Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“Oh, come to think of it, I heard there’s a child who’s become extremely famous among the hostages—is that Princess Blanche?”
Of course, Berken already knew it was Blanche herself. But he had to pretend he wasn’t interested in her—only showing enough interest to keep the conversation going since Liana had brought her up.
“Not a hostage, but a peace envoy! Yeah, that’s probably Princess Blanche. Lately, there’ve been lively social gatherings among the envoys, and she’s apparently the talk of the town—she never misses a single one.”
“Social gatherings?”
“Yeah. It’s only natural for lonely people far from home to stick together, but things have moved faster than I expected.”
“—Really? That’s surprising. Any idea why?”
Liana shook her head slowly from side to side. Her loose hair swayed gently with the motion, brushing against her hair ornaments.
“No, apparently there’s nothing special behind it. Seems like it’s just coincidence.”
“Well, that could happen.”
Contrary to his words, Berken had already guessed the reason. It was probably because of Blanche.
Of course, he didn’t think all this was part of Blanche’s own plan. If someone believed a three-year-old had deliberately created a social circle without knowing there was a sixty-five-year-old man inside her, they wouldn’t be clever—they’d be delusional.
Thus, Berken assumed the social circle had formed because Blanche, needing allies to stabilize the Emerald Palace, had been meeting various people to win them over, and these frequent meetings had somehow evolved into regular gatherings.
Even so, Blanche’s accomplishment was far greater than what Berken had originally expected. Calming the Emerald Palace as a three-year-old was impressive enough, but becoming the center of the hostages’ social circle was far more useful.
And above all, it must have been much harder than simply winning over a few royals.
Berken knew well about precocious children—he’d already scoured every corner searching for a suitable companion for Melchizedek.
From that experience, he’d realized something: clever, precocious children weren’t particularly endearing. They might be convenient, but not lovable.
Yet Blanche had instantly risen as the darling of this new social circle. From what he’d heard, everyone seemed utterly smitten with her.
‘She seems to know how to act coquettish better than I thought.’
That was actually good news. If she knew how to charm others, she’d surely be able to please Melchizedek as well.
And if she could please his younger brother, becoming friends might even be possible.
Berken smiled contentedly. At last, it seemed he might finally find a friend for his brother.
*
Only the adults were satisfied, but regardless, the lunch plans proceeded without issue. The Grand Duke attended despite sighing heavily, and Blanche couldn’t very well refuse under the circumstances.
“Is there anything making you uncomfortable?”
“Sin-geong sseo du-din deok-bu-nae-yo. (Thanks to your kind consideration.)”
Answering the Empress’s question, Blanche stole a quick glance at Melchizedek. She’d expected the imperial couple to spend the entire meal trying to bring the two of them together, especially since the Grand Duke was present—but the main subject himself hadn’t even looked her way.
If that was how it was going to be, why invite her at all? She’d have felt more at ease dining alone with the Empress. Blanche silently wondered, carefully avoiding looking toward the Emperor as much as possible.
“Well then, we must return to our duties now.”
“Sorry to leave early. But please, stay as long as you’d like.”
“Melchi, I’m leaving Princess Blanche in your care.”
Had this been their plan all along, or was the Grand Duke being so uncooperative that they’d decided to leave?
Watching the Emperor and Empress rise immediately after the meal ended, Blanche clicked her tongue inwardly.
“Then I’ll see you again soon, Princess.”
Perhaps fearing that if she stayed, the Grand Duke and Blanche wouldn’t exchange a single word, the Empress stood up, looking rather regretful.
“Daeu-me bae-eo-yo. (I’ll see you next time.)”
After smiling sweetly and seeing off the imperial couple, Blanche felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Once, she’d sat across from a similarly awkward boy from a noble household—not just once, but many, many times.
“Shall we take a walk?”
Lost in thought, she was startled when the Grand Duke spoke—his first words since their formal greetings. Despite being only two years older, his pronunciation was remarkably smooth. How enviable. When would this body of hers ever grow up? Blanche thought blankly, watching the boy as she stepped down from her chair.
Instead of following him, she lifted her head to look at the flowers.
Judging by the boy’s behavior—refusing even to glance back—he probably wanted to humble her pride. After all, if he walked ahead, there was no way her little legs could keep up.
Walking behind someone naturally made one feel like a subordinate receiving orders—likely exactly what he intended.
For a five-year-old, it was a surprisingly clever tactic—but unfortunately for him, his opponent was Blanche. His thoughts were as clear to her as words written on an open palm.
Sure enough, after a brief wait, the boy turned back on his own.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
His voice was calm. Despite clearly being displeased at being ignored, he maintained his composure—definitely a child with great potential. Blanche shifted her gaze from the flowers to look at him.
“A-nyeo. Deu-reo-sseo-yo. (No, I heard you.)”
“Hmm. So you deliberately ignored the Grand Duke’s words? That’s quite bold of you.”
Blanche smiled sweetly. Her lips curled up unnaturally high, and her plump cheeks bulged as they were pushed by her dimpled smile.
“Bang-ae-reul, won-chi an-sin geo ga-ta-seo. (Because it seemed you didn’t wish to be disturbed.)”
That smile, if worn on Lee Baekryeon’s body before his death, would have struck fear into everyone. But now, in the body of a three-year-old, it failed to intimidate the boy.
“That’s absurd. I clearly asked you to walk with me.”
His voice was gentle, his expression warm. Blanche revised her assessment of the Grand Duke.
Perhaps this child might prove even more difficult than the Emperor.
“Gga-kkum sa-ram-deu-reun sok-kka da-reun ma-reul ha-ji-yo. (Sometimes people say things that differ from what they truly feel.)”
“So you ignored me because of that? What if I accused you of treason?”
“De mo-ktteum-eul da-ha-eo-do gi-han bun-i sing-gi-reul geu-seu-reu-di an-neun geo beot-daen ja-ui do-ri a-ni-ge-sseum-mi-kka. (Isn’t it a friend’s duty to never offend a noble person’s feelings, even at the cost of one’s own life?)”
A linguist would have choked—not just been speechless—because that wasn’t what friendship truly meant.
But the boy wasn’t a linguist; he was royalty. Thus, he understood that Blanche’s words were genuine—that her statement precisely described the qualities expected of a prince’s friend.
Ordinary friends should be equals. Ordinary servants should obey commands.
But the friend of a prince—a ruler—must carefully gauge his master’s mood and act accordingly, even if it meant bearing all the burden alone.
That was exactly what Blanche was claiming to do now—acting not out of defiance or rudeness, but out of consideration for his feelings, despite risking severe punishment for disrespect.
“Ah, you really are his younger brother.”
Though her words might have been slightly difficult for a five-year-old to grasp, the boy seemed to understand them perfectly.
“Good. You seem reasonable enough—I’ll speak plainly then.”
Apparently pleased with Blanche’s attitude, the boy climbed back onto his chair.
“As you probably already know, my elder brother said I need a friend my age.”
Blanche agreed wholeheartedly and honestly admired him.
“Jo-eun hyeong-ni-mi-si-geun-yo. (You have a good elder brother.)”
“But I have no intention of playing friends.”
The boy lifted his arm—longer than Blanche’s, yet still childlike—and rested his chin on his palm. Though the posture was unbecoming of a five-year-old, his expression remained perfectly natural.
“So here’s what we’ll do: we’ll pretend to be close only in front of my brother and sister-in-law.”
For a moment, Blanche froze. …Was this really coming from a mere five-year-old?
“Si-dae-ro-neun ma-go-yo? (But not in reality?)”
The boy narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“It benefits us both. You get the title of ‘Grand Duke’s playmate,’ and I get rid of a nuisance.”
Like father, like son—or rather, like brother, like brother.
Stunned into momentary silence, the boy must have mistaken her pause for hesitation and added in a more coaxing tone,
“They say the Grand Duke’s playmate receives near-royal treatment. Getting treated like royalty without doing anything—doesn’t that sound good?”
Blanche lowered her gaze slightly as the boy silently asked, ‘Well?’
“Jeo-nae tteu-se tta-du-ge-na-i-da. (I shall follow Your Highness’s wishes.)”
After all, if their friendship was only in name, this arrangement was better. Once she got what she wanted, the Emperor would stop paying attention to her, and the Grand Duke clearly had no interest in her to begin with.
“Good. To celebrate the start of our deal, I’ll give you something. What do you want?”
Perhaps because he’d gotten what he wanted, the Grand Duke now seemed considerably more generous.
“Gwaen-chan-seum-mi-da. (It’s fine.)”
“The Grand Duke’s playmate deserves proper compensation.”
Though Blanche, indifferent to material rewards, tried to refuse, the Grand Duke wouldn’t relent.
Realizing he wasn’t the type to back down easily from polite refusals, Blanche glanced around briefly before replying shortly,
“Geu-eo-ta-myeon, kko-sul. (Then, flowers.)”
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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