At last, Johan rushed over upon spotting Yerpi and stood before her.
He asked with a worried expression,
“Lady Yerpi, are you feeling better now?”
“Yes. I’ve caused everyone trouble. But I’m feeling much lighter now.”
Johan waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh, not at all. We were merely waiting as per the lord’s orders.”
His words carried sincerity.
Relieved, he continued,
“It’s fortunate you’ve regained your health. Given the long journey, you must have been terribly exhausted. We failed to show proper consideration, and for that, I sincerely apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. I didn’t expect to collapse like that either.”
Especially in Raymond Growen’s tent.
When she first opened her eyes, how shocked she was to find herself cradled in his arms.
Even now, recalling it made her heart tremble.
As Yerpi calmed her racing heart, Johan smiled contentedly, unaware of her tension.
“Still, knowing that the lord personally cared for you puts my mind completely at ease.”
“…The lord personally?”
Johan answered with evident pride as Yerpi widened her eyes in surprise.
“Yes. Since you collapsed, the lord hasn’t left his tent even once.”
Raymond personally attended to me?
For two whole days?
Flustered by this revelation, Yerpi momentarily forgot to respond to the officer’s words.
She had vaguely assumed that when she opened her eyes in his arms, it was just a fleeting impulse on his part.
Even after learning she’d been unconscious for two days, she still thought the same.
Perhaps the lord simply found it inconvenient to move a collapsed woman from his tent.
Or maybe he used another tent instead.
These were the only thoughts that had filled Yerpi’s mind.
Yet among countless assumptions, the truth revealed by the officer had never occurred to her.
‘Why?’
Didn’t he dislike me?
She clearly remembered their first meeting atop the ice barrier—
the very moment their eyes met, he turned his back on her.
The original novel was no different.
He had never once reached out to Yerpi.
Was this a change in fate?
But…
After much deliberation, Yerpi shook her head.
‘Don’t start thinking strange thoughts.’
If this was a deviation, then even a mere whim could qualify.
Better not to overthink it.
Above all, she knew how the original story ended.
The duchess silently shaking her head without answering made the officer worry again.
“Lady Yerpi?”
“It’s nothing. Still, I’ve caused even more trouble now.”
“Trouble? You two are husband and wife, after all.”
Yerpi briefly held her breath, then responded with a faint smile,
all the while recalling what had happened in the tent earlier.
‘Now I understand why he just ignored me and walked away.’
After personally tending to someone for two days, to receive nothing but a simple “thank you”—
it was enough to leave one speechless.
‘I should probably find a way to return the favor.’
But she smiled at the officer’s words because she didn’t know what else to say.
Even in close relationships, some people remain farther apart than strangers.
Yet repaying his whim was no easy task for Yerpi.
After all, this marriage had begun as a purchased one.
Repaying the man who bought her might only make her look more foolish.
Perhaps even entertaining such thoughts was arrogant.
But Yerpi wished for nothing to remain between them—
not even a small debt of kindness or favor.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’ve regained your strength. Still, we have time before reaching the castle, so please avoid overexerting yourself.”
“I understand.”
Yerpi obediently nodded.
There was nothing requiring effort anyway—she only needed to pass time in the carriage.
‘So I’ll make sure not to cause any more trouble.’
She silently resolved this during their conversation.
By then, the nearby tents had all been packed up.
Beyond the busy knights preparing, Raymond’s figure came into view.
Wearing light armor, he mounted his phantom steed, resembling a black horse.
Perhaps because she felt safe amidst the chaos, she had stared too openly.
Suddenly, his gaze—calming his horse with reins in hand—locked onto Yerpi.
Their eyes met.
But unlike in the tent, Yerpi couldn’t look away.
If she had to justify it, it was because he looked dazzling in the sunlight.
Yet before Yerpi could lower her eyes, Raymond turned his back and began commanding the troops.
“All units, to your positions.”
“To your positions!”
Well-trained knights swiftly aligned into formation.
It was the atmosphere of imminent departure.
She couldn’t stay here idly either.
Seeing Raymond turn away from Yerpi, Johan gave a wry smile and guided the duchess toward the carriage.
“The unit will move shortly. Please get in.”
“I understand.”
Yerpi climbed into the carriage with a flat tone.
Though she remained indifferent to the duke’s behavior, Johan once again mistakenly assumed she was disheartened.
Before closing the carriage door, he said,
“Please don’t be too distressed. My lord carries immense responsibility and is deeply committed to his duty. Yet that very trait worries me. That’s why I’m truly grateful you’ve come.”
Yerpi fell silent at the unexpected words.
Perhaps her surprise simply didn’t show.
Thinking he had overstepped, the officer hurried to apologize.
“I, I must have—”
“No, it’s fine. Thank you for saying that.”
Yerpi smiled lightly and settled into her seat.
Relieved, Johan closed the door and offered a farewell through the open window.
“Then please rest well.”
The officer’s back receded into the distance.
Yerpi watched him disappear among the knights and thought of someone else.
‘I wish someone had said this to the original Yerpi too.’
A woman who lived her entire life without a single ally, lonelier than anyone.
The original Yerpi’s life resembled her past life.
But seeing such similar lives overlap brought a kind of realization.
That even if loneliness feels suffocating, reaching for what isn’t yours will only lead to a more miserable existence.
And above all, he—
‘Must dislike spices.’
There was, in fact, a fundamental reason why Raymond kept his distance from Yerpi.
It was just before the carriage began moving.
Lost in thought, Yerpi turned her head, sensing someone’s gaze from afar.
‘…Raymond?’
He, who should have been at the front organizing the troops, was instead mounted on his horse, staring directly at her.
‘Why is he looking like that?’
Flustered, Yerpi’s gaze wandered aimlessly.
Most of all, his eyes seemed somehow angry.
Unfounded blame made her feel even more uncomfortable.
‘Maybe he thinks I took up too much of Johan’s time.’
An officer of the duke should be exceptionally capable—stealing his time was clearly a loss.
‘I’ll need to be more careful from now on,’ Yerpi thought, bowing her head slightly.
When Raymond raised one eyebrow at the sight, Yerpi quickly drew the curtain and hid behind it.
Firmly believing that avoiding his notice as much as possible
was the only thing she could do.
The unit set off.
The carriage wheels rolled smoothly, leaving the lilac grove behind.
That night,
Raymond still didn’t come to see her when they made camp again.
Alone in her tent, Yerpi absentmindedly remained tense until a different knight brought her dinner.
The officer who had spoken with her in the morning had disappeared somewhere and didn’t show his face even late into the night.
This confirmed Yerpi’s suspicion.
‘So I definitely detained a busy man.’
Resolved to be more cautious, Yerpi prepared for bed.
Lying down and staring at the tent ceiling, she finally began to relax.
Perhaps this journey wouldn’t be as uncomfortable as she thought.
‘Might not be so bad after all.’
She wasn’t feeling ill, and Raymond hadn’t appeared much except that morning.
As long as she stayed out of sight, everything should be fine.
Thinking this, her mind grew noticeably calmer.
The next day dawned, followed by two more days.
The scenery outside the carriage was enveloped in beautiful fields of blooming rapeseed flowers.
The journey, which initially seemed so unsettling, was progressing smoothly, just as she had expected.
Gazing at the bright yellow landscape, she briefly dozed off.
When she opened her eyes again, the carriage had come to a halt amid sudden commotion.
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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