After Dianea fell asleep, Caylius quietly left the room.
As he wandered quietly through the hallway, a dark figure followed him.
“I have imprisoned them in the dungeon as you ordered.”
The Duke immediately moved towards the outbuilding.
Upon reaching the ground floor, he opened a door at the end of the hallway and went down the stairs.
When he lit the fire in the dungeon, two men were seen locked behind bars.
The young man was covered in blood, his hands and feet bound, lying on the ground.
Unlike him, Count Life had only a minor bruise, no other injuries.
However, his face was full of shadows.
“Duke, Duke!”
Upon seeing the Duke, Count Life desperately approached the bars.
“Please believe me, Duke! It was all his doing! I really didn’t order anything!”
“Perhaps.”
When the Duke made a light gesture, the knights went into the cell and dragged the young man out.
“We can ask him.”
[This is a time separator.]In the morning, Delma secretly brought Sofia chocolate milk.
Having tasted it for the first time in my life, I was surprised.
It was a whole new world apart from chocolate cookies.
‘It’s so delicious!’
As I eagerly sucked it through a straw, I surveyed the room again.
‘The Duke must have left.’
The Duke who had come to see me last night must have really left quietly.
He didn’t scold me, and the escort didn’t change.
Perhaps because of the chocolate milk, my mood that seemed to sink to the floor yesterday was now floating in the sky.
It was not at all because the Duke was worried about me last night.
“Delma, the person who tried to poison me yesterday was Count Life’s servant, wasn’t it? It was Count Life who ordered it, right?”
“Um, that’s… well…”
Delma trailed off, seeming troubled.
Clearly, because the matter was so serious, she was cautious about telling me.
‘There’s a way at a time like this.’
I lowered my eyebrows and put on the most pitiful expression I could muster.
It was Delma’s weakest point.
“I was so scared, so I’m curious about what happened to the bad people…”
“Uuu, don’t worry, little one! The Count and his servant are locked in the outbuilding dungeon. They won’t be able to bother you anymore!”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“What a relief.”
Delma answered cheerfully, and I also gave her a bright smile.
‘I knew they were locked up there.’
I knew there was a dungeon in the Duke’s house.
Originally, if a citizen of the Empire committed a crime, regardless of commoner or noble status, they would be tried by the Royal Investigation Agency and sentenced according to their crime.
However, the exception was in situations like now, when the Royal influence could not reach certain areas.
In such cases, the local lord, like a Duke, could personally administer the punishment.
Of course, no noble family would use that right against the nobles of other families, not just the commoners.
Even as a great noble family, they couldn’t completely ignore the opinions of the other noble families because of various vested interests.
Therefore, if a noble committed a crime, it was common to not deal with it within the great noble family, but rather to send the criminal to the capital for trial.
But it seemed the Duke didn’t care about human relationships or anything of that sort.
After all, he was a person who would not hesitate to throw someone into the abyss if they angered him, or even toss them to the monsters as food.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, even a great noble could not arbitrarily impose the death penalty.
“The work is done quickly.”
I thought as I sucked the last drop of chocolate milk from my cup.
As I suspected, the servant of Count Repe had been the assassin who tried to kill the Duke last time.
I was sure of it because of two things that happened today.
The strong perfume, and the wound on his right arm.
When the servant approached me, I could smell the strong perfume on him. I suspected him from that moment.
Perfume was quite a luxury item to indulge in. Moreover, highend perfume merchants wouldn’t even show their wares to commoners.
So, it was something that a servant, attending to a noble, couldn’t easily afford.
Even if he had obtained a highquality perfume by luck, it was suspicious to use it so lavishly.
Perfume was generally used to hide other smells.
So I tightly grabbed his right arm to test him.
‘The Duke’s sword cut his right hand at that time.’
The poison would have been on it, so even a slight wound would not have healed.
In fact, I would not have thought of this part if Filen hadn’t explained it.
“It’s a very, very dangerous poison. It prevents the wound from healing and rots the flesh.”
That’s probably why he used the perfume—to cover the smell of rotting flesh.
After that, I snuck into the Duke’s room to gather more evidence.
If he disguised himself and came back here, he would surely visit the Duke’s room again.
Of course, I didn’t expect to be caught by the criminal right away.
It was a close call, but since he was caught redhanded in front of the Duke, I knew the Duke would take care of him.
That should have been enough.
‘Why do I keep feeling like I’m missing something?’
Soon, I realized what I had overlooked.
It was in the lazy afternoon, just after waking up from a nap.
I was awakened by a loud noise outside.
“…… trying to slander ……!”
“Master …… Duke ……!”
“…… please …… mistake ……!”
‘What’s all this noise?’
It was coming from outside. I dragged a chair over to the window.
When I looked outside, I saw a crowd of at least twenty people gathered in one place.
‘Why are they gathered like that?’
And right in front of the villainous Duke’s house, at that.
I quickly opened the window.
When I opened the window, the sounds became clearer.
“Please, Duke! Count has done nothing wrong!”
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.]
