I Decline the Ex-Boyfriend of the Regretful Male Lead (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
Blanchiche Hertian.
This is what I know of his background.
Hertian was born as the Emperor’s illegitimate son.
However, bearing the burden of his lowborn maternal lineage, it was difficult for him to survive in the Imperial Palace as a prince. And it became even harder when he clearly distinguished himself in martial arts.
As time passed, the situation worsened. The Empress, Serdis’s mother, found Hertian’s very existence distasteful.
Eventually, after a poisoning incident occurred, Hertian went to live with the Emperor’s younger brother in the Duchy. The Duke, who was also a general commanding a massive knightly order, especially doted on his nephew.
Thus, a few years ago, when the Duke passed away from a chronic illness, he readily bequeathed his title to Hertian.
But once the Duke’s protective shadow vanished, the shadow of death once again fell upon Hertian.
The Emperor had no choice but to send him off to the battlefield. His first war came less than a week after he received his title.
‘It was an unavoidable choice for survival.’
That’s the story about the Duke—something I know, and something everyone knows.
Truthfully, it doesn’t matter what kind of person he is.
Except for one peculiar detail.
He… is asexual.
‘I must remember this clearly.’
After the Emperor’s death, just before Serdis ascended the throne, Hertian made his appearance.
Hertian never took a Duchess, so he couldn’t even aspire to the throne. Meanwhile, Serdis parted ways with Anette, met many women, and built his own power base.
The Duke’s retainers urged him to take a Duchess to at least expand his influence, but he had no interest in power—or women. He simply disliked their nagging.
Later on, tired of the whiny male lead, I skimmed through the story carelessly, so I don’t recall how the Duke’s arc eventually concluded.
Anyway, what truly matters is that he has no interest in women!
I absolutely had to secure him.
“Your Grace. Let me confirm once more. There will be no backing out of our marriage.”
I glanced around the manor’s garden and quietly said to Hertian.
“Of course.”
And the Duke, like me, needed a marriage in name only. That way, his retainers wouldn’t keep pressuring him to take a Duchess.
“Clean and simple—I like it.”
My fiancé being asexual.
I barely suppressed a laugh at this unexpected stroke of luck.
Me, uninterested in men, and the Duke, uninterested in women.
Perfect.
Truly the perfect partner.
I resolved to thoroughly pretend I knew nothing of his secret.
“After our marriage, I’d appreciate it if you respected my personal space.”
“Certainly. Of course. I have no intention whatsoever of intruding on Your Highness’s privacy. So, how about this? Let’s consider ourselves… comrades!”
“Comrades… I don’t quite like that term. Nor would Your Grace, I imagine. Since we’re to be married, as Young-ae suggested, please call me differently.”
Perhaps because I knew he wasn’t heterosexual, and despite knowing he was a Duke, our conversation felt surprisingly comfortable.
“If you have a preferred way of address, please tell me. I’ll call you exactly as you wish.”
Of course I’d accommodate him on something like that.
I smiled brightly at the handsome Duke. Figuring out who his hidden lover might be while living together could be quite intriguing.
“As Young-ae wishes. Just… not something too stiff.”
“I agree. Then how about this? Call me ‘Darling.’”
Since we have to act anyway, something bold and affectionate would be best.
To shake off Serdis, “Darling”—the very name he so desperately wanted to use—would be perfect.
“Darling?”
“Yes. Darling, or Honey.”
The Duke might be flustered—
“I like it, Young-ae. Or shall I call you Darling as well?”
Contrary to my expectations, he showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment.
In fact, he even seemed a little pleased.
“We might make good partners, don’t you think?”
“I agree.”
I chatted with him—a shameless man—for quite a while. Though we’d barely met a few times, our conversation flowed effortlessly and comfortably.
Before long, we reached the end of the garden, where a massive tree’s branches were laden with white petals. It was a dogwood tree Father had brought back from a diplomatic mission when I was young. I stretched my fingers toward a branch.
“Have you seen this flower before?”
“I’ve seen it on the battlefield. The name was unusual, so I remembered it.”
“You’re just like me, Hertian.”
We’d agreed to call the Duke by his given name in daily life, saving special nicknames for necessary moments.
“I really love this flower.”
“I do too. It’s like snow fitting for spring.”
I was startled to see Hertian gazing up at the profusely blooming white blossoms.
“Me too. It’s not snow, yet it falls like snow and never disappears—that’s why I love it even more.”
Our reasons for loving dogwood blossoms were the same.
During harsh winters, my illness worsened, and my family forbade me from leaving the manor.
I could only watch the swirling snow from afar, time after time.
‘How much I adore snow.’
Thus, these snow-like white petals became my substitute for the feeling of running freely outside in winter.
“How fascinating. No one has ever spoken of this upon seeing this tree.”
Nor had I ever voiced it aloud—
Except to one person.
“Could it be…”
I looked up at Hertian, who stood much taller than me, and narrowed my eyes playfully.
“Cassian?”
Cassian, my longtime pen pal.
Every spring, I’d sent him dogwood branches and told him—
“Are you Cassian?”
Memories of all those springs exchanging letters with Cassian flooded back, and despite knowing it couldn’t be true, I asked anyway.
There was no way the Duke, who roamed battlefields, could be Cassian, who wrote letters on colorful paper.
But Hertian didn’t understand my joke and stiffened abruptly.
“Just kidding.”
I grinned and pinched his arm. I’d only lightly grabbed it, yet his body jerked as if rejecting my touch.
‘Did my touch upset him?’
He stood rooted in place, staring blankly into the air.
“Hertian?”
At the sound of his name, his well-defined Adam’s apple bobbed downward.
Seeing that fierce throat, I immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry for touching you without permission.”
They say asexuality and disliking women are separate matters—but does he dislike physical contact altogether?
“I’ll be careful not to touch you from now on.”
Hertian reflexively turned his head.
“You don’t need to be careful. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
He then held his arm out toward me, as if inviting another pinch—but quickly lowered his hand again.
“Still, perhaps it’s best if you don’t touch me today.”
“Why?”
“I feel… strange.”
He clearly disliked being touched. Yet his honesty made me burst into laughter.
“Honestly, Your Grace, we seem to get along really well.”
It’s the first time I’ve felt such peace from a man.
Perhaps because I’m certain he’ll never love me.
Even this quiet walk across the courtyard, without a word exchanged, felt peaceful.
“But who is Cassian?”
After walking a while, he finally asked.
“A friend whose face I’ve never seen. We only exchange letters.”
That’s how I described Cassian.
“Are you close?”
“Yes. Very close.”
Since we weren’t truly married, I spoke frankly.
He’d promised not to interfere with my private life, so he wouldn’t object to my letter correspondence with Cassian.
But he seemed curious about Cassian.
“Is he someone precious to you, Young-ae?”
The way he asked that question…
[This is the timeline separator]“We suddenly find ourselves sending Anette off in marriage.”
The Count and Countess, who had abruptly accepted Hertian as their son-in-law, walked hand in hand toward the glass garden.
Seeing that Anette and the Duke seemed to have things to discuss, they stepped aside.
The Count and Countess themselves had also wanted to talk about their impressions of Hertian.
As they entered the glass-enclosed indoor garden, a sweet floral fragrance filled the air.
“I met the Duke for the first time today, and he doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“I think so too. Just as Anette said—he’s not only handsome but also kind. I believe he’ll treat our daughter well.”
At Countess Schwelly’s words, Lucas nodded in agreement, his expression relieved of worry.
They’d been concerned ever since Anette skipped a banquet and stayed out overnight, her mood sour afterward. Then she’d started acting strangely—suddenly visiting the guardhouse, waiting for the postman at the manor gate. It turned out she’d been waiting for the Duke all along.
When the Duke arrived with a formal proposal, her face lit up brightly, and seeing her bounce with joy finally put their minds at ease.
“I never knew Anette was so proactive.”
“Neither did I. Heehee. Wasn’t she adorable? Did you see the Duke’s face when Anette said she fell for him at first sight?”
Schwelly smiled fondly, recalling the earlier scene.
“The Duke’s ears turned bright red—he looked even cuter than Anette!”
To an outsider’s eyes, Hertian was unmistakably a man in love.
They’d been curious about Anette’s recent obsession with marriage, but after meeting the two in person, they finally understood.
“Don’t those two remind you of how we used to be?”
Love that ignites at first sight and burns fiercely.
They seemed utterly smitten, oblivious to the world around them.
“When did we ever act like that? At the very least, I made an appointment and visited you properly.”
Lucas stroked his chin, feigning dignity.
“Oh dear. I prefer someone as passionate as the Duke. If you’d come straight to me back then, I wouldn’t have pushed you away.”
She retorted playfully and hurried ahead.
“Madam, that’s unfair!”
Lucas chased after her, and for the first time in a while, the two laughed together like they did in their youth.
“The Duke must have thoroughly charmed you, Madam.”
“Am I that excited? It’s just that thinking about our lovely daughter in her wedding dress makes me so happy!”
Schwelly’s eyes grew misty as she beamed. Lucas, moved as well, wrapped an arm around her shoulders—when a breathless voice called from beyond the glass door.
“My Lord Count! It’s me!”
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (5)
Hm, did someone know the story like FL? That man, suspicious.
I can understand parents won’t send their precious child to bad man but they are noble. Their society are political. They were too for a noble.
She always lost consciousness with him. I wonder why???
Inline Comments (11)
‘Master Melson.’
Ooo, nice. Genuinely quick on the uptake; a hopeful sign.
‘Besides, it’s just a lake—it can’t be that deep.’
So no actual knowledge from her past life. How odd, given all that time she had to read and watch tv.
“Ed…ward Young Master?”
I take it back. No onservational skills. How disappointing.
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Blairwoods
The Duke’s retainers urged him to take a Duchess to at least expand his influence, but he had no interest in power—or women. He simply disliked their nagging.
What kind of misunderstanding there 😂