“Honestly, it’s better to speak the truth. What really was your role in the South?”
I knew it.
Did you sense from my movements earlier today that I’m more than just an ordinary woman?
Me, Arcadia.
But being honest isn’t so simple for me.
How can I tell you what I did in the South in my past life?
I can’t keep this tug of war of doubts with you forever either.
What truth can I confess that still hides my real identity but can make you understand me?
‘Should I tell it now?’
I hesitated, but finally decided.
It’s something I planned to start at some point.
To tell the Duke of the North everything I know about the South’s secrets and hand him the cards to bring them down. To save the Duke.
“Duke, if you allow, I’d like to give that answer in the presence of the Duke.”
“The Duke?”
“Yes, if it’s not too presumptuous.”
Arcadia’s narrowed green eyes scrutinized me.
“Why?”
“I want to speak in front of both the Duke and you, which means I am putting my life on the line. I will tell you what you want to know, along with what I wish to convey.”
His penetrating gaze met mine.
“Alright. You understand that this statement carries responsibility, right?”
“Yes.”
I had nothing to fear. After all, this was a second life granted by divine grace.
It’s time to begin.
It was late at night, but the Duke was not asleep.
He sat at his pristine white desk, buried in countless documents.
The Duke, usually unflappable at Arcadia’s sudden visits, put down his paperwork upon seeing me enter.
“What’s the matter?”
“It seems there’s a significant confession to be made.”
At Arcadia’s words, one of the Duke’s eyebrows raised.
“What confession? Yours?”
“No, this woman’s. I don’t know the content, but she has agreed to stake her life on my sword.”
“…….”
The Duke stood up and gestured towards the dining table. Then, he looked at me.
“Sit down. I won’t allow reckless gambling with life.”
Why did his voice sound slightly angry?
The Duke poured something from a white teapot into cups and placed them in front of Arcadia and me. It was a sweet, fragrant herbal tea.
“I’m honored, Your Grace.”
Despite saying he was honored, Arcadia drank the tea as if he was accustomed to it. But I couldn’t bring myself to touch my cup.
“If you drink, your body and mind might relax a bit.”
Gently urged by the Duke, I cautiously sipped the tea. It was warm, its gentle aroma spreading inside me.
“So, what’s the confession?”
The Duke’s deep voice filled the space between us.
I looked at the Duke. He was staring straight at me, a bit tense.
“The South is secretly building its own army, Your Grace.”
Arcadia, about to take a sip, placed his cup down abruptly, looking at me with wide eyes.
I observed the Duke’s expression. A brief flicker of disappointment crossed his face, as if he had hoped for something different.
What did that look mean?
For a moment, I wondered if I had misread it, but then the Duke’s expression turned serious.
“By the South, you mean Duke Rahel of the South?”
“Yes.”
Silence followed my response.
“It’s sudden. Hard to believe, really. Of course… we did speculate about such a possibility in jest.”
So, he had thought of it.
I remembered what the Duke said on my first day here.
“The South seems intent on turning every employee into a soldier. Did they also teach you swordsmanship?”
“Estelle.”
The Duke’s utterance of my name shook me.
“Yes.”
“Do you understand that secretly forming an army implies plotting treason?”
“Yes.”
“And that speaking of such a matter, as per your claim, warrants staking one’s life? Do you realize that?”
“Yes.”
Sion Belphegor’s blue eyes flickered.
“Arcadia, what led to the two of you coming to my chamber together?”
“I asked her about her life in the South. Beyond the lies about cleaning and odd jobs, what she really did. And then…”
Although he replied with a tone of injustice, Arcadia’s eyes were sharper than ever as they focused on me.
“Claiming to do cleaning and secret errands for Lady Medea is also true, Duke.”
“Another lie.”
“I am telling the truth. I have always been truthful.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my job to doubt.”
Arcadia responded curtly.
“To protect much.”
For a moment, his usually cold tone deepened.
His words, spoken for protection, resonated with my heart.
I took a deep, quiet breath.
“I was… as a child, bullied by maids, forced to clean their rooms, later became a lowly servant to Lady Medea, and also learned swordsmanship.”
“Swordsmanship?”
“Yes. You may not have believed, but I already mentioned that my usefulness lies in ‘being able to fight well’.”
Arcadia’s eyes flickered slightly.
“When?”
“The first day we arrived at the plains, when you called me aside for interrogation.”
“Interrogation? When did I…”
He then hesitated.
“When I said I could fight well, you mocked me, saying ‘With those thin arms?'”
“…”
“Is that true, Arcadia?”
“Yes. Now that I think about it, that might be the case.”
Arcadia responded gruffly, as if he had been caught off guard.
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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