Ok, so I kept reading anyway to the end of book 1---and it helped clarify somethings I was uncertain about.
............
- Such as women not having any political powers. She can't inherit and she can't freely divorce him, he has to divorce her. She was also being filial to her father's wishes.
- Opal has money, but the Duchy (aka the whole provincial territory---and not just the mansion she lives in but the whole vast field of land itself belongs to the Duke, who is unaware/in denial about the economic state of his Duchy. So the only reason she's staying is because she doesn't want the people of the land to suffer, and she wants him to turn a new leaf to be a good Duke who manages his land well. If she had power, or ownership of the Duchy, she wouldn't have had to marry him. Alternatively her father could've waited for the Duchy to fall into ruins, purchase it, and rule it.
- The servants in the household are entranced by the fairytale of the Duke and Stella, and they are wholly ignorant of the situation with the Duchy.
- Claude has a big secret, that expands in book 2.
Where do you read the novel? From novelupdates it only has translation up to chapter 10 (´；ω；｀)
Eh I'm semi-fluent so I just read it on syosetsu.
I was impatient and read the next chapter of the novel...
But luckily we're all in for a treat :D (≧∀≦)
Opal is about to hand the Duke some much needed reality check in the next few chapters.