Don't Obsess Over A Married Woman (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“Hmm.”
My older brother remained silent for a long while after that, though he made no effort to hide the unpleasant way he was eyeing me.
Had it not been for Sir Joseph’s warning, I likely would have remained completely unaware of my brother’s intentions until this very moment.
I decided to speak first.
“If you’re thinking of suggesting I remarry, don’t even say a word, Brother.”
“What?”
“Of course, I assumed—even a brother who shamelessly sold his own sister to that violent man for personal gain would still possess some minimal sense of propriety and wouldn’t dare bring up my remarriage right here, in front of my late husband’s coffin, when it’s been less than four days since he passed.”
“That’s not—it’s just that I had no idea Duke Dieren was that sort of man! Do you really think I’d deliberately marry you off to someone like that…?”
“That doesn’t matter anymore. I’m talking about the present, not the past, Brother.”
The face of the man who resembled me slowly, but unmistakably, turned deathly pale.
Seeing his reaction, I couldn’t help but inwardly sigh.
I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this—but apparently, Sir Joseph had been right after all.
“Let me be perfectly clear, Brother. Whether your intended match for me is a close business partner of yours or a newly ennobled baronet, you had your one and only chance to control my marriage ten years ago—and that’s more than enough.”
“Hold on, Liselotte. You already knew who I’d arranged for you?”
His reaction right now confirmed it beyond doubt.
“Unlike back then, I am now both Duchess and acting Duke of Dieren, whereas you are merely Baron Landgritz. Do you understand what that means?”
“Hah, but Liselotte—think carefully. Your next husband must be a noble of very low rank, so that later the Dukedom of Dieren can rightfully pass to our Landgritz bloodline…”
“In short, you have absolutely no right to interfere in my marriage matters.”
My brother had probably intended to provoke me, hoping to naturally seize control of the conversation.
But of course—I had anticipated his reaction in advance and had no intention of allowing such a maneuver.
“I trust you understand exactly what I’m saying… Baron Landgritz.”
“……”
Thus, I finished saying everything I needed to say.
My brother, clearly taken aback by my cold demeanor, stood there flustered, his lips moving soundlessly for a moment.
And truthfully—that was to be expected.
Had I heard this remarriage talk from him with no prior warning, I likely would have been consumed by rage in an instant.
Losing control like that would have been no different than surrendering outright. It was fortunate I’d been prepared for his nonsense.
Deliberately curving my lips into a deep smile, I continued.
“…But surely you didn’t call me aside just to discuss something so utterly implausible? Come now—tell me plainly. What was it you wanted to say to me so secretly?”
Hah, where else could you find such a considerate little sister? Not only did I spare him embarrassment, I even left him an escape route.
In the end, my brother had no choice but to offer an awkward excuse anyone could see through.
“…I just… wanted to ask you to visit home once this social season ends. Even though you’re married, the Barony of Landgritz is still your homeland, isn’t it?”
“Hehe, Brother, you’re still as timid as ever. Even if it’s a private matter, you didn’t need to summon me separately just to say that.”
My victory was absolute.
“Well… I’ll try to find time, but as you know, until my eldest child inherits the dukedom, I must focus entirely on managing the Duchy of Dieren—so I can’t give you a definite answer.”
“Hah, yes. Let’s discuss that matter again another time.”
Another time, indeed.
In that moment, I resolved never to meet my brother again until Cardiel fully inherited the dukedom.
[This is the timeline separator]Meanwhile, Cardiel sat in the adjacent drawing room alongside Viscount Baden.
To be honest, Cardiel found this situation—being alone in a room with Viscount Baden—deeply unpleasant.
‘Did he really say he wanted to speak with me privately?’
He couldn’t even understand why the man insisted on it; they certainly weren’t close enough for such a thing.
Had it not been for his stepmother’s prior warning, Cardiel surely would have dismissed him outright with a curt request to leave.
“Hmm, so you’re Cardiel. Though this is our first meeting, you look exactly like your father, Duke Dieren—you must be very clever indeed. I am the head of the Dieren cadet branch and your father’s most trusted cousin during his lifetime. You may simply call me ‘Uncle.'”
“Pleased to meet you, Viscount Baden.”
“If ‘Uncle’ feels too distant, how about just ‘Uncle’?”
“Viscount Baden—or perhaps Chairman of the Privy Council? Which would you prefer?”
“Ahem. How terribly formal among family.”
Faced with such a blunt rebuff, Viscount Baden kept clearing his throat while fussing with his long mustache—a clear attempt to mask his embarrassment.
Indeed, today was truly the first time Cardiel had ever met Viscount Baden.
After all, the Viscount had never once visited Dieren—not the duchy, nor the ducal residence—during all this time.
‘I’ve heard his name mentioned occasionally, since he apparently had frequent dealings with my late father.’
But that was beside the point.
After all, this was the same man who never showed his face even when Cardiel and his siblings were born.
He hadn’t even offered condolences when the siblings’ birth mother passed away.
‘His reason for coming to pay respects now is painfully obvious.’
He was clearly eyeing the vacant dukedom—no doubt harboring ambitions to claim it for himself.
‘And he probably thinks a mere child like me would be easy to manipulate.’
Cardiel, of course, was only fifteen—a minor.
Yet children who endure hardship mature early.
Cardiel had long since cast aside childish innocence to become the protective eldest sibling determined to shield his younger brothers and sisters.
Thus, he was mature beyond his years, thoughtful, distrustful of adults,
and already quite perceptive about how the world truly worked.
Above all, he was exceptionally quick-witted—a survival instinct honed into a form of social skill.
Such a boy was no longer someone easily swayed by clumsy schemes.
“I have a question for you, Car—ahem. Never mind, boy.”
“Cardiel Diac Dieren.”
“Yes, Cardiel.”
He didn’t even remember his nephew’s name correctly.
“I’ve heard that Duke Dieren and the Duchess didn’t get along well. Isn’t that right?”
The moment Cardiel heard that opening question, he immediately grasped Viscount Baden’s true intent.
Not wanting to waste time with drawn-out conversation, Cardiel decided to preemptively answer the question the man would inevitably circle back to.
“It seems you suspect my stepmother of murdering my father—but you’re grievously mistaken. Father, heavily intoxicated, lost his footing while thrashing about alone. At the time, my stepmother was standing several meters away, making it absolutely impossible for her to push him. Besides, as you’ve surely noticed, she’s injured in the ankle.”
“Hmm. I… see… That’s… that’s certainly fortunate. Hahaha! I was merely concerned she might become embroiled in scandal later on!”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s all it was.”
Once Cardiel offered a perfunctory reply, Viscount Baden—clearly flustered—began babbling unnecessary elaborations even though no one had asked.
“You must realize, of course, that your stepmother stands to gain the most from this incident. To outsiders, it’s entirely plausible she’d be suspected of murder.”
“I’ve heard that social rumors inevitably fade with time. As a senior member of the cadet branch, you should pay even less attention to such gossip. Aren’t you supposed to be safeguarding House Dieren?”
“Y-yes, of course… absolutely… Ahem! Ahem!”
Viscount Baden quickly moved to his next topic.
“But regardless, there’s one thing you must understand clearly: your stepmother is now a complete stranger—not just to you, but to the entire House Dieren.”
Now it was clear—this was his main point.
A deep shadow fell over Cardiel’s expressionless face and his dark blue eyes.
“Think about it. She never bore any children for the Dukedom. While you may have shared a mother-son relationship before, that only existed while your father was alive. In other words…”
Viscount Baden straightened his posture and spoke gravely.
“…that woman now has no reason whatsoever to treat you kindly. Far from it—she likely sees you as nothing but thorns in her eyes. Perhaps even now, she’s plotting some vicious scheme to harm you.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating? Look at you—you have no idea how serious this situation truly is! Do you even know what sort of conspiracy she’s hatching right now with your maternal uncle, Baron Landgritz?”
Cardiel’s protest seemed to ignite the Viscount like a fuse.
Viscount Baden’s face flushed red, and his words tumbled out faster.
“He plans to force your stepmother to remarry some insignificant noble from a lowly house and then seize the entire Duchy of Dieren by handing the title to the child born of that union!”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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Chapter Comments (5)
Inline Comments (65)
“You did, Euphemia. You were sitting right in that mud—you couldn’t possibly be
Does she have a split personality 🤔 😳? I could see that based on the trauma they have
“Yet you claim to have attained scholarly mastery—on par with what imperial-born
This is like watching the regressor’s buff from a 3 rd person perspective
A creature that slowly devoured a person’s brain, driving them inevitably to mad
Ohhh I wonder what it is about her that makes his headaches go away
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It’s good so far I just hope the story can deal with heavy trauma properly
Soo all this talk about the dungeons being a maze and very dangerous was for what???
Aww this is such a tesrjerker of a chapter 🥲🥺 . Now she knows they love her ( they made it obvious though)