Don't Be Kind Rashly (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
A colossal being looked down upon the wretched, destitute wretch who had lost everything. “Is that paltry pride of yours really so important?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Though her legs trembled and her hands shook under the overwhelming pressure radiating from Emperor Perseta’s entire presence, Lu clenched her teeth even harder and stood firm.
“I came prepared to die—if I must die, so be it, but I refuse to surrender my dignity.”
Ordinary people would have collapsed on the spot, shaking uncontrollably or wetting themselves. But Lu held her ground, a knight who had survived the most horrific and brutal battlefields.
Repeating her vow never to yield, she stared straight into those cold, emotionless gray eyes.
She tried to speak clearly, though her voice might have trembled slightly. Just as she resolved to endure as long as she could, no matter how long this suffocating moment lasted, the Emperor gave a soft chuckle.
“…That’s hardly what I’d expect from someone of the Calleta Empire.”
Simultaneously, the oppressive presence weighing down on her vanished completely.
“I unintentionally startled you. My apologies. Ever since coming to Shalea, your senses as Jenus Envoy seem to have grown increasingly sharp.”
“Yes?”
“In the future, I’ll be more careful when meeting with Envoy Jenus. I failed to notice it myself. I’m sorry.”
What on earth did that mean? Was he saying he hadn’t deliberately frightened her? Lu stared at Emperor Perseta in confusion as he apologized so casually.
“It’d be troublesome if you thought I enjoyed deliberately scaring people.”
The Emperor spoke with a bitter smile.
“…Even so, I will do my utmost…”
“No. Since it wasn’t intentional, yet you, Envoy, still won’t trust me—it wounds me, but I was at fault first, so there’s nothing to be done.”
The man, whose sheer size made him look like a walking door, placed his black-gloved hand over his chest and adopted an exaggeratedly sorrowful expression.
“Huh?”
Wounded? Honestly, the more Emperor Perseta talked, the more absurd he became. Lu felt a sudden headache coming on and struggled to stay calm.
First things first—she shouldn’t get entangled with the Emperor. If she did, she’d surely end up in even more ridiculous situations.
And every time this happened, she realized anew: Ah, this bastard really was the exact same one she’d picked up in the western woods of Momentum.
Back when they first met in the imperial palace, the atmosphere had been so different she’d suspected he was someone else entirely—but now, shamefully for her, he was acting exactly as he had in the western woods.
It wasn’t an act; that truly was his real self.
“Oh dear, seeing that look of disbelief, I suppose I’ll need to try harder. What should I do?”
“No, there’s no need for you to exert yourself further. Your consideration alone is more than enough.”
Lu quickly refused. Whatever it was, accepting kindness from that guy would surely spell disaster—it was bound to be as deadly as rat poison.
“One must make an effort for those who are worthy.”
He smiled brightly. Each time he smiled, brilliant sunlight served as natural lighting, making him shine even more. But Lu remembered the terror she’d just felt too vividly to be impressed anymore.
“There’s a place called Plache in western Perseta—a region encompassing vast plains and northwestern mountain ranges. The count ruling there bears the surname Jenus.”
Seeing Lu’s eyes widen instantly and her lips part slightly, Emperor Perseta nodded.
Feeling guilty for having unintentionally frightened her, he quickly passed on the most crucial information to Lu. Not that she’d look kindly upon him for it—that was rather regrettable.
“Many have come to Perseta from Calleta. You might even find someone you’ve longed to see.”
By then, one of the Emperor’s attendants had quietly approached and taken the heavy bundle of newspapers and magazines from him. The bundle was then placed directly atop Aldwin’s luggage.
“Have a pleasant day in Shalea, Envoy Jenus.”
“Take care.”
The Emperor, who had appeared so suddenly, vanished just as abruptly. Lu, watching his retreating back, turned toward the approaching Aldwin.
“Rustica, who was that? Who is he?”
“The Emperor.”
“Oh, the Emperor. Em… wait, what?”
Lu gestured silently for Aldwin, who had instantly turned pale, to keep quiet.
“Don’t be startled—control your expression. There are many watching eyes.”
Aldwin retorted with a frightened look.
“My expression control has already failed.”
“Yeah. Seems that way.”
“Why would the Emperor of Perseta come meet you like this?”
“What reason would there be not to meet?”
“But…”
Aldwin, a proper viscount and son of a count, absolutely detested such secretive, unsettling encounters. His disapproval was plainly written all over his face.
“…What did the Emperor say?”
Lu looked at Aldwin—the very man Emperor Perseta had warned her not to trust.
“That’s something I must report directly to His Majesty.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“No, you must have been worried, Aldwin.”
“Of course I was! Do you have any idea how shocked I was? You were talking to some ridiculously handsome guy as tall as a door, and then these dark-clad fellows swarmed around, telling everyone not to get near you—clearly Persetans…”
Lu smiled, hands in her pockets, as Aldwin whispered so only she could hear.
“Persetans are everywhere here.”
“What I mean is—they didn’t seem like civilians. The atmosphere felt off, and sure enough, they turned out to be the Emperor’s own men.”
As he spoke, Aldwin studied Lu’s expression.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Didn’t you get startled just now?”
When Emperor Perseta’s pressure had hit, Lu honestly thought Aldwin might draw his sword. But now Aldwin tilted his head, looking utterly bewildered.
“I was startled, sure—but didn’t things end well?”
Aldwin Rochester, an Imperial Knight, hadn’t sensed the pressure at all. The handsome man around whom others noticed nothing unusual—everything about it was strange.
Of course, if you chalked it up to magic, it all made sense. Lu carefully concealed her thoughts and nodded.
“Yeah. It ended well.”
The Emperor had called it a mistake. He’d also said her senses had grown sharper since coming to Shalea. Lu walked on, slowly turning over his words in her mind.
“Are we heading back now?”
“No. I need to get a map too. We should go buy some books.”
She thought there might be a map in the embassy office, but just in case, she wanted to stop by a bookstore.
Thus, she’d definitely need to pile even more onto Aldwin’s luggage—he’d surely been given other secret missions besides escorting the envoy.
The end of the day was utterly exhausting. Thus, the comforting dishes from home, prepared by Martin—a former palace servant—brought tears of gratitude to her eyes.
“Wow, this is amazing!”
Lu couldn’t stop gawking at the lavish spread before her, but Martin humbly bowed his head as if it were nothing special.
“If there’s anything you particularly like or wish to eat, please let me know in advance. I’ll do my best.”
A servant well-versed in poisons.
Emperor Perseta’s words from earlier passed over Martin’s courteous face.
“Don’t overexert yourself. I’ll hire more staff—discuss it with Aldwin.”
“Yes, Envoy.”
Who knew what might be in the food right before her? Emperor Perseta had told her to run outside immediately if anything happened—spoken as though trouble were inevitable.
Lu gazed at the gleaming cutlery, then picked up her spoon. She scooped up soup generously enriched with precious spices and thick cream. If one wanted to hide poison, heavily seasoned soup would be ideal.
It could be a lethal dose meant to kill her today, or a slow-acting poison that accumulated over time.
‘In any case, I can’t trust anyone.’
Not even Emperor Perseta’s words. Lu tasted the soup. Its rich umami and smooth texture delighted her tongue—it was exquisite enough to serve as her final meal.
“The soup is delicious.”
Eliza Barcova—the blunt knight whom Emperor Perseta described as “an assassin disguised as a knight, carrying out assassinations without hesitation under secret orders”—unexpectedly spoke first.
“Thank you.”
Martin gave a slight nod and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“You met Emperor Perseta, I heard.”
Eliza seized the chance to ask Lu what she wondered. Aldwin must have already told her.
Given how smoothly Aldwin got along with everyone, either their relationship was closer than expected, or they shared some secret mission known only to them—likely one of the two.
“I was just about to bring that up. I’ll need to submit a detailed report to His Majesty, though.”
In other words, she couldn’t disclose the details.
Within the Calleta embassy, everyone carefully concealed what they could while constantly scanning each other with sharp eyes, engaged in an unceasing game of probing for secrets.
“I hear this place focuses heavily on social gatherings.”
There was no need to mention that Emperor Perseta had warned her to distrust everyone at the embassy—or that he’d tried to sway her.
“So it seems various gatherings are held nonstop.”
“Sounds fun.”
Aldwin said. Eliza remained silent, listening.
“Really? I find it annoying.”
Lu spoke honestly. She meant it.
She’d run away because she disliked people, yet now she had to meet them. The Calleta Empire was built upon a rigidly vertical hierarchy governed by cold, strict laws—social gatherings were mere pastimes for a select few nobles.
“This duty is utterly unsuited to me.”
“Since His Majesty entrusted it to you, you must do your best, even if it doesn’t suit your disposition.”
At Eliza’s pointed remark, Lu gave a small laugh.
“I’m the envoy—do you really think I don’t know that, Lady Barcova? I appreciate your advice.”
She wasn’t grateful at all; her tone clearly warned Eliza not to overstep. After all, Lu was the head of this embassy, and she absolutely wouldn’t tolerate anyone treating that lightly.
That’s why she deliberately used Eliza’s surname instead of her given name. No matter how impossible it might seem to overpower her through sheer strength, Lu would find a way to win—relentlessly.
“Well, this is the Calleta embassy, and we’re in a hostile nation—what invitations could possibly come our way?”
“We’ll just stay quiet ourselves.”
Aldwin replied with a chuckle.
“What kind of person is Emperor Perseta?”
True to his rank as viscount, he possessed elegant dining manners. He knew how to gently steer the conversation away from the slightly tense dinner table topic. What kind of person was Emperor Perseta? For starters, he brought bad luck.
“He’s young—young, yet I can’t even guess his age, and it’s hard to read his intentions. Perhaps that’s precisely why he became Emperor.”
Lu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly wondered whether Emperor Perseta was married. No—she had no time for such trivial thoughts. It was nothing. Forget it.
“There are many newspapers here. I even found some that openly criticize the Emperor—we should read them all thoroughly.”
That was all she had to say. Lu didn’t open her mouth again.
Throughout the meal, she mentally drafted the report she’d send to another ill-fated Emperor—Carlos Arthur Ingram. She wanted to hide, as much as possible, what she’d discussed with Emperor Perseta.
The next morning, Lu stood by the broken window, her messy hair uncombed, dressed in a worn-out cardigan.
“Dogs of thieves!”
“Get lost!”
Stones had already shattered three windows, and the Calleta Imperial flag Aldwin had hung was torn at the edge.
People from the Perseta Empire, dressed in formal uniforms, had gathered to block those hurling insults and stones.
“Have a cup.”
Martin approached, offering a tray holding three steaming cups. Lu felt slightly relieved that there was more than one cup and picked one up.
“Lu, why did you come out? It’s dangerous.”
Aldwin rushed out but hesitated when Martin held out the tray.
“With them blocking so diligently, what danger could there be?”
She’d expected this already. Three windows—surprisingly gentle for a start. Lu took a sip. Hmm, the nutty flavor was really good.
“That’s nothing. You’d better steel yourself. Instead of invitations, we’ll be getting stones every day.”
The viscount, now deathly pale, apparently hadn’t anticipated things would go this far.
Lu passed by with a faint smile. She really ought to buy a decent robe and nightgown—something that matched the soft, plush bedding someone had chosen for her.
Hands tucked into her cardigan—full of holes yet wonderfully comfortable—Lu walked slowly away, her demeanor so carefree it was hard to believe she lived in a house pelted with stones from outside.
“Oh, about that—invitations arrived too.”
She turned to Aldwin.
“Wow, look at that ‘I’m dying of annoyance’ face. Three of them came, no less. Cheer up, cheer up.”
“Annoying…”
“That’s why I said cheer up and stop thinking about it. One’s even from the Emperor of Perseta.”
Lu was genuinely exhausted.
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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I’m not sure where Lu gets the patience to deal with Hayden. He’s like a bulldozer. He seems convinced he’s helping her yet he doesn’t consider her opinions throughout it all.