Strategic Marriage with the Mad Villain (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
Whether it was because he disliked even the briefest contact with me, his eyebrows were ever so slightly tilted askew. That tiny shift was enough to convey the negative emotion simmering beneath.
It wasn’t mere avoidance or distaste—it was contempt, chillingly palpable.
“I’m sorry….”
I tried to apologize belatedly, but Reus ignored me as though I’d never existed in this space to begin with and walked right past.
I watched his retreating back for a long while.
‘Why on earth does he hate me so much?’
I had no idea why, but Reus had subtly shown his dislike for me—not just recently, but from the very first time we met.
I hadn’t pestered him like others did, nor could I recall making any serious mistake.
I hadn’t pestered him like others did, nor could I recall making any serious mistake. If anything, I’d been the one actively avoiding him to prevent any entanglement.
Yet Reus kept openly displaying his distaste for me.
“How can you loathe me this much and still want to stay engaged to me?”
Everyone was just bizarre—this one, that one, all of them.
Today, more than ever, I felt an intense urge to abandon this wretched original plot.
[This is the timeline separator]Yesterday, I simply couldn’t bear to stay at the ball laughing merrily, so I returned home early. I didn’t want to stick around only to witness Cassien falling for Iris again.
‘Whatever it is, it’s over now… So let it go.’
Honestly, claiming I was unaffected would’ve been a lie, but I steeled myself by focusing on my impending escape.
Just then, I was in my usual storage room in the annex, having a quiet chat with Eni—the maid who’d been my friend since childhood.
Suddenly, Eni clapped her hands and held something out to me.
“Oh, right! I almost forgot this. Someone actually wrote you a letter—how unusual!”
“Huh? A letter?”
Since she said “how unusual,” it couldn’t be from Roshan or Emily…
From your fiancé, Cassien—
My expression hardened at the name written on the envelope. I wasn’t angry—just utterly bewildered.
‘Why would he send me a letter…?’
As far as I remembered, ever since meeting Iris at the imperial palace ball, Cassien’s attention had been fixed solely on her.
He’d consistently ignored my letters in return, and at his worst, he’d even tossed them without hesitation into the fire right in front of the servants.
According to the original story, I should’ve been completely beneath his notice.
Then why?
I quickly tore open the letter.
It was two full pages long, densely filled with Cassien’s unmistakable handwriting, each character carefully penned.
Summarized, it was either an apology or a declaration that he still loved me.
In short: therefore, he couldn’t break our engagement.
“…….”
“So the high-and-mighty young master has finally come to his senses, huh?”
Eni grinned mischievously and nudged my shoulder lightly, but I couldn’t summon even a faint smile.
‘Didn’t he meet Iris at the palace…?’
It was probably around this time that the plot, which had stubbornly refused to budge when I wanted it to, began veering off its original course.
[This is the timeline separator]I’d hoped that letter was just another passing whim. But contrary to my wishes, starting the day after the imperial ball, Cassien began sending letters consistently.
For now, I refused to reply.
I also made a point of going out frequently, wary that he might show up at my home unannounced again. Peria seemed irritated by my constant outings, but I had no other choice.
Today, I’d summoned Roshan and Emily to kill time at the square.
‘Why do I have to go through all this trouble?’
According to the original plot, I was supposed to quietly disappear!
Yet even as I frantically pondered this storyline, the two of them kept chattering excitedly about the new princess, Iris.
“So whose daughter is the princess, anyway?”
“The Third Imperial Consort. You know, the one who lives outside the palace… Was her name Abinoa? Anyway, people say she’s the daughter of the Third Imperial Consort.”
“From the Empress’s expression, it seemed like she didn’t know.”
“That’s why… I thought I was going to die from fright….”
“Same here—”
“Ugh….”
At my deep sigh, Roshan paused briefly, then asked in exasperation,
“What’s gotten into you lately? Seriously, just tell us what happened at the palace banquet! After you two left together, what actually went down? Why won’t you say anything?”
“Oh!”
“Ah— you startled me…!”
They’d said they stayed till the very end of the ball, right?
“Hey, did Cassien stay until the end of the ball?”
Roshan looked clueless, as if she hadn’t paid attention at all. Then Emily spoke up.
“Well… I did see him return to the hall shortly after you left.”
“And then?”
“Huh…?”
“And was he still there when His Majesty introduced the princess?”
“Hmm… I’m pretty sure he was there at least until that point.”
What? So they must have crossed paths, then.
But why is he still sending me letters?
“So then….”
Before I could ask more, Roshan cut me off.
“No! You tell us first. You vanished like that, came back, and immediately went back to the count’s estate. What on earth happened? I absolutely need to hear it today.”
If I claimed again that nothing happened, she looked ready to yank my hair out this time. Hesitating, I finally answered.
“Cassien asked for another chance….”
“And then? What did you say to him?”
“…I told him no…?”
“Hey!”
Roshan’s sudden shout made both Emily and me flinch. When I looked at her with wide eyes, she broke into a wide grin.
“Good job. Looks like this sweet little girl has finally wised up! Part of me wants you to give him a taste of his own medicine…”
Roshan laughed with an oddly serene expression, as if she’d accepted that such revenge was impossible.
At that moment, the café terrace suddenly filled with murmurs. Moments later, a shadow fell over me.
Roshan’s face, looking past me, instantly crumpled.
“There you are, Roel.”
I looked up—and there stood Cassien, gazing down at me. All my effort to avoid his relentless letters by going out had been for nothing.
[This is the timeline separator]Too many curious onlookers had gathered, so we moved to the alley beside the café.
‘But how does he always know exactly where I am…?’
Frowning in unease, I was met with Cassien’s question.
“Did you… read the letter?”
I’d deliberately left his letters unanswered.
After all, by tonight, once I paid the final sum to the secret guild, I’d have my new identity.
With my escape so close at hand, why entangle myself further?
“They said the letters arrived safely, but I never got a reply.”
“…Cassien.”
“I’d appreciate it if you stopped bringing up breaking our engagement.”
Cassien smiled with his usual ease, as if nothing were amiss.
His cheerfulness was so bright, it made me feel foolish for even briefly worrying over what change of heart might have prompted his flurry of letters.
“There’s no way we’ll ever break our engagement, so I don’t understand why you keep insisting.”
“Insisting…? How is that insisting? I have no intention of taking back what I said.”
Cassien let out a small chuckle at my words and asked,
“Roel. Do you truly want to break our engagement?”
“Of course I….”
“If it were me and I were that sure, I’d have sent you a formal notice of dissolution.”
“…….”
The reason I hadn’t firmly finalized the breakup and only talked about it was, of course, because of Peria.
If I demanded a break without clear cause, House Yveler would be left in an awkward position. Even though Cassien had been the one neglecting our relationship and causing the rift, no one in either House Ershian or House Yveler would hold him accountable for it.
Which meant Peria would clamp down on me like a trapped rat—and I had no reason to provoke her right before my escape.
Yet Cassien spoke as if mocking me.
“You’d never actually do it. Would you, Roel?”
“…….”
“So drop the act and stop this pointless charade. I’ve waited long enough for you. At this point, you should know to back down a little. Don’t you agree?”
[This is the timeline separator]I stormed off after warning Cassien, “Just you wait,” vowing to send a letter to the marquis the moment I got home.
“Hah, what? ‘Pointless charade’? ‘Wait until you’ve cooled off’?”
‘You think I can’t do it? Just wait and see, Cassien.’
True to my word, I immediately asked Eni for paper to write a reply as soon as I returned.
It wasn’t a formal notice of dissolution, but if I wrote something close enough and addressed it to the marquis, my intention to break the engagement would get through clearly.
Gritting my teeth, I began drafting the letter to the marquis.
“Why do you look so combative just writing a letter… Hey! Roel! Who are you sending this to—wait, is that to Marquis Ershian…?”
Even as Eni cried out in alarm, I didn’t pause, so she grabbed my hand in shock.
“A letter to the marquis about breaking the engagement…? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden! If the lady finds out, you’re really in for it!”
“It’s fine. I’ll be leaving soon anyway.”
“Oh….”
Eni was the only person in this mansion who knew about my escape plan.
Realizing why I was writing such a letter, she let go of my hand.
“R-right! Since you’re leaving anyway, why hold back? You’ll have your new identity by tonight, right? Honestly, that haughty young master deserves to be taken down a notch. Go ahead! Write everything you want to say, Roel.”
After finishing the letter, I asked Eni to deliver it to Marquis Ershian’s estate immediately.
By the time I boarded the ship tonight with my new identity, the letter should have reached the marquis’s residence.
Imagining Cassien’s stunned face upon reading it brought an involuntary smile to my lips.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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