Love Me Just Once (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
On the day he rode in a carriage with her, touring the capital and its surroundings, Idren couldn’t take his eyes off her all day long. And the people on the streets felt the same.
Of course, even before that, Ophelia had started many minor trends. Ophelia’s spending habits and appearance were extremely famous in Aglante.
While criticizing the foreign queen consort’s lavish lifestyle, people still watched intently, eyes wide open, to see what she wore and adorned herself with.
Salode had once remarked about this:
“It’s rare to find someone who is both high enough to be revered and flawed enough to be criticized.”
In that sense, Ophelia always drew attention, but even so, that year’s red craze went too far—so much so that every household, regardless of social standing, ended up owning at least one red garment.
In fact, the trend didn’t even last half a year.
Half a year later, when they went on another inspection tour, Ophelia appeared wearing white.
That color, which might have seemed dull at first glance, was decorated with spring flowers imported from the neighboring Egelbamot Empire, creating a bright yet elegant atmosphere.
Compared to it, the red that had been fashionable until then suddenly seemed vulgar.
“If only the trend itself had changed, we wouldn’t have suffered such a blow. But Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess suddenly began purchasing all pigments—including red—from elsewhere.”
The official explained that around that time, one of Egelbamot’s imperial princes had started a business extracting dyes from flowers, and Ophelia shifted her trade to him. Reden’s economy, already slumping due to the end of the red trend, collapsed completely.
As he listened, Idren gradually began to feel irritated. It wasn’t even that serious an issue.
From the start, the royal court should have intervened before speculation reached such intensity.
Yet, according to the official, the Reden royal family had actually spearheaded investments in dyes themselves.
Idren raised his hand to silence the official and asked,
“Isn’t this less my wife’s fault and more the fault of those who abandoned their livelihoods to gamble on speculation—and the royal court that encouraged them?”
Red dye was a luxury item. Reden, despite its many royal problems, was a place where the monarchy held strong power; thus, if the royal court wished to control the economy, it could have done so easily.
But the Reden royal court hadn’t done that.
Of course, Idren didn’t believe Ophelia’s sudden switch to sourcing dyes elsewhere was mere coincidence. In truth, he already knew she engaged in such financial schemes.
He simply hadn’t bothered to investigate or interfere, as her actions had been small-scale and hadn’t directly affected Aglante’s economy.
He never imagined she’d meddle so deeply in her homeland’s economy.
But uncovering that was his responsibility; others gossiping about her actions was a separate matter—especially now, when Aglante was in turmoil from accepting Reden refugees.
Idren twitched his fingers. Understanding the signal, his executioner stepped forward. Realizing his head would soon roll onto the floor, the official cried out,
“It’s all Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess’s fault that His Royal Highness the Prince died!”
And without being asked, he rambled on.
He claimed it was the royal family’s final investment.
By that time, all of Reden’s viable farmland had already been sold off to foreigners—a consequence of failed mining investments.
Peasants were driven into the streets, and the royal court, unable to collect proper taxes, suffered from poverty. Idren realized this had happened just before Ophelia’s death.
“Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess had clearly promised to buy all of Reden’s flowers. But when the flowers were finally ready, she flooded the market with the exact same variety—sold at a much lower price than what we’d prepared! She used a trading company’s name, pretending to be someone else, but His Royal Highness the Prince eventually found out.”
At that time, Brinwell had been causing trouble, so he’d been preoccupied with the northern regions. He’d known Ophelia showed interest in gathering flowers but had only regulated Aglante’s market without looking further into the matter.
Prince Mahanas, who had spearheaded the speculation—Idren knew no other word to describe pledging even national treasures as collateral—was completely disgraced because of it.
Seeing the country in such a state, King Dares of Reden could no longer stand by and began seeking help everywhere. One such plea was the letter Idren had found after Ophelia’s funeral.
The official, who claimed he hadn’t held a high rank, apparently didn’t even know whose hands the pledged national treasures had ended up in.
After hearing the man’s entire story, Idren motioned slightly—and the executioner struck the man’s neck. Then Idren dispatched agents to investigate why Ophelia had ruined Reden.
As far as he knew, Ophelia had a fairly good relationship with her family—Prince Mahanas had even visited Aglante several times just to see her.
Yet despite sending out many agents, Idren couldn’t obtain reliable information. Those who knew the royal family well or had belonged to it had already perished in the subsequent riots.
[This is the timeline separator]If he’d had more time, he might have uncovered something. But Idren was sent back in time just one month after Ophelia’s death.
Still, he understood one thing clearly enough.
Ophelia hadn’t cared for her family—or even her homeland—enough to spare them. She’d destroyed them all deliberately.
He could take his time now to figure out her motive.
What mattered to him immediately was offering her an appealing choice. Idren remembered vividly how Ophelia had jumped from the balcony.
As long as she didn’t repeat that act and agreed to marry him, Idren didn’t care what she wanted.
He was king of Aglante, not Reden, and he wished to marry Ophelia—not the Mebasa royal family.
Even if Ophelia did something everyone condemned, Idren could always stand by her side.
Moreover, the current Ophelia needed someone who could become her new foundation and support her.
Marriage was the best way to secure such an ally, and given her status, even if she rejected him, she’d inevitably have to enter a political marriage with someone else.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to live with me—I who’ve already lived through it once?
Idren felt confident this time that he could correctly fulfill whatever she desired. As long as she spoke honestly to him, nothing would be difficult to achieve.
But Ophelia didn’t answer his words. Instead, she simply gazed at him with her bright blue eyes. Her overly direct stare made Idren feel slightly embarrassed—and uneasy.
Just then, Ophelia let out a small sigh.
“I understand why you think I need to marry you, but you’re wrong.”
Then she looked straight at the man before her. Perhaps because she’d flatly denied him so instantly, his already heated ears turned completely crimson.
Why is this man like this?
Another sigh nearly escaped her lips, but Ophelia barely held it back. She didn’t harbor any special feelings for Idren, yet she didn’t want to openly humiliate him either.
Idren wasn’t a bad person. Though she’d been angry at him just two days prior, Ophelia knew there’d been no malice in his words.
After all, he’d even come to apologize the very next day.
He was just oblivious—and utterly clueless.
Ophelia decided to treat him kindly. After all, they’d soon part ways and never meet again.
Besides, she’d genuinely put the assets he’d given her in her past life to good use, so showing him one last kindness wasn’t difficult.
Deliberately ignoring the fact that all those deeds had now been undone, Ophelia continued,
“How long did you stay in the past after I died?”
Idren hesitated, surprised she’d mention her own death so directly. He still remembered the shock he’d felt on the day she died.
Yet Ophelia appeared completely unaffected.
She raised an eyebrow, urging him to answer—an action so calm it nearly deflated his resolve.
Eventually, Idren replied in a slightly quieter voice,
“I lived one more month.”
He absolutely refused to mention that on the exact thirtieth day, he’d foolishly fallen into a well while doing something utterly ridiculous.
Fortunately, Ophelia didn’t press for details. Instead, she continued very gently,
“Then you must have received all the Mebasa dynasty’s assets that I seized. Now I understand why you think this way.”
Her unexpectedly kind tone made Idren blink in surprise.
Honestly, he’d been quite angry at Ophelia’s actions—it was only natural, considering she’d abandoned him and taken her own life.
But now that she was treating him so kindly… it felt as if all those feelings had been a lie.
His remaining sliver of reason warned him not to be swayed, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Quietly sitting there like a man with no pride left, he listened as Ophelia added in a soft, gentle voice,
“You’re right. I hated Reden and my family, so I deliberately ruined them. And yes, the assets you gave me greatly helped in that.”
However, knowing that didn’t mean he understood everything.
Ophelia told him something she herself had only realized after some time had passed,
“But I didn’t need to marry you to destroy Reden.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Cowardice? Bitch you barely even look at him or speak to him 😦😡
Finally! Put her in her place!!! She should treat you better 😡😡😡
That caught him by surprise 😭🥺🤣 that he almost choked