“Well, if we judged crime based on appearance, I would always be innocent.”
It was sad that as a person with considerable insight and a refined sense, he couldn’t possibly refute that statement.
As he laughed lightly, Ru could understand why people from the Caletta Empire referred to him as the ‘demon as beautiful as an angel.’
If Carlos was a cold and authoritative beauty, Hayden was a lively and profound beauty. Even when Carlos laughed, it was barely a sneer, but when Hayden laughed, the surroundings brightened.
“Cedric Launay, he seems to be a strong suspect.”
“…I was joking, are you ignoring it like this?”
“I didn’t really hear it as a joke. It seems it was a joke.”
“Half joking, half serious. And Cedric Launay is indeed a strong suspect. The investigator in charge has been questioning those involved all day.”
As Ru neatly finished her plate, it was quickly cleared away, and the next dish arrived. It was a dish of tender pork, steamed thoroughly, with a rich sauce on the side. When she tasted it, it melted gently.
“Can I ask about the case?”
“As a confidant of the emperor, why not? It’s a story that everyone is expecting. Duke Alanca despises an heir with flaws. And he still has four sons left.”
Ru raised her head.
“Change the heir?”
Hayden tilted his head slightly to the right.
“If there’s a suspicion that the new heir, who seems unsatisfactory, murdered his brother, wouldn’t it be better to change him? It has already changed once; can’t it change twice?”
This kind of talk was secretly going back and forth at all the noble dining tables now. Ru also had to know enough to naturally join the conversations of nobles she would encounter from now on.
At Hayden’s words, Ru briefly thought of Cedric Launay, whom she had seen today.
“He seemed to be working hard on upper-level tasks and seemed passionate. It’s a pity.”
“Pity is me, who can’t win your heart even with this face, feeling much more pitiful.”
Ru laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.
Right, that was very pitiful. Even though he had already won her heart, it was still pitiful for him to keep saying such things and approaching her.
The dinner time for just the two of them was good, but it was also bitter in conscience and heart.
From now on, she should probably refrain from having meals together. That’s how it should be. Remember today for a long time, and it should be the last.
Ru’s coolly upturned corner of her mouth trembled slightly and settled down with a hint of bitterness. She needed to bury the memories of the boy soldier she had clearly forgotten. It would be right to leave it like that.
[Star Icon]Aldwin Rochester, the Calleta consul dispatched to the Perseta Empire, was constantly on the verge of death as he tried to suppress the boiling anger inside.
Rustica Gennes, who had been helping and standing by him since academy days until the Imperial Knights, dared to betray the Calleta Empire.
The one who betrayed the homeland must be executed, but what was the Emperor thinking, letting Rustica Gennes continue to roam freely!
‘I don’t have to care about that now, but it makes me angry.’
Aldwin swept his hair wildly. As a noble with a peerage, he couldn’t forgive that traitor who betrayed the country, especially what made him more furious was that there were only about ten people from Calleta who said they would return to Calleta!
“Is this all? How can this happen?”
“No matter how much they claim to have settled in Perseta, they are originally victims kidnapped through the barrier while being in Calleta! Is this country not hateful?”
Aldwin pressed his throbbing forehead against the cold window to cool down. In the neatly organized diplomatic district, carriages were still quietly coming and going, and at night, gas lamps that provided beautiful light were standing at regular intervals.
There were no gas lamps in the Calleta Empire. They could simply create light with magic; why set up such ominous things! If you couldn’t use magic, there was no choice but to set up a temporary measure like that. Aldwin chuckled and glanced back at the desk.
“Ilaja.”
No response.
“Ilaja!”
Only then did Ilaja Barkova turn to look at him. It was peculiar for her, who always had a quick reaction, to react only now. But wouldn’t it be complicated to think of her as anything other than herself?
“Eleven people?”
“How many times do I have to say? Count again if it seems strange.”
Aldwin let out a deep sigh.
“I’ve already counted thirty times.”
Eleven documents were laid out on the desk. They were documents temporarily submitted by people who wanted to return to Calleta.
They were people who had nothing to boast about, no property, and not even a steady job. That was the problem. How could they bring such miserable people back to Calleta!
“Are there more coming?”
“We’re still waiting.”
But it meant there were none. If the numbers were this low, those who returned to Calleta had to be people who could occupy positions or prove their abilities.
That way, when they went back, they could show how great and pleasant a country Calleta was.
Aldwin thought the Calleta returnees would line up when the consulate opened, but he realized more and more as the days passed that it was just an illusion.
Those who hoped for return, who didn’t even appear when Rustica Gennes was in charge, started to appear a little after Rustica turned away. But this seemed too pathetic. It was embarrassing to the point that he couldn’t even show it to the Emperor.
“…Let’s wait a little longer.”
“Shouldn’t we start negotiations with the Perseta government to get those who have gathered this much to return?”
At Ilaja’s words, Aldwin Rochester ground his teeth. Just thinking about how Perseta would react to bringing such a miserable list made his pride hurt.
“What can we do? Negotiations will take a long time, and if we start now, more people will come when the negotiations are over.”
“Yeah. If we start negotiations, it will be reported, and more people will find out.”
Aldwin nodded. Yeah. There were still many Calleta returnees who didn’t know. The shame would be brief, and those who longed for Calleta would continue to rush to the consulate like an endless wave. Surely, there would be more than eleven people!
“Then we should seek permission from Katart first.”
After Aldwin took a deep breath, he took out paper and a fountain pen.
In the meantime, Ilaja, sitting on the sofa, was silently looking at the neatly organized front page of the newspaper on the table. Her ordinary brown eyes stared at the newspaper without much expression.
Today, Perseta was once again bustling with the news of the eldest son of the influential eastern noble family, the Marquis of Alanka, who met a tragic death along with the government as the next marquis.
… Stabbed multiple times with a very sharp blade…
… No weapon found, and the culprit is unknown…
Newspapers belonging to the Eastern Alliance all wrote speculative articles suggesting that the Imperial faction might be the culprit, while other newspapers wrote articles suggesting that the Marquis’s son, desiring the marquisate, killed his brother.
However, the most common speculation was that it was a political murder since the beautiful government, famous for its beauty, died together.
“To think that such a shameful incident is being reported on news outlets that many people read, this country doesn’t know how embarrassing it is.”
Aldwin, who was busy writing reports and negotiation proposals to submit to the Emperor, looked at the newspaper and said.
“Overall, it’s a very vulgar country.”
The arrogant nobleman was showing contempt. Ilaja was about to say something like, ‘What’s the difference with the nobles in the Calleta Empire?’ but realized she was about to say such a thing and was surprised.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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