Clea quietly searched for Rupia.
“Do you know anything about the Grand Duke’s family?”
“You mean the Grand Duke’s household?”
“Yes. I’m curious about what kind of movements they have been making recently.”
The first thing that came to Rupia’s mind at Clea’s question was Lloyd Percy.
Her former fiancé, and a pathetic person who was busy chasing other women instead of Clea.
However, Rupia soon realized that was not what she was asking about.
In the first place, Clea had never shown curiosity about Lloyd on her own.
No matter how he lived or what he did, Clea had no reason to care as long as it didn’t harm her.
Rupia pondered deeply about what had happened recently within the Grand Duke’s family.
“I recently heard news that the vassals gathered at the Grand Duke’s residence.”
“The vassals?”
Usually, the Grand Duke rarely summoned the vassals separately.
They only gathered about once a year around the time the Grand Duchy was established, just for celebration.
Therefore, the fact that the Grand Duke summoned the vassals meant that something was definitely going on.
Clea recalled the Lysandre ring she had seen on the gift list.
“I need to go to the Grand Duke’s residence.”
“I heard that person is also staying at the Grand Duke’s residence.”
Lloyd Percy, who had given Clea terrible days.
Rupia wanted to prevent Clea from meeting Lloyd.
She had already heard from Oberon about what might happen if she encountered him.
However, unfortunately, it seemed that Lloyd was not on Clea’s mind right now.
“It doesn’t matter whether that person is there or not.”
Clea had something else important to her.
Her priority was to meet with the Grand Duke couple and have a conversation, so she immediately got up from her seat.
‘Anyway, they will do their best to keep me from facing Lloyd.’
Their relationship had become not just uncomfortable, but completely the worst.
Clea, thinking they wouldn’t leave her to meet him in such a situation, headed outside.
‘I have to check.’
It was not something she could ask someone else to do, so Clea decided to find out for herself.
That ring was also given to Lloyd in the original work. But why did it end up with Admund?
That was what Clea was curious about.
For what reason did the Grand Duke give that ring to Admund instead of Lloyd?
“I will have the carriage prepared. In the meantime, please get permission from Their Majesties.”
Meanwhile, Rupia, who had followed Clea out of concern, held her back once more.
It might sound somewhat arrogant depending on how one heard it.
Because unless one was a child, there was no need for imperial family members to get permission from others to leave the imperial palace.
Nevertheless, Rupia said this because she didn’t want Clea to go to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Knowing that Lloyd, who was like a time bomb, was there, how could she not be worried?
So, even though she knew it was unreasonable, she asked Clea to get permission from Their Majesties.
Clea found Rupia’s behavior cute.
“You mean if I get permission from the two of them, it’s okay?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Permission from two people.
Rupia thought.
There was no way they would allow Clea, whom they cherished, to go to the Grand Duke’s residence where Lloyd was.
However, contrary to Rupia’s thoughts, a smile formed on Clea’s lips.
“Alright. I’ll get permission, so you’d better prepare the carriage.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Clea immediately went to Odin and Elaina and got their permission.
* * *
“The weather is nice.”
“I didn’t expect Your Majesties to give permission so easily.”
Rupia didn’t think Odin and Elaina would grant permission so readily.
She thought at least one of them would prevent Clea from going to the Grand Duke’s residence.
However, neither of them stopped her.
‘Well, there’s no need to stop her.’
Of course, it wasn’t that the two of them weren’t concerned about Lloyd’s presence.
But the place Clea wanted to go was the Grand Duke’s residence. In other words, where the Grand Duke couple was.
No matter how much of a scoundrel Lloyd was, he couldn’t do anything where the Grand Duke couple was present.
Knowing that those two would actively prevent it, Odin and Elaina readily gave permission.
“And I don’t know what His Majesty the Emperor is thinking. Why did he give this to Lady Clea?”
Meanwhile, Rupia’s gaze turned to the sword Odin had handed over.
At those words, Clea’s gaze also shifted.
Odin had silently handed her a dagger while allowing Clea to head to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Clea briefly explained what this meant.
“Maybe it means if there’s someone I want to stab, I should stab them without hesitation.”
“You’re joking too much. It’s not like we’re going to a battlefield.”
“Does it seem like a joke?”
Rupia wanted to think it was a joke.
But considering the circumstances, there was really no reason to give a sword except for that.
“I hope I won’t have to draw this.”
As soon as Clea finished speaking, Rupia’s eyes trembled.
Seeing that, Clea felt like laughter would spill out.
Because Rupia took the words she had uttered to tease her very seriously.
‘Well, it’s not like there will be another incident like last time.’
Clea recalled the memory of visiting the Odoi family.
Despite visiting the family after a long time, no one welcomed her.
Of course, she understood their cold glares.
Who could welcome an existence like a time bomb that might turn the family upside down at any moment?
On the other hand, she had never been at odds with the Percy family since leaving her own family.
It wasn’t that there had been no unpleasant incidents at all.
Some people might think she would never deal with that family again after breaking off her engagement with Lloyd, but Clea thought, ‘Why bother?’
‘The current Grand Duke isn’t Lloyd anyway, so there’s no need to hold a grudge.’
When the Grand Duke couple could no longer handle their duties due to the passage of time and handed everything in the family over to Lloyd.
Clea planned to cut ties with the Percy Grand Ducal House at that time.
Considering the relationship with the imperial family, it would be good to get along, but her relationship with Lloyd was already irreparable.
Fortunately, Lloyd had not inherited it yet, so Clea wasn’t very uncomfortable with the Grand Ducal House.
* * *
“We have arrived.”
“This place hasn’t changed, now or then.”
When was the last time she visited the Grand Duke’s residence?
When she was Lloyd’s fiancée, it had been quite a long time ago.
The Grand Ducal House, which she visited after a long time, had not changed.
As Clea got out of the carriage, looking at the mansion that fully reflected the tastes of the Grand Duke couple, many people came out to greet her.
And among them, the most familiar faces were none other than the Grand Duke couple.
“Have you been well?”
“We have been fine. Rather, how have you been, Lady Clea?”
The Grand Duke couple spoke to Clea in a respectful manner.
Although she knew well why they were speaking respectfully, Clea felt uncomfortable.
“Please lower your speech. I’m not the crown princess yet.”
“Even though the ceremony hasn’t been held yet, you’re no different from the crown princess. We can’t lower our speech to imperial family members.”
The Grand Duke couple also had a burning desire to warmly welcome Clea.
From their perspective, they now preferred Clea over Lloyd. She was completely different from Lloyd, who only did things that gave them headaches.
“If you keep doing that, it makes me uncomfortable. It’s fine after the ceremony, but at least for now, please lower your speech with the thought of doing it for me.”
“…If you say so, we have no choice.”
The Grand Duke, who was about to refuse, saying how he could dare lower his speech with any sense of shame, finally nodded at Clea’s words that it was for her sake.
The Grand Duke, who had no choice but to lower his speech, approached her and said,
“We have only done poorly by you.”
“Please don’t say that. You two have taken better care of me than my own family.”
Although she didn’t visit often, she never forgot how the Grand Duke couple had looked after her whenever she came to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Delicious food, expensive gifts, and even just treating her kindly were a comfort to her.
Until she met Admund, she had contemplated countless times.
What if she left home and sought shelter with the Grand Ducal House?
She felt like the two of them would accept her as she was if she ran away.
However, she eventually gave up on the thought that it might put them in a difficult position.
Meanwhile, hearing Clea’s words, the Grand Duke couple looked at her with a sympathetic expression.
“Taking good care of you, we only have many things to be sorry for.”
The two of them had been very pleased with Lloyd and Clea’s engagement.
They wanted her to be with Lloyd for a long time.
Because they wanted her to correct him whenever he went astray.
They thought they could trust and entrust the Grand Ducal House to Clea, and at the same time, they thought Lloyd might change as well.
However, contrary to their expectations, Lloyd did not change at all.
It was a mistake to rely solely on Clea without examining the cause at all.
Considering the pain Clea must have felt because of Lloyd, the Grand Duke couple had nothing to say even if they had ten mouths.
Therefore, they felt truly sorry to Clea.
As the Grand Duchess was about to shed tears, Clea approached her, placed her hand on top of hers, and said,
“I’m fine. Rather, this place sometimes feels more like home than my real home.”
Real home.
For her, it meant that this place was more comfortable than the ducal house.
However, the Grand Duke interpreted it differently, and his expression noticeably hardened.
Clea, who had a keen eye, didn’t miss it.
She lowered her voice as much as possible and said,
“I have something to talk about, so could you guide me to a quiet place? It’s a rather important matter.”
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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