Adrian sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
He understood why Lilburn was behaving this way, but it didn’t feel good to hear Laila spoken of in a negative light. Adrian looked at Lilburn silently, with a disapproving gaze.
Ultimately, the winner in this silent battle of disapproval was Adrian.
Lilburn frowned deeply, then took the blood-stained handkerchief from Adrian’s hand, replacing it with a clean one from his pocket.
“I’ll take care of burning your handkerchief, Your Highness. Please rest.”
Before Lilburn left the room, Adrian spoke up.
“Laila will be coming around evening.”
Lilburn paused, turning his head to look at Adrian, a gesture asking if there was more to say. Adrian shared a part of his plan that Lilburn was unaware of.
“Prepare the ship and escorts for tomorrow’s departure. There must be some decent mercenaries in this country.”
“A ship and escorts?”
“We need to send Laila safely back to Wessex. Can’t predict what that bastard Reynard might do.”
Adrian wanted to ensure Laila’s safe return to her homeland, even if he couldn’t accompany her on the ship.
But his words seemed to irritate Lilburn again. He pressed his temples as if he had a headache.
“But isn’t Prince Reynard imprisoned? He shouldn’t be able to do much.”
“He could have people on the outside.”
Adrian was aware of the risk Reynard posed to Laila. He was determined to make Reynard’s life miserable if he dared touch Laila again.
Lilburn shook his head in resignation, realizing arguing was futile.
“Alright. Should we add a couple of our men along with the mercenaries?”
“Two from our side… Let Mason be one of them.”
Lilburn raised his eyebrows upon hearing Mason’s name, but Adrian asked him.
“Any objections?”
“None.”
“You’re unusually agreeable.”
“I’ve finally understood how to converse with Your Highness.”
Lilburn’s retort brought a faint smile to Adrian’s face.
After Lilburn left and closed the door, Adrian couldn’t bear the pain any longer. He untied his cravat and frantically unbuttoned his shirt.
Sweat had soaked his silver hair, and his face in the mirror was pale, the lips nearly colorless. His violet eyes wavered.
Adrian was thankful he wasn’t in Harkin. Showing weakness there would have been dangerous.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he lamented his current state.
“I’m a complete mess.”
Adrian knew he was pushing himself too hard, but being around Laila stirred something irresistible in him. It could be his lingering attachment to a once-lost connection or perhaps stubbornness towards Laila, who seemed to have forgotten him.
“My first love is dead,” she had said.
Thinking that she talks about him that way made him feel dreadful. He had convinced himself it was okay if she didn’t choose him again, but that self-assurance was shattered.
No, it’s not okay.
Adrian hoped, deep down, that Laila would love him again.
If I’m given the chance, I would cast aside all my pride and cling to her with desperate longing.
As Laila had told Milray, she left the palace in the late afternoon.
Although King Filmer had provided her a room as a courtesy, he didn’t insist on her staying, especially after Reynard’s public dismissal, which he hadn’t entirely approved of. Instead, he ensured her comfort outside the palace until her return to Wessex, arranging a room in a high-end hotel run by a prominent noble family.
Laila didn’t refuse this gesture from the royal family but headed to Milray’s temporary residence as planned.
In the carriage, crossing the wide streets of the capital, Laila’s maid quietly gazed outside and then asked, “Should I just collect the dress from Lord Milray?”
Laila, who had been lost in thought and staring blankly at the passing scenery, refocused her eyes and considered the maid’s words. The maid was implying she could go down and fetch it herself if that was all.
“Ah, that’s…”
Laila suddenly searched for an excuse, her hand touching the diamond necklace around her neck, given to her by Mev that morning. Playing with the necklace, Laila spoke, “I think I should return this personally. …And properly thank Lord Milray.”
Laila read her own eagerness to meet Milray again in her words. Anxious that the maid might notice her beating heart, she was relieved to hear a routine response.
“Then I’ll keep the princess’s dress in the carriage. Take your time talking with the lord.”
“Thanks.”
Laila nodded and turned her gaze back outside the window.
Fortunately, as she had told Milray, the carriage arrived when the evening sky was deeply stained with the red of sunset. It was a relief to arrive while it was still not too dark.
When the carriage stopped inside the small garden in front of the residence, the door opened, and Milray was waiting, just like at the palace earlier.
Following her maid, who first descended with Lilburn’s help, Laila took Milray’s hand.
Milray escorted her skillfully, showing a warm smile.
“Did you have any trouble after leaving the palace?”
Laila, feeling the warmth and firmness of his hand holding hers, nodded slightly.
“Yes, thanks to you, Lord Milray.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Milray was relieved that his imaginings of the King pushing another prince forward or the princes themselves courting Laila had not come true. After all, this kingdom would soon be bankrupt and ruined anyway.
Unaware of his inner thoughts, Laila felt a flutter in her heart at his caring words.
‘Does he have a lover in Harkin?’
Judging from the contract he allegedly wrote with Reynard, he seemed to be quite wealthy. If his title as a lord wasn’t fabricated, he would be quite popular in social circles, especially with his ingrained manners and kindness that could mislead anyone.
…Like herself.
Laila felt tense with the presence of Milray through their joined hands.
She was eager to know his true identity but held back as it seemed difficult to inquire about it in her maid’s presence.
Entering the mansion’s hall, bathed in the hues of sunset, Laila, led by Milray, broached the reason for her visit.
“Lord Milray, my dress?”
“I’ll have my servants pack it and place it in your carriage shortly.”
His clear and straightforward answer left no room for doubt, and Laila looked back at her maid, who nodded understandingly.
Observing their signals, Milray gestured towards the drawing room and asked Laila, “I have something important to discuss. May I lead you to the drawing room?”
Laila noticed the drawing room bustling with servants preparing for guests. She nodded, and Milray led the way. Mev, possibly intending to help with packing, disappeared with Laila’s maid.
As they entered the drawing room, filled with the aroma of tea and sweet pastries, the intensity of the sunset rapidly faded.
Servants lit the fireplace and placed lamps around, and Laila sat across Milray with a table between them. It was only natural for her gaze to be drawn to an object placed on the table.
While Laila intently observed it, Milray posed an enigmatic question, “I assume you still have some days left before returning to Wessex?”
Laila, hastily shifting her gaze from the object on the table, nodded slightly, “If everything goes as planned, I’ll leave in seven days. I intended to stay longer after the engagement.”
Wessex and Filmer didn’t share a border, and the quickest return would involve crossing through at least two countries. Naturally, they would need separate permissions to enter each territory. Even after breaking off the engagement, she couldn’t just leave Filmer immediately.
Then Milray, pushing the object on the table towards Laila, made an unexpected offer, “I will help you return to Wessex as quickly as possible.”
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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