Upon spotting Isabella from afar, they began to whisper among themselves, hiding their faces behind their fans. At least that’s what Isabella thought they were doing.
She didn’t approach them, but gave a defiant snort, as if to say ‘I’m ignoring you, not the other way around’, covering her mouth with her fan, and flounced out of the masquerade hall.
After leaving the masquerade hall alone, she didn’t want to be noticed by others, so she ended up walking to this deserted place. Isabella felt tears welling up and sniffled.
‘What a sight for Isabella de Mare to be in…’
She should have chosen a mask that fully covered her face. Then she could have hidden in the crowd…!
But Isabella’s tribulations were not over. As she walked along the garden path, stomping in anger, she heard voices up ahead and stealthily quieted her steps.
“…… The grapes from Taranto’s star palace are really exquisite.”
“Really?”
A man and a woman were chatting. Not only their voices, but the woman’s dress seemed familiar too.
‘Ariadne? Prince Alfonso?’
Isabella’s eyes widened almost to the point of bulging out. She was so annoyed that she felt like she was going to die. Isabella quickly hid behind a tree and eavesdropped on their conversation.
“There’s an old vineyard behind the Star Palace of Taranto. They say they don’t harvest it for wine anymore because it’s too old, but the grapes that naturally fall from the old tree are the sweetest.”
“Do you eat them after they’ve fallen to the ground?”
“Well, we’re not going to eat the skin anyway?”
Isabella was all ears, ready to rush out and ruin their reputation at any hint of an obscene conversation. However, the conversation between Alfonso and Ariadne was nothing but wholesome.
‘Ah, I’m going to explode!’
[This is the time separator]In contrast to the first uninvited guest, who was hiding behind the garden’s cover to eavesdrop on the conversation, the second uninvited guest walked confidently through the garden towards the fountain.
Cesare had chosen to appear at the masquerade in perfect ‘Plague Doctor’ attire.
The Plague Doctor mask had a long, beaklike nose, resembling a bird from hell, and while it was usually a white mask without any decoration, his was custommade in Collezioni, with small, intricate fleurdelis patterns engraved in black enamel and onyx from the eye area to the entire mask.
The mouth part was covered with black velvet, and the outfit, from head to toe, was all covered in black and red velvet, making it impossible for anyone to recognize him.
He was confident in his handsome appearance, but he also wanted to confirm that his popularity was not solely due to his looks.
As a result, despite wearing a mask to conceal his identity, it was a sport for Cesare to try to appeal to his opposite sex at the St. Michael’s Feast masquerade each year.
Furthermore, there was a more practical reason this year. Count Cesare had been ignoring and not responding to the letters of the women comrades he had been in contact with.
Because there were more than one such counterparts, Count Cesare was increasingly worried that he might meet an ‘old friend’ engulfed in resentment at the masquerade.
Therefore, he chose a costume that could not be recognized as Count Cesare by anyone, in case he faced the tearful wind of a ‘friend’ who was upset about not receiving a response.
Yet, not feeling secure, Cesare delved into the deserted garden in case he met one of his ‘friends’. The Queen’s Palace was one of his favorite hideandseek spots.
Before he gained independence by receiving a mansion in San Carlo city at the age of 13, the young Cesare lived in the ‘Mistress’s Quarters’ deep within the San Carlo Royal Palace with Countess Rubina, and whenever Countess Rubina screamed and got angry for some reason, he would hide in the Queen’s Palace to avoid his mother’s gaze.
Hiding from Countess Rubina, who had eyes everywhere, the Queen’s Palace was the safest place.
Moreover, Queen Marguerite thought of beating servants as a vulgar act that lost a lady’s dignity.
Even if Cesare was caught wandering around the Queen’s Palace, Marguerite, no matter how much she despised the sixyearold boy, would scold him politely, give him a snack, and then send him back to Rubina.
Whenever this happened, Rubina was worried that her son had told the queen about his misconduct, and the young Cesare was thrilled to see his naughty mother getting punished, so he kept running to the Queen’s Palace.
Young Cesare stopped doing that when Alfonso got a little older.
One day, when sixyearold Cesare was flogged thirty times with a discipline whip by Countess Rubina for getting three Latin dictations wrong, he ran to the Queen’s Palace as usual, played with mud, and then ran into Queen Marguerite in the garden of the Queen’s Palace and chatted her up as he heard somewhere.
“Your Majesty the Queen, are you my enemy? Then can I call you mom too?”
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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