Marriage with the Younger Brother of the Man Who Betrayed Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Rain poured relentlessly even over the County of Harkenstain, where Martin was staying.
Listening to the loud pattering of rain on the tent roof, Martin quietly murmured.
The name of the person occupying his thoughts.
“…Yulia.”
Yulia had belonged to Ernant from the very beginning.
Her actions the other day had reaffirmed that fact herself.
Thus, even if Yulia foolishly set out alone, it wasn’t Martin’s concern.
That was certainly how it should be.
But.
“Tch….”
He couldn’t stop worrying.
Yulia von Schneestern—a sharp, protruding nail of a person he was forced to keep despite knowing clearly she served Ernant.
If only he could pull that nail out, it would be best—but he couldn’t.
Whether she served the Emperor or not, Yulia was a rare high-grade Awakened and an exceptionally skilled knight.
If she went off alone and died, it would mean losing a valuable talent.
Therefore, Martin had accepted Karl’s request to accompany Yulia.
Because he couldn’t afford to lose such an important asset.
Because he didn’t want to lose her.
Thinking that far, Martin swept back the stray locks of hair falling over his eyes and unconsciously muttered,
“I don’t know how I should treat her.”
“Who? That woman?”
Simon, who had entered at some point, asked this in response to Martin’s muttering.
Lost in thought, Martin offered no reply, and silence settled between them.
Within that silence, Simon, who had also been deep in thought, suddenly snapped his fingers as if struck by a brilliant idea.
“If she’s really bothering you that much, why not try to win her over?”
“What?”
“Vice Captain Yulia von Schneestern. She serves the Emperor not only because she’s a knight, but also because she harbors deep affection for him, right?”
Unaware of Martin’s incredulous expression, Simon proudly continued with his clever plan.
“So you should break that affection—Yourself, Captain.”
“…What on earth are you talking about?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake—you really are clueless.”
Simon chuckled softly, lowered his voice, and whispered to Martin,
“Make it so she can no longer love the Emperor. Capture her—as a man.”
“…”
“If you do that, she’ll stop reporting your every move to the Emperor. She’ll be utterly devoted to you alone.”
At those words, Martin was momentarily left speechless.
After regarding Simon with a complex mix of emotions, Martin finally sighed.
“Simon.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve gone too far with your nonsense. Run from here to the river and back thirty times.”
“What?! But I just came back from doing work—”
“Now. That’s an order.”
“…”
Simon shot Martin a pitiful, sorrowful look, but Martin glared back sternly.
Unable to withstand that fierce gaze, Simon shuffled dejectedly out of the tent.
Finally alone in the quiet tent, Martin let out another deep sigh.
Win over Yulia? As a man?
He couldn’t fathom such ridiculous talk.
Yulia had long devoted her heart to the Emperor—their bond must be strong indeed.
Far too strong for Martin to ever dare break.
“…”
Afterward, Martin remained with his head bowed for a while.
He felt disgusted with himself for even briefly entertaining Simon’s absurd suggestion.
[This is the timeline separator]Beyond the Rift that Karl and I entered stretched a vast desert.
An expanse so immense it seemed endless.
Seeing it exactly as it had been before my regression, I felt reassured anew.
Though the endless golden dunes looked threatening at first glance, the monsters here weren’t especially strong.
It was a Rift I could easily handle alone.
I had only come together because Karl insisted I rely on him a bit more.
Anyway, I’d planned to finish quickly and leave—but just then, Karl spoke up.
“Shall I use a mana-detection item to pinpoint the Queen’s location?”
“No need. I already know where she is. See that oasis over there? She’ll be there—specifically beneath the water of that oasis.”
Recalling my memories from conquering this place in my previous life, I told him as much, and Karl’s eyes widened in surprise.
“So you detected her mana directly again?”
“Yeah. As you probably heard from the Captain, my sensitivity to mana has grown unusually sharp lately. It lets me instantly discern monsters’ traits and positions.”
Again, I covered it up with a casual lie.
Fortunately, like everyone else, Karl believed me without suspicion.
“That’s incredible! If you can find monsters’ locations this quickly, we won’t even need mana-detection items anymore, will we?”
“No, we won’t. From now on, I’ll tell you exactly where every monster is. Anyway, let’s hurry—this sun’s scorching.”
“Yes! Luckily, I brought an umbrella. It won’t block all the sunlight, but it’ll help.”
Karl held the umbrella he’d brought from outside the Rift over my head like a parasol.
The harsh sunlight beating down on my scalp became a little more bearable.
Thus, we trudged steadily across the golden sands toward the oasis.
I’d hoped to conserve energy during the trek, but unfortunately, Karl proved just as talkative as Elma.
He walked briskly beside me, never pausing his chatter.
“Walking like this brings back memories, doesn’t it? That first time you and I entered a Rift together.”
“Oh, you mean that swamp Rift? We couldn’t find the Queen’s location right away, so we walked forever.”
“Back then too, we just kept walking and walking together…”
It had been roughly a year since Karl and I first teamed up to tackle a Rift.
Not long after I’d joined the knights.
Remembering that time, I let out a light laugh.
“You didn’t say a word to me back then. You were so wary of me.”
“Well, of course—I admired Captain Martin. At the time, I thought you’d been pushed into the knight order by His Majesty the Emperor’s influence and might end up harming the Captain.”
“Do you still think that way?”
Karl burst into laughter as if I’d told a funny joke.
“Of course not! If you hadn’t saved me in that swamp Rift, I wouldn’t even be here today.”
I still remembered clearly saving Karl back then.
Inside that Rift, he’d nearly died from a monster’s attack, but I’d been there and rescued him.
Karl’s voice grew wistful as he, too, seemed to recall that moment.
“Ever since that day, I’ve been completely smitten with you, Vice Captain.”
“Why?”
“Because you were truly amazing! You instantly froze the ground with your power, pinning the monsters in place, then cut them down—it looked just like a dance. That’s when I truly fell for you.”
Karl’s eyes glazed over as if lost in a dream.
Was he picturing my past self?
Either way, the praise made my cheeks flush with unintended embarrassment.
“Really? But don’t say things like ‘falling for a woman’ so casually—you’ll be misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood…”
Perhaps due to the dry desert wind, Karl’s voice dropped low as he replied.
It sounded almost sorrowful.
But only for a moment—his tone soon brightened again, as usual.
“Anyway, I’ll never foolishly distrust you again. Now, I respect you just as much as I do the Captain. That’s why I always lean on you and look up to you—but you never do the same for me. That’s the problem.”
“I’ll try. I’m still afraid of losing you, but if relying on you leads to a better future, then I’ll do it.”
Both outside and inside the Rift, Karl had consistently urged me to lean on him.
To me, who’d always feared endangering others by depending on them and thus carried everything alone, he’d offered his shoulder.
It was only natural that my rigid heart began to soften.
And that softening created a tiny gap in my guard.
Scritch. Scritch.
“…!!”
Since when had it been there? An unknown scratching sound drew dangerously close.
Had I kept my usual quiet vigilance while walking, I’d have noticed it immediately—but my conversation with Karl had distracted me.
I only sensed the sound once it was practically at my feet.
“Karl. Don’t panic—just stand still.”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Yulia is exceptionally intelligent and always finds creative solutions to difficult problems.
Took you so long!! I suspected him when he sneek up on you at the river and finally confirmed my suspicion of him since the Ball!!