Arcadia, ever so gentle.
Without realizing, I blurted out too eagerly.
“Deputy Commander, you must be a kind older brother to your sister too, right?”
I thought I had asked naturally, but Arcadia stopped cutting his cutlet and looked up.
“Why do you ask?”
What should I say? I fumbled for words.
“Just curious. You’re being very kind to me right now.”
“I’m not kind to just anyone.”
I know. It was hard enough to gain your trust when we first met.
“That’s true…”
“What do you know about me?”
His mood swings. But Arcadia isn’t hard to handle. Easier than dealing with the Duke.
Standing still, he pulled back a chair from the table and gestured towards it.
“Huh?”
“Sit here. I’m extending this courtesy only to you – a rare event. Be grateful.”
“Thank you.”
As I sat down, he took the seat opposite me.
“Is this my food? But where’s yours?”
“Oh, here.”
I pulled out a special sandwich I had made in the kitchen from my pocket.
It’s something I often make when I want a quick meal without feeling heavy.
He asked bluntly.
“You brought me soup and quail, but why are you eating just a sandwich?”
“I made it myself. I prefer this over meat.”
“You made it yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Must be tasty.”
“You have something tastier.”
“Suddenly, the sandwich seems more appealing. Give me a piece.”
Arcadia reached out his hand, asking for the sandwich. I handed it to him hesitantly, and he cut it into two pieces, one big and one small.
“Can’t just eat greens, you’ll lack strength. Eat this.”
“And you?”
He popped the smaller piece in his mouth and chewed. Then, he almost gulped down a bowl of the soup.
“A bit salty… but good.”
Seems like he didn’t like the sandwich much, but still said it was good.
A smile crept onto my face.
“Always so kind.”
“Huh?”
“Your sister must like you a lot, right?”
“No.”
Arcadia answered flatly, with an expressionless face.
“A traitor?”
I couldn’t understand.
“I left the North at nine to follow His Grace to the Capital. Since then, I’ve been a man of the Capital. For me, His Grace comes first, but for her, it was our father and the North. But after our father passed away, her North crumbled.”
He uncorked a bottle of fruit wine. A gentle aroma wafted out.
“I open it just to smell. I don’t drink much. If you want some, go ahead.”
I’ve never had any liquor except butterbeer.
“Didn’t you say you often watch others drink?”
“I prefer watching. Anyway.”
“Yes, about your sister.”
He looked at me and smiled gently, like a cold blizzard.
“She needed someone to blame. I later found out that everyone hated and suspected the South, but she blamed His Grace. I couldn’t attend my father’s funeral because the Emperor didn’t let us. When we returned to the North after the funeral, I still remember her look. She was just five, your age, when I left. And at sixteen when I returned, she was an eleven-year-old lady with firm convictions. Since then, I’ve been away at wars, unable to be the brother she needed. It’s natural for her to distance herself from me.”
Arcadia spoke slowly, thoughtfully, his face different from the usual. It looked somewhat sad.
“Why not prepare a gift for her, since it’s been a while?” I suggested, half-jokingly.
“A gift?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Girls like flowers, but no. Flowers from an older brother might not be appealing.”
“Adjutant.”
“Yes?”
“The gift Medea is sending to the North, what could it be?”
“!”
He must have heard about Medea’s note to me from the Duke.
Arcadia’s green eyes deepened.
“If that gift targets my sister, I won’t just let it go.”
Arcadia is sharp. He pierces the heart of the matter even when he seems casual.
“I feel the same.”
‘If your sister targets the Duke, I can’t just let her be either.’
“Her target is now our Julia? And that gift, could it be…”
No need to beat around the bush anymore.
“Probably. No, definitely.”
“You asked about Julia for that reason?”
“……Yes.”
“So, wanting to dine with me was just an excuse?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“?”
“Eating with you is fun, less lonely, and delicious. Really.”
I smiled without realizing it. It was sincere.
I didn’t want to see his spirit dampened.
Suddenly, his cheeks, like cold snow, flushed red.
Could it be the wine’s scent intoxicating him?
“Your Excellency might know that the Duchess hates His Grace. Maybe Medea knows it too. When you go to the North, get closer to your sister. That way…”
“That way?”
“……The North might be happier than now?”
I said something embarrassing, unable to reveal the future I know.
Arcadia burst out laughing.
“Happy, huh? Awkward word choice, but let’s see.”
“Yes, please.”
“Thanks, Adjutant.”
It was a more enjoyable meal than eating alone.
After finishing, I stood to leave with the plates, but Arcadia followed, insisting on cleaning his part.
As we pushed open the tent entrance, arguing playfully, the Duke stood there with a plate of desserts.
“Your Grace?”
For a moment, I stared at the Duke with the same smiling face I had for Arcadia.
I quickly dropped the smile.
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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