Don't Obsess Over A Married Woman (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7
The Imperial funeral protocol stipulates a one-year mourning period when one loses a spouse.
During this time, the bereaved must hang a black ribbon on their doorplate and wear only mourning attire.
Moreover, remarriage is strictly forbidden during this period.
For reference, no visitors from outside are allowed to call at the household for an entire month following the funeral.
That was precisely why my brother and Viscount Baden went to such lengths to secure a chance to speak with me during the funeral rites.
In any case, those restrictions kept me confined within the Dieren residence even after the funeral concluded.
But that ended yesterday.
Today marks exactly one month and one day since the funeral.
At last, the gates of the Dieren ducal mansion have opened.
…Or rather, they should have opened.
“…What in the world is that procession?”
Trouble arose the moment visits were permitted.
Since early morning, I’ve been standing on the second-floor balcony, looking down below.
The maid and the elderly butler behind me also wore deeply bewildered expressions.
I steadied the sigh barely escaping my lips and asked again.
“Since exactly when have they been like that? No—more importantly, just how many people are there?”
The butler, replying to my question, clicked his tongue in exasperation.
“I’m not certain myself, but according to the maids who rose early, they’ve been waiting like that since before dawn.”
“All those people?”
“Yes, my lady. And the line appears to be growing even longer as we speak.”
“Hah.”
The sigh I’d tried to hold back finally burst out.
‘…How on earth am I supposed to process this situation?’
I stared blankly toward the mansion’s front entrance, utterly flabbergasted.
“Don’t push! Do you even know what’s loaded on here?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? Could it possibly be more precious than the gifts our lord himself sent?”
“Keep your eyes on the cart! If even a single item goes missing, your heads won’t be enough to compensate!”
“Hey, you there—no cutting in line! Now that you’ve arrived, go stand at the back properly! Have you no sense of public decency?”
“Hah! How dare you raise your voice at me here!”
“You’d better take a good look at the crest engraved on this cart before speaking! One wrong word, and you’ll find yourself in serious trouble!”
The black-clad procession stretching from the gates of the Dieren mansion filled the entire street and extended so far that its end remained out of sight.
Magnificent carts laden with goods, the attendants pulling them, and burly knights standing guard over each cart—
Recognizing the crests emblazoned on the carts, I quickly grasped the visitors’ intentions. They were here for…
“All of them are waiting to propose marriage to you, my lady. Those carts contain betrothal gifts.”
“……”
“My lady, please give your instructions.”
A headache began to throb.
Upon reflection, though Imperial social etiquette forbids a widow from remarrying for one year, it doesn’t prohibit courtship.
In other words, one could freely pursue romance during the mourning period and marry the moment the restriction lifts—technically, there’d be no issue.
Though it might stir some gossip…
“My lady, these gifts come from noble houses who’ve taken great care. Regardless of whether you accept their proposals, it would be proper to receive the gifts.”
While I was momentarily lost in my headache, the butler offered his advice. Only then did I snap back to my senses.
“…I know that well enough, but today Viscount Baden is surely sending over the tutor he promised—I’m already overwhelmed. This is quite inconvenient.”
We hadn’t set a precise appointment, but given that man’s greed, he’d undoubtedly be unable to wait even a single day.
‘Besides, Sir Joseph also said he’d come the moment the mansion gates opened.’
Though I seemed to trust his words more than I should, it wasn’t blind faith.
I simply placed high weight on his predictions since they’d never been wrong before—and thus prepared accordingly.
Truly.
“In that case, you need not receive the proposals in person. Since they arrived unannounced, there’s nothing to be done.”
“That’s true enough.”
In any event, I couldn’t simply turn them all away.
“Then I’ll leave this matter to you. Inform them that I have prior engagements and cannot receive their proposals personally.”
“Understood. I shall categorize the betrothal gifts separately so you may inspect them all at once later. Might there be any further instructions?”
“Oh—should any guest arrive with a different purpose, notify me immediately. But don’t bring them in straightaway; have them wait a bit first.”
“Understood, my lady.”
After giving my instructions, I turned to address the butler and maid.
“Please do your best today, everyone. It’s only natural—our gates haven’t opened in so long. Kindly also inform the staff that this month’s wages will be doubled.”
“I shall relay that to the servants.”
But at that moment, I had no idea.
The true hell of marriage proposals was only just beginning.
“Then open the mansion gates.”
[This is the timeline separator]“Kar hyeong!”
Cardiel halted at the boy’s call and turned his head.
A small-framed boy, his bright platinum hair trimmed short just like Cardiel’s, hurried toward him with quick steps.
An exuberant smile bloomed in the eleven-year-old’s large amber eyes.
Cardiel suddenly felt envious of his younger brother.
Though they’d both inherited the same platinum hair, while Cardiel bore the likeness of their devilish father, the youngest took after their mother.
It wasn’t just his appearance, including those eyes—it was especially his personality.
Cardiel himself had grown cynical and wary of everything in the world.
In stark contrast, the youngest wore vivid expressions and possessed a kindness surpassing all others—so much so that the household staff affectionately called him “His Angelic Highness.”
For example, even after their long-loathed father finally died, the boy had burst into tears, sobbing, “Death hurts no matter whose it is!”
Honestly speaking, Cardiel was certain he’d never understand this naive, overly kind youngest brother—not in this lifetime.
Although, whether he understood him or not didn’t change the fact that he was a brother Cardiel had to protect.
“Celsion, didn’t Stepmother tell you not to run in the hallways?”
“O-oh, right!”
Celsion immediately stopped and clamped both hands over his mouth.
Though the gesture was unbearably cute and endearing, Cardiel made no effort to smile.
“I-It’s got to stay a secret from Mother, okay?”
“If I keep it secret, you’ll just run in the hallway again. You need a proper scolding to break that habit.”
“I won’t do it again, I promise! Please, just this once, hyeong!”
“Whining like that won’t work.”
“Hiiing…”
Faced with Cardiel’s impenetrable response, Celsion quickly contorted his tiny face into a pouty, tearful expression.
Though it had absolutely no effect on Cardiel whatsoever.
“Your business.”
“Oh, right!”
Puffed-cheeked from his elder brother’s coldness, Celsion suddenly remembered and got straight to the point.
“Since early morning, so many people have come to the house!”
“……”
“I asked my nanny, and just like you said before—they’ve all come to propose to Mother!”
Cardiel’s brow furrowed deeply. He’d already been in ill humor over this very issue.
Though this was exactly what he’d anticipated and expected,
‘I didn’t think it’d annoy me this much.’
He knew he ought to remain calm and rein in his emotions precisely at times like this—yet for some reason, he couldn’t.
Clearly, he was still immature.
Thus, Cardiel once again recognized his own shortcomings today.
“W-What if… what if Mother really marries someone else?”
“That won’t happen.”
Cardiel cut him off sharply.
Yet despite his firm tone, even he lacked true certainty.
‘On that day, Stepmother never actually said she had no intention of remarrying.’
It happened during the funeral.
Back then, Cardiel had asked Liselotte outright whether she intended to remarry.
But Liselotte had given him a completely different answer:
〈Not once, Kar, have I ever imagined anyone other than you becoming the next duke.〉
Of course, that was precisely what Cardiel had been worried about.
After all, with Dieren effectively left undefended, countless nobles—including Viscount Baden and other cadet branches, Stepmother’s own family, numerous noble houses, and even the Imperial family—would surely vie for the ducal title and domain.
Strictly speaking, Cardiel didn’t crave the title itself.
But he understood that to secure his future—and at the very least, his safety—he absolutely had to inherit the dukedom.
Thus, hearing Liselotte’s resolute words had secretly relieved him.
The problem was that her answer had made his heart flutter so tenderly that his earlier doubts now seemed embarrassingly childish.
Here was a stepmother who cared so deeply for Dieren and for him…
‘Would it even be right to stop her from seeking new happiness now that she’s finally free from that devilish father?’
It took him a full month to find an answer to that question.
Thanks to that, Cardiel now held a firm stance on his attitude.
Cardiel was certain.
‘No one—not a single soul—could possibly care for Stepmother as much as I and my siblings do.’
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
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Chapter Comments (4)
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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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)
This is crazy omgosh what is going onn this amount of darkness and trauma gave me whiplash. I can also see where this is going amnesia arc incoming isn’t it.