I Killed My Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6
If only you had pretended to be a corpse until your death, I would have been annoyed by your presence, but I wouldn’t have resorted to such measures. How dare you defile yourself?
Richard thought, and thought again.
And he reached one conclusion.
He could also capture Mercedes’ gaze. He didn’t desire love, that trivial thing. He only wished Mercedes to fear only him.
No one else would do. He would make her obey only him.
“Your… Majesty.”
Mercedes trembled as she called to him, seemingly unaware that she herself was shaking.
“Mercedes. If you had behaved properly, this would never have happened. Hence, the mercy of my command: only you must vanish. I will not even hold your family accountable!”
“…So Your Majesty’s words mean… I must take responsibility…”
“Yes. Kill yourself.”
Mercedes could not tear her eyes from the dagger.
“I’m not commanding you to kill yourself immediately. I’m granting you time to compose yourself… Yes, I’ll show mercy and give you a week.”
As Richard spoke, no sound reached Mercedes’ ears. She was merely bewildered.
‘Did I commit a sin so grave that I deserve to die?’
Even reflecting on her entire life, she couldn’t recall such an offense.
Her closeness to the Emperor had lasted only a moment. It might be called a mistake, but not a sin.
She didn’t know whether her purity had been confirmed, but she opened her mouth anyway.
“Please allow me to be examined by the palace physicians. That I have defiled myself? I—”
“Is that what matters? Don’t you understand yet, Mercedes? How fortunate it was that I saw you that dawn! Had someone else seen you, the scandal would have been far worse.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Look. You, who keep fabricating rumors to disgrace the royal family. You are truly everyone’s headache. I couldn’t even face Her Imperial Majesty. Yes. Your life has no value. You deserve to die.”
Richard chuckled as he drank more wine.
“No value?”
Everyone blamed her. That had been her life, always.
So perhaps she had done something wrong… but not enough to deserve death.
A whirlwind of confusion engulfed her. She admitted fault, apologized.
But a sin worthy of death? Such a sin felt distant from her life.
Didn’t one have to steal another’s life or property, or threaten the kingdom’s stability, before earning the title of “death-worthy sin”?
Mercedes counted her sins in her mind.
For failing to consummate the marriage? For bringing disgraceful rumors that defamed the royal family? For encountering the Emperor at dawn?
Was that a death-worthy sin?
But setting aside the Emperor’s matter, the scandal had spread like wildfire.
It was Richard.
Then shouldn’t it be Richard, not her, who was the guilty one?
“Be grateful this ends here. Cleanse your tainted body with suicide.”
At Richard’s words, Mercedes’ body trembled slightly. His heart soared at her reaction.
What would she do now? Would she beg for mercy?
Even the most haughty person couldn’t remain composed before death.
Merely imagining Mercedes clinging to his feet, weeping, sent shivers through him. He longed to see her contorted face.
He had offered the dagger, but he didn’t truly want her to die.
What Richard truly wished to see was Mercedes submitting to him, exposing her belly, and coquettishly pleading. Knowing her purity, if she merely acted the part, he was willing to mend this chaos and cherish her.
“…Suicide. Yes.”
“Go. Think carefully for a week.”
“…”
“What are you waiting for? Leave.”
Richard’s cold voice settled.
Mercedes opened her mouth as if to speak, then quietly rose and exited the room.
She clutched the dagger Richard had given her.
Richard, watching the closed door, remained lying silently on the sofa.
And when he judged Mercedes had moved far enough away, he rose and approached the window. There, indeed, Mercedes was walking toward the Crown Princess’s Palace.
Richard gazed at her and murmured:
“Hurry and acknowledge it, Mercedes. You must be mine. Only then will it be right.”
[This is the timeline separator]“…What did I do wrong?”
In her own chamber, she held a single dagger. Her head throbbed endlessly.
The hilt bore an engraving of mistletoe—a simple, lovely pattern.
Mercedes knew the flower’s meaning.
She had discovered it while seeking out the legend that kissing beneath mistletoe fulfills unrequited love.
Strong endurance.
It seemed the name arose because the plant survives by parasitizing other flora.
And it suited Mercedes perfectly.
A life that could barely survive by parasitizing others’.
So powerless. So utterly incapable.
Though she believed Richard was the true sinner, Mercedes knew she could do nothing.
In the end, what remained in her hands was merely.
The strength to drive the blade into her own chest.
Clutching that strength, Mercedes fell into thought.
Memories of her time with Richard flashed like a kaleidoscope.
‘You should be honored. I, the future ruler of this kingdom, took you, the third daughter of a mere count.’
‘I am deeply grateful.’
‘…But what is that expression? Ever since the wedding day.’
‘Huh?’
‘You should smile with joy, act delightfully.’
‘Ah. My apologies. That was…’
What was it? Something about her eyes, devoid of any emotion, displeasing him.
Life in the palace was by no means pleasant.
Yet, locked in her room, she could escape all gazes. Richard’s cruelty was, compared to the count’s violence, somewhat bearable.
She had naively thought the scandal could be forgiven or somehow resolved.
But now, she was ordered to die.
Her purity was doubted.
“Your Majesty. What is this dagger for?”
Gertrude approached Mercedes, lost in thought. The dagger, though sheathed, looked dangerously unsuitable for a woman to hold.
Gertrude hesitantly took Mercedes’ hand. It was warm. This was what a human hand felt like. Sensing the warmth, Mercedes suddenly came to her senses.
She had returned at night, sitting with the dagger—only moments ago—and now the sun stood high overhead.
“Oh… it’s lunchtime.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Could I take the dagger? It looks dangerous.”
“No. This… it’s fine.”
“What is wrong? You haven’t answered since morning, and you look as if you didn’t sleep at all. You’re not strong…”
She wasn’t physically weak.
Merely confined to her room daily, one might assume so. Mercedes smiled bitterly.
Gertrude’s face grew increasingly somber. Her eyes held genuine concern.
Perhaps because of that.
Overwhelmed by frustrating confusion, Mercedes, instead of closing her mouth as usual, felt a sudden impulse.
An impulse to speak—to someone who believed in her, who gave for her.
“His Majesty has commanded me to kill myself.”
“What?”
“The Crown Prince. My husband… he commanded me to kill myself. He blames me entirely for the recent scandal. And he has doubted my purity.”
Saying it aloud felt strangely calm. Mercedes faced Gertrude without changing expression. Gertrude, of course, erupted.
“What? What wrongdoing could you have committed, Your Majesty? Purity? You haven’t even spent your wedding night! How can that be!”
“Could you truly believe that?”
“Yes! It’s merely a corset laced too tightly! And that was even my fault… to command suicide over that? Nonsense.”
Gertrude had been consumed by self-reproach ever since the day Mercedes collapsed, blaming herself for not personally lacing her corset that day—she had merely stepped away briefly.
“This is entirely my fault. I should be the one to kill myself. Or—Your Majesty—should we flee? We? I have always been on your side. Your Majesty…”
Watching Gertrude turn pale and helpless, Mercedes found herself smiling faintly without realizing it.
“What… what is so funny?”
Gertrude now teared up.
“Gertrude. Begin preparing to leave your post as nurse.”
“What? What do you mean?”
She didn’t know what would happen in a week.
A sudden thought arose.
Looking at Gertrude, she realized.
Her hands were not empty after all.
“What are you saying? Have I done something wrong?”
There was Gertrude, who had stood by her since childhood. The only person.
“No. If I die, harm will come to you too. You must be safe. I’ll find you a place to settle. I wish to give you everything, but time is short.”
“Your Majesty…! What are you saying!”
Usually, one would flee. But Gertrude now wept uncontrollably, shaking her head.
“No. I will remain by your side until the end. I… I refuse! I have never once let you out of my arms. I have dared to love you as if you were my own daughter.”
Gertrude pulled Mercedes into a fierce embrace and wept loudly, clinging to her. Something Mercedes had never done herself.
To weep aloud.
‘I would like to try.’
But no tears came. She had only ever hidden her tears within.
“…Very well, Gertrude.”
In the end, Mercedes accepted Gertrude’s firm refusal.
Actually, Gertrude’s escape preparations could be handled alone.
She resolved to focus entirely on Gertrude’s plan, rather than her own feelings or situation.
She didn’t want to think about herself at all.
‘Alright. That’s enough.’
If she could preserve this one person and die, it would be acceptable.
No matter what form she took a week from now.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (20)
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 😂
Yes, please save her. She’s so pitiful and miserable that i feel so sad
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Blairwoods
She’s strong. How many people can endure everything that happened to her. Girl 😢