Before Hanna could protest, Clodelle stepped out of the carriage into the pouring rain.
“Go on. Lead the way.”
Clodelle’s command had the steward quickly clearing a path.
Squelch. Squelch.
The thin silk dress, soaked and clinging to her legs and ankles, hindered her movement. The pearl-beaded ceremonial shoes, now muddy and no longer protective, were drenched.
Some walk a flower-strewn path in beautiful shoes.
Kayan, to be her husband, had come to her family’s Vermonte estate in Balmond Castle for the wedding and then hurried back to Rowen alone, citing urgent matters.
Usually, the groom escorts the bride, but Clodelle took Kayan’s departure as a sign he didn’t accept her as his bride.
Having spent the last three days of the fortnight-long journey from Balmond to Rowen in a carriage under falling rain, why would the raindrops drenching her now seem unusual?
Yet, as the dress grew heavier and more cumbersome with each step towards the Lord’s mansion, she felt like stepping into a muddy quagmire, frightening her.
Her reception in the mansion continued to be cold.
“Bring hot bath water for the Duchess. She’s been outside long, so light the fireplace too.”
But the servants in the mansion ignored Hanna’s orders, treating Clodelle with disdain.
“Is Balmond an ice castle?”
“A woman from the frozen lands complains about a bit of rain?”
The lower servants snickered, prompting Hanna to explode.
“Do you not know your place?”
“Place? What nerve from a rolling stone!”
“Rolling stone?”
“A country bumpkin, acting high and mighty here? From a failing estate?”
“Hey! Are you done?”
As Hanna tried to grab the maid’s hair in a fit of rage, Clodelle’s voice softly intervened from the open bedroom door.
“You’re lucky this time. We’ll see later.”
Hanna, still defiant, returned to the room, where the servants showed no intention of bringing bath water.
In the meantime, Clodelle had found a towel herself and was wiping off the dampness from her wet clothes.
However, the bride’s head ornament and veil were still awkwardly soaked.
“Sigh. What should we do about this?” Hanna sighed in dismay, observing the state.
“The Duke is supposed to see the bride.”
“Seeing me like this will only upset him. Maybe I should just take it off.”
Eventually, Hanna untangled the head ornament, sighed deeply, and removed the sodden white veil.
“Men dislike no beauty. You really looked beautiful earlier.”
“That’s enough, Hanna. I’m fine.”
Clodelle shook her head at the maid’s flattering, yet sympathetic words.
Finally, after the workers of the mansion continued to ignore her, Hanna forcefully went to the kitchen and managed to get hot water filled in the bathtub.
After a much-needed bath, warmth slowly returned to Clodelle’s body, which had lost much heat.
Clodelle glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror.
Pale, lifeless skin, a body so thin it was almost skeletal.
With tangled red hair and yellow eyes, Hanna’s words were mere flattery out of pity.
The charm of an ordinary woman usually includes vitality and fullness.
Clodelle’s complexion was so pale it was almost ghastly, her lips barely had any pink tint.
In short, she looked like a patient.
Kayan, whom she had briefly seen at the wedding, hadn’t spared her a glance.
Even if she adorned herself with all the treasures from her family’s vault, the thin, scrawny Clodelle wouldn’t catch his eye.
Kayan was at the pinnacle of the kingdom’s power, the most prosperous Duke Temnes ever had, too exceptional that he became a target of the king’s check.
And so, he was forced into marriage with her.
The day’s events at Rowen castle felt like a preview of what she might face during her stay here.
A heavy sense of dread pressed down on her heart.
Clodelle found it hard to even take a proper breath under the weight of it all.
Kayan had drunk quite a lot.
It was the wedding night.
A significant night where two families were to become one.
However, the thought of the red-haired bride made him feel nauseous.
If there was anyone in the Temnes Ducal family who hated Vermonte the most, it was undoubtedly Kayan.
“Kill every Vermonte you encounter,” was the most crucial part of Temnes ducal education.
Kayan, who had fought in the forefront of the battlefield for a long time, had yet to have a chance to take a Vermonte’s life.
But now, his first proper encounter with a Vermonte was as a father-in-law and a wife, a ridiculous situation.
He drank excessively, not feeling in the right mind to consummate the marriage.
“Where are the clothes for her?”
A sharp female voice echoed from the bedroom.
“You people are inhumane.”
The indignant maid stopped abruptly as she entered and saw him.
The drenched bride was in thin undergarments.
Considering the carriage’s state in the rainstorm, her belongings must have been soaked, and she had requested clothes.
But of course, there would be no clothes for a Vermonte in this castle.
Kayan’s lips curled slightly.
“No need to bother finding clothes that will soon be removed.”
At his words, the maid gasped and hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.
The flickering candlelight revealed the woman who was to be his bride. The woman, sitting on the bed, slowly stood up.
She was small and frail.
Kayan, displeased with the marriage, had returned to his territory immediately after the ceremony, having never spoken a word to her until now.
What should he say to her now?
Before exchanging words, the wife he was about to physically unite with spoke first.
“Shall I undress?”
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
