Sophia at the palace ball.

After that day, Sophia was afraid to go outside. She felt as if everyone was mocking and laughing at her.

Even though several years had passed since Frank's death, the wound still lingered in her heart.

"No, I've never thought of that before. If I were Frank, I would never have hurt you. It's late, but I'd like to apologize on behalf of him."

Richard bowed politely.

"Th-thank you."

No one had ever consoled her before.

When she broke up with Frank and was humiliated, her friends all left her.

Sophia was in tears because she received her first sincere apology.

Richard smiled inwardly without any remorse when he looked up and saw Sophia.

"Lady, don't cry."

Richard took Sophia's hand. She didn't shake his hand off.

"I should have visited you and apologized, but I'm too late."

"No, thank you for telling me now."

"If you don't mind, please visit us often. Karuo seems to like you very much. And I would like to see you too."

"...okay."

Sophia's face flushed red. Richard also smiled broadly.

'That's enough.'

Having broken her walls down, it was a piece of cake to move on to the next level.

And everything went as Richard planned.