The Deposed Empress and Her New Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
Just then, Ikar stepped forward and lightly tapped Renev’s furrowed brow.
“Why? Why is that?”
“There’s a foreign proverb that says even if the sky falls, there’s always a hole to crawl out of. So don’t be too disappointed.”
Having tossed out only those words, Ikar started walking ahead.
‘A foreign proverb, huh?’
“So there’s a hot spring in a place like this.”
A faint smile graced Ikar’s face as he wandered, trying to avoid the night dew.
“What do you think, my lady?”
“You mean that ‘hole to crawl out of’? Well, it certainly is a hole.”
Renev’s eyes widened as she gazed at the hot spring, from which steam curled lazily upward.
‘Could it really be… here?’
The hot spring had indeed appeared in the original story—though not as a key location in the main plot, only in a side chapter.
Lucius and Esika, while scouting the borderlands, had been chased by a horde of monsters and stumbled upon this very spring.
As they washed themselves, the mood had naturally shifted toward spending a passionate night together…
When she’d read that scene in the novel, she’d felt nothing but fluttering excitement and reread it countless times. Now, however, just thinking of those two made her shudder in disgust.
At least it was a small comfort that Lucius and Esika hadn’t yet visited this spring—they hadn’t even gotten together yet.
“It’s getting colder, probably because the sun’s setting. We’d better get into the hot spring to maintain our body heat. What do you think?”
“Alright.”
When Renev nodded, Ikar stepped away to give her space, moving some distance off.
Apparently, Ikar himself hadn’t wanted to wash in that icy water earlier either.
Once Ikar was completely out of sight, Renev began trying to take off her dress.
Then she realized a problem: she’d never once put on or taken off a dress by herself.
Even as empress, she’d always relied on maids to help her change, and that hadn’t changed even after her regression.
Renev grew flustered. Right now, the only person nearby was Ikar.
Since it wasn’t something she could reasonably ask him for, she struggled alone, grunting as she fumbled with the ribbon tied at her back.
“Can’t you even dress or undress yourself without help?”
“…Sir Drhan? Uh, how long have you been standing there?”
Renev clutched the dress, which she’d already pulled down to her shoulders. Frowning, Ikar held out what he’d been carrying.
“I only meant to hand you this—I swear I had no other intention.”
“…”
Still wary and staring at him, Renev prompted Ikar to snap irritably,
“What’s with that look? You don’t seriously think I was trying to peek, do you?”
There was no trace of lewdness in his expression—in fact, he seemed almost indifferent.
“I’ll take your word for it. But what is that?”
Thinking she’d been overly suspicious, Renev looked down at Ikar’s hand.
“A natural loofah. I figured you might need something to wash with.”
“I’m sorry for misunderstanding… And thank you.”
Ashamed of having just accused Ikar of being a pervert, Renev quickly apologized. At that, one corner of Ikar’s mouth tilted upward.
“So the esteemed daughter of a marquis doesn’t even know how to bathe by herself?”
Feeling oddly provoked, Renev half-defiantly shot back,
“I suppose someone of your caliber—a royal guard following Emperor Vaschker’s orders—must be quite confident in giving bathing assistance too?”
“You want me to assist you with your bath, then?”
With a teasing smile, Ikar took a step closer. Renev stepped back just as far.
“So you’d actually do it if I asked?”
She quickly looked away, inwardly flustered.
“I was merely wondering if the noble ladies of House Paradium have some special custom of having their guards assist with bathing—nothing more.”
Seemingly losing interest, Ikar turned away.
“You’d better not wander off alone.”
“Why? Planning to peek?”
Ikar turned back sharply, narrowing his eyes as if stung by her provocation.
“Ever heard of safety complacency? Don’t forget we were attacked by wolves just a few hours ago. And…”
His lips twitched as if he had more to say, but he remained silent and turned away, disappearing from Renev’s view.
“Why stop mid-sentence? You’re making me curious.”
Muttering softly, Renev finished untying the ribbon at her waist.
Since this location had appeared in the original story, she already knew how safe it was.
The soil around the hot spring contained magic stones, preventing monsters or beasts from approaching easily.
She almost told Ikar not to worry—but stopped herself. If he asked how she knew such a thing, she’d be in trouble.
Kneeling on one knee, Ikar scooped up some dirt and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger.
“Worrying for nothing.”
Having checked the soil quality, Ikar relaxed his guard. It seemed safe enough to bathe at ease.
Standing up, Ikar lifted the hem of his shirt slightly and glanced downward.
“Ha…”
A dry chuckle soon escaped his lips.
His shirt was utterly ruined, stained with blood. It was a miracle that delicate young lady hadn’t fainted at the sight.
Remembering the tiny girl who’d just moments ago glared at him with wide, sparkling eyes, Ikar let out a soft, amused snort.
But the moment passed quickly. His expression turned blank and cold again as he whistled.
Not long after, a black bird fluttered down with a soft rustle.
Ikar carved a mark onto a leaf with a stone, tied it to the bird’s leg, and sent it flying. Watching the bird soar away, he murmured quietly,
“I’ll have to hope Drhan handles things quickly.”
While Ikar was informing Drhan of their isolated situation, Renev finally managed to remove her dress.
“Haa…”
Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and a cold breeze swept over her bare skin.
If she collapsed again—or worse, caught a cold and delayed their schedule—she’d only become an even heavier burden to Ikar.
Renev quickly dipped a toe into the hot spring to test the temperature.
It was quite hot, but not enough to cause burns. Submerging herself up to her neck, she slowly closed her eyes.
Her hips and lower back, battered from the carriage ride, screamed in protest—but that was actually fortunate.
She didn’t want Ikar to see her looking weak and sore.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of wind brushing through leaves.
Only white noise, like the chirping of crickets, filled the quiet space.
Renev had been enjoying this rare moment of rest for a while when—
“…?”
She sensed someone nearby. Opening her eyes wide, she turned toward the sound.
Just as she assumed it was Ikar approaching and thought, ‘So much for acting gentlemanly…’
“Uk-keek!”
Several monkeys—bald only on their backsides—were heading her way.
“Uk-kik-keek!”
The monkeys began pointing at Renev and chattering excitedly among themselves.
Feeling uneasy, Renev carefully pushed through the water and hid behind a rock a short distance from the monkeys.
The monkeys, who had seemed ready to chase her, apparently decided to leave her alone as she moved away.
“This world really is harsh.”
She’d tried to avoid the original plot by being kind to Lucius—the very man destined to kill her—only to end up with a death ending anyway.
Her past life as empress hadn’t exactly been smooth sailing either.
But now, after regressing, it felt as if death flags lurked around every corner, day after day.
“Hoo…”
Renev quickly shook her head to dispel her gloomy thoughts.
Then, through a gap between the rocks, her gaze fell upon—
“…!”
The healthy upper body of a man emerging from the opposite hot spring.
Sun-kissed, robust skin.
Broad, powerful shoulders.
Below deeply set collarbones—firm pectorals and washboard abs…
Renev’s lips parted slightly at the sight of that sculpted physique, the kind she’d only seen in temple frescoes.
She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut.
Just minutes ago, she’d sternly warned Ikar not to peek—and now here she was, secretly staring at his naked body.
It wasn’t as if she’d looked on purpose—but regardless, it was Renev herself who was secretly peeking at Ikar’s bare body.
“…”
Renev turned toward her dress, ready to leave the spring.
But then—
The monkeys were rummaging through her dress, clearly intrigued!
Renev buried her face in her palms and silently cursed inwardly.
‘Those damn monkeys…!’
She stayed quiet, waiting for the monkeys to lose interest in her dress.
More importantly, she absolutely could not let Ikar find out about this.
Hiding behind a large rock, she kept watch over the monkeys.
Ten minutes passed, then another ten. While Renev reached her limit, Ikar remained blissfully unaware, still enjoying his soak with eyes firmly closed.
‘Is he planning to stay in until his body swells up?’
Renev turned to observe the monkeys’ antics.
Unlike her, who stayed immersed the whole time, the monkeys took turns bathing.
They even looked as if they were on a family vacation, clearly enjoying themselves.
“Ha…”
Just as Renev sighed in despair over her plight—
Suddenly, everything before her eyes turned gray. She swayed slightly, then slapped her own cheek and opened her eyes wide.
‘Just a little longer… Stay focused.’
After what felt like an eternity of endurance, Ikar finally opened his eyes.
He was finally getting out of the spring. Overjoyed, Renev raised her tightly clenched fists toward her face—
Ikar rose from the water.
‘Wha…!’
She had to clamp her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming.
‘G-Good heavens!’
It was astonishing enough that a living statue existed… No, was that even possible?
Renev, who’d been gaping at Ikar’s naked form, quickly snapped out of it.
Peeking at someone’s body without permission was practically a crime.
She forcibly wrenched her gaze away from Ikar’s bare torso.
And just as she thought, ‘Huh… why is this happening?’—the scenery before her eyes faded once more into gray.
Plop!
At the sound of something falling into the water, Ikar turned his head.
He was slightly curious why someone who’d been secretly watching him would suddenly make noise.
His brow furrowed slightly as he looked toward where Renev had been.
“Tch. So stubborn.”
Seeing the girl floating limply in the water, he clicked his tongue.
He strode over quickly, eyes closed, and pulled her out of the spring.
Even with Ikar’s sharp senses for detecting others’ presence, he couldn’t walk with his eyes shut forever.
He draped the shirt slung over his shoulder onto Renev’s body.
From the imperial palace to the frontier—this was the first woman he’d ever seen faint three times in just a few days.
“Truly a high-maintenance type.”
Muttering softly to himself as he walked away, the corner of Ikar’s lips curled upward slightly.
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (82)
What happened to the intense revenge drama ? Not liking this !
Just as I was getting annoyed about the faking, they added the hair dying , I will allow it
Poor Drhan… Ikar log did not have to be such a jerk
Inline Comments (1)
It felt familiar yet warm—somehow.
How an already 30 chapters in without anything significant happening?!
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VKotaku28
I am actually with Ikar on this one! If you knew you are helpless without maids, should have brought atleast one along