How To Escape From A Devilish Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
“……Madam?”
Yes. She was the daughter of a traitor.
So this was how humiliating the process had to be just to gain permission for a single outing.
Just a few days ago, he had acted as if he’d give her anything she wanted.
Had she, without even realizing it, come to rely on that man’s gentle demeanor?
Delphine was slightly startled at her own sudden disappointment.
“I have… a bit of business in District 3 again today. I can’t accompany you outside.”
Perhaps he interpreted her expression as refusal.
Before Delphine could even open her mouth, the man curved the corners of his lips into a faint smile and added,
“I’ll also inform the knights of a few precautions, Madam.”
Only his mouth smiled. His eyes, as they addressed her, remained utterly devoid of warmth—cold as ice.
Though he called them “precautions,” it was clear he meant to issue orders to the knights.
Everything he had said so far wasn’t a request—it was a demand she had no choice but to obey.
“…Yes.”
Delphine replied calmly, poking listlessly at the poached egg on her plate with an air of indifference.
Her earlier joy at finally being allowed to go out had vanished, completely killing her appetite.
As usual, the man left the mansion immediately after breakfast.
Rather than locking herself in the study with idle thoughts, Delphine sat down at the dressing table in her private chamber.
“Anna, would you help me get ready to go out?”
“Of course, Madam.”
Anna exclaimed with evident delight at the rare news of an outing.
“It’s still a bit early, but I should fetch your sable fur wrap!”
“No. I have a gray dress—bring that one. Keep it as plain as possible.”
She was still the daughter of a traitor.
There was no need to dress extravagantly and draw unnecessary attention.
‘…Not as if that man was so worried about it.’
“Oh? But—”
Anna, though slightly disappointed, quickly obeyed and brought out the requested dress.
After changing, Delphine slowly walked over and examined her reflection in the mirror.
A dull, unadorned gray dress and a somewhat gloomy expression—
She looked exactly like a criminal.
“…Ha ha.”
“My little— No, Madam?”
Delphine clenched her fists, her face twisting in frustration.
No.
It was her father who had been the criminal.
She herself was neither a criminal nor a traitor.
Then why on earth should she, an innocent woman, dress like a guilty one?
“Sorry. This really doesn’t suit me at all. I’ll change. Bring me the emerald-green dress instead.”
Anna immediately nodded with a cheerful smile.
“And that sable fur I mentioned earlier… Also bring the emerald necklace he gave me then.”
Gifts from that man, long buried in the depths of her wardrobe as if forgotten, now emerged one by one from their boxes.
Delphine, carried away by the moment, loosened her tightly bound, wavy crimson hair and let it flow freely.
She pinned an emerald hairpin into it and fastened matching earrings.
Finally, she placed around her neck the necklace adorned with an emerald the size of a child’s fist.
Over the silk dress, she draped the brilliantly white, smooth sable fur.
Soon, a woman as splendid and beautiful as an imperial princess confidently smiled back at her from the mirror.
“You’re utterly stunning! Of course—you’ve always been our little jewel. Ever since childhood, no one in the empire could rival your beauty.”
Anna kept exclaiming beside her with unmistakable pride.
“Yes. I think I’m ready now. Have the carriage prepared.”
“Yes, Madam. Where shall I tell them to take you?”
Delphine rose from her seat and calmly gave the order.
“To the Central Library.”
[This is the timeline separator]The Central Library was located in the eastern part of District 2 of the capital.
It had been a very long time since she’d stepped outside District 1.
Delphine sat in the swaying carriage, gazing out at the passing scenery.
District 2 felt so different from District 1 that it was hard to believe they were both part of the same capital.
District 1, where the imperial family and nobles resided, was the epitome of extravagance.
Lampposts along the grand avenue leading to the palace were even decorated with amethysts—an obvious testament to its opulence.
In contrast, District 2—which encircled District 1 like a ring of commercial streets—was neat but far more modest.
There were no ostentatious buildings; instead, orderly brick structures lined the grid-like streets.
Her father had never liked her leaving District 1.
Whenever she occasionally visited District 2, he would cluck his tongue in disgust at the commoners milling about the streets.
“Filthy pigs.”
At those times, Delphine would stay silent, quietly gripping the hem of her dress.
Inside, she’d recoil at her father’s petty arrogance—venting the humiliation he suffered at court onto those beneath him.
“Madam, we’ve arrived.”
The coachman’s voice snapped Delphine out of her thoughts.
Ah, she was thinking of her father again.
She quickly composed her expression and stepped out of the carriage with a straight, dignified posture.
“Yes. Thank you for your trouble.”
No sooner had she alighted than two knights bearing the imperial crest immediately approached and fell into step beside her.
They were the guards he’d assigned.
Even as captain of the Imperial Guard, she wondered whether it was truly permissible to use royal guards for such personal tasks.
‘Then again, last time he even assigned them to guard a jeweler—so perhaps this shouldn’t surprise me.’
Delphine cast a quick glance at their blank, doll-like faces and armored bodies.
“…Do you intend to follow me inside the library as well?”
“For your safety, Madam.”
The reply came instantly.
There was no hint they’d be swayed by persuasion or appeal.
Fine. Do as you please.
Hiding her true feelings, Delphine pretended ignorance, grasped the edge of her hooded robe, and entered the library.
Predictably enough,
a bespectacled librarian rushed forward and hurriedly blocked the knights just as they clanked their armor to enter.
“Oh dear, sir knights! Armor and weapons are forbidden inside the library!”
“Stand aside. We are members of His Imperial Majesty’s Royal Guard.”
“I can certainly read the insignia on your armor, sir—but this is the Imperial Library, and that rule comes directly from the Emperor!”
At the mention of the imperial decree, the knights immediately froze in place.
Of course—the Emperor’s command took precedence over even the captain of the guard.
This was exactly what Delphine had anticipated.
She watched the knights, now standing stiffly in place, with slight tension.
She worried they might stop her from entering as well.
But unexpectedly, they simply stood there like broken dolls.
They looked just like automatons awaiting new commands, Delphine thought.
“…You said your escort was for my safety, right?”
Delphine smiled faintly and murmured quietly.
“Inside here, everyone is prohibited from carrying weapons. So I’ll be perfectly ‘safe’ on my own.”
Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, Delphine left them behind and stepped into the library.
As she entered the main hall, bright sunlight poured in through the enormous stained-glass windows in the ceiling.
Bookshelves, towering several times the height of a man, lined every wall.
Yet Delphine didn’t even glance at the books; instead, she strode straight through the hall toward the eastern wing of the building.
She’d removed her hooded robe long ago and now carried it loosely in her hand.
As she progressed down the corridor, fewer and fewer people passed by.
But as always, at the very end of the corridor, beneath an owl statue, a man leaned against the wall reading a newspaper.
“This is a dead end, madam. Have you lost your way?”
The man asked politely without even lifting his eyes fully from his newspaper.
“A path isn’t lost—it’s found. Beneath the light of truth, through the eyes of providence.”
At this, the corner of the man’s mouth lifted faintly.
Simultaneously, the owl statue embedded in the wall twisted its neck unnaturally to the side.
The gray bricks of the dead-end wall smoothly rotated, revealing a hidden space behind.
It was said that this old building still held traces of ancient magic long since vanished.
The statue was one such relic—she’d been told so when first admitted into this club.
“…Welcome, member.”
Still not looking up from his paper, the gatekeeper stepped aside.
Delphine passed him and entered through the opening.
Beyond that wall, the library’s clean, orderly atmosphere transformed instantly.
A deep red carpet covered the entire lounge floor; famous paintings adorned every wall.
Every piece of furniture scattered throughout was extravagantly ornate.
This was a secret social club exclusive to District 1 nobles—utterly inaccessible without a sponsor.
The reason it was deliberately hidden inside a District 2 library was to stay as far as possible from the imperial court’s prying eyes.
Thus, it served as a space where nobles could freely exchange highly confidential information.
Delphine’s sponsor had, of course, been her father.
But now that he was gone—executed at the gallows—what would become of her status here?
She unclenched her tightly gripped hands, straightened her back, and walked resolutely inward.
Inside the room, about a dozen people lounged casually, sipping tea.
Among them, a few unfamiliar faces suggested new members had recently joined.
Her sudden appearance clearly startled those gathered at the tables—they looked momentarily surprised.
Delphine keenly noticed the complex, shifting emotions flickering across their faces.
Daughter of a traitor.
A fallen noble of low standing.
Yet also the wife of the rising hero, Marquess Pride.
How, exactly, should they treat her?
Everyone wore polite smiles, but beneath those masks, calculations whirred furiously behind every gaze.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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