My Husband's Cinderella (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
He grabbed every passing servant to ask about Chloe’s whereabouts. Perhaps because she often went about alone without servants, not a single person knew where she was.
His futile efforts were finally rewarded around the time the clear blue sky turned a shade of amber.
Upon hearing that Chloe had returned from her outing, Kalis headed straight to her room.
“What’s the matter?”
At Kalis’s appearance, her face turned pale. Even that expression was, at this moment, intriguing.
He eagerly awaited the moment when her noble face would be shrouded in despair.
“I have something to tell you.”
Kalis continued, feigning seriousness.
“Let’s end this.”
“End it?”
“Let’s put an end to our relationship.”
Soon, a faint flush of color appeared on Chloe’s face.
“Does that mean… Your Highness wishes for a divorce?”
“Yes.”
As Kalis confirmed, Chloe’s face brightened even more. He barely suppressed a smirk.
“Alright. Then let’s proceed with the…”
“There’s something you need to do first.”
“Tell me.”
He deliberately took his time, observing her reaction.
Among the myriad of emotions, joy and anticipation stood out the most. But those emotions would soon vanish with what he was about to say.
“I’d like you to obtain His Majesty the King’s consent.”
As Kalis expected, Chloe’s face crumpled.
Yet, with her sharp mind, she quickly found a way to wriggle out.
“As far as I know, if both spouses agree, the consent of an authority isn’t necessary.”
“That’s a separate matter.”
“Are you trying to make this a bigger issue?”
“No, not at all. What I mean is…”
Even so, escaping his grasp would be impossible.
He decided to present something she couldn’t possibly overcome: the contract between him and King Ballont.
What Kalis had been meticulously planning for so long was now shining at this crucial moment, following the exposure.
“There’s a contract between His Majesty and me. Strictly speaking, divorcing you would mean breaking that contract. What if His Majesty were to be displeased?”
“I’ll make sure to explain it well later.”
“No, that won’t do. What if you betray me in the process?”
“Once I leave this place, I won’t have any ties with Your Highness. I can assure you of that. So, you don’t need to worry about anything else…”
Her continued excuses only irritated Kalis. With a light scoff, he cut her off abruptly.
“What’s with you, Chloe? All you need to do is accept my terms, yet you’re dragging this out in a way that’s unlike you. Why are you taking the long way around when it’s the simplest thing?”
“…”
“What, is there some unavoidable circumstance?”
Waves stirred in the ocean-blue eyes. As those once steadfast eyes wavered, Kalis felt a secret satisfaction.
He stealthily took a step closer. His unhesitant stride quickly closed the gap between them.
“For instance, what if His Majesty the King doesn’t permit our divorce?”
He deliberately lowered himself to her eye level, whispering into her ear.
Chloe trembled faintly at his chilling voice.
“You…”
It seemed she finally grasped the situation.
Kalis let out a soft chuckle as he pulled back, wanting to see her raw reaction.
“What in the world…”
She tried to continue, but her words trailed off. Even her once confident voice grew faint, barely audible.
Seizing the momentum, Kalis took another step forward. As Chloe stepped back at the closing distance, he advanced yet another step with a mocking air.
In the end, with nowhere left to go, she hit the wall.
“Chloe!”
A forceful blow struck the wall. The wall rippled slowly, pushing Chloe back.
“Did you think it was amusing to toy with me?”
“…”
“Did you really think the royal family would allow a divorce? You, of all people, should know what divorce means in this kingdom. A royal princess boldly requesting one… Are you out of your mind?”
Now that he thought about it, there were countless oddities.
She had left in a royal carriage but returned in a different one. It wasn’t shabby, but it was far too plain to be considered royal.
Moreover, if the king had agreed to the divorce, she wouldn’t have returned to the estate. She’d be living lavishly in the royal palace, delivering earth-shattering news to the ducal residence.
“I heard you visited the temple too. What, when the king refused, did you plan to beg the high priest instead?”
As it happened, the high priest had contacted Kalis, noting Chloe’s name in the guestbook. Everything fell into place in that moment.
No matter how many methods she tried, that foolish woman’s fate was to fail.
“Speak up, Chloe. Why so silent? If you’re this dejected over one little secret being exposed, it makes me far too happy.”
Kalis grazed her cheek with the back of his hand. The unnecessary contact slid from her cheek down to her shoulder.
“Let’s say, somehow, we get divorced. They wouldn’t want a disgrace like you lingering in the palace. Who would take you? You, who’s already been through the wedding night and has no value left.”
Kalis clicked his tongue as he added more.
The wedding night.
That single word brought back memories Chloe had tried to ignore.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I’m not ready yet.”
Kalis, who had skipped the wedding night to go off to war. When he returned, he consummated the marriage with Chloe, belatedly fulfilling that night.
But that night, he firmly rejected her after she returned from her bath.
Though deeply embarrassed, she let it slide because he insisted.
Yet how could the very person who orchestrated it all now speak of the wedding night to her?
“Listen, Chloe. A foolish woman like you is in the palm of my hand. With nowhere to go, all you can do is rot quietly here! Better a hollow duchess than a wanderer, don’t you think?”
The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward. After confirming Chloe’s despair, he broke into a wide grin.
Only then did Chloe realize everything.
The effort he went through to fake the wedding night.
It wasn’t to preserve her dignity or to avoid being the villain.
That demon, reveling in his thrill, had been setting traps for this very day from long ago.
* * *
Dylan approached him as he lay on the bed.
“Your Majesty, a letter.”
If a letter arrived at this hour, it was surely from that woman.
Coon swiftly snatched the letter. Unable to wait even for Dylan to leave, he began reading immediately.
His reddish eyes darted aimlessly. His gaze, which had been at the bottom of the letter, shot back to the top.
“Hey, are you mad about something?”
The slightly rounded handwriting was endearing. It felt as though the woman’s voice, which he’d barely heard a few times, lingered in his ears.
“Worrying over nothing.”
Still, he was secretly pleased that she seemed affected by him. Unable to hold back a smile, Coon let his true feelings show.
“…Who on earth are you exchanging letters with?”
Dylan, standing nearby, looked as though he’d been struck by misfortune. His lord’s bizarre reaction was utterly shocking.
A smile, from His Majesty of all people!
Even when he’d reported beheading an enemy leader, he hadn’t smiled this charmingly.
“There’s someone I want to help escape from a wretched rat.”
“…A rat?”
“Someone I need to personally help.”
In his good mood, he even bothered to answer twice with sincerity.
“And someone who needs to help me.”
“Help Your Majesty?”
Dylan questioned the successive responses.
To think, there was someone in this world that man needed.
Thinking he must have misheard, he was shocked again by his lord’s confirming nod.
“Then why only exchange letters? Is this help something resolved by writing?”
“I’m building rapport for now.”
“And then?”
“Waiting for my savior to extend a hand first.”
Coon replied nonchalantly, as if growing tired of Dylan’s barrage of questions.
“…Why doesn’t Your Majesty offer help first?”
But Dylan’s curiosity wouldn’t relent. It was only natural, as this was the first time his lord had shown interest in another.
The more answers he got, the more his curiosity overflowed, unintentionally turning him into a question-mark assassin.
“If I extend my hand first, I’d only be a benevolent person to them.”
Coon muttered, looking at the letter in his hand.
Even if he helped Chloe, he’d gain little reward. At best, he’d be called a kind person, maybe a lifesaver if he was lucky.
A princess content with her current state wouldn’t think deeply about what Coon might propose later.
“But I want a closer bond than that.”
The opposite, however, changes everything.
If she, having found her own answers, needed him first—if she realized Coon Frihid was the only one who could grant her freedom.
She’d do anything to have him.
“So I’m waiting. Until she extends her hand.”
Coon was waiting for that moment alone.
Yet he was endlessly afraid.
The moment Chloe came to him, the moment she reached out, he would forget everything.
The power, honor, and strength he’d upheld. He’d forget it all, left with only instinct and a hollow shell.
And even those remnants, he’d cast aside, giving them up to help that woman.
Yes, like the old Chloe.
Even this arrogant man would become utterly foolish.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
Damn. These sure some assumptions to be making, not only about the man but also the people around him. However, it is probably true that he is unsympathetic to common suffering of the masses, what with them being beneath him and all.
Well, that’s sad and all, not something one should have to do to survive, but it doesn’t change that fact that you have neither sympathy nor charity in your soul and so aren’t worth any sympathy or charity from others.
Competing in the Miss Congeniality Tournament, where she was sure to place in the top three!