My Fiancé Keeps Trying to Raise Me (16 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 15
“Haa, what on earth are you talking about now?”
Kardin let out a deep sigh, feeling as though he had just taken yet another heavy blow to the back of the head after already being thoroughly shocked by Anet’s words.
“Why would I ever… Hoo.”
Unable to conceal his utter bewilderment and disbelief, Kardin asked sharply.
“I’m certain the marriage proposal I sent to Heyworth clearly requested a royal princess of noble blood as my bride. When the acceptance letter arrived bearing the princess’s name, I even felt relieved—thinking that however dull-witted the king might be, he surely wasn’t so catastrophically dense as to misunderstand such a request… But surely, you’re not telling me I was wrong?”
Anet’s mind went blank at his ruthless words.
It sounded exactly as if, from the very beginning, he had wanted not Bridget but Anet herself as his bride.
No—it wasn’t just how it sounded; it was precisely the truth. That must be why, even with his mask on, his displeasure and frustration were so plainly evident.
For some inexplicable reason, her stomach churned uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry. But after all, she is your father by blood—and your homeland’s queen.”
At that moment, Kardin, as if calming his earlier agitation slightly, offered an apology.
“I-it’s fine.”
Anet replied quickly. Truth be told, Kardin doubting King Heyworth’s intelligence didn’t bother her in the slightest.
The issue was that it apparently wasn’t only the king who had failed to grasp the meaning.
‘Did “noble blood” truly refer to me?’
Of course, the former queen hailed from one of Heyworth Kingdom’s oldest noble houses, whereas the current Queen Esther was of common birth—but even so…
“Your Highness.”
“Y-yes?”
“Do you still not understand?”
“I don’t quite follow what you mean…”
“I mean that from the very beginning, I wanted only Anet Heyworth—you—as my bride.”
“……!”
Anet momentarily stopped breathing.
Her head spun in confusion, and a faint dizziness washed over her.
“You couldn’t possibly… be mistaken about someone else, could you? Right…?”
The words she finally managed to force out, after unclenching her stiffened tongue, sounded utterly foolish.
“So you don’t know much about me after all…?”
Still clinging to the slimmest hope, she asked—and Kardin lightly chuckled, “Haha,” before shaking his head.
“Your Highness, I likely know far more about you than you imagine. I’ve spent so much effort scheming simply because I feared Heyworth would never let you go.”
Seeing Anet blink in utter incomprehension, Kardin leaned forward as if about to reveal a secret and whispered.
“Even when sending the proposal, my elder brother said it would be enough to merely request a princess in marriage, given how scandalous my reputation already was. Rumors ran rampant that the King of Heyworth was too foolish to recognize a true gem and instead fawned over cheap imitations.”
Though the King of Heyworth was now called not just dull-witted but outright stupid, Anet paid it no mind and kept her focus solely on Kardin.
Pleased by her attention, Kardin continued eagerly.
“Still, just in case, I added that condition.”
It had been a petty precaution—if the king failed to understand or some presumptuous fool grew greedy, he’d immediately retaliate with an insult.
He never dreamed that very spiteful clause would cause his precious princess to misunderstand his intentions.
“So, Your Highness…”
Kardin stared silently at Anet, who asked in an almost breathless voice, “Do you… truly consider me noble?”
And uncharacteristically for the proud man he was, he admitted it plainly and clearly.
His thinking had been short-sighted.
To Kardin, Anet wasn’t merely precious—she was sacred—and that clause had seemed only natural when thinking of her.
Moreover, rationally speaking, since the former queen of Heyworth undeniably came from a noble lineage, he’d assumed anyone with sense in the kingdom would understand his intent.
Even his meticulous elder brother hadn’t objected upon seeing that added condition in the proposal.
‘I should have anticipated that your upbringing was harsher than I imagined, and those around you far less scrupulous.’
Though belated, realizing this now made him painfully understand the state of mind in which Anet must have accepted this political marriage and journeyed all the way to the Empire.
Especially when she’d even declared she’d live like a corpse beside a man who didn’t desire her—and would tolerate his mistresses and illegitimate children.
Kardin bit his trembling lips beneath the mask before finally speaking.
“You are… far too good for me.”
“……”
Anet’s expression grew even more complex.
She seemed unsure how to respond—or perhaps simply couldn’t comprehend his words at all.
“You clearly don’t believe me at all.”
Kardin gave a bitter smile.
Indeed, Anet couldn’t bring herself to believe him.
It felt as though everything she’d known—every bit of common sense—had crumbled to dust.
“Why… me?”
Was it because he thought her noble?
Or how he came to know her?
Or perhaps… why he wanted her?
She had too many questions—but couldn’t voice a single one.
Biting her lip in confusion, she stayed silent—prompting Kardin to lift the heavy mood with a playful tone.
“Shall I share a secret with you?”
“……?”
“In truth, I didn’t expect such an honest conversation right from our first meeting, so I’m a bit flustered… But I have many things I’d like to tell you as well.”
Kardin, who had been fiddling with his mask, stood and approached Anet’s side.
“I didn’t mean to deceive you. I’d planned to confess everything once we reached the Grand Duchy… But for now, I’ll tell you just one thing.”
Gulping.
Whether driven by curiosity about the secret he offered—or perhaps startled by the sudden nearness and the faint, pleasant scent drifting from him—Anet furtively glanced around and swallowed nervously as Kardin sat beside her on the sofa.
Then, Kardin leaned close and whispered his secret very quietly into her ear.
A moment later…
“…Huh?”
After blinking for a long while, Anet tilted her head in confusion.
She looked so endearing that Kardin’s lips curled upward slightly.
Wearing the mask truly was convenient—it spared him the need to control his expression.
After all, showing such a smile right after revealing a shocking secret would surely undermine his credibility.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness… but I think I must have misunderstood what you just said…”
“If you understood me to be an illegitimate child, then you heard me correctly.”
Kardin whispered once more into Anet’s ear, which had gone stiff with shock.
Her ruby-like eyes, which had always avoided his gaze, now trembled faintly before quickly scanning his face and hair.
His golden locks—proof of Alkan imperial blood—and his chillingly blue eyes, identical to the current Emperor’s, both testified to his true birth.
“As far as I know, Your Highness is clearly the son of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager…”
“Ah, that? That was a lie.”
Kardin spoke lightly, recalling the unprecedented deception he and the Empire had staged before the entire continent.
“The Imperial bloodline being so precious, His Late Majesty carelessly indulged himself one night and made a mistake—never imagining the woman would conceive after just a single evening together. They couldn’t let the Imperial House suffer disgrace, yet couldn’t kill royal blood either…”
More precisely, they’d coveted the powers the child was born with.
“So Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager, took the burden upon herself.”
At the time, the Empress Dowager had deeply desired a second child after giving birth to the Crown Prince, so when news of her pregnancy spread, her courtiers and subjects—knowing nothing—rejoiced that her wish had finally been fulfilled.
“It would’ve been even better if I’d been a girl. I’m told the Empress Dowager desperately wished for a daughter.”
“Oh…”
Anet wore a helpless expression, at a loss for words.
Frankly, she found it unbelievable. How could the Empress of a vast empire like Alkan possibly feign pregnancy for nearly a year to cover her husband’s infidelity—and then present the resulting illegitimate child to the world as her own?
“She truly is an extraordinary woman, isn’t she?”
Kardin asked cheerfully.
Still stunned, Anet slowly nodded as she studied him.
Though his mask hid his face, his tone, voice, and demeanor made it clear he wasn’t merely pretending to be fine.
“The Empress Dowager raised me as her own child. Of course, I’ve always considered her my true mother. Anyone who didn’t would be a terrible person. Despite how she appears, she’s fiercely devoted to her children—even going so far as to…”
Kardin, who had been boasting about the Empress Dowager like a child, trailed off slightly before shifting the topic.
“In any case, I was blessed with a wonderful mother and kind brother, and grew up very happily. I was truly fortunate.”
“…I’m glad to hear it.”
Anet replied instinctively, though she knew she had no right to say such a thing.
In truth, the moment Kardin confessed to being the Emperor’s illegitimate child, she’d immediately pictured the Empress Dowager—reputed to be his real mother—and the Emperor, who clearly doted deeply on his younger brother.
She’d worried their brotherly affection might all be an act—but now felt relieved it was genuine.
Seeing this, Kardin gave a small smile.
“You’re very kind, Your Highness.”
“Huh? Ah, n-no…”
Anet’s face instantly flushed crimson.
Her world had been filled only with people like Queen Esther and her children, so she’d genuinely worried Kardin’s life might have been as difficult as her own.
But more honestly, she felt greater relief knowing the kindness and warmth shown to her by the Alkan royals hadn’t been a deception at all.
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.”
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (1)
Always a favorite of mine when hurt, abandoned, abused MCs gets a chance of having a true family 🥹
Inline Comments (3)
—but she also didn’t want Anet to discover the truth and be horrified.
So… our ML is a hair collector… that’s something you don’t see –read– often
"I may not be as strong as Your Highness, but I’m quite strong myself."
The novel is very good and cute and I think I’d read it
She worried he might get even slightly injured.
This novel is very good and cute I really liked it
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Nomnomiee_
Wow this novel has it all, huh? No misunderstanding over the ML’s feelings towards FL, kind and loving imperial family wow