My Mistress Became My Wife (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8
Leaving the aftermath to Dillon, Harold slipped out of the mansion and headed toward the shopping district he used to frequent often when he was in the capital. This area was filled with shops that primarily catered to commoners rather than nobles.
Because of that, most nobles disliked coming here—but Harold was different. He quite liked this place, where the genuine, unpretentious scent of ordinary people lingered everywhere.
Strolling slowly, Harold enjoyed sightseeing along the street. It was nearly his first time back in almost four years, yet the street looked exactly as it had before. Nothing had changed at all. Perhaps that was why his heart felt warmly at ease, as if he’d returned home. Even the noisy clamor of drunken people sounded affectionately familiar.
“Hey, miss! If you’ve had your drink, you need to pay! Why aren’t you paying!”
Just then, an irritated voice pierced through Harold’s ears. Someone had apparently drunk alcohol without paying. Such incidents were common in places like this—not unusual at all.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Harold felt drawn to look over. In front of a shabby inn, a stout middle-aged woman wearing an apron was furiously shaking the shoulders of a slender young woman.
Though long hair curtained her face, Harold instantly recognized who the slender woman was just by her attire.
Liliana Benjamin. It was her.
He never imagined he’d run into Lily again in a place like this—already the second time today.
They say that three coincidences make destiny… Could his meetings with her truly be fate?
Harold gave a faint smile as he watched Lily and the middle-aged woman. Lily kept her head bowed deeply, while the woman continued scolding her.
“You really don’t have a single penny? But you’re wearing such fine clothes—how can you claim you have no money? And if you have no money, why did you drink alcohol in the first place!”
From what the middle-aged woman was saying, it seemed Lily had drunk at the inn without paying. Harold felt both bewildered and curious—what audacity did she have to drink without any money?
It was already well past nine at night. The fact that Lily had come to this street—rarely visited by nobles—and drunk alcohol without money surely meant something was troubling her.
“Where’s your home? Your parents? Oh—could you be married? Then go get your husband! Call your husband!”
Partly out of curiosity about her situation, and partly because Lily’s expression—when she finally lifted her head—looked so despondent she might jump into the Planetes River flowing through the capital at any moment, Harold decided to help her.
“Excuse me.”
“Excuse yourself from— Oh my!”
The innkeeper turned around with annoyance, but immediately changed her attitude upon seeing Harold’s strikingly handsome and noble appearance.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve come to escort this young lady.”
“Y-young lady?”
Instead of answering directly, Harold simply turned to look at Lily. The innkeeper jumped in surprise and quickly let go of Lily’s shoulder.
Without that supporting hand, Lily staggered and collapsed to the ground. Before she could fully sink down, Harold grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms.
As he drew closer, a strong scent of apples tickled his nose—a crisp, unripe green apple fragrance. Despite having apparently drunk enough to lose her balance, there was no trace of strong alcohol on her.
Harold checked her condition just in case, and found that Lily was completely intoxicated. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she had no idea where she was or what she was doing.
Just how much had she drunk? Frowning, Harold watched as the innkeeper nervously began making excuses.
“Oh—now that you mention it, she did seem like someone raised in refinement! I should’ve known she was a noble young lady! Nobles rarely come to this street, so I had no idea. I assumed she was the daughter of some wealthy merchant family.”
“That’s understandable. I completely understand.”
Harold’s gentle, reassuring smile put the innkeeper visibly at ease, and she sighed in relief as she patted her chest.
“How much did the young lady actually drink?”
“Not much—just about three mugs of beer?”
Only three mugs of beer to get this drunk? Harold, who could drink strong spirits all night and never feel tipsy, found it almost unbelievable.
“Here’s payment for the beer.”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened at the gold coin Harold offered. One gold coin equaled one hundred shillings—enough to buy nearly a hundred mugs of the beer Lily had drunk.
“Keep the change.”
“Oh goodness, thank you!”
Happy to receive far more than the owed amount, the innkeeper grinned ear to ear.
“Shall I cancel the room the young lady reserved, then?”
At those words, Harold glanced briefly at the inn—a run-down place where even commoners would hesitate to stay. It was hard to believe Liliana had intended to lodge there.
“Yes, please do. Did she bring any luggage?”
“No, she arrived with nothing at all.”
“I see.”
The fact that she had no luggage meant she hadn’t run away from home—but then why had she planned to stay in such a place?
Harold looked down at her, quietly nestled in his arms like a doll.
“Well then, I’ll be off.”
She was astonishingly light—as if he weren’t even holding a person. She didn’t look heavy at first glance, but he hadn’t expected her to be this weightless.
For some reason, that bothered him. Frowning slightly, Harold began walking slowly through the bustling street.
[This is the timeline separator]Harold hailed a passing public carriage and headed to the Praxis Hotel on Plaza Street.
Initially, he’d intended to take Lily back to Viscount Benjamin’s mansion. But given that she’d reserved a room at that shabby inn and drunk alcohol despite having no money, he suspected there was a reason behind her actions—so he brought her here instead.
She could have asked who he was or where they were going, yet throughout the entire ride to the hotel, Lily asked nothing and showed no resistance.
If this was how she behaved when drunk, it was a truly dangerous habit—one that made her an easy target for ill-intentioned people. Better to turn into a barking dog after drinking than this.
As a luxury hotel that commoners could never afford no matter how wealthy they were, the Praxis Hotel was dazzling both inside and out, exuding a clear aura of carefully spent wealth.
On the topmost floor of the hotel, Harold secured a suite, seated Lily on the sofa, and poured her a glass of water.
“Drink this.”
“……”
“It’ll help sober you up a bit.”
“……The innkeeper said the same thing.”
Staring blankly at the glass Harold offered with unfocused eyes, Lily mumbled to herself, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her face against them.
“She said drinking would make me feel better when I’m sad… but it didn’t.”
So something truly unpleasant must have happened.
Harold wondered whether it might involve her husband, Frederick Benjamin.
That would explain why she’d left home and reserved a room at that shabby inn.
“I don’t know what’s troubling you, but drinking to the point of losing control over your own body is dangerous. And you said you had no money—consuming food or drink without paying is a crime.”
When Harold pointed out her mistake, Lily lifted her head. Seeing his reflection in her still-unfocused green eyes gave Harold an odd sensation.
“I didn’t want to drink, but they kept insisting… I told them I had no money, yet they said it was fine…”
Her damp, red lips moved slowly. His gaze drifted down to her shoes.
“So I drank… and then suddenly they demanded payment… and got angry when I…”
Her words grew increasingly muffled and slurred from intoxication, and her voice faded so softly that Harold couldn’t catch everything—but he understood the gist of what had happened.
“You were tricked by the innkeeper.”
Lily slowly lifted her head again and blinked, then echoed uncertainly, “I… was tricked?”
“Yes. You were deceived. It’s quite common in places like that.”
Scamming an obviously naive, wealthy-looking mark was standard practice. To anyone’s eyes, Lily looked like an innocent noble girl unfamiliar with the ways of the world—a perfect target.
Realization hit Lily hard, and her eyes widened like saucers. Her green irises trembled.
“I… was tricked. Again… tricked again.”
Her voice trembled even more now, layered with anxiety, fear, and self-loathing.
A bad premonition struck Harold—he felt he’d touched on something painful. And his instinct proved correct.
“Why does everyone keep deceiving me… what did I even do wrong…!”
Tears immediately pooled in her large eyes and began falling in droplets. Covering her face with both hands, Lily cried bitterly, repeating, “What did I do wrong…?”
Harold stared at her, utterly bewildered. The women who cried in front of him usually shed fake tears to gain his attention. This was the first time he’d seen someone cry with such raw sincerity—and he didn’t know how to comfort her.
He could have simply ignored her, as he always did—but this time, his conscience pricked him. It felt as if her sudden tears were somehow his fault.
Deciding it was best to console her, Harold set down the glass and sat beside her.
“Don’t cry.”
He gently patted her back.
“It’s not your fault you were deceived—the ones who tricked you are the ones in the wrong. There’s no need to cry. If it were me, I’d spend this time planning how to get revenge on those who wronged me.”
Though his attempt at comfort was clumsy, it seemed to work—Lily’s trembling shoulders gradually stilled.
She lowered her hands from her face and looked up at him with glistening eyes. Her green irises, perfectly matching the faint green apple scent around her, reflected his image clearly.
“……”
Meeting that gaze steadily, Harold felt that strange sensation again—and without realizing it, his hand reached toward her.
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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