“Jane, that is, the maidservant, had wood shavings on her clothes, which appear to be from the wall of a carriage. If she had been active after alighting from the carriage, those would have fallen off much earlier. So it seems she was in the carriage until just before the incident occurred.”
Kun’s head nodded in succession.
“I see. That maid was on her way back to her hometown in the North, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. While her hometown is some distance from the duchy, it’s not very far. There was absolutely no reason for her to be at the place where she was found.”
“Then it implies she didn’t suffer an unfortunate event there, but rather, went there to encounter misfortune.”
“Exactly. We also need to find out whether that fragment of the carriage was discovered when gathering evidence. It could be an important clue.”
Looking at Chloe, who seemed confident that they were unraveling the mystery, Kun smiled faintly.
“Call the doctor who wrote the medical opinion this afternoon. Also, include the guard who was in charge of your case.”
“Thank you, but I have a festival meeting waiting for me in the afternoon… Can it be moved up or delayed a bit?”
Given that important matters were piling up, it would be better to adjust the more flexible events rather than the fixed meeting.
Upon hearing Chloe’s request, his thick eyebrows shot up.
“You were in meetings all day yesterday, as far as I know.”
These past few days, Chloe had been engrossed in meetings and report writing. She had even skipped meals, prompting the maids to bring food directly to her room out of concern.
“Take a break today and talk to them. It’s true you’re representing the empire in the meeting, but it’s not like you’re the only one attending. You can leave the rest of the work to the Duke.”
“Ah…”
“If you’re worried about manpower, let’s assign seats to the Duke’s dependents who volunteer in the palace for free.”
There was no room for excuses; Kun shut down every possible objection.
With Kun’s firm stance, Chloe had no choice but to follow his wishes. She decided to refrain from attending the meetings for the time being and to focus on investigating Jane’s case and resting.
‘At least it’ll make writing the report easier if I have some free time.’
Instead, Chloe resolved to use any available time to work on her reports.
After dinner, she had been staying in the royal library and moved to the reception room at the promised time.
According to Jane’s attending physician, the likelihood that she had been harmed by someone else was high, judging by her injuries. Given the results of assessing where Jane had fallen and the fractured areas, this was practically a foregone conclusion.
She received the collected evidence from the guard in charge of the case.
The envelope contained both the clothes Jane had been wearing and debris found on them.
‘Pieces of the carriage.’
The finely crafted wooden fragments appeared to be from a carriage.
‘Yes, that’s correct. It’s from the surface of a wooden carriage typically used by maids and porters.’
Upon having it assessed by the royal carriage repairman, confirmation came back that it was indeed part of a carriage.
Chloe handed the wooden fragment to the repairman and asked him to find a similar model of the carriage.
Afterward, it was a matter of checking whether there was a match among the carriages the repairman had shortlisted and those belonging to the ducal house.
It would take a long time, but it was the only way to definitively narrow down suspects in the case.
‘I have a lot of time left.’
Engaged in prolonged conversation, the time had flown by, now indicating the afternoon.
‘Maybe I should go back to the room and read a book.’
The remaining time until dinner was uncertain, making it a questionable decision to go back to the library and conclude the investigation.
Chloe, who had quickly planned some reading, stood up from her seat.
Feeling refreshed after stretching her tired body from sitting all day, a tingling sensation flowed through her arms and legs like an electric current.
A sudden image of the doctor’s memo floated into Chloe’s contented eyes.
Perhaps it was because the handwriting, which added beauty to the repository of knowledge, reminded her of someone.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t yet written a reply.’
She recalled the letter from her friend Kun, which she had read and left unattended during dinner with the emperor.
Returning to her room, Chloe took out a sheet of paper and a fountain pen. She noticed her hand writing more forcefully, perhaps conscious of the previous two beautiful handwriting samples.
‘Thank you, albeit late.
Thanks to you, the issue has been resolved. Should I say that a miracle found me?
Kun will probably say he didn’t do anything. But I believe this miracle came through Kun.
I wish to express this gratitude in person… it’s unfortunate. Will there be a day when we meet again?
To my grateful friend, from Chloe.’
The end of an insignificant conversation. Normally, it would have concluded with a trivial remark like ‘Take care’ or ‘Be wary of superstition.’
However, today she felt like being a bit mischievous and wanted to offer a different kind of farewell.
So, she concluded with a question that seemed to anticipate a future meeting.
After all, he would know well what that question meant.
‘Should I deliver this letter to His Majesty?’
She sealed the letter in an envelope with sealing wax.
While fiddling with the paper, she suddenly thought of the emperor.
Another Emperor Kun, who could link her with her friend Kun.
‘Would His Majesty know that I am exchanging letters with another friend who shares his name?’
It seemed peculiar when viewed like this. Coincidence couldn’t be this exquisite.
‘And would Kun know? That I am receiving help from an emperor with the same name as him.’
It seemed almost plausible to think that the two were the same person.
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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