I Killed My Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“Oh, sorry, sorry…”
“Shh. Just a moment.”
“Your Majesty, this, this…”
“Move too hastily, and you might fall again—calm down for now.”
It wasn’t wrong. Her flowing gown had tangled around her feet. Carlos held Mercedes close, saying nothing.
In that brief instant, her expression was invisible.
Mercedes felt as if she might go mad with anxiety. To be held like this… This might truly be catastrophic.
“Your Majesty, I am calm now. Please let me go.”
“…Very well.”
Carlos replied in a low voice, slowly releasing her.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
She knelt on one knee, then untangled the gown wrapped around her leg.
The heat of Carlos’s body brushed against Mercedes’s cold skin. She felt a strange shiver and tried to step back.
But Carlos held her ankle tightly, refusing to let go.
“I can manage, Your Majesty! I apologize—please, rise at once—”
Mercedes pleaded with him, her voice trembling. But Carlos spoke calmly, continuing.
“Is this your taste? The gown is beautiful, but utterly impractical.”
Carlos murmured as he smoothed the gown, then rose again. Standing face to face, he was truly tall—his frame seemed twice her size.
Overwhelming. Yet, strangely, not threatening.
“Thank you. But for Your Majesty to kneel for someone like me—”
“Prudence is admirable. But your prudence seems to have a reason. Isn’t that so?”
A sudden, piercing question. Mercedes widened her eyes, then turned her head away.
“…I wish to return. Please grant me leave.”
She wanted to escape this unease now.
“I already granted it. Go whenever you wish.”
“Thank you. I hope you have a restful night.”
Mercedes bowed swiftly, turned, and fled from the courtyard.
Afterward, she ran—clutching the hem of her gown in her hands, bare legs exposed.
She ran, and ran again.
Fearing someone might have seen.
And because the shiver that had risen when his hand touched her had not yet faded.
[This is the timeline separator]Carlos Rivera.
The Emperor of the Room Empire was rumored to be traveling among minor neighboring states, and it was said he would stay only one night in Shaym.
Yet something strange occurred.
The next day, the Emperor did not depart.
As a result, the palace servants of Shaym, who had been exhausted from preparing for the Emperor’s arrival, had no time to rest and continued bustling through the palace halls, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.
They said the Emperor had requested to remain longer, praising Shaym’s beauty to the King.
Upon hearing this news, Mercedes refused to leave her chambers—afraid of encountering the Emperor.
Her reclusive habits were routine, so no one paid her any attention. One day, what did it matter?
And that night,
Richard summoned her.
[This is the timeline separator]Recently, Richard had mentioned consummation. And now he summoned her at night.
For these two reasons alone, the maids dressed her elaborately. “Who knows,” they said, “if you’re not beautiful, we’ll be scolded.”
Dressed and adorned, Mercedes’s eyes were lifeless, yet her entire appearance was radiant, exquisite, and strangely captivating.
‘It couldn’t be consummation.’
Hadn’t the very idea of consummation been introduced to humiliate her?
Even if he didn’t consummate, it would be a miracle if he didn’t hurl a wine bottle at her.
‘At least the Baron’s violence ended after our marriage…’
Now she might return to such a life. Her stomach churned; a headache surged.
And as expected, the moment she entered the chamber, Mercedes realized consummation was out of the question.
Richard sat in the dim room, lit by a single candle, drinking strong liquor. The smoke from his cigarette was so potent she immediately began coughing.
“You summoned me, c-cough, cough… Your Majesty?”
Still, she offered her greeting with as upright a posture as she could manage. But she was certain today would be unlike any other.
Richard’s gaze, fixed on her as he drank, burned with an intensity unlike any she’d ever seen.
Like a man driven mad with rage.
“Mercedes. Mercedes. My wife.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Come closer.”
“Yes.”
Mercedes forced down her fear and stepped forward, standing before him.
“Mercedes. Though your rumors are quiet now… they will intensify again once the Emperor departs. Do you understand?”
“…Yes.”
The continent’s victor had not yet left. Though attention was drawn to him, everyone remained silent—fearing that if the Crown Princess’s scandal resurfaced, Shaym’s dignity would suffer.
The Emperor had said he might linger capriciously, but once he departed, the rumors would inevitably rise again, pressing upon Mercedes.
All pressure against her came from Richard. If he refused to relent, the noose would tighten until it choked her.
“I think… the Emperor is staying because of you. Suddenly deciding to remain, isn’t he? Hah… Have my suspicions been wrong, Wife?”
Richard clenched his teeth. A grinding sound echoed.
“…What do you mean?”
Startled by the unexpected question, Mercedes lowered her eyes, feigning calm.
“I mean exactly what I said. The Emperor cannot be unaware of your rumors. He has countless capable informants.”
“Your Majesty… are you suggesting the Emperor of Room is staying in Shaym longer merely to suppress my rumors?”
“Indeed, my wife. You understand so quickly. Hmm? Such a sharp mind. You’ve always been clever.”
Richard swayed, clearly drunk on the potent liquor.
“That cannot be. The Emperor would never concern himself so deeply—”
“Mercedes.”
Richard gave a bitter smile.
“Do you think I don’t know?”
“…Yes?”
“My filthy wife, who lost her purity to another man. What absurdity is this? Isn’t it?”
“What do you mean…?”
She had never spent her wedding night with Richard.
Now, suddenly, purity?
“Last night, at dawn. You think I didn’t see? You and the Emperor, meeting secretly in the courtyard.”
At Richard’s words, Mercedes’s heart plummeted. Her entire body froze.
Richard had seen her—and the Emperor—last night.
“No wonder the Emperor interferes so excessively in other people’s marriages… How long have you been clinging to him? How long has he been here, hmm?”
“No, Your Majesty. I could never—”
“You shut yourself in your chambers. How could I know? You never come to seek your husband… Well, the maids say you never leave your room.”
Richard lifted the wine bottle and drank straight from it.
“Dawn is another time, isn’t it? You looked so close together in the courtyard. Have you met the Emperor alone before?”
“No, no! That morning, we met by chance. The Emperor helped me when I was about to fall. Your Majesty, you misunderstand—”
“You always insist your words are right. Mine are wrong. I’ve tolerated your disregard for your husband—yes, for the future ruler of this kingdom—but even my patience has limits. Do you understand?”
Richard’s voice rose.
Mercedes had no idea where to begin unraveling this misunderstanding, how to escape it.
But there was no misunderstanding. In truth, Richard knew her innocence.
Richard had always stationed watchers to monitor Mercedes. She was his possession.
The night before, he had rolled in drunken revelry with courtesans until he grew bored. Then his watcher reported that Mercedes had left her chambers. So he moved.
Guided, he arrived at the courtyard.
In that moment of surprise, he witnessed the two of them.
Yes. Mercedes had truly met the Emperor by chance that morning—and the Emperor had simply caught her as she stumbled.
Mercedes had pushed him away, insisting she must go. The Emperor had told her to do as she wished.
It was a trivial matter.
Yet he could not suppress his fury.
From Mercedes’s trembling voice, to the vivid image of the two standing side by side as if made for each other—it all flashed before his eyes.
The Emperor even seemed to suit Mercedes better than his own brother.
And that night, the Emperor had unmistakably stolen Mercedes’s gaze.
From that dawn until now, Richard had not slept a single moment. He drank, thought, and thought again. And meanwhile, the Emperor refused to leave the kingdom.
“Please, truly, misunderstand me no more. I have not left my chamber since the welcome banquet—”
“You’ve clung to another man. Mercedes. Should I forgive you?”
“Your Majesty! It is truly a misunderstanding!”
“Enough, Mercedes. I’ve made up my mind.”
“Your Majesty… please, just hear me once.”
“Now you look a little more human.”
Richard smirked.
“Yes. I’ve found one way to resolve all this.”
He threw something onto the table between them. A metallic clang echoed.
“It seems you simply need to disappear. Why don’t you take care of it yourself?”
The object thrown was a dagger.
Mercedes stared blankly at the dagger.
“This dagger… what does it mean…?”
“Has your mind broken too?”
Richard looked at Mercedes, bewildered by her failure to comprehend, with a look of disdain.
“What need would you have to use the dagger yourself? Do you think I would order you to kill someone? What could you possibly do with arms as thin as twigs?”
“…Ah.”
Slowly, understanding dawned. Mercedes’s vacant eyes flickered. Simultaneously, her clasped hands tightened, her nails digging into her skin.
“Are you… commanding me to take my own life, now?”
Mercedes asked, struggling to remain composed.
But her voice trembled uncontrollably.
Richard smiled as he watched her. With unmistakable delight.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (21)
She’s strong. How many people can endure everything that happened to her. Girl 😢
I knew it, that woman was suspicious. Kill him girl, just kill him!
She has strong power. If i was her, i’ll kill the king, the count too 😂
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Blairwoods
Fuck you ugly and ungrateful rat of man! Kill him, kill him!!!