I Had the Enemy's Baby (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“…Blood.”
The emotion that arose the moment she saw it was close to euphoria.
All the human feelings of resentment and disappointment she had harbored toward Kai An just moments ago vanished completely.
‘I can die soon.’
Her parents’ heartbreaking deaths, the insomnia that had plagued her relentlessly for ten years, the pain of scratching her chest raw while suppressing coughs over the past few months to hide her illness—
even being sold off into a political marriage with Temnes,
and the humiliations she endured at Rowen Castle—
all of it would simply end once she died. What came after was none of Clodel’s concern.
After all, the path the dead must walk was one of gradual fading from life and memory.
Her weakened heart beat faster than usual.
Why did the trumpet call of death sound so sweet at the very moment she’d hit rock bottom in life?
Coughing up blood was the final symptom that appeared in the terminal stage of Herzol.
It meant the disease had progressed beyond treatment—and once blood was coughed up, death followed within a month.
Clodel rose from her bed, unusually energetic compared to her typical frail demeanor.
She quickly changed clothes and bundled the blood-stained bedding, hiding it in the laundry basket managed by the maids she’d carefully observed beforehand.
Before Hanna could come down from the maids’ quarters, Clodel swiftly dealt with the soiled linens and returned to lie back down in bed.
Watching the sun rise more clearly than before, casting brilliant rays through the window, Clodel prayed to the gods.
‘Please take me away as soon as possible—even one day sooner.’
She hoped her suffering would be as brief as possible.
[This is the timeline separator]Antyone was utterly elated.
“To think a day like this would come.”
Servants throughout the castle and every member of the Temnes bloodline now sided with her.
Before Clodel entered the castle as bride, whenever Antyone had declared, “I’ll be the one to marry Lord Kai An!” people had brushed it off half-heartedly.
It wasn’t unheard of for the Temnes family to take a wife from within their own territory—but the late duke had married into the royal family, after all.
Kai An’s mother, Madame Elise, had been a princess of the Oberon Kingdom.
The former king had no sons, only two daughters—the elder Princess Sylvia and the younger Princess Elise—who were twins.
The king doted on his doll-like, exquisitely beautiful daughters, especially pleased that their golden hair and blue eyes so closely resembled his own.
Princess Sylvia had taken the king of the Luxen Duchy as her consort. Yet, as she herself ascended the throne as queen, she could only spend one or two months a year with her husband, the Grand Duke.
Meanwhile, Princess Elise married the Duke of Temnes and lived her entire life as a wealthy and happy lady of the manor.
Indeed, it was undeniable that the marriage to a princess had significantly tipped the previously balanced scales between Vermonde and Temnes firmly in Temnes’ favor.
Though within the territory, Antyone might bark and hiss like a wildcat, policing all the maidens who admired Kai An, most people still believed that when it came to marriage, one never truly knew whom the duke might choose—until he actually chose.
That had been the case until now.
Some had even dared claim that since the late duke had married a royal princess, for Kai An—who had already surpassed his father’s achievements—to marry merely the daughter of House Berang from within his own lands was beneath his station. Antyone had slapped them for it.
But now that the evident threat of “Vermonde” had appeared, the people of Temnes and Rowen Castle had banded tightly together to support Antyone.
If it meant defeating that detestable red-headed Vermonde in one blow, what harm was there in a few encouraging words like, “Antyone should’ve been the duchess!” to egg her on and lift her spirits?
Antyone decided to enjoy this turn of events.
After all, Vermonde couldn’t possibly last long here.
She had stormed off, furious after being told by Kai An never to show her face before him again, and quietly awaited her chance—only for that moment to arrive far sooner than expected.
She’d just heard the news that that ridiculous woman had stolen a decorative button from Kai An’s formal attire.
“How utterly low-class. Lord Kai An must already regret marrying so hastily.”
Hearing that the woman had been publicly humiliated before servants and maids convinced Antyone that today was the perfect day to execute her plan.
Even the guards who had strictly barred access to Kai An’s bedroom for so long now stepped aside without demanding even a single gold coin—they, too, agreed that if Antyone could win Kai An’s heart, she could drive Vermonde from the castle.
Thus, Antyone sneaked into Kai An’s bedroom and waited for him—but eventually dozed off from exhaustion.
When she opened her eyes again, dawn was already breaking faintly.
Antyone panicked.
Kai An hadn’t come to his chamber at all.
Having slept soundly, rolling gleefully across the lord’s grand bed, she now tried to slip out of the room quietly, flustered by her disheveled appearance.
But standing right outside the door was that Vermonde battle-hen, glaring fiercely!
‘Ah ha. So Lord Kai An didn’t go to that woman after all.’
If he had, this brawler wouldn’t be lurking here, lying in wait.
Antyone’s mind raced instantly.
After spewing every possible insult, she felt wonderfully relieved.
“Exactly—people should always speak their mind.”
By the time she was leaving the castle, the fully risen morning sun shone down on her as if blessing her.
Antyone held up her hand to catch the sunlight on the blue diamond ring she wore.
“It’ll be mine soon.”
From afar, Clodel looked as thin and frail as someone seriously ill.
If only she’d dropped dead from rage upon hearing the brawler’s tales.
Then Lord Kai An might quickly take me as his wife.
Holding this earnest wish close, Antyone returned home.
[This is the timeline separator]Time flew swiftly once the wedding banquet concluded.
The issue wasn’t the three-day celebration at Rowen Castle—it was that traveling to Valmont Castle, a full fifteen days’ distance away, had already taken nearly an entire month for Kai An just to attend the ceremony.
Rowen Territory lay in the southern region of the Oberon Kingdom, shaped like a diamond stretching horizontally. With Rowen Castle situated roughly at its center, administering both the eastern and western parts of the territory required immense effort.
Kai An had ridden horseback rather than taking a carriage, making the round trip to Valmont Castle in just three weeks—but it was also peak harvest season for summer fruits, making it an exceptionally busy period.
Amid this whirlwind of nonstop work, Kai An kept thinking of Clodel—and just as often, deliberately pushed her from his mind.
The butler seemed eager to tell him something, but Kai An never asked.
He had never needed to consider or worry about anyone else’s feelings.
Nor had he ever tried.
Yet after humiliating Clodel before the servants, dealing with the aftermath proved unexpectedly difficult.
“I thought it better than letting myself be shamed.”
But now, having embarrassed her so greatly over something as trivial and worthless as a single button, the whole situation felt even more awkward.
A few days later, he even wondered: had he simply said, “Yes, I gave it to her. Stop gossiping and be gone,” his people from Temnes—loyal enough to leap into fire upon his word—might have merely replied, “Ah, I see,” and dropped the matter entirely.
In any case, Kai An was awkward with women in general, even more so with his first-ever wife, and utterly at a loss dealing with a wife sent from a rival house.
He’d been born superior, accustomed to accomplishing everything flawlessly on the first try.
He tried recalling what the late duke and duchess had been like—but nothing specific came to mind.
From early morning until late afternoon, as part of his strict heir’s education, Kai An had studied academics and martial arts relentlessly, and accompanied his father, the duke, on territory inspections from an extremely young age.
Thus, there was no way for him, as their child, to know how his parents conversed or behaved when alone together—especially in their bedroom.
Had his mother still been alive, she might have advised him, saying things like, “Try speaking to her this way,” or “Treat her like this.”
But seven years ago, just after Kai An had come of age, the late duke and duchess had been invited to the palace for the queen’s birthday celebration, fell ill there, and died away from home.
Tragically, Queen Sylvia, who had spent time with them, contracted the same illness and died just days later.
Because of a royal scandal, two youths still green behind the ears—the young Temnes duke and the heir to Oberon’s throne—had ascended to power in an unprecedented turn of events, causing considerable commotion throughout the realm for some time.
Yet as the young king and duke, cousins by blood, gradually stabilized the kingdom and territory without incident, few now dared speak of it.
“Does that bastard Valkyter even understand? How difficult it is to deal with a wife.”
Thanks to their mothers being sisters, Kai An and King Valkyter of Oberon had grown up as close as brothers—or even closer than brothers.
And yet, to command him to marry an enemy!
Worse yet, with no prior warning—just a single royal decree on paper!
Furious, Kai An had stormed all the way to the royal palace, where the king merely grinned and said,
“Marry Vermonde? Are you joking?”
“Well, since you’re already here, why not head straight on to Valmont and hold the wedding right away? Then you can go directly back to your territory, Duke.”
By addressing him as “Duke” instead of “Kai An,” the king made it clear that their personal relationship wouldn’t earn him any special leniency.
“I shall honor your will with utmost pride, Your Majesty the King.”
Enraged by the king’s deliberate distancing, Kai An gave a stiff bow and immediately departed for Valmont Castle.
Yet the very cousin who’d thrust him into married life remained single to this day.
“What can he possibly know about marriage?”
Kai An thought that if his cousin truly understood just how much turmoil marriage would cause him, he never would’ve issued such a command without so much as a word of warning.
Kai An remained deeply troubled.
He had no idea how to even begin mending the awkward rift between him and Clodel.
Meanwhile, his body—freed from its vows of abstinence—shouted for him to hold her.
Night after night, he’d lie in bed, then impulsively walk to Clodel’s chamber, only to turn back repeatedly, wondering how to explain appearing so abruptly at such a late hour.
“Do you even realize, Your Majesty, just how difficult marital relations can be?”
Just as Kai An muttered this complaint into the air, annoyance thick in his voice, and tried turning his attention back to the mountain of territory matters awaiting him,
the butler entered his office and announced,
“My lord, how shall we proceed with this year’s hunt?”
“The hunt?”
“Yes. This year marks the once-every-three-years crocodile hunt.”
“Ah. Is it already that time?”
“I’ve prepared a preliminary guest list for your review.”
Traditionally, compiling this list was the duty of the castle’s lady.
Seeing it, Kai An’s eyes lit up.
“Clodel should see this. Immediately.”
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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Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (103)
…liked me?
Delusional much? >.< He is professing Typical male-lead behavior
“Then tonight—don’t sleep. Wait for me.”
Dude are you fucking serious, just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean you won’t worsen it
“Hey! Don’t you dare move!”
Is she going to get the ring back for clodel. I love hanna
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Every time I see the FL, I feel like crying! Also, I laughed so hard when I learned about the emperor’s feelings for the ML; I expected their relationship to be brotherly. It’s funny how he hates him.