Love You, Love You Not (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 010
For an entire week, the Duke had seated Scathach at a table within his study, positioned so that he could see her with just a slight lift of his eyes from his desk.
Thanks to this, Scathach could freely admire things like the way his fine, dark black hair naturally cascaded when he focused on documents, or his long eyelashes stretching over crimson eyes fixed on paperwork, or the smooth line of his jaw and nose, or even his red lips.
After all, it was an objective fact that he was incredibly handsome—and aside from psychological issues and his past, his face was indeed one well-suited to purify the mind and spirit.
Whether in the study or the bedroom, though there had been precarious moments, the Duke never repeated the same mistake as before.
He no longer pressured her or tested her about remembering him. Of course, he hadn’t stopped placing freesias on her bed each morning—but that was all.
Thus, Scathach easily concluded that the Duke wasn’t such a bad person after all—aside from the fact that he carried Blachnatt blood.
“If you stare so openly, it’s troubling.”
Lost in thought, Scathach suddenly found herself locked in the gaze of those crimson eyes, and her mind instantly tangled like a knotted thread.
“I wasn’t… staring.”
“Then why were you looking at me like that?”
“Just… you’re handsome…”
“What?”
Scathach’s face suddenly flushed. No matter how handsome the Duke might be, who would dare openly declare him so to his face? Acknowledging her blunder, Scathach hastily apologized.
“Ah… I’m sorry… It’s just… your sudden… question… caught me off guard…”
As Scathach spoke, inserting awkward pauses between her words, she watched mutely as the Duke rose and approached her. Leaning slightly with one hand on the table, he faced Scathach crookedly.
“You think I’m handsome?”
“…Objectively speaking.”
“And your personal opinion?”
“Does my opinion really matter…?”
“Hmm. Answer anyway.”
“I’m a person with ordinary aesthetic sensibilities, so…”
“Go on.”
“…I think you’re handsome.”
Scathach had meant to deflect the situation with flattery, but seeing the Duke’s frown deepen made her flinch and shrink back.
“You. Do you even know how much…”
Closing her eyes tightly at the sight of the man’s seemingly angry face, Scathach braced herself.
“I-I’m sorry.”
With a long sigh, he lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Now that she looked closer, he didn’t seem angry at all—more like nervous.
Nervous? That word didn’t fit him at all, yet…
“…I don’t know if I can keep holding back.”
“Huh…?”
It would have been a lie to say there’d been absolutely no sexual tension between them all week. Yet they had never once crossed that line.
Since Scathach had no idea what habits she might have while asleep, she had no choice but to think that way. After all, while awake, he deliberately kept his distance.
His crimson eyes dropped to her lips, tracing them with his gaze first. That languid look made Scathach’s face burn hotly.
“If you dislike it, say so now.”
The glimpse of a scarlet tongue between her slightly parted lips looked mischievous. Her heart pounded so fiercely she wondered if a person could actually die from it.
Just as their lips were about to brush lightly against each other, the study’s telephone rang shrilly.
As if caught in the act by someone, Scathach forcefully pushed against the Duke’s chest, where she’d been held.
“Y-you should answer the phone!”
Cazar, who had been about to ignore the ringing and corner the woman, narrowed his brows sharply before barely regaining his composure.
If it was a call to the study, something must have happened in the Conwell or Baltimore estates, or it concerned urgent business matters—or possibly the Imperial Household.
“Wait.”
He pressed down on her shoulder, making her sit again, then headed toward the desk to answer the call.
“This is Duke Blachnatt.”
Before the voice on the other end could reply, the woman covered her bright red face and bolted out of the study.
-It’s me—Attila, the one you love.
Watching the woman’s retreating back, Cazar let out a hollow chuckle—but his crimson eyes instantly hardened with killing intent.
“…Why did you call? If it’s nothing important, I’ll kill you.”
-Wow, so ruthless. What are you giving me as a coronation gift?
“If you need something, send me a list. If not, I’ll just have something prepared randomly.”
-Hey, I’ve found something I want.
“What is it?”
-The real culprit behind Duke Blachnatt’s assassination.
“…”
-You’ll come to the coronation, right? We’ve got quite a bit to discuss.
Cazar glanced at the calendar on his study desk. Attila’s imperial coronation was in a week. Considering the banquets held before and after, he’d need to depart by tomorrow at the latest.
He’d already known this intellectually. He also knew that once he left for Corbe, he’d have to release the woman he couldn’t possibly take with him.
“…I’ll go.”
-What’s with that reluctant tone? Aren’t you happy for me? Do you want to be emperor instead?
“We’ll talk in person. I’m hanging up.”
-Hey!
Ignoring Attila’s hollow shout, Cazar hung up and immediately summoned his steward, Peron.
“Scathach.”
“She’s in her bedroom. By the way, my lord—someone claiming to be Miss Scathach’s older brother has arrived. What shall we do?”
Nemed sat in the reception room, gazing at Duke Blachnatt.
The man’s crimson eyes seemed to pierce right through people, exuding overwhelming presence. His elegant, unhurried movements—precise yet effortlessly refined—screamed nobility through and through.
The Duke slowly rotated the foot of his cigar between his fingers and offered one to Nemed as well.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Though it was merely a nod, Nemed immediately understood and declined with a shake of his head. The Duke didn’t press further. Even among the Barrack class striving to emulate high society, cigars had become quite fashionable.
Nemed had no desire to conform to such superficial customs, so he kept his hands off the cigar…
Yet the way the man calmly cut the tip of his cigar with an impassive expression was vastly different from the pretentious displays Nemed had witnessed from other men.
“You claim to be Scathach’s older brother.”
Uttering Scathach’s name in a voice utterly devoid of emotion—and lighting his cigar with a torch lighter—completed the picture of a perfectly elegant nobleman, the kind anyone would admire.
Perhaps what those others truly wanted to imitate wasn’t the cigar itself, but this very mannerism.
“Yes. I’ve come to take Scathach with me.”
The Duke regarded Nemed with his usual indifferent gaze. Though Nemed could read nothing in those eyes, he had a bad feeling—his gut told him the Duke wouldn’t hand Scathach over willingly.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Nemed locked eyes with Scathach as she entered through the door, and for a long moment, they simply stared at each other, frozen in place. Scathach’s face clearly screamed, “What are you doing here?!”
“Scathach.”
“Y-yes…?”
Looking as though she’d been caught in a compromising position, Scathach hurried over to the Duke.
When the Duke tapped the spot beside him on the long couch with a slender finger, Scathach obediently sat down without a word—regardless of Nemed’s disapproving glare.
Crossing one leg gracefully, the Duke exhaled a plume of cigar smoke.
“He claims to be your brother.”
Scathach glanced at Nemed and raised her eyebrows as if to ask, “Did you say that?” Nemed nodded. Noticing their silent exchange, the Duke’s expression darkened.
“Don’t even think about scheming.”
“W-well, he’s not my real brother, but like an older-brother-type friend!”
“If he’s not your brother, then I should have him imprisoned for fraud.”
“It’s not exactly fraud… We really are as close as blood siblings…”
“We’re not even blood-related, yet you claim to be like siblings.”
“I can’t help it if you don’t believe me, but it’s the truth.”
Was it just his imagination, or did Scathach seem oddly influenced by the Duke? Unable to bear watching the Duke mock Scathach any longer, Nemed finally spoke up.
“My lord, I understand that just days ago you personally visited our father and heard evidence that would prove Scathach’s innocence. Then why are you still detaining her? Has the suspicion not yet been cleared?”
Both the Duke and Scathach turned their eyes toward him simultaneously.
He knew better than to speak so disrespectfully before a noble of the Ten Houses—no matter how angry he was, no matter if the Duke was in the wrong.
But seeing Scathach mocked over her relationship with him made his blood boil beyond control.
The Duke gave a faint smirk, set his cigar in the ashtray, and leaned back into the couch. Clearly, he found playing with Scathach far more entertaining than dealing with Nemed.
“I’ll give you a choice. If you really want to go, you may leave now—follow your ‘older-brother-type friend.’”
Twisting one side of his handsome mouth into a mocking smile, he sneered at them. Surprisingly, he seemed ready to let Scathach go—but the way Scathach herself looked troubled, glancing nervously between him and the Duke, struck him as odd.
“Scathach, let’s go! He said you could leave!”
“Ahh, but it’s still…”
“What’s ‘still’?! Are you really going to stay here and endure this treatment? Have you decided to become his mistress or something? Huh?”
When Nemed abruptly stood and shouted at Scathach, she made a pained face, utterly at a loss.
“No, Nemed! It’s not like that… Nothing like that is happening between me and the Duke…”
Because of their near-kiss just moments ago, Scathach couldn’t outright deny it—and her face twisted into a miserable frown. The Duke picked up his cigar again, exhaled another elegant plume of smoke, and issued Nemed an order to leave.
“It seems Scathach has no intention of going with you.”
Cazar knew very well why the woman hadn’t followed the man who’d come to take her away—or rather, why she couldn’t. After all, he’d deliberately worn her necklace plainly around his own neck.
After Nemed had been sent away, Cazar gently stroked the woman’s head with slow, tender fingers as she sat quietly waiting until he’d smoked half his cigar.
She wore a sullen expression but remained silent. It would’ve been more entertaining if she’d talked back or shown even a hint of defiance as usual.
What fun was there in toying with a woman who didn’t even remember him? Yet—whether she defied him or behaved obediently—she was quite pleasing, especially when at night she’d burrow into his arms with that soft, pliant body. Of course, that was coming to an end now.
“I’ll return your necklace.”
Seeing her wide amber eyes turn toward him in surprise, Cazar gave a mischievous smile.
“But you’ll have to take it yourself.”
Hearing this, the woman immediately turned to face him. Finding her nervously blinking and clenching then releasing her fists utterly amusing, Cazar couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“Th-then…”
She could’ve easily refused or demanded to be released immediately—yet she boldly reached out toward him, even as her fingertips trembled violently.
“Think you can do it? Your hand’s shaking terribly.”
When Cazar teased her, her hand paused midair, as if pondering his intention. Her face was so transparent—her thoughts easy to read.
“…Of course, it’d be nice if you undid it yourself, but I don’t think you will.”
“You’re right. I won’t.”
Biting her lip, she stretched her hand toward him and leaned closer. Though he’d started this as a jest, his mood was growing strangely unsettled.
Or perhaps he’d already known—after all, he’d never just let her go in a situation like this.
“Th-then… excuse me.”
Scathach carefully reached her hands behind the Duke’s neck as he lounged lazily on the reception room couch.
Even if she’d once been royalty in childhood, facing him—the head of House Blachnatt, the Empire’s sole ducal house among the Ten, and lord of Lindkoem—was nothing but nerve-wracking.
Especially right after he’d created such an ambiguous atmosphere.
At this close distance, with an overwhelmingly handsome man staring intently into her face, her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Moreover, those crimson eyes—once filled with playful mischief—deepened into something dangerously intense as the distance between them shrank.
Yet Scathach steeled her resolve a little more, fearing she might never get her necklace back otherwise.
If that necklace remained in the Duke’s hands any longer, she might drop dead from anxiety before anyone even discovered it.
Trying to keep her body as far back as possible while stretching her arms fully, she kept slipping while trying to unhook the clasp hidden behind his neck—probably because her palms were sweaty.
“J-just a moment… I’m sorry. Maybe I should move behind you…”
Convinced she couldn’t possibly undo it without looking, Scathach started to rise—but the corner of the Duke’s mouth curved upward faintly.
“I’m a bit confused here…”
With elegant motion, the Duke’s hand wrapped around Scathach’s waist. Pulled forward by his strong grip, Scathach’s eyes widened as she was drawn right up to his face.
He tilted his head slowly, never rushing. His lips, hovering just above Scathach’s breathless ones, carried a fierce heat.
When Scathach blinked, her long lashes brushing her cheeks, the Duke let out a low chuckle.
“Close your eyes.”
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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I see. So that was why he said he didn’t love her 😭
Now they are best friends hahaha so ezra is end now?
Haaah, can understand the reason for this novel is “love you, love you not” it was so hard for that words to be spoken