‘The Tyrant and the Spice’.
This was the world inside the book she had possessed after her death.
She hadn’t been aware of her reincarnation from the beginning.
A fever at the age of twelve.
On that day, just before her breath slipped away in delirium, the girl realized she had been reincarnated.
The first thing that came to mind was the headlights of a car.
Screech—crash!
Then darkness.
Even as she was struck by the car, she still clutched her phone in her hand.
An unfinished serialized work. ‘The Wolf and the Spice’.
A screen left open on an 18+ melancholic romance novel.
The mysterious fever had ultimately awakened all memories of her past life.
Herein lay the problem.
The child could no longer clearly distinguish between her current memories and the severed past, blurring everything together.
‘Who… where am I?’
The etiquette she had naturally practiced, the Empire’s language she had mastered perfectly—all had become tangled with memories from her previous life, now completely muddled.
Seeing his daughter babbling deliriously upon waking from fever, the Count treated Yerpi as if she were mad.
‘You are the shame of the Deilang family.’
The Count declared his daughter gravely ill, forbidding her from leaving the estate and banning her debut into noble society, something every young noblewoman undertook.
The memories of her past and present lives, which had once confused and overwhelmed her, gradually settled into place as she grew older.
Yet by then, everything had already gone awry.
All while carrying a secret she could never explain to anyone.
‘Calm down.’
She moistened her dry mouth with the tip of her tongue.
How long had she waited for this day?
She, more than anyone, had yearned for this marriage—this fate of being sold off.
Even more than her father, who was blinded by greed and eager to dispose of her.
The knights’ gazes turned toward Yerpi.
She kept her expression as neutral as possible, straightening her back.
‘I must act as if nothing is wrong.’
Who would have thought the corset, tightened so tightly she could barely breathe, would actually help?
Just as she reinforced her resolve with self-assurance,
it seemed the signal had finally dropped—the knight beside him suddenly leapt down from his horse.
He was a young knight with brown hair.
Striding firmly toward Yerpi, he asked with a serious expression,
“Are you Lady Yerpi Deilang?”
“Yes. That’s me.”
Even as she silently nodded, his sharp gaze did not soften.
‘Can he sense something different?’
This was the domain of the Hwan-su.
Outwardly, they appeared no different from outsiders, but this knight too was a retainer of dragon blood.
Which meant he might sense something imperceptible to ordinary people.
After observing her with keen attention, the knight gave a slight nod, as if convinced.
“My name is Johan Zelda, the lord’s adjutant. It is an honor to welcome the blossom of dragon blood.”
The blossom of dragon blood.
Was that what they called the spice here?
Yerpi blinked at the unfamiliar term, then smiled.
‘Nice to meet you, Sir Zelda.’
“I will escort you. Please, this way.”
Following the knight’s guidance, Yerpi turned her body.
Raymond was drawing closer and closer.
Her heart pounded in rhythm with her footsteps.
Elegant golden eyes watched Yerpi intently.
As if observing prey approaching him.
The moment their eyes met again,
it was Raymond who turned away first.
“Divide into two units. First unit, follow me to the Domain of Fire. Johan, you lead the remaining troops and return to the castle with the spice.”
“…My lord?!”
Raymond abruptly turned away, and his unit followed closely behind.
The knights appeared like a single line severing Yerpi from the Grand Duke.
Left atop the ice barrier were only the black carriage, a few knights, Johan, and Yerpi.
Johan’s hand still hovered awkwardly in midair, as if he had meant to introduce Raymond.
“Hah, uh, that is…”
Johan finally caught his breath, startled.
The groom, who was supposed to greet his new bride, had just turned and left.
Faced with Yerpi’s calm response, he faltered.
“I understand.”
“Excuse me?”
“He must be very busy. There must be trouble in the territory.”
It would not have been strange for a woman, rejected so coldly by her future husband, to burst into tears and cause a scene.
But seeing her composure, Johan’s expression brightened and his voice rose.
“Ah, yes, quite right! The Hwan-su have been acting up so terribly! It seems the situation requires His Grace’s presence, so he had no choice but to return. Thank you so much for your understanding.”
His hurried explanation wasn’t entirely an excuse.
In truth, an incident had indeed occurred in the Domain of Fire just before they were to welcome the Dragon’s Bride, and even mid-level Hwan-su had joined the chaos, necessitating the Grand Duke’s intervention.
Yerpi responded with a gentle, knowing smile.
“Then you’ll be my guide, Sir Zelda?”
“Of course! I will escort you comfortably to the castle. Please, call me by name. And hand me your luggage.”
“Thank you, Sir Johan.”
Johan took the bag from her hand.
Yerpi stepped into the carriage he guided her to.
The velvet-padded seat was so comfortable it nearly drew a sigh, easing her tension.
Closing her eyes briefly, Yerpi silently graded her own performance.
She had rehearsed this moment hundreds, even thousands of times in her mind, yet nervousness was unavoidable.
‘Did I make it through safely?’
Judging from Johan’s reaction, she didn’t seem to have made any mistakes.
Every night, she had imagined this moment and practiced.
Practiced being calm, natural—herself.
In the original story, Yerpi had cried throughout the journey to the territory after being coldly snubbed by the Grand Duke.
Yet even then, she harbored futile emotions.
How pitiful.
Before the carriage departed, Yerpi glanced down through the opposite window at the cliff below.
Far beneath the dizzying precipice, her father’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
At last, peace settled in her heart.
The fierce northern winds, her father’s icy rejection—none could reach her where she now stood atop the cliff.
As if two separate worlds existed.
Through the open window, a soft breeze gently tickled her long hair.
Only now did she realize the air around her had changed.
‘Warm.’
Glancing down, she saw her feet, once frozen stiff along with her shoes, now beginning to thaw.
Even the tips of her fingers, which had felt as if they might shatter, and her cheeks, which had stung as though they would crack, were warming.
The carriage set off with smooth, gentle motion.
Before gaining full speed, Johan, who had stayed by the window, spoke again.
“This is the entrance to the Domain of Spring. If we ride nonstop, you’ll arrive at Growen Castle in about a week.”
“What a vast territory.”
The Growen territory did not appear on any Imperial maps.
Thus, outsiders knew nothing of how vast the land of the Hwan-su was, or how the primordial domains were divided.
An unfamiliar world.
Though she had many questions, the bride of dragon blood maintained a composed demeanor.
Only occasionally glancing curiously outside.
Noticing where Yerpi’s gaze lingered, Johan began pointing out various things.
“Not all northern lands here are covered in ice.”
The territory was divided into four major regions:
Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
“The appearance of the Hwan-su changes with the seasons.”
“How fascinating.”
He continued explaining the territory in detail, almost as if to cover for his lord’s rudeness.
After silently listening for a while, Yerpi pointed toward the knight’s horse.
“Are those horses Hwan-su as well?”
The knights guarding the carriage all rode sleek black steeds.
At first glance, the fine-looking horses appeared merely to be high-blooded warhorses. But upon closer inspection, each had a pair of black wings attached to their ankles.
“Yes. You have a sharp eye.”
She didn’t need to look far—the very horses moving alongside her were themselves a type of Hwan-su.
Even though six pairs of black steeds pulled the carriage, not a single hoofbeat could be heard.
The carriage picked up speed.
The passing scenery was a dazzling pink.
True to its name as the Domain of Spring, endless fields bloomed with breathtakingly beautiful flowers as far as the eye could see.
Sweet fragrance wafted through the window along with the fresh breeze.
Realizing Yerpi was captivated by the world beyond the window, Johan offered warm words.
“You will experience and witness much more firsthand. Welcome to the Growen territory, Lady Yerpi Deilang.”
“I’m truly looking forward to it.”
Yerpi replied with a faint smile, turning her gaze back to the scenery.
The woman, rejected by the man she was to marry, appeared completely unharmed.
Johan watched her with an ambiguous look, then rejoined the formation.
Yerpi was an outsider in this world.
And that made her safer.
As long as she could keep her own heart in order.
‘Of that, at least, I am certain.’
Therefore, she would never act foolishly.
As her father had warned from beyond the ice wall.
The pale blue sky and pink horizon gently tingled across her vision.
As her frozen body fully thawed, drowsiness overcame her.
It was her first sleep in three days.
Inside the smoothly rolling carriage, she sank into deep slumber.
***
The cold ice fortress.
On the empty corridor, a withered woman clung to a man’s feet, pleading.
‘I love you.’
Her pitiful voice ached in the chest.
Yet the man she clung to remained cold and indifferent.
The woman lifted her head, trying to grasp the man who turned away.
Her face, visible alongside brittle, dry hair, was—
‘Please, don’t go.’
Yerpi. Herself.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
