My Mistress Became My Wife (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Of all the people it could be—again, it was her. Lily set the unopened letter on her vanity.
It had already been three days since the Countess sent the letter. Lily had clearly rejected her back then, and anyone with sense would have given up by now given the lack of reply—but she kept sending letters, pleading like someone begging for just one favor.
“After all, Viscountess, you have no choice but to accept my request.”
If she was going to be so desperate, why had she said something like that back then? Lily wondered whether the Countess was simply bluffing out of sheer audacity or if she truly had something solid to rely on.
Perhaps the answer lay within the letter itself—but Lily refused to read it. She was afraid that if she did, her resolve not to help the woman might waver.
“…….”
Thus, while ignoring the letter and preparing to go out, Lily saw the rude intruder in the mirror when the door swung open without even a knock.
“Is it true?”
It was Frederick. Yet, his first words after returning just three days later were odd. Lily set down her comb and turned to face him.
“What’s true?”
“That Countess Valiman came here to see you.”
At the mention of that woman, Lily unconsciously glanced toward the unopened letter on her vanity.
Realizing her mistake too late, she quickly looked away—but Frederick had already caught her suspicious glance.
Striding over to the vanity, Frederick unceremoniously tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter to read it.
Even if the letter was unwelcome, it was deeply offensive for someone else to read a private letter without permission. Frowning, Lily snatched the letter back from Frederick.
“Reading someone else’s letter without permission is extremely rude. And barging in without even knocking is equally impolite.”
When she pointed out his rude behavior, Frederick let out a soft chuckle and shrugged.
“I see. I didn’t know. Unlike you, Madam, who was born a noble, I’m a commoner and never received formal etiquette training.”
“…….”
Was he still harping on that comment she once made to Samantha—that he lacked manners because he was a commoner? Besides, this was basic courtesy anyone would know, even without formal instruction.
His sarcastic tone was so absurd that Lily let out a dry laugh. But Frederick, unfazed, went on.
“Did that woman come to ask you to help her expand her business into the Kingdom of Hertha? To translate the Gartha Ur?”
He’d only glanced at the letter for barely a minute. Amazed that he’d absorbed so much information in such a short time, Lily tucked the Countess’s letter into her vanity drawer.
“Yes. Though I’ve already refused.”
“Why did you refuse?”
“……Are you genuinely asking because you don’t understand the reason?”
“If I understood, why would I ask?”
Goodness, how could someone be so shamelessly blunt? Though exasperated, Lily reasoned that someone as tactless as Frederick might truly not grasp it, so she calmly explained.
“Countess Valiman is the woman you slept with. On our very wedding night.”
Though a year had passed, the humiliation and despair from that day remained as vivid as if it happened yesterday. Her dreams and pride had been utterly crushed—it was a day so painful she couldn’t forget it even if she tried.
“How could I possibly help that woman?”
“So it’s not because the compensation is insufficient—you refused just for that reason?”
“Just for that reason?!” Stunned by his outrageous remark, Lily fell silent.
Frederick regarded her disapprovingly, then pulled the Countess’s letter from the drawer and started reading it again.
He’d just been told it was rude to read someone else’s letter without permission—yet here he was doing it again.
Lily sneered, realizing just how little Frederick must think of her.
Finally, after finishing the letter, Frederick spoke.
“I’d just heard that House Valiman plans to expand its business and was wondering how to get a connection. This works out perfectly. Tell the Countess you’ll help—but ask for exclusive shipping rights to her husband’s trading company instead of money.”
“……Are you serious?”
“Of course. I’m not the sort of man to joke about such matters.”
That was precisely the problem. No matter how profitable it might be for business, the idea of working under the very woman who’d betrayed her was unacceptable. Lily knew Frederick often acted unconventionally, but she hadn’t realized he could be this shameless.
“Write a letter to the Countess right away accepting her offer, Madam.”
“No.”
At Lily’s firm refusal, a deep frown creased Frederick’s brow.
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
Lily remained silent, but Frederick took her silence as agreement and let out a heavy sigh, then began explaining how securing distribution rights for the Valiman expansion would benefit his trading company.
Lily knew nothing of business and didn’t fully grasp his explanation—but she understood well enough that obtaining shipping rights would be far more profitable than simply receiving money.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes. But I still won’t do it.”
Yet that benefit applied only to Frederick. As he himself said, working with Countess Valiman would earn her not a single coin—and cost her what little pride she had left. So Lily refused to change her decision.
“You say you understand but still won’t do it? That makes no sense at all. I truly cannot comprehend your reasoning, Madam.”
“You don’t have to.”
After all, Lily couldn’t understand Frederick’s reasoning either—and had no intention of ever trying.
“Could it be that you’re refusing because helping Countess Valiman would wound your pride?”
This wasn’t something that could be summed up merely as wounded pride. It was layered with deeper, more crushing emotions—so Lily stayed silent.
Taking her silence as confirmation again, Frederick said irritably,
“I thought I told you to drop that useless pride of yours, Madam.”
“……Is this really useless pride?”
“Isn’t it? Holding onto your pride won’t bring in money, and no one even notices—so why cling to it so stubbornly?”
So that’s why you cast aside your pride and act as a noblewoman’s lover?
Swallowing the words she couldn’t bring herself to say, Lily picked up her comb. It was precisely because they’d wronged her, yet twisted things to paint her as unreasonable while demanding her compliance, that she refused to help.
“If you’ve nothing else to say, please leave. I need to finish preparing to go out.”
“So you’re determined to cling to that useless pride until the end? You’d be better off abandoning it—for Lady Grace Benjamin’s sake.”
At the mention of her mother, Lily gripped the comb so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her face even paler, she glared at Frederick’s reflection in the mirror.
“Are you going to threaten me with Mother again?”
“Of course not. It’s not a threat—it’s a request.”
With his usual shameless expression, Frederick continued,
“My business must prosper so I can keep paying Lady Grace Benjamin’s medical bills. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”
Though he called it a request, it was nothing short of a threat. He’d already promised to cover her mother’s hospital expenses if she accepted the viscountcy—and yet kept resorting to this kind of coercion. Though utterly incredulous, Lily couldn’t refute him, because his words, taken at face value, weren’t technically wrong.
“……I’ll think about it.”
For that very reason, she couldn’t refuse as firmly as before. She didn’t promise to agree—but Frederick seemed satisfied with this much and nodded.
“Please consider carefully before deciding, Madam.”
[This is the timeline separator]Did she really have to accept Countess Valiman’s request?
Lily squeezed her eyes shut as she suddenly pictured herself working beside the Countess. Just the thought alone made her stomach churn with dread.
“I don’t want to do it.”
To avoid it, she’d need to convince Frederick—but the problem was, she couldn’t think of a good way. After careful thought, she knew outright refusal wouldn’t work. He’d surely scold her again for clinging to useless pride.
And if his scolding didn’t end there, he might even threaten to send her mother away to the Kingdom of Whissen again—as he’d done before. Knowing Frederick was the type to act on his threats made her even more afraid.
“What should I do…….”
Lost in deepening worry, Lily sighed heavily and leaned her head against the carriage wall. Truthfully, there was no need to agonize—it was already decided. For her mother’s sake, she would swallow her pride and accept Countess Valiman’s proposal. Though it was a simple choice with only one option, it felt harder to her than any other challenge in the world.
“We’ve arrived at the bookstore, young miss.”
While she’d been lost in thought over whether another solution existed, they’d reached their destination. Stepping out of the carriage, Lily stared blankly at the bookstore.
She’d originally planned to visit the Information Guild or a labor office to find well-paying work, but Frederick had ruined everything. Now she had no reason to go out.
Yet she’d come here because she couldn’t bear staying under the same roof as Frederick—and because she needed comfort. Ever since childhood, places filled with books—libraries and bookstores alike—had been sanctuaries for Lily.
Might as well buy a book while I’m here. At the thought of reading her favorite book, Lily’s gloomy expression brightened slightly.
The moment Lily entered the bookstore, the shadow flickering in the alley across the street vanished.
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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