“Vega, where are you going with the Emperor?”
As Frost leaped off Mars and exuded a murderous aura, shivers ran down the spines of Captain Leo and the head butler.
“Well… The Emperor suddenly appeared with a horse without any prior notice… And told Lady Vega to accept it as a gift…”
As Leo stammered his response, veins bulged on the temples of Frost, who gritted his teeth.
“Told her, to accept it, as a gift?”
“When he said it was a gift, Lady Vega thanked him and accepted it…”
Icy blue eyes pierced into the flustered Leo.
“So, you just watched Vega accept a gift from that bastard? No, you didn’t just watch. You let the two of them ride off together! Without any escort from the ducal family!”
“I, well… Even when the Angelus Knights offered to escort them… Lady Vega refused… And when I said I would accompany her, she strictly forbade me from following…”
Speaking in a meek voice, Leo suddenly knelt on the dirt ground.
“I have committed a grave sin! I should have followed regardless… I should have secretly tailed them.”
The head butler Alexis also knelt beside the knight captain.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
Suppressing his boiling anger and anxiety, Frost heaved a sigh.
If Yuriella had been stubborn, there was nothing they could have done. She probably didn’t take any escorts to avoid them finding out about the relationship between her and the Emperor.
But still.
He was uncontrollably furious.
His wife often forgot.
That she was no longer the wielder of the mighty holy sword Flamma.
And how dirty deeds a man’s bottomless lust and jealousy could lead to.
Frost ran his hands down his stiff face, collecting his emotions.
“Do you have any idea where they went?”
“Just that it was a forest… I’m sorry.”
“Recite exactly what the Emperor said.”
Leo shut his eyes tightly, trying to recall.
“The Emperor said, ‘Do you want to go for a ride with me? There’s a forest path Blanca loved.'”
“A forest path Blanca loved?”
Frost’s deep blue eyes flickered with realization.
The horse Blanca that the Emperor brought was Solas Moretti’s beloved steed.
When that white horse with a glossy sheen carried her master and galloped, it put even his own steed Mars to shame.
Frost slowly closed his eyes, deep in thought. A path Blanca loved.
‘It must be a place Solas frequented.’
He knew that place well too.
It was somewhere he often visited with Mars whenever he came to the capital.
Pitying his own steed Mars, who had fallen in love with Blanca at first sight and was pining away, Frost would seek out the forest Solas frequently rode in whenever he came to the capital.
Perhaps it was him who wanted to see Solas more than Mars did.
He would find out from his spies in the palace the times Solas visited that forest, and casually run into her as if by coincidence, riding alongside her.
Even after returning to the North, how many wistful sighs had he let out, unable to forget that forest where he had left his heart behind.
The Star Forest. Stellata.
A place where in midsummer nights, the Milky Way shines in the sky and a spectacular festival of light unfolds with glittering fireflies in the forest.
His wife was there now.
Frost gripped the reins tightly and spurred his horse, turning its head.
Mars, who had been sniffing excitedly since entering the gates as if sensing Blanca’s traces, leaped powerfully.
The black steed, known to be so fast its shadow couldn’t keep up, galloped like the wind.
*
“Hiyah! Hiyah!”
Yuriella pulled the reins taut and crouched low to avoid wind resistance as she raced down the forest path.
Blanca, kicking off the ground with slender legs, was reminiscent of the winged horse Pegasus soaring through the sky.
Jumping twice the distance of other horses with each stride, the ultimate steed displayed monstrous power in speed, agility, and stamina.
But Blanca’s greatest strength was the sublime connection with its rider.
Whether Solas was swinging a sword or shooting arrows, Blanca always positioned itself in the optimal spot to attack enemies and adjusted its speed, breathing as one with its master.
The two were the best of comrades who protected each other in danger. And the greatest of friends who completely understood each other’s hearts and provided comfort even in silence.
‘Thank you. For waiting for me.’
Yuriella gently leaned into Blanca.
The friend who recognized her at first glance had been waiting for her unchanged.
She could tell from the glossy coat and still-firm muscles. It was proof that even when Blanca didn’t want to eat, it ate well, and even when it didn’t want to move, it consistently trained its body to always be ready to carry its master.
“Hiyah! Hiyah!”
Justin closely watched Yuriella as she clung tightly to Blanca and raced ahead, letting out several hearty laughs from the bottom of his heart for the first time in a long while.
He knew she would accept Blanca.
Though he didn’t expect her to come to Stellata with him as a gesture of gratitude for the gift.
Justin gripped the reins tightly and chased after Yuriella.
[I cannot accept this horse. It is too much.]When Justin gifted Blanca to commemorate Solas becoming the Imperial Knight Commander, Solas refused several times but couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful, glossy steed.
[There is a saying that one going on a long journey must ride an exceptional horse. I did not feel good sending you far away to battlefields all this time.] [But… There will be many rumors. Is that all? With the price paid to purchase this horse, an entire government building could be constructed. Think of how many starving people could be fed. Just return it, and give food to the hungry instead.]In the palace crowded with countless humans, Solas was the only one who put concern and consideration for her lord before her own desires.
[It was bought with my money. Bought for you. You are now the owner, so do with it as you wish, kill it or keep it.]In the end, Solas could not win against Justin.
Because he had bought the ultimate steed at an exorbitant price and starved it without giving it a single piece of fodder.
Upon hearing that the steed was drastically losing weight with its bones showing and transforming into a wretched state, Solas finally relented.
It was the only gift from the Emperor that Solas accepted.
After leaving the ducal residence, Justin no longer resented the woman who raced ahead only looking forward without a single glance back. It was fine even if she didn’t look back for him.
‘Because I can chase after you like this. If you run, I’ll catch you, and if I lose you, I’ll chase you again. Because you’re alive. Because you’re breathing right in front of me like this.’
Yuriella only stopped her horse upon reaching the summit of Stellata, the Star Forest.
With a radiant smile on her flushed cheeks, Yuriella gently embraced Blanca’s neck.
“Blanca. There are many friends I want to introduce you to. You can meet Popo, Nero, and Ren as soon as we get home. And I’ll introduce you to Airy once my mission is over. They’re all such cute and kind friends.”
Neigh. Neigh.
As if understanding every word, Blanca pranced its feet in excitement.
“I’m sorry for leaving you alone and lonely. I’m sorry for making you worry. I won’t leave you alone anymore. I’ll protect you for sure.”
Upon hearing the sound of hoofbeats, Yuriella’s face scrunched up.
The Emperor approached her with a bright smile.
“Thank you, Solas. For accepting my gift.”
The Emperor’s steed panted and snorted, seeming to have been rushed quite a bit.
Yuriella stiffened her expression and furrowed her brow.
Just how could this guy be so consistently crazy?
“Blanca is not an object to be given and taken as a gift. From the moment you starved it in the palace stables, this child had nothing to do with you.”
Even as she spoke rudely to the Emperor of an empire, not just a king, Justin’s laughter only grew louder in utter delight.
“I’m so glad, Solas. I’m thrilled that you’re speaking informally to me, it makes me feel closer to you.”
She could only return a sneer to the delighted madman.
“I knew you were crazy, but you’ve gotten much worse since I last saw you, huh?”
“I wanted to go mad. I wanted to completely lose my mind, tear at my hair, and wander the streets. Living in a world without you with a sane mind was too horrific.”
“You’re the one who killed me, remember? Should I crack open that pretty head of yours to bring back your memories?”
“Yes, I killed you. I must have been crazy then. Maybe I just wanted to play Emperor? To think I killed you to make an example and establish authority in the empire. I was insane. But I’ve changed now. Now, you’re the only one who matters to me, Solas.”
“I am not Solas. You killed Solas. I am now Yuriella Ielheim, the Grand Duchess. The eternal companion who pledged her life to Grand Duke Frost Ielheim.”
“Then will you take me as your concubine?”
“What?”
Yuriella shuddered, beyond anger and into disgust.
Justin leaped off his horse and approached Yuriella. He knelt on one knee and gently held her foot resting on the stirrup as if grasping a precious treasure.
“Yes. That wouldn’t be so bad either. If I kill the Grand Duke, you will hate me and never want to see me again. I’d rather become your concubine. It’s not impossible. I can just change the imperial laws. Because I am the Emperor.”
“You’ve really gone completely insane, haven’t you?”
Yuriella tried to pull her foot away in revulsion, but Justin didn’t let go and only gripped tighter. Then he buried his face there and sobbed.
“I’m fine being your second man, or third, or fourth. Just let me stay by your side, Solas.”
Yuriella cringed at the sensation of the Emperor’s tears soaking her foot.
“Let go!”
“I can’t live without you. If you’re going to abandon me, you might as well kill me.”
“Then just die. I don’t want to dirty my hands with your filthy blood.”
“Solas. I love you. I love you, Solas.”
Shing.
The chilling aura of an ice blade rushed to the pleading Emperor’s neck.
“Justin Della Ponti. If you don’t want to lose your head right here, take your hands off my wife.”
The transparent blade of the holy sword Iel-lo whipped with a fierce chill.
Ta-ta-tat! Particles of ice flaring up like blue flames lapped at the Emperor’s chin.
The gold buttons lining the front of the Emperor’s snow-white uniform crumbled to dust. Ice shards striking his epaulets drew red lines on his jaw and cheeks.
“Frost…”
Frost’s head turned towards the voice calling him.
His wife, drenched in sunlight pouring through the trees, was so dazzling that Frost narrowed his eyes.
The filthy feeling of seeing the Emperor fawning over his wife instantly cleared.
Though she couldn’t hide her bewilderment, his wife clearly conveyed her words.
“In the Eastern continent, there’s a saying. Do you avoid poop because it’s scary or because it’s dirty? Don’t soil your noble sword with crap.”
Pfft.
For a moment forgetting the grave situation of holding a sword to the Emperor’s neck, Frost let out a small chuckle.
My lovely wife is as beautiful as a forest fairy, and curses so boldly too.
A husband who would pluck stars and the moon from the sky if his wife commanded immediately withdrew the holy sword Iel-lo. Heeding his wife’s words, he didn’t spare a single glance at the filthy poop and swiftly mounted behind his wife, pulling her into his embrace with one arm.
“Let’s go home, Blanca.”
Frost spurred the horse.
Recognizing the man on its back, Blanca pranced its feet with a displeased “neigh”, but…
“Blanca.”
At its master’s gentle call, it obediently kicked off the ground and leaped.
Mars excitedly followed close behind with its tail raised high. Neigh. Neigh.
Left alone, the Emperor rose from his kneeling position and dusted off his knees.
“Sereno.”
The Emperor’s first shadow appeared silently.
“Did you hear? What Solas said to me?”
The wax-pale face of the shadow contorted in dismay.
“Your Majesty, let us return to the palace…”
Justin turned his head and cast his gaze down the forest path Yuriella rode off on. Then he burst into laughter as if he couldn’t be any happier.
“Haha. Hahaha.”
Watching the laughing Emperor, Sereno felt dizzy.
The fact that the Grand Duchess was Solas, the fact that His Majesty was overjoyed at being cursed at by Solas, it was all incomprehensible. And the Grand Duchess readily accepting Blanca was also baffling.
Solas was by no means careless. Would she rashly accept a gift from the hostile Emperor without knowing what he could have done to it?
But Sereno quickly ceased his thoughts. Thinking was not his role.
*
Yuriella, tightly embraced by Frost, descended the forest path deep in thought.
‘The Emperor must have done something to Blanca… But what could it be?’
Even knowing what kind of man the Emperor was, Yuriella had no choice but to accept. She couldn’t refuse because of the danger Blanca posed.
Neigh. Neigh.
Overjoyed to be reunited with its master, Blanca reared up on its front legs several times, prancing.
Yuriella’s red eyes deepened as she stroked Blanca’s snow-white neck.
She would protect them. Both Blanca and the Grand Duke.
‘This time for sure. No matter what it takes.’
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.
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
