Kaella saw her husband’s eyes filled with a whirlwind of emotions.
She never thought she’d see such a variety of emotions in those purple eyes that were once so indifferent and empty. It was a very strange and rare sight for her.
“You always forget about me.”
Kaella didn’t know what he was holding back, but she could tell he was holding something back now.
“To be precise, you have no interest in me at all. Even though I’ve desperately been trying to prevent your death, you always forget about me.”
Ha ha, he laughed, and the light and dark shadows flickered across his face.
“Do you hate me, Kaella? Is that why you’re doing this? Do you want me to be in pain and suffering? Is that why?”
The questioning voice, the broken expression, did not belong to a human. It was chilling. Kaella reflexively shook her head.
“That’s right. No. You don’t even hate me. I’m not worth that much.”
He laughed again, ha ha, in a way that wasn’t human. His laughing face was so beautiful it was frightening.
“I would have let you go if you wanted to live with another man instead. As long as you lived on somehow, that would have been enough for me.”
He would have let her go, then circled around like a madman, eyes red with jealousy. Going mad with jealousy, then mad again. But there were times he thought it was fine, it was okay, as long as she was alive.
“No matter where you go, you only think about dying in the end.”
Even though she had returned home after a long time, his wife still had nothing – no desire for revenge, no will to live – as she calmly spoke of death.
“That’s why you never even talked to me about divorce. You just decided to die without saying anything.”
Peon ran his fingers through his hair irritably, then pleaded with her.
“Wasn’t work interesting? You like working, don’t you? Weren’t you happy to see your father-in-law? Don’t you ever think that a new dress is pretty, or that you like the jewels I bring you, or that the food you ate today was delicious and you want to eat it again tomorrow?”
Don’t you want to enjoy more of all the things you like, cherish, and love?
“Isn’t there anything more you want to learn, or aren’t you looking forward to the summer roses that will bloom next year? Is sleeping with me at least enjoyable?”
Do you have any expectations for tomorrow?
Seeing her lips move without an immediate answer, Peon smiled gently. Kaella’s shoulders hunched, but he paid no mind and held her in his arms.
“I know. There’s nothing left anymore.”
No, there was. There was, but it just wouldn’t last. She would only enjoy momentary pleasures and delights before the end she had experienced came again. Before, she hadn’t even been able to enjoy anything before dying.
Kaella wanted to say that. But she was afraid of what would become of Peon’s misaligned eyes if she did.
She didn’t know why she should care what happened to him, but she was afraid. She felt foolish for not knowing what she was afraid of.
“Why are you doing all this for me?”
She didn’t know why she herself was acting this way either. Today, all sorts of strange thoughts were swirling chaotically in her head.
“I understand Your Highness feels sorry about your personality. But…”
“But what?”
Peon asked Kaella, who couldn’t continue.
“Is it strange that I’m trying to be a proper husband now because I feel sorry?”
Once, Peon had repeatedly begged Kaella, who didn’t shed a single tear, “Don’t cry.” It was an infuriating and bewildering thing to hear. Telling her not to cry when she wasn’t crying. What was she supposed to do?
Kaella finally understood those words now. Peon was crying with a face devoid of any moisture.
“Because I love Beatrice Lavalle, not you?”
He recited the established proposition dryly in a voice wrung out with pain.
“Not you?”
Boom, boom, boom, the sound of victory drums could be heard from somewhere. Boom, boom, boom, it was the sound of a heart she thought was completely dead screaming that it was alive.
“So, is it strange? Do you dislike it? Is it disgusting?”
Hearing the very small but clear beating of her heart, Kaella faced her husband who kept asking with lifeless eyes.
“But there’s nothing I can do, Kaella.”
Peon smiled with a face wrecked by tears. That smile was truly consumed by madness.
“You told me to resent you.”
Kaella barely opened her mouth.
“Is this because you want me to resent Your Highness for the rest of my life?”
Madness consumed his handsome face a bit more. With an even darker face, Peon savored for a long time the words that sounded so sweet. Then he answered honestly.
“Resentment? That’s too much of an honor.”
He stared blankly at her for a moment as if dreaming, then smiled happily. It was too much for him. It was thrilling beyond just pleasure.
“How nice it would be. If you even resented me.”
How joyful it would be to barely extract something as big as resentment from this wasteland where nothing remained.
“You don’t understand. I know I’m a crazy bastard. What can I do when I’ve gone mad like this? Don’t even dream of dying and look at me. I’ll set this country on fire, so you just watch the flames by my side.”
Peon fixed his unfocused eyes straight on Kaella and spat out the words.
With each word he spoke, Kaella’s pulse raced faster and faster. Was it because of disgust? Anything would do. His hand gently came to rest on her pale, soft cheek, all strength gone from it.
“Don’t worry about being purged by someone like Gregory. Just look forward to what you’ll get to see tomorrow.”
“What have you done?”
“I just set fire to it.”
Peon frowned and kissed her.
“Since you’re curious about such things, I have no choice. Why are you curious about someone like Gregory? Are you that bored? Then play with me.”
He knew well that his wife had no future, so she would only enjoy brief pleasures without expectation. He unbuttoned his shirt and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Instinctively, he took her small hand that was resting on his arm and wrapped it around his neck, then lifted her up. Kaella looked down at Peon from her suddenly elevated viewpoint. Her pulse was still racing.
“I’ll make it fun for you.”
“This is my father’s house.”
His purple eyes curved with heat.
“That’s why it’s more fun. No one will catch us if you just don’t make any noise.”
It had been a long time since Kaella fell asleep without any expectations. If there was anything she wished for when falling asleep, it was to never open her eyes again in the morning. But now there was one thing she wanted to see tomorrow.
“Ah.”
“What’s wrong? Does it hurt somewhere? Where?”
She wanted to see this man struggling and suffering as he confessed.
“My hand… it hurts when you interlock our fingers.”
“It hurts?”
“It hurts. Your Highness’s hand is too big.”
Peon looked at Kaella’s hand he was holding with disbelieving eyes.
Her much smaller hand was spread wide open, unable to properly grasp Peon’s hand that was tightly wrapped around hers, and was just slightly bent awkwardly. He unlaced their fingers and enveloped her small hand as if swallowing it whole.
“I’m sorry. Did it hurt a lot? I didn’t know. I’m sorry for being too big.”
She wanted to see him apologizing like this, not knowing what to do, and yet still not letting go in the end, kissing each knuckle of her fingers.
She wanted to see those eyes looking at her like a child whose chocolate was taken away when she gently pushed away his large hand, which didn’t budge but released her hand. She wanted to see that again tomorrow.
She wanted to see and hear again. She wanted to hear the confession of this man who tightly held onto her while screaming in pain, swallowing back his nausea.
It was fun to see a man she thought would never crumble, crumbling mercilessly and going mad because of none other than the insignificant Kaella de Chasse. She felt elation.
Thump, thump, her heart raced with excitement.
‘How wicked.’
*
The emperor, who had suddenly brought up the regency law during the week of the crown prince’s engagement ceremony and turned the entire imperial palace upside down, didn’t even attend the eve of the ceremony.
The crown prince’s faction attended the eve with smiling faces, pretending everything was fine, while anxiously trying to figure out what the emperor was thinking.
Beatrice also attended the eve with her mother, the Duchess of Monde, who had returned glamorously after the imperial palace entry ban was lifted, but she couldn’t hide her tired appearance.
From last night until now, the emperor had been screaming while holding onto the empress.
‘If you have the energy to scream, use it in bed.’
Beatrice pressed her throbbing temples, inwardly sneering as she hadn’t been able to sleep properly. She wondered if the emperor would be in his right mind to attend the crown prince’s engagement ceremony tomorrow.
‘He’s not in his right mind.’
Clearly, the magical device Beatrice had received from the merchant man worked properly.
It surrounded the empress flawlessly, protecting her from being drawn into magic. Yet the emperor kept screaming that the empress was disappearing, holding onto her, and demanding that magicians be called.
The empress is here, isn’t she so faint! Why isn’t that magical device working properly! Evelyn!
That damned Evelyn. The name he shouted with a hoarse voice until his throat was raw still rang in her ears, feeling like she could still hear it now.
The massive diamond and pearl tiara on her head seemed to intensify her headache.
Since she couldn’t sleep, should she have just worn a light single-strand diamond bandeau tiara? Beatrice shifted her gaze slightly and met eyes with Kaella standing far away.
Kaella, who looked at her with those infuriatingly dull eyes every time she saw her, had her hair elaborately braided with diamond strings and piled high, befitting a newly married woman.
And on top of that, she wore the tiara of the Duchess of Ostein, famously given to her by the former emperor.
‘Are you crazy? That wench is wearing something that big, how can I just wear a single-strand headband? No way.’
Beatrice looked down her nose at Kaella, whose hand was tightly held by the man she had been eyeing most recently.
“Lady Lavalle.”
Beatrice turned her haughty gaze at the slight call. A servant handed her a small note and disappeared.
She opened the note and then left, going to the back. When she reached a place where no one was watching, Count Horhen, the head servant, was standing there, rubbing his pale face.
“Is His Majesty calling again?”
“He just can’t calm down at all.”
“Did you explain well?”
Beatrice knew well how calm, even cold, of a person Count Horhen was. He treated all of the emperor’s mistresses with the same curt attitude, and the mistresses, relying on the emperor’s favor, didn’t dare treat him rudely.
Count Horhen was a man loyal to the emperor. He had repeated “The empress has not disappeared” several times to the emperor who was causing a commotion all night, and got hit by a pillow thrown by the emperor.
Knowing the count’s personality, he must have repeated the same explanation until this point when the sun had set today.
“Now he’s getting angry. He said we’re all in cahoots to deceive His Majesty the Emperor.”
“This is troublesome. The magical device is working properly, isn’t it?”
Count Horhen shook his head heavily.
“It isn’t?”
Beatrice opened her eyes wide in shock.
“It’s starting to make a squeaking noise like a broken music box. His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you.”
But she didn’t have any better ideas either. Beatrice looked back at the banquet hall where she should have been holding court, then reluctantly followed Count Horhen.
The emperor was sitting next to the empress in the same state as last night, neglecting his son’s engagement ceremony and the diplomatic relations caused by the regency law and the Bayeta Naval Base.
“Your Majesty.”
“You, come look at this quickly.”
Knowing he would get angry if she observed proper etiquette, Beatrice examined the magical device as the emperor ordered. The box-like magical device placed at the head of the bed was now making an ominous squeaking sound.
“All night, all night that bastard Gusalante has been playing tricks. He’s used so much power that the magical device has worn out. Right?”
Beatrice knew very well how to answer in times like this.
“Yes, Your Majesty. That’s right. The magical device has been overloaded.”
It was better to just agree that the emperor was right, that the empress was disappearing and the magical device was malfunctioning.
“That damn bastard! Knowing I just got this magical device! Trying to take Evelyn away! I’ll tear him to pieces!”
The emperor hugged the limp empress and shouted at the top of his lungs. But his voice was losing strength as he hadn’t eaten or rested all day.
Beatrice found this sight disgusting for the first time. She was sick of it. The old man who kept wailing that the empress, who had never disappeared since the magical device was activated, was disappearing was just a madman.
“Your Majesty. Please calm down. You’re holding Her Majesty the Empress, aren’t you?”
The unnecessarily rational Count Horhen was trying to calm the emperor in his characteristically rational way.
“If this magical device breaks down, it’s all over! How dare that beast covet a human!”
The emperor shuddered as if it was too horrifying.
“How dare something that’s not even human desire a person…!”
And before he could finish speaking, the light began to fade from the magical device that had been diligently doing its job with its lid open.
“Huh?”
Beatrice hurriedly rushed towards the magical device.
“Aah!”
With a small explosion, it engulfed her hand. While Beatrice screamed, clutching her hand, the magical device that had been working fine suddenly turned pitch black.
“Ugh… ugh…!”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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