I Ended Up Living Next Door to My Ex-Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
“Be patient. They’re just children.”
I repeated it to myself, but in truth, I was so furious I could barely even force a smile.
Ganging up to deliberately belittle one person—it was despicable.
“…Especially our Bianca.”
I suppressed my boiling rage and deliberately twitched the corner of my eye.
Yet the children’s faces only grew paler and paler.
“Who would’ve thought the day would come when I’d be grateful for Rebecca’s frightening scowl that looks scary even when she smiles.”
As I stared blankly down at the children, I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten and lightly clapped my hands together.
“Oh, right—I should have explained why I came here first, but I completely forgot. Truth be told, I dropped by to give you all a gift I’d prepared.”
“A—a gift…?”
“Yes, I heard Princess Bianca’s friends were coming, so I prepared these in advance.”
At my nod, Mina placed the doll box she’d been carrying onto the table.
The children, though wary of me, kept sneaking peeks inside the box.
They were clearly afraid, yet unable to suppress their curiosity.
“This… this is me…?”
“That doll looks just like me!”
The young noblewomen whispered quietly to one another.
Even as they kept their voices hushed from fear, they couldn’t quite hide their excitement.
‘Of course. I’d gone to the trouble of learning exactly what Bianca’s friends looked like and ordered dolls made to resemble them perfectly.’
Though the children kept glancing nervously at me, they couldn’t tear their eyes away from the dolls that looked just like themselves.
‘They must really like them.’
I watched them and subtly lifted the corners of my lips.
“Since I went to such lengths to prepare them, it’s only right these dolls go where they truly belong.”
I reached into the box and pulled out the doll that resembled Bianca first.
Then, gazing gently at Bianca, I smiled warmly.
“The first one, of course, goes to our lovely Princess Bianca.”
“Yes…?”
Bianca’s wide blue eyes darted between the doll and me.
“It’s a gift. I hope you like it.”
“Th-thank you, Your Highness Rebecca…”
The corners of Bianca’s mouth lifted slightly.
She seemed both bewildered and delighted by the situation.
“Now, next is…”
All the children’s eyes instantly fixed on my hand.
Each face was filled with desperate hope that they’d be chosen next.
I picked up the doll resembling Judith from the remaining ones and murmured indifferently,
“…It’s a blonde doll.”
Judith’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Pretending not to notice, I tapped my chin lightly with a finger.
“Hmm… this one…”
I feigned deep contemplation while Judith stood before me, barely able to contain her eagerness.
Then, with a swift flick of my wrist, I tossed the doll over my shoulder to Mina.
“Throw this one in the trash bin.”
Shock filled not only the young noblewomen’s eyes but Mina’s as well.
“Y-your Highness Rebecca, such an expensive doll? This was made by that doll artisan—the one so hard to book! It was such a rare and precious piece!”
“Precious? Precious how? It looks spiteful—just like…”
I glanced down at Judith and spoke carelessly,
“…a foolish child who enjoys ostracizing her friends.”
Mina, who had been looking between me and Judith, finally seemed to grasp my intention and slowly nodded.
“Ah, I see. You’re right.”
“Exactly. If I’d mistakenly given this wretched doll as a gift, and our princesses started resembling such a pitiful thing, that’d be a real problem. So…”
I turned to Judith and curved my eyes into a sharp, mocking smile.
“Trash belongs in the trash bin, doesn’t it?”
Judith bit down hard on her lower lip, her expression on the verge of tears.
I looked coldly down at her and slowly parted my lips.
“Didn’t I already say?”
“…”
“This doll must go exactly where it belongs.”
As my voice grew increasingly cold, the children’s shoulders began trembling once more—
just like Bianca had moments ago when she’d been tormented by them.
I stared blankly into the box for a moment, then abruptly shoved it toward Mina.
“Throw the rest in the trash bin too!”
“Understood, Your Highness Rebecca!”
Mina responded cheerfully, casting a smug sideways glance at the young noblewomen.
All the disappointed children wore identical, crestfallen faces.
Among them, Judith shot a covert glare at Bianca—her expression clearly saying, ‘You’ll pay for this later.’
Bianca, noticing that look, shrank back in fear once again, her shoulders hunching tightly.
And that sight—finally struck my deepest nerve.
“Listen to me carefully, everyone.”
I planted both hands firmly on the table and leaned forward slightly, my voice dropping into a low, resonant tone that filled the room.
Immediately, all the children—including Judith—looked up at me with terrified expressions.
“I intend to report every discriminatory remark the princesses made here today directly to the Grand Duke.”
“Wh-what…?”
“Especially you, Princess. Didn’t you say your mother often makes disparaging remarks about mixed-blood demons as well?”
“Y-your Highness Rebecca! That’s…!”
“If we’re unlucky, this matter might just reach His Imperial Majesty’s ears. What ever shall we do…?”
“…”
“Your parents are going to be in quite a difficult position, aren’t they?”
The noble girls’ faces turned ashen.
The founding of the Western Empire owed an immense debt to the contributions of mixed-blood demons.
Thus, Emperor Retz absolutely would not tolerate discrimination against them.
No matter how young they were, these girls were noble heiresses from high-ranking families.
They couldn’t possibly be unaware that if this reached the Emperor, their houses would suffer serious repercussions—
and that their own positions would become extremely precarious.
“Your Highness Rebecca! We were wrong! P-please, don’t do this…!”
“Yes, we were wrong, Your Highness Rebecca…”
But Judith’s plea, though desperate in expression, bordered on screaming.
“We’re… we’re still just children! We haven’t matured yet! And this was merely something we said in play—just an innocent mistake!”
Oh? Where on earth had she learned that line?
She’d clearly mimicked her overprotective parents’ excuses and was now using them as a shield for herself.
I looked down at Judith and smoothly curved the edge of my lips upward.
“A child’s innocent mistake… Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
“R-right? I knew Your Highness Rebecca would understand…”
Judith’s eyes crinkled in a smug, cunning smile—as if she’d just successfully tricked an adult.
I stared blankly at her for a moment, then spoke again.
“That’s precisely why I must treat this matter even more seriously.”
At my words, all the noble girls looked utterly devastated—as if the sky had collapsed above them.
“Y-your Highness…!”
Erica finally burst into tears and shouted irritably,
“Judith, this is all your fault! What are we going to do now?”
“Erica’s right! We—we never would’ve said those things if it weren’t for you, Judith!”
Judith glared murderously at them, then immediately turned her sharp eyes toward me.
“Your Highness, this is too harsh! Even kind children make mistakes sometimes!”
“…I’m not so sure about that, Princess Judith.”
A faint, hollow chuckle escaped my lips.
“Strictly speaking, what you girls just did wasn’t a ‘mistake’—it was a ‘wrongdoing.’”
“…!”
“Of course, even kind children sometimes do wrong. And when they do, it’s an adult’s duty to correct them.”
“Your Highness, please…!”
“So I intend to correct your wrongdoing in my own way.”
Judith, frustrated that things weren’t going as she’d planned, kept biting her lips anxiously.
I slowly leaned down toward her.
The moment our eyes finally met at close range,
Judith’s frightened face instantly froze like ice.
“You’d better look forward to it, Judith.”
“…”
“Because I’m the kind of person who believes…”
My expression remained calm, but my voice dropped even colder.
“…that one should never, ever forgive carelessly—especially if it means the ‘kind child’ might repeat the same wrongdoing.”
[This is the timeline separator]That night.
Cedric tossed and turned, unable to sleep even late into the night.
After a long while, he finally grabbed a wooden practice sword and headed toward the training yard behind the mansion.
Upon arriving, Cedric tossed aside his thick night robe, revealing his solid, sculpted upper body.
Each time he moved to loosen his stiff muscles, the firm lines of his muscles subtly shifted beneath his skin.
At last, after finishing his warm-up, Cedric slowly adjusted his grip on the wooden sword.
Right now, nothing was more necessary for him than punishing, grueling training—
to chase away the meaningless thoughts swirling in his head.
Thwack!
Cedric swung the wooden sword toward the training dummy.
But his troubling thoughts refused to let him go.
“Apparently, those princesses had been subtly ostracizing Princess Bianca ever since they arrived from the capital.”
“And today, Her Highness Rebecca saw it happen at the orangery and gave them a proper scolding.”
Cedric’s grip on the wooden sword tightened further.
“Why only now? Why… after all this time…”
Thwack!
The sound of impact grew even more forceful.
“Her Highness Rebecca seems so different now—much more relaxed and incredibly, incredibly happy!”
“Since the Grand Duchess loved you so deeply, you must have no regrets now, haha!”
At the next thought that surfaced, Cedric clenched his jaw harder and swung the sword again.
“Was my marriage truly that unbearable for her? Maybe now that we’re divorced and her mind is at ease, her naturally generous nature is finally showing…”
That would mean he’d spent their entire marriage tormenting Rebecca with baseless suspicions.
To drown out the crushing guilt, Cedric gritted his teeth and swung the sword repeatedly in rapid succession.
After a long stretch of intense focus—
Clang!
A sudden, sharp noise made Cedric’s gaze snap downward.
Half the wooden sword lay pitifully broken on the ground.
It had finally snapped under the force of his strikes.
“Hah…”
As he sighed in irritation and absentmindedly looked down at the remaining half still clutched in his right hand,
‘…A divorce settlement is still a contract. Since it’s been properly concluded, how about a final handshake?’
A voice echoed in his ears like a phantom.
…Rebecca. Again, it was that woman.
Cedric shook his head firmly.
“Forget that painful marriage life quickly. And next time, I hope you meet a woman you truly love and live happily ever after.”
As he shook his head, a thick vein throbbed on his forehead.
Yet her voice continued to swirl inside his mind.
“…Take care, Cedric.”
The moment her final smile flashed through his thoughts,
a strange, sharp pang near his heart made Cedric instinctively turn around.
He sighed deeply, pressing a hand to his brow—
but only for a moment.
His eyes drifted to the low circular wall surrounding the training yard.
Soon, his brow furrowed as if something had captured his attention—
something he wanted to examine more closely.
Over the low wall of the training yard, a tuft of red hair appeared.
It rose slowly, followed by a pair of crimson eyes peering cautiously over the edge.
Those innocent eyes, unaware that Cedric had already noticed, kept scanning the surroundings.
At the sight, a faint smile slipped onto Cedric’s lips as he smoothed his eyebrows.
“…Huh.”
Rebecca. Again, it was that woman.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
It had to be something like this, Original Rebecca sounds pittiful
He’s going to be soooo surprised when the new Rebecca comes back
LOL I KNEW IT. LOVE IT. I’M IN LOVE WITH THIS NOVEL!!!